What I enjoyed in Formula 1 2011

2011 is only hours away from being left in the past, so I’m going to take this opportunity to tell you some of my best parts of the Formula 1 year.

Nothing quite beats seeing these carbon fibre machines of beauty hurtling through a corner just metre’s away from you. Silverstone in July is such a wonderful place to be. The sight of these cars with their pilots strapped into the middle of them is always breath taking; the noise that vibrates straight through you is compelling; fantastic.

Canada has to deserve a mention. The dramatic rain storm that flooded the track and enabled the BBC commentators to indulge in a spot of bird watching, through to the last lap pass of Sebastian Vettel that left Jenson Button in the lead of the race having at one point been last, it was a truly amazing race.

Germany and Hungary were other frenetic races, although I particularly enjoyed Monaco and Italy as well. In fact despite Vettel dominating the year, the majority of the races were still very exciting to watch, it wasn’t often that he completely disappeared into the distance.

There was some fantastic passing including Mark Webber on Fernando Alonso in Belgium coming up to Eau Rouge, but my favourite pass of the year was again on Alonso, but this time executed by Vettel in Italy.

In to the Curve Grande Vettel was on the back of the Ferrari, he moved to the left taking the outside line. Alonso held firm giving him just enough room but pushing nearer the grass than was comfortable. Vettel didn’t lift, he used the grass, dirt kicking up in the air and now he had the inside line for the next chicane and he was through, a truly sensational move.

DRS made passing sometimes seem too easy but overall that, and the reintroduction of KERS can only be considered a good thing. All the drivers have it, as David Coulthard has said, it is just another tool for a driver to utilise just like the whole of the car is.

Perhaps more significant were Pirelli who re-entered the sport in 2011. Their tyres with their variable degradation brightened the sport no end, with various strategy options available to the teams, Pirelli more than any other factor made the races truly exciting.

It was great to see Michael Schumacher showing he’s still has what it takes on occasion. His drive in Canada was a particular highlight where he so nearly made the podium, and his fight with Lewis Hamilton in Italy made the hairs stand on end. He bent the rules, but he didn’t break them, it was an exhilarating fight. Now if he can find the pace in qualifying he could be a major force again.

The announcement that Kimi Raikkonen is returning for next season with Lotus (formally Renault) has left 2011 with added excitement for the future.

Of course there were some moments to remember for bad reasons. Robert Kubica’s rally crash which almost severed his right arm and which he is still recovering from reduced Renaults potency straight away despite two early podiums for the team.

Bahrain was a blight on the sport’s name, and the arguments about budgets at FOTA have taken the teams off an equal footing too. The UK losing live free to air coverage also wasn’t appreciated by many, the BBC now sharing coverage with Sky.

Lewis Hamilton’s mind denied us a sustained championship attack. His car lacked pace and his frustration grew, but if there is a driver that can make a slower car win its Lewis. With more consistency, Vettel may not have sewn the title up so quickly.

Ferrari denied a sustained Alonso challenge, but Alonso was brilliant for most of the year, Massa sadly was not, can’t help but think he’s not been the same since his 2009 accident.

Back to the good things and Jenson Button was the true revelation. Yes, I know he’s already a World Champion, but this year it seemed like he stepped up a gear.

They’ll be many moments that I’ve missed but I have to end with Sebastian Vettel; no one reached the gear he was in, supreme throughout the year. He was the only one who understood the new Pirelli tyres immediately, his pole laps were some of the great moments of the year and his opening laps were on the edge. In all the greatest moment was Sebastian Vettel’s entire year, fantastic driving.

Decision time in December

Many people think December is the time for the Formula 1 circus to take a breather and reflect on the year just gone. Of course that’s not true and all the teams are working feverishly to get their 2012 cars ready for the start of testing in just over a month’s time.

Any design decisions that needed to be made will have been, there's no turning back now, their designs are pretty much set, the course they're on now in the winter months could well define their seasons.

Lots of teams have been making positive noises about the state they’re in, but to be honest they always do that and there is seldom a radical change in the pecking order, it takes time and evolution to get to the top.

One thing that should be noted is that with the blown diffusers banned for 2012, one of Red Bull’s major advantages has been curtailed. In fact their design was based around it, whereas many of the other teams bolted it on at the beginning of last year and never really perfected it. However, I don’t expect them to tumble down the order, as well as Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes, Red Bull have said they can improve too. Whatever happens, I think it’s going to be looking a lot closer.

Late season driver announcements

December is usually the time for the drivers to recharge their batteries for the New Year, Mark Webber does this by organizing an adventure in Tazmania, Lewis Hamilton has apparently been recording some R&B tracks, although not for public consumption.

Fellow F1 musician, or DJ Jaime Alguersuari was relatively secure about his future having spoken to Red Bull’s Helmut Marko about Toro Rosso’s plans for 2012. In perhaps the most shocking driver news of the year, Toro Rosso decided to change up entirely, signing Daniel Ricciardo who seemed likely to join them all year.

That wasn’t the surprise, signing fellow Red Bull young driver Jean-Eric Vergne was. With just three Friday practice sessions and a young driver test behind him, he was given the chance, forcing both Sebastien Buemi and Alguersuari out on to the F1 kerb, with little hope of a decent seat.

I was pretty shocked at one of my favourite drivers of the year getting the boot. Alguersuari has been a revelation this year, he was brought in at just 19 years old in 2009 and has taken time, but he was climbing the metaphorical mountain well this year. It was definitely a upward surge and one I think should have kept him in Toro Rosso, at least it wouldn’t have given one of the new signings a bench mark to aim against.

In fairness team principal Franz Tost justified it by saying Toro Rosso was a junior team designed to bring on new talent which is fine, but I would argue don’t throw the talent away just as it’s bearing fruit worth picking. Anyway, there’s still a number of options for Alguersuari, becoming a full time DJ is one, the other is a seat at Spanish team HRT or perhaps Williams, and maybe even Caterham (formally Lotus) as despite being signed up, Jarno Trulli could be moved aside. I for one would like to see Alguersuari still on the grid.

But there were many teams who’d left their driver decisions up in the air. With contracts not secured tensions were high, but there have been some other notable changes. Force India eventually announced the retention of Paul di Resta and also promoted Nico Hulkenberg in place of Adrian Sutil.

Pastor Maldonado was also confirmed for a second season, although I think there’s plenty of better talent to be filling that seat, not least Sutil and Alguersuari but sometimes the dollars you bring counts a lot more. However with one seat remaining at Williams, there’s a chance for them both, but Rubens Barrichello is still looking to continue his epic career.

The Iceman cometh

Which brings us to the not insignificant news that Lotus (formally Renault) have signed Romain Grosjean. He had seven pretty poor races at Renault in 2009 but has come back stronger and now ready for his F1 opportunity.

Vitaly Petrov has been left without a drive, his Ruble’s no longer welcome after slating the team before the final race in Brazil. They’ve got an adequate replacement though. Yes, 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is back.

Kimi is almost certain not to bring back an eloquent speaking voice, but he is sure to be electric on the track. Accused of lacking motivation towards the end of his last stint in Formula 1, he still was producing some outstanding drives, and I can’t wait to see him out there again.

Comparing him to Michael Schumacher’s comeback is a pointless waste of time too. He’s been out of the sport for less time and is ten years younger, I’m not saying he’ll be on the pace straight away but I don’t see him struggling as much as Schumacher has at times. Here’s hoping Lotus can produce a car worthy of him.

They are the major events from December, but behind the scenes the teams will be under pressure to get it right for 2012. The top team’s drivers remain unchanged, but there are many reasons why they’ll all be feeling the pressure for the year to come. All the ingredients are there for a great year ahead and with a month having already passed since the last race, I can’t wait for the lights to go out once again.

Top ten drivers of the year

Top ten time, to read the full list click here for the first part of my run down list drivers 28 to 11. Looking at the list, I’m even surprised with whom I’ve been left with, but I’m basing their positions on how they have dealt with their situations through the year.

10. Jaime Alguersuari (Toro Rosso) 26pts; Best Result (BR): 7^th x2 – So I’ve learnt recently, Alguersuari could have lost his seat half way through the year but his eighth in Valencia activated a performance clause in his contract that enabled him to stay. Good thing too because he’s been awesome in the second half often maximising his strategy to pull himself up from a low grid position into the points, the Italian race a fine demonstration of this; 18^th to 7^th. Should definitely be on the grid next year, he’s on an upward curve.

9. Paul di Resta (Force India) 27pts; BR: 6^th – By far the best rookie of the year, particularly at the start of the year he was destroying his team mate Adrian Sutil. He was fast, calm and assured; the most impressive rookie since Lewis Hamilton. His drives in Hungary and Singapore were brilliant and his qualifying in Britain to take 6^th inspired. It faded a bit towards the end of the year, but he’ll be back stronger next year and looks like he’s kept his seat ahead of Sutil.

8. Adrian Sutil (Force India) 42pts; BR: 6^th x2 – Ok, this one is probably slightly against the grain. Everyone has lauded how wonderful di Resta is, and quite right too, but they seem to have forgotten that Sutil actually had a very fine year indeed. Yes, he seemed a bit overwhelmed to begin with, but it was good the way he refocused and quickly got back on track; out-performing him during the second half of the year. It may surprise you to know he actually out qualified di Resta 10-9 and out raced him 10-6, and to further that out pointed him 42-27. All in all Sutil has driven some great races, not least the last one in Brazil to finish up 6^th.

7. Michael Schumacher (Mercedes) 76pts; BR: 4^th – There was a question mark where Schumacher should go. He’s been soundly thrashed in qualifying by his team mate, taken quite the liking to a spot of crashing into people, yet after all that he’s actually had quite a good year. His race pace has been mostly brilliant; he’s certainly lost none of his metronomic consistency. His attacking and defensive skills are always border line but no one can push things to the edge like him. His drives in Canada, Belgium and Italy were high quality. If he can find his qualifying pace next year and keep out of trouble Nico Rosberg will be under considerable threat.

6. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 89pts; BR: 5^th x2 – Rosberg had to go ahead of his team mate for the main reason he out qualified and outscored him. He can’t really do much more against a seven times world champion. His quali pace particularly has been brilliant putting the Mercedes higher than it should have been and only once this year has he been outside the top 10. However, I still can’t help but feel he’s been a little bit disappointing, because far more often than not he slips down during the race. Yes he may well have out-performed the car on the Saturday’s but when your team mate is generally quicker in the race and moving forward it makes you wonder if he could be doing that little bit better. Having said that, it was still a good consistent year.

5. Mark Webber (Red Bull) 258pts; BR: 1 win – Why Mark Webber is in the top five I’m not entirely sure. It’s not like he’s actually had that bad of a year; he’s won a race, had a further eight podiums and three pole positions. It’s not that bad, but after the battling performance of last year where he so nearly won the title against his team mate, he has been given a monumental beating. He’s only finished ahead of him twice in the entire year, nowhere near enough for a driver of his calibre.  His failure to get to grips with the Pirelli tyres has held him back and his starts have been appalling, leaving him wasting an opportunity with the best car in the field.

Yet he’s still shown just what a racer he can be. Some of his passes, against Alonso in Belgium in particular were absolutely breath taking. On his day he can still produce the form he had last year, his charge through to third from the back in China was a great result. The last few races he’s looked sharper, hopefully that’ll give him the impetus into next year.

4. Lewis Hamilton (McLaren) 227pts; BR: 3 wins – Well he messed up this year didn’t he? But I’m still going to rate him at number 4, because quite frankly he’s not just lost all his talent, and some of his drives have been phenomenal. First the bad stuff; beaten over the year by Jenson Button, too many accidents with other people, too much letting outside problems get the better of him and effect his head. Some of the incidents with Massa particularly didn’t feel malicious or overly aggressive, more just clumsy, someone with his mind not on the job at hand.

But then you had drives like China, Germany and Abu Dhabi. Fantastic wins all of them; his defence of second in Korea equalled them all. And let’s not forget he’s one of the quickest guys out there and still an amazing over taker, he also generally out qualifies Button but this year has lapsed in the race. There were signs towards the end of this season he was getting his head straight, and I think he will be a truly formidable opponent in 2012.

3. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 257pts; 1 win – He’s done what he always does, maximises the opportunities in any given circumstance. The Ferrari has not been a good car this year, very often it is the third fastest out there. It’s qualifying pace is poor, although it goes much better in the race it still can’t handle the harder tyre compounds.

Yet Alonso has still managed ten podiums including one win at Silverstone. His drive in Monaco was outstanding as he hunted down Vettel, he may well have won if the race hadn’t been stopped. He’s almost humiliated his team-mate, Massa hasn’t been able to get close. Out-performed the car by a long way, there’s not much more he could have done.

2. Jenson Button (McLaren) 270 pts; 3 wins – No one beats Lewis Hamilton over a year without being very good indeed. In many ways he could be driver of the year; he’s the only one to consistently challenge Vettel and actually give him a race. He’s had absolute genius performances in Canada and Hungary, but it’s actually his result in Japan that impressed me most. He went toe to toe with Vettel and won, it was a great drive.

His consistency and his understanding of the Pirelli tyres certainly contributed to his year, often being able to hunt people down in the later stages of the race such as in Brazil recently or in Monaco when he was catching both Alonso and Vettel. If McLaren can get their car ready from the start next year, Button will be up there again.

1. Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull) 392pts; 11 wins – Eleven wins, six other podium positions, fifteen pole positions. Those are the statistics, and they made him a double world champion. But don’t think it’s just because he was in the best car, that helped of course, but often in the races the Red Bull advantage disappeared and he had to work for it.

His defensive driving on worn tyres in Spain and Monaco was superb and his fight and will to win was in evidence when he put two wheels on the grass in Italy around the outside of turn 3 to pass Alonso for the lead; an amazing move. His nursing of the car in Brazil while suffering a gearbox problem yet still finishing second was equally impressive.

He’s almost been perfect, the only person to have bested Button with the use of the Pirelli’s. He seemed to be the sole driver to find the grip at the start of races, often creating his gap in the early laps and then controlling that for the rest of the race while saving the car, albeit putting in the odd cheeky fastest lap attempt towards the end of the race.

He’s been fast, consistent, calm under pressure, obliterated his team mate, in short not one driver could have done a better job this year; a fantastic season and a great champion.

Best of the rest: driver countdown 28 to 11

So the season has ended, the dust is settling over in Brazil and Sebastian Vettel has come out on top for the second consecutive year. But who were the best drivers over the course of the year?

Twenty-eight drivers took part during the season, so here is a quick run down from 28 to 11, judging on how I think they performed given their cars.

28. Karun Chandok (Lotus) 0pts; Best Result (BR): 20^th – One race wasn’t enough time, had problems and was four laps down at the end in his only appearance.

27. Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) 0pts; BR: 14^th – Fourteenth wasn’t a bad result in Canada as he replaced the injured Perez.

26. Narain Karthikeyan (HRT) 0pts; BR: 17^th x 3 – Often behind his team mate, although in Indian race was impressive.

25. Jarno Trulli (Lotus) 0pts; BR: 13^th x2 – Couldn’t have had a worse year, absolutely dominated by Kovalainen, looked demotivated and I’m surprised he’s even got a drive next year, although it’s looking debatable whether that’s a race drive or not.

24. Jerome d’Ambrosio (Virgin) 0pts; BR: 14^th – On occasion looked good, but hasn’t done enough to retain his seat.

23. Tonio Liuzzi (HRT) 0pts; BR: 13^th – Was once a bright talent, now I’m doubting he’ll be around next year.

22. Daniel Ricciardo (HRT) 0pts; BR: 18^th x2 – Showed a great deal of promise but was he spectacular enough to deserve a potential seat at Toro Rosso as part of Red Bull’s young driver program?

21. Timo Glock (Virgin) 0pts; BR: 15^th x2 – Generally quicker than d’Ambrosio, but another to look slightly ticked off with the struggle at the back.

20. Bruno Senna (Renault) 2pts; BR: 9^th – Car was lacking development by the time he got in but still showed good speed in qualifying on occasion.

19. Nick Heidfeld (Renault) 34pts; BR: 3^rd – It was wrong to get rid of him, replaced eight races from the end, Petrov still only outscored him by three points. Didn’t make enough use of the car he had at the start of the year though.

18. Pastor Maldonado (Williams) 1pt; BR: 10^th – Drove brilliantly in Monaco before Lewis Hamilton used him as a brake losing sixth place. Often on the pace of his more experienced team mate.

17. Rubens Barrichello (Williams) 4pts; BR: 9^th x2 – Still has the passion and the speed to be in Formula 1, dragged the Williams to more points than it probably deserved.

16. Vitaly Petrov (Renault) 37pts; BR: 3^rd – He may have been in the top 10 in qualifying and he achieved a podium in Australia, but results haven’t been as forthcoming later in the year. By default after Robert Kubica’s rally crash he was team leader but I think there are better drivers than him to be filling that seat for next year.

15. Sergio Perez (Sauber) 14pts; BR: 7^th – Looked quick all year and an impressive talent for the future, although more often than not results didn’t go his way. Dealt well with the bang to the head he received in Monaco to come back even stronger.

14. Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) 30pts; BR: 5^th – Scored more points than his team mate, but was often out qualified. Still made some daring moves in the races and had a number of back of the grid charges. However, it all went a bit quiet towards the end of the season.

13. Felipe Massa (Ferrari) 118pts; BR: 5^th x6 – What has happened to Massa? Probably the big bang on the head he received in Hungary 2009. There’s no way he should be so far behind Alonso, he’s a better driver than that. While his team mate grabbed podium after podium, Massa had to settle for several fifths as his best result of the year. Although mostly not his fault, his targeting of Lewis Hamilton after their many incidents looked more like he was trying to deflect attention away from how bad his own year was. Really needs to get back to the level he demonstrated in 08/09.

12. Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus) 0pts; BR: 13^th – Here is a team player. He knew they were going to struggle and were still building up the team and dealt with it accordingly. Never less than enthusiastic about the future and where the team was heading, something other drivers at the back should take notice of and get a little perspective despite the frustrations. He trounced Trulli in qualifying and was even better in the races, often in the latter half of the year mixing it with the tail end of the mid-field. Great stuff, an integral part of this teams bright future.

11. Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso) 15pts; BR: 8^th x2 – I’ve got to say I’ve become a big fan of the Toro Rosso pair. Mostly they’ve been fighting for their seats the entire year, so the pressure was intense. Buemi had a number of great drives, the particular highlight in Hungary, finishing eighth from twenty-third on the grid. He lost a few other great results through no fault of his own and should get another year at the team, but I’m doubting whether that’ll be the case.

Top ten driver's can be found here.

Webber finally takes a win in finale

With all the talk of rain, it was actually quite a disappointment the clouds failed to burst; it would certainly have given the finale race in Brazil an extra kick in what wasn’t the thrilling spectacle that had been promised.  But that’s not to say there weren’t some moments to savour; Mark Webber was fast, consistent, and finally took a win this year. Alonso and Button fought hard for the final podium, little battles all down the field enlivened proceedings and the world champion delivered a champions drive.

It was great to see Webber finally make his mark on the season; claiming his seventh career victory and his second in Brazil and give a little light to a season in which he has been over shadowed by his team mate.

The Australian had run Sebastian Vettel pretty close all weekend, being just over a tenth off in qualifying to start second. He made his customary lousy start, but this time managed to fend off the attention of Jenson Button.

The early laps were all Vettel as usual. No one else can push the Pirelli tyres  at the start and yet still keep them fresh, it has been one of the hallmarks of his success this year. He was over two seconds ahead in just two laps and continued to inch out a gap.

Webber though was not for breaking today, he started to manage to peg the gap when an ominous radio message was sent to his team mate on lap 14. He had a gearbox problem and throughout the race was urged to short shift through gears two and three. Something he seemed to cope with very well as for at least the first part of the race his lap times remained constant.

All the teams anticipated a two stop race, but unexpectedly the tyres weren’t holding up as well as predicted; early stops from the front runners were duly executed with Vettel still in the lead. However, the gearbox gradually needed more love and care, an urgent message sent to him on lap 25 as Webber showed his interest for the win setting fastest lap.

Eventually the inevitable happened, Vettel let Webber through into turn 1 on lap 30, and the battle for victory was over. Mark demonstrated he was as quick as anyone out there today, reeling off fastest laps including the final lap of the race to take a well-deserved victory.

Vettel finished in second only 17 seconds behind, it kind of made you wonder if he could have fought harder for the win, as until the closing stages he remained fairly close behind. Red Bull boss Christian Horner has remarked they’d like to get Webber a win, but those thoughts are for suspicious minds.

In reality the team were amazed that Vettel even reached the finish, when they spotted the problem the original predictions had him only making half distance. But by instructing him to drive a certain way they were able to manage the problem and goes to further show just what a strong drive Vettel had.

Red Bull were more dominant today than they’d ever been, no one could really touch them, as the year ends on their fantastic success they go towards 2012 confident they can repeat it.

Passing moves of the race

Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso fought for the final podium spot of the year producing the outstanding moments of the race.

Alonso steadily moved his Ferrari into attack mode as we came into lap 11. Slip streaming the McLaren of Button down to turn 4, he tucks back in picking up the slipstream again through turn 5, edging ever closer, he pulls to the left. On the outside line, he whips round Button in a fantastic pass.

He soon scampered away but as is the story of the year for Ferrari as soon as he put on the harder tyre (this race it’s the medium compound) he couldn’t keep up the pace. Button actually preferred these tyres to the soft, using an extra set compared to most others.

Button wanted his own back, he couldn’t live with the pace of the Red Bull’s but he was sure going to finish best of the rest. After the final pit stops he had dropped behind the Ferrari to over five seconds, but immediately slashed into it.

Into lap 62 Button was brilliant. He’d tried a move the previous lap, seen what wasn’t working and set this one up perfectly. He pulled to the outside down the pit straight, forcing Alonso to go defensive into turn 1 taking a tighter line. This in turn slowed the Ferrari down through turns 2 and 3, whereas Button swept down on the wider line into the apex, exploiting his smoother turn in and accelerated onto the back of Alonso, activating the DRS down the following straight and sweeping past into third place.

Alonso’s move had been ballsy, Button’s was intelligently thought out, but both were brilliant, best action of the race.

Wheel banging and hugging

Michael Schumacher went back to wheel banging ways, although this time it wasn’t his fault, in fact it was probably just a racing incident as he and Bruno Senna in the Renault went for the same piece of road into turn 1. The stewards thought differently and sent Senna for a drive through penalty which coupled with a gearbox problem eventually ended him in 17^th having started an impressive 9^th. I think he’s done just enough to be given a chance to race next year.

Schumacher suffered a puncture in the incident, leaving him to crawl back to the pits for a whole lap. It meant he was lapped and his race was over, but despite this he fought back to 15^th and again showed some good speed.

There was some good racing between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa today. On different strategies, Lewis had come out behind his nemesis of the year, but just as things were beginning to get a bit tasty, the McLaren was another one to be affected by gearbox problems, it seemed to be the day for it.

Massa ended up in a lonely 5^th place, but I suppose that’s better than ending up in another accident and a trip to the stewards. It was nice to hear also that Hamilton went to visit Massa after the race to clear the air and share a hug after their many incidents this year.

Despite a disappointing race, Lewis seems to be in a positive frame of mind now, this gesture as well shows his determination to put this year behind him and begin a new more focused attack on 2012 and prove again that he’s the man to beat.

Adrian Sutil stars in final drive with Force India?

Adrian Sutil performed strongly today for Force India, he’s had a good end to the year and fought his way up to finish sixth passing Nico Rosberg for the place into turn 1, with a tight squeeze down the straight ensuring the Mercedes would stay behind.

He’s out performed his highly touted team mate Paul di Resta in the second half of the year and deserves a drive for 2012, however it looks likely he is to be dropped by his current team in favour of Nico Hulkenberg, the teams reserve driver.

I’ve a feeling he’ll end up at Williams after discussions with Kimi Raikkonen came to nothing. He should be in Formula 1, especially after performances like today, he was hooked up, consistent with his lap times; one of the stars of the race.

Rest of the top 10

Rosberg continued his aptitude for finishing lower than where he started with a 7^th place finish from 6^th in qualifying. A two stop strategy didn’t really work for him and he was easy meat for Sutil.

In the other Force India di Resta climbed from 11^th to 8^th finishing with another helping of points to cap a fine debut season. With a year’s experience I expect him to fly next year, let’s not forget di Resta beat Vettel in the lower formulae, this guy has talent.

Kamui Kobayashi takes his second consecutive points finish to round off the year nicely and ensure his Sauber team maintained their 7^th position in the constructors championship over Toro Rosso.

Vitaly Petrov grabbed the final point after climbing from 15^th on the grid. Disappointing final half of the season for Renault in general, the team have claimed only 5 points since Nick Heidfeld left the team before Belgium.

Special mention to Rubens Barrichello who finished 14^th, this is potentially his last ever race. He’s still looking for a drive to continue into his 20^th consecutive season in the sport and add to his 326 races, it would be a shame for this to be his swansong as the passion still burns strong and he’s as quick as ever.

End of the road

And so we come to the end of the 2011 season, a year which despite one man’s domination has provided tremendous racing from Australia to Brazil. We’ve had wheel to wheel action aplenty, provided by Pirelli and the DRS zones, which have proved beneficial mostly even if slightly artificial.

We’ve had grudge matches, intense chases, action packed spectaculars, strategic thrillers, but it all mostly ended up with the same result; Sebastian Vettel, winner. 2011 has been Vettel’s year; a record 15 pole positions in one year, 11 wins, only twice off the podium.

He may have had the best car, but he crushed his team mate, learnt and used the new Pirelli tyres better than anyone else, handled any pressure thrown at him, and was as fast as anyone out there and even showed us how good he is at overtaking; no one could have done it better and that’s why he is now double world champion.

all photos taken from autosport.com

BBC vs Sky

The BBC has announced the plans for their scaled down Formula 1 coverage next year. You can find the full details here on the BBC website.

In short the BBC will show ten races live including all practice and qualifying sessions, with the other potential ten having race highlights packages of 90 minutes for European races and 2hours for early race starts.

Now I’m a firm believer in watching sports events live, but the BBC are not just going to cover the non-live races from a Manchester studio, they’re still sending what seems like a full presentation team to all races.

What concerns me about that is that when they’re going to the expense of flying their staff over to the races then obviously they’ll be a fair amount of pre-race coverage and post-race analysis, otherwise what would be the point? But is that really needed when the event will have been shown on Sky Sports hours earlier, with many viewers perhaps knowing the result already?

And if you have deliberately avoided the result, surely you’ll want as much of the race covered as possible to have as much as a live experience as you can in the current circumstances, assuming many F1 fans don’t buy into the Sky Sports package, costing as it does £40 a month.

Another thing to strike me is the races the BBC have picked to cover live. Now the two broadcasters took it in turns to pick  which events they wanted to broadcast or have exclusivity for, it seems the BBC have ended up with the short straw.

They’ve ended up with both the Spanish races, which with no disrespect intended aren’t traditionally the most thrilling in the world. However, BBC only viewers do get Monaco, Britain, Belgium and the final race of the season in Brazil covered live, although having said that it takes until the third race in China for live BBC coverage to start.

The BBC has provided the best Formula 1 coverage I have ever seen, brilliantly in depth, and that’ll at least continue ten times a year. They’re certain to maintain a lot of their current team, Jake Humphrey and David Coulthard are definite BBC men.

However, Martin Brundle looks likely to make a move to Sky, and pit lane reporter Ted Kravitz is rumoured to be joining him there. With a dedicated Formula 1 channel being announced for Sky, it looks like they’re going all out to create a truly immersive Formula 1 experience, although full details of their coverage have yet to be announced, but the likes of Brundle and Kravitz will be tempted at such opportunity.

It remains to be seen whether a dual commentary role could be applied for both Sky and BBC’s coverage as it would be a shame to split Brundle and Coulthard who have made a brilliant impression in their first year together, although again the likely rumour to be true is the David Croft from the BBC radio 5 live commentary team will be the lead commentator.

Sky has yet to confirm their presentation team or the full details of their coverage but at the price, a dedicated channel is definitely a good start.

However, is that enough for the average fan of which there are many? The BBC has recorded record figures with at least six million people tuning in regularly. I speculate that many won’t buy into Sky if they don’t already have it, and viewing figures will take a dive. It could drive many regular fans away whom are unhappy at the reduced terrestrial coverage and the potential separation of the BBC team which has welcomed many new people to the sport.

Overall despite the money Sky look like spending on their coverage, and it does look very promising, it still seems a shame that a compromise deal wasn’t reached with another terrestrial channel. Or even an option from Sky to sell each race at £5-£10 wouldn’t be as off-putting as the full £40 whack on the wallet.

But for now all that can be said is that Sky have a lot to live up to the award winning BBC team, although I have no doubt they’ll do a superb job in the end and there is still a lot to be decided by both broadcasters, but it still feels a bit like the British fans have been slightly short changed. We’ll see how it all pans out from Australia 2012.

Anyway the BBC aren't finished quite yet, with rain forecast for Brazil tomorrow it could be quite an action packed send off for their full live coverage!

edit: Martin Brundle has confirmed he is off to Sky next year. Not really a surprise, but it does give Sky instant credibility for their coverage from the start.

Hamilton stars in Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi is one of the most impressive race tracks on the Formula 1 calendar at the moment. The dusk to night time setting makes for some beautiful shots of the cars as the light reflects off them in to the blackening sky. And as night came calling Lewis Hamilton shone through the gloom to take a dominant victory in the Middle East and put the smile back on his face.

He knows he’s one of the top drivers and before it’s been a source of much frustration that as he’s struggled with underperforming cars for the last few years Sebastian Vettel has racked up the wins and pole positions.

But this was a chance to finally start afresh, to banish the mistakes and worries of the year to the dark. This win could see the launch of a redeemed Lewis Hamilton, one who has come out the other side and is ready to establish himself as the best out there again. He’d talked a lot to the media over the weekend, being very open about his feelings this season; it was like he’d managed to exorcise his demons.

His performance over the whole weekend certainly gave you the impression of a man refocused, he was quick from the off, unlucky not to get pole position and didn’t make a mistake all weekend.

On race day he was in the lead after turn 2 when Sebastian Vettel suffered a rare bit of bad luck in the shape of a puncture and then remained calm under consistent pressure from Fernando Alonso.

He looked after the tyres which were anyhow not degrading fast, but he put in good laps when he changed to the harder medium compound at the second stops to keep a last ditch bid for victory by Alonso at bay, from then on he looked fairly serene to record his third victory of the year.

He was absolutely elated, there was no controversy, Felipe Massa was a long way behind, just intense fast driving that delivered the top result for his team; ‘so glad I could do this for you’, he said on the radio, words which show how much of a relief it is for him to get back to winning ways.

Even if Vettel hadn’t retired Lewis looked like he had the pace to win today, a great performance and one which looks like could put him back on track, let’s hope it’s not a one off, as an on form Lewis Hamilton will certainly give Vettel something to think about for next year.

Alonso drags his Ferrari to another fine result

Alonso has delivered great performances all year, dragging his Ferrari to positions it really shouldn’t be in. If you compare his results to his team mate it really says it all; Fernando has one win and nine other podiums, while Massa’s top result has been five fifths.

Throughout practice and qualifying Ferrari didn’t look like contenders but on race day, yet again Alonso was there battling as hard as you like. His start was good, out dragging Mark Webber, and he slip streamed past Jenson Button on that opening lap too. He expected to be defending for the rest of the race but instead he was attacking. He even came close to snatching a win as they approached the second and final round of pit stops.

With Hamilton having pitted on lap 41 to the slower medium compound, Alonso stayed out on his worn soft tyres, but had done a great job in conserving them. He’d already brought the gap down to under 3 seconds and could now sense a victory.

He knew his car wouldn’t be as good as the McLaren on the harder tyre so needed track position, a gap of 22 seconds would do it and it almost came off. 21 seconds ahead he pitted on lap 44 just as an HRT did too, it blocked him and cost him time. His pit stop was slow at 5.5 seconds and he exited behind the McLaren. But it was an impressive fight in a battle that he shouldn’t have been in.

After saying he’d given up in Korea, it’s clear to see he hasn’t. His response has been what you’d expect from a double world champion. Just give him the car to compete and he’ll be up there fighting for all he’s worth.

The rest of the top 10

Apart from the top two, there was no real stand out performances down the field nor anything remarkable about the race, there was some good racing in the two DRS zones but they were too close together.

Admittedly in taking third place Jenson Button did a fine job to deal with his KERS being off for half the race, but in truth I’m not sure he had the pace to fight for the win; still, it was another good result and it confirms him as Hamilton’s first team mate to beat him over a season.

Mark Webber probably had a little smile on his face as Red Bull lost its lead driver on the first lap. Perhaps he thought he could be in with a shot at the win. But again he lost positions at the start, and despite an entertaining scrap with Button, lost position to him at the end as he went for a three stop strategy, pitting on the last lap; after that fourth is all he could have hoped for.

Felipe Massa lost his regular play mate this race, so had to settle for spinning on his own. He had a good fight with Webber and Button but his spin relegated him to his equal best result of the year in fifth. He once had the speed to be a threat, it’s such a shame he can’t use it anymore; he’ll be hoping for more in Brazil.

Sixth and seventh was the Mercedes-Benz duo. Michael Schumacher got ahead of Nico Rosberg at the start but Nico was in determined mood after being soundly beaten by his older team mate in India. Despite being squeezed by Schumacher, Rosberg managed to push through on that opening lap and wasn’t troubled thereafter. Ran a long last stint to be in third at one point, but had to pit and still ended up 20 seconds ahead of Schuey.

For once Michael didn’t have the pace of his team mate today, in truth he wasn’t even close. A nice battle with Sutil ended in his favour after the second pit stops, and from then on it was fairly lonely for him. Schumacher goes well in Brazil, he’ll not want to let Rosberg ahead of him again.

The Force India’s were next up. Adrian Sutil managed to stay in contention with the Mercedes cars using the regular two stop strategy to end up eighth. His team mate did well to still secure ninth after being hampered by a one stop route which required him to run on the medium tyre for over half the race. This compound is around a second slower than the soft. Probably could have beaten Sutil otherwise.

Finally Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber charged back from another disappointing qualifying position of 16^th (five places behind his rookie team mate Sergio Perez) to grab the final point. It probably would have gone to Perez if he hadn’t had to change his nose cone. Kobayashi needed a good result after seven races with no points.

Vettel in bad luck shocker!

So finally something major went wrong for Sebastian Vettel. He had taken a brilliant pole position on Saturday, his 14^th of the year to equal Nigel Mansell’s record of most poles taken in one season, it was a great lap given the pace the McLaren’s looked to have.

Vettel knew it would be tough on Sunday, McLaren’s long practice runs indicated a very competitive race pace, so he was aware he’d have to push hard on the opening laps to get a one second lead to avoid being in the DRS detection zone.

He made a good start, and stormed through turn one, running over the outside kerb as he’d been doing all weekend. Into turn 2 his right rear tyre suddenly lost all pressure and collapsed sending him spinning out of control. Four hours after the race Pirelli still don’t know what caused it.

He got back to the pits but it was game over, his wheel rim destroyed, there was to be no comeback charge. It was a shame for the race really, because it would have been nice to have a proper head to head battle with an on form Lewis Hamilton, but it wasn’t to be.

He looked very annoyed immediately after realising he couldn’t continue, showing his continued passion for wins, it’ll make him even more determined for Brazil to round off his season in style.

And so on to the final race . . .

As we head to Sao Paulo, there is certainly going to be a party atmosphere for the last race of the season, Brazil loves its Formula 1 and it generally provides one of the most entertaining races of the year.

There’s still much to resolve too, second place in the driver’s championship is still open, while intra team battles need to be resolved, as well as constructor’s championship positions. The battle for sixth between Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso is very close.

Each driver will want to go into 2012 with a positive last result, even with the championship over; no one wants to lose, so it’ll be gloves off to take the last blood of the season. I’ve got a feeling Lewis Hamilton will be the most determined to lay a marker for next year, he’ll want to prove he’s back to his best.

all photos by autosport.com

Hamilton and Massa clash, Vettel takes win in India

Hamilton moved onto the back of the Ferrari and he slip streamed him to pull halfway alongside the Ferrari into turn 5. Hamilton had the inside line, but you could see him trying to get out of it because Massa wasn’t giving him any room. The Ferrari came across the McLaren resulting in Massa spinning but maintaining position and Hamilton having to pit for a new nose; a disaster for both of them and reflective of their seasons.

The Indian Grand Prix was the next step in Formula 1’s quest to be present in each of the world’s fastest growing economies. They were greeted with one of the best new tracks of recent times; a fast flowing undulating track with the middle sector in particular offering spectacular views of these cars at their best.

In return Formula 1 provided them with the story of the season; Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel winning from pole position and a clash between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa, the Briton again involved in more controversy.

Why can’t they just leave each other alone? From comments made over the last week by Lewis, he just wants to refocus for next year and would like this season over.

However, he wasn’t setting the world alight by any means in India but had still delivered a great qualifying time for second although he was penalised three places due to speeding through yellow flags in practice. He dropped a position behind Massa at the start and was following both Ferrari’s during the opening stint.

After the first stops Lewis came alive and had great pace closing up on Massa for fifth place. Coming down the fourth longest straight in Formula 1 at just over a kilometre he had activated the DRS and used the KERS but couldn’t make the move. Crucially he had some of the KERS left coming out of turn 4.

It moved him onto the back of the Ferrari and he slip streamed him to pull halfway alongside the Ferrari into turn 5. Hamilton had the inside line, but you could see him trying to get out of it because Massa wasn’t giving him any room. The Ferrari came across the McLaren resulting in Massa spinning but maintaining position and Hamilton having to pit for a new nose.

Immediate thoughts for me was that Massa should have given more room to Lewis, replays confirmed that Massa knew exactly where he was, you see him checking his mirrors several times despite his claims to the contrary. It seemed he wanted to show Hamilton he wasn’t going to be intimidated, but in reality he was in no position to do that.

He should have tried to hold it around the outside as turn 6 would have given the Ferrari the inside line back. Having said that it was probably just a racing incident as Hamilton did realise it wasn’t on but Massa did end up getting a drive through penalty which was actually quite surprising. He later retired from the race cracking his suspension over a raised kerb.

Hamilton has caused a few incidents this year but in this case he went for it and the other driver should have at least given some room, the McLaren was too far alongside just before the corner for it to be ignored. Lewis said afterwards ‘he just turned in on me, didn’t give me enough space’.

He fought back to 7^th but wasn’t able to produce his earlier pace, however it’s good to see that despite his current mood and the criticism he’s had Lewis is still going for it.

As much as Hamilton is having a bad year, Massa is equalling it, and this pressure of being considered the number 2 at Ferrari, when only a few years ago he was challenging for the title has got to him.

The incidents with Lewis and the consequent focus on it that Massa is showing are merely symptoms of a much greater problem; that if he doesn’t get back on it soon and start challenging Alonso regularly he’ll not be at Ferrari for much longer.

Vettel takes 11^th win, while Button tries to race him

There’s a sense these days of the inevitable; Vettel leads but doesn’t quite get away so as to at least give the illusion a race is happening but at the same time you know he’s probably going to be unstoppable.

And indeed he wasn’t to be beaten today, he won his 21^st race and it was another dominant performance. At the start he executed his chop (which is becoming a regular occurrence) across the grid so as to be on the inside for the first corner and from then on he couldn’t be touched.

Nearly five seconds ahead of Jenson Button by lap six, he settled down into a rhythm that couldn’t be broken, lap after relentless lap.  Button at least kept him on his toes, the only driver to really have given him a decent race during the second half of the year, he closed during the pit stops, both times pitting a lap earlier than Vettel to maximise the fresh rubber.

Vettel of course had it all in hand, despite his lead being closed to 2.8 seconds by lap 49, he still had over 10 laps left and proceeded to reel off a succession of fastest laps, right down to the end, claiming his first clean sweep of pole, win, fastest lap and leading every lap of the event.

Button gamely tried to hang on, but it was all over and he knew it, settling for second place. Vettel now only needs to win the last two races in Abu Dhabi and Brazil to equal Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in one season, the signs are good, he won both of them last year.

Schumacher stars in India

Good result for Mercedes this weekend with their two drivers performing to type. Nico Rosberg qualified well, raced well for a bit then faded. Michael Schumacher qualified badly, again blaming his inability to get the best out of fresh tyres.

His race performance though was deserving of star of the race. He was quick from the beginning, conserved and used the performance of the tyres when he needed to, made over takes decisively, and generally made his strategy work, a great day at the wheel finishing six places above where he started.

He made another great start climbing three places by saving his KERS for the long straight which enabled him to slot into 8^th. He saved his tyres behind Rosberg, but as the race wore on particularly as they approached the second stops and the switch to harder tyres he started to catch his team mate quickly often setting times not too far away from the leaders.

As Rosberg made the switch to harder tyres which weren’t losing as much time as had been expected relative to the soft tyres (they had been predicted to be over a second slower but in fact proved to be of little consequence), Schumacher kept on pounding around, consistently lapping half a second quicker than his team mate on fresh rubber.

By the time he switched tyres he was well ahead and they maintained position to the end of the race, Schumacher 5^th with Rosberg 6^th, only five points separating them in the championship. I’ve a feeling that the Mercedes bosses will be looking at this year and wondering whether Rosberg is really the driver that should be taking them forward?

He is a good qualifier but if certain clashes hadn’t have happened to his much older team mate, Rosberg would find himself trailing in the points. The comparisons on race pace as I’ve pointed out before make little better reading as he is often slower. Schumacher is still improving and that’s got to be a worry for Rosberg if he wants to lead this team when Schumacher finally retires.

Rest of the top 10

Fernando Alonso didn’t give up today and had an entertaining battle with Mark Webber. After they both lost position to a fantastic opening lap from Button, Alonso trailed behind Mark Webber for the opening stint, sticking fairly close.

Approaching the second stops is when Alonso managed to gain position. Webber stopped on lap 38 to switch to the harder compound. Alonso still had rubber to spare and set some great laps before pitting two laps later and emerging to take the final podium spot.

In 8^th came Jaime Alguersuari who yet again impressed for Toro Rosso. Starting 10^th he dropped a few spots but charged back into the points, using DRS to surge past Bruno Senna. His team mate Buemi was also charging back but later retired to deny Toro Rosso some extra points.

Alguersuari though carried on fighting, passing Sutil to move up to 9^th place. After Massa’s demise he moved into 8^th spot where he stayed out of trouble to score another points finish. As the season has gone on Alguersuari has really shone, particularly in this second half, his seat for next year is surely secured.

As Force India look to announce their driver line up in favour of current incumbent Paul di Resta and reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil did well to remind his team that he is still a solid driver and well deserving of a place in Formula 1 next year as he took two points for 9^th beating di Resta who could only manage 13^th having been one of three mid field drivers to start on the harder tyres.

Sergio Perez was one of those three and he took the final points spot in 10^th. He avoided the chaos at the start which took out Kamui Kobayashi and Timo Glock and had a good wheel to wheel battle with di Resta but the Sauber just seems to look after its tyres that much better, holding off the Petrov who had the same strategy.

Narain Karthikeyan in the HRT deserves  a mention as the only Indian in the Indian Grand Prix. He out-qualified his hotly tipped team mate Daniel Ricciardo although grid penalties won’t remember that. However, that didn’t stop him out racing him as well to finish 17^th. A good results for a driver who’s been out of the car since Silverstone. It was still three places behind the ever improving Team Lotus car of Heikki Kovalainen who at one point was as high as 10^th.

Review and a look ahead

So the Indian Grand Prix wasn’t one of the best of the season, but the track promises a lot and certainly offers the prospect of many good races to come. It’s definitely a place Formula 1 needs to be seen in for the manufacturers and sponsors as India becomes one of the most important countries in the world.

The grandstands were mostly full and the crowd was enthusiastic, which some of the other new races that have been introduced are certainly not. It’s all well and good going to places to please the sponsors and the business side of Formula 1, but if no one cares what good does it do them? Next year will be the real test to see if the sport can maintain the support shown from India.

Next is Abu Dhabi; can anyone actually stop Vettel strolling away to his 12^th victory of the year? The McLaren’s were quick there last year, but so was Vettel who won the race and his first title. Someone needs to give him something to think about as we approach the end of the year.

all photos from autosport.com

Dan Wheldon 1978 - 2011

Dan Wheldon died yesterday at the Las Vegas Speedway during the Indy 300 tragically leaving behind his wife and two young sons. In a 15 car accident his car was launched into the catch fencing suffering huge injuries that couldn't be survived. It is a sad loss to motor racing, he left Britain for America with no money, only a determination to succeed, that he did so so successfully demonstrates his strength of will.

Not many people over here outside of motorsport will have heard of Wheldon, Indycar doesn't get alot of coverage, but he was one of the many talented drivers who for various reasons don't make it to Formula 1. He dominated karting and progressed rapidly, but came up against Jenson Button in the junior formulae who took all the headlines. I remember reading about him at the same time as Button and following his progress when in 1999 and lacking funding he went to America.

It was still a time when not many British drivers thrived in the American motor sport scene. He made it big, winning the US Formula Ford title, then progressing stage by stage to reach the Indycar championship in 2002. Wheldon quickly became one of the names to follow in America, winning the championship in 2005 and the Indy 500 that same year and again just earlier this year.

He tested for Formula 1 teams, and was even offered a third driver role with the possibility of racing for BMW Sauber in 2006, but he was winning at a high level, he wasn't going to be satisfied with a mere possibility. A loss to Formula 1, he wouldn't have another opportunity.

There will be many discussions about whether 34 cars should have been competing on a short oval at 225mph with open wheels. Dario Franchitti another Brit competing in America said it wasn't a suitable track for this kind of racing. Ironically Wheldon had been testing a new style Indycar for next year which had wheel guards designed to prevent just such an accident.

Motor racing is a dangerous sport and no one should ever forget just how brave these drivers are when they step into their machines and race for glory and our entertainment. Of course they don't have to do it, but then, why do anything? He had a passion in life and he strove to make a success of it, which he did, he conquered American motor sport, and he should be celebrated for it.

Hamilton shines as Vettel is victorious

Exiting turn 2 Vettel slotted in behind the McLaren. Tucking himself under his opponents rear wing he darted out to the left causing Hamilton to defend into the next right hander. The Red Bull tucked in again, slip streaming him down to turn four, taking to the smallest of gaps to the inside on the dirty line. Vettel shot through, just made the corner and was a second ahead at the end of the lap. The race was won.

The Korean Grand Prix was full of incident and wheel to wheel action resulting in another victory for Sebastian Vettel and clinching the constructor’s championship for Red Bull. But it was Lewis Hamilton who was most interesting, from his performance in the car to his attitude outside it.

Lewis was wonderful to watch on Saturday, the car was alive and as he drove a truly breath taking pole position, the first time Red Bull had been defeated on a Saturday afternoon.

It goes to show that Lewis still has the pace underneath all his troubles. Sadly the McLaren just wasn’t strong enough to live with the pace of Red Bull on Sunday but we saw Lewis drive a strong, clean race to score a solid second place.

It could ignite the momentum to get him back to where he should be, fighting at the front. He made a good start, but was passed by Vettel on the first lap, from then on he managed to keep around a second behind but was unable to challenge, especially when Mark Webber latched on to the back of him after the final round of pit stops.

There was intelligent racing to see from Lewis, he was aggressive in the right places, after exiting the pits at the second pit stops, he raced wheel to wheel with Webber for several corners. He also understood to let him go like at the end of the pit straight when he was caught out by Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus.

Webber dived to the inside, Hamilton didn’t fight it, letting him go, knowing he’d be in the detection zone for the DRS. Sure enough he passed down the longest straight in Formula 1 and continued to hold him behind.

It was made all the more impressive by the acknowledgement of McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh that Hamilton had been fighting with a lack of down force. During the opening laps the McLaren lost up to 10 points of down force causing the car to slide. Perhaps without such a problem it could have been Hamilton’s day?

So it was a return to form in some respects but he certainly didn’t look happy about it. After claiming pole he seemed downbeat, his second place and strong race failed to cheer him up much more, just what is it that has plagued Lewis’ mind this year?

Realistically, an on form Lewis Hamilton in a car that even has a sniff of victory will be the most likely driver to take on Red Bull next year, and when he’s on form it’s racing, and driving that is simply exhilarating to behold. We can only hope this result will be built upon in the next three races.

Alonso frustration begins to boil

The other driver you’d have to pick in a top 3 right now is Fernando Alonso, but even he, the man who never gives up is capable of throwing his toys out of the pram as had been witnessed a few times in his career.

This year he was meant to win, taking his form from last year when he came within a few places of taking the title he should have been the man to take the title. But it’s been nothing like it and that frustration seems to be taking hold of him, perhaps a bit like Lewis.

After staying out longer at the second pit stops he was finally able to get by his team mate Felipe Massa and set some astounding laps to catch up to the back of the battle for second between Hamilton, Webber and Jenson Button. But with two laps to go he came on the radio saying ‘I give up’, finishing in fifth. The BBC commentary team seemed to think this was just a bluff, but I see it as a driver who despite the hard work from Ferrari, has not seen a significant improvement through the year.

He has dragged this car to results it shouldn’t have got, but Alonso was expecting so much more from this year. It’s now been five years since he last won the title, he’s been replaced by Vettel as the youngest double champion, and the odds are against him getting a third before the young German. It’ll be interesting to see just how he’ll respond in the last three races of the year.

The accident: Alonso misses but Petrov scores against Schumacher

It could have been worse for Alonso, after the first pit stops he was jumped by Michael Schumacher in the Mercedes who again belied his qualifying form to produce a strong race and was maximising his strategy yet again.

Vitaly Petrov was also on Alonso’s tail on lap 16, his tyres already up to temperature as the Ferrari exited the pits. Slip streaming with the aid of the DRS they both forgot about anyone else, missing their braking points, if anything Alonso was slightly worse careering straight on just missing the back of Schumacher as he entered turn three.

However, Petrov scored a direct hit, wiping out the Mercedes and curtailing his own race too whilst also bringing out the safety car. He's received a five place grid penalty in India for causing an avoidable accident. It freed up Alonso to pursue a top 5 result otherwise he’d probably have been even more annoyed.

Alguersuari is star of the race in seventh

Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso drove a simply outstanding race. He started 11^th so was in the thick of the action from the start this time and he applied himself well moving into the top 10 early on.

Most impressive was the way he was able to set competitive lap times despite staying out longer on older tyres. It set him up well for the end of the race. He was chasing Nico Rosberg who had pitted much earlier for his last stint as he’d ruined his tyres through locking up. Alguersuari on fresher rubber hunted him down and attacked him for lap after lap.

Finally on the last lap, Rosberg’s tyres were finished, he made a mistake and Alguersuari activated the DRS and was finally through to seventh. It was another highlight for what is turning out to be a decent year for the Toro Rosso driver.

Another perfect drive in a near perfect season for Vettel

Sebastian Vettel drove a champion’s drive today. This is what he wanted last week in Japan, but his first race as double world champion resulted in a supreme victory, in fact it was one of his most dominant of the season. And the wonderful thing is he seems so grateful and happy to just be a part of this sport.

In interviews after the race he was ebullient with not only victory, but just being able to drive a Formula 1 car and live out his dreams.

Vettel made a decent start maintaining second place. Exiting turn 2 he slotted in behind the McLaren of Hamilton, tucking himself under his opponents rear wing, he darted out to the left causing Hamilton to defend in to the next right hander. Vettel tucked in again, slip streaming him down to turn four, he moved out to the left, taking to the smallest of gaps to the inside on the dirty line. He shot through, just made the corner and was a second ahead at the end of the lap.

No one was to get any closer to him for the rest of the race. He maintained the gap perfectly and once Lewis and Webber started battling he shot off up the road by 12 seconds and on the last tour, set the fastest lap by a clear second to take his 10^th win of the season and 20^th in his career.

Rest of the top 10

Webber had a decent race for third, if he’d pitted earlier than Hamilton I think he could have challenged for the win, but it wasn’t to be, a strong battling performance.

After the highs of Japan, Jenson Button was significantly outperformed by a Lewis Hamilton who still seems to be under the weather. He’ll have to be at the top of his game for the rest of the year if he wants to stay ahead of him in the championship. Still fourth was a fine result after being shuffled back at the start to sixth.

Massa had a fantastic start, getting up to third at one point before settling behind Webber in fourth. Dropped places to Button, then Alonso in the pit stops and ended up sixth. At least he couldn’t get angry about Hamilton this time.

Nico Rosberg blamed his tyres for what looked like a promising race to begin with. Held onto the top six well during the first stint, but after changing from the super soft to the soft tyre, he flat spotted them, resulting in an early second pit stop and lost a lot of time. Caught out on the last lap and ended up in eighth.

Sebastian Buemi in the Toro Rosso had a strong drive finishing ninth despite losing four places at the start due to a Sauber hitting him. He fought hard and passed his way back into contention.

Paul di Resta scored points again for Force India. Seemed to fall back during the latter part of his stints, his tyres not holding up, but still managed to maintain position ahead of his team mate. He thought the team had been too conservative with strategy but realistically they weren’t going to get better than a ninth at best today such was the pace of those around them.

A mention to Heikki Kovalainen again, this time for finishing 14^th ahead of both Sauber’s, an exceptional race for Lotus whose pace on Sunday’s is getting better all the time despite poor qualifying, and it’s nice to see one of the new teams starting to mix it with the regulars.

Finally young Red Bull protégé Daniel Ricciardo driving for HRT also had a strong race, finishing above a Virgin as he continues to make progress.

So on to India for their debut race. It’s meant to be one of the better new circuits that have been introduced over the years, full of passing opportunities and a wide surface. Sebastian Vettel will be looking for another win, but Lewis Hamilton is back in the game, don’t be surprised to see him return to the top.

All photos taken from autosport.com