Easy win for Vettel at Belgian Grand Prix

There was much optimism that the likes of Mercedes, Lotus and Ferrari were about to launch a challenge to Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel as Formula 1 returned from its summer break to the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium.

That hope was crushed, at least today, as Sebastian Vettel flew past Lewis Hamilton down the Kemmel straight on the opening lap and from then on was never headed. Fernando Alonso rose up from ninth on the grid to take second and it looked like perhaps a scarlet attack was about to form, but alas for the race and perhaps for the season that didn’t happen.

Vettel was supreme winning by 16 seconds from Alonso, and in truth it could have been a lot more. The Red Bull driver was toying with the rest of the field and his team as once again he was told to back off after setting fastest laps whenever he felt like it.

It is entirely misplaced negativity to say the championship is over, there are after all still eight races to go, but for the title fight to be really ignited you needed one of Hamilton, Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen to at least finish ahead of Vettel. Kimi retired with brake problems but was never in the race, while Fernando and Lewis made up the rest of the podium, but they were just also-rans in a Vettel demonstration.

Red Bull had said that this track and the next race at Monza, Italy, would be their most difficult races. Well they’ve won one of them, and they showed today at least on Vettel’s car that their straight line speed was not lacking. Perhaps the long straights of Monza should hold no fear for them.

Having said all that, it would be unwise to write off everyone else. Ferrari have rekindled some of their early season speed, Mercedes via Hamilton took another pole position, albeit in the wet and didn’t fall through the field, while Lotus didn’t get a chance to really show their performance. It’s not all over, and Monza could be very different.

But today, Vettel was in a race of his own. Off the front row he slotted in behind Hamilton into La Source then deployed all his KERS on the way down to Eau Rouge, sucked along by the Mercedes’ slipstream. He simply shot through. Even when he exited behind Jenson Button after his first pit stop he was ahead by the end of the lap to make sure he led every single circuit.

Even when the others are ahead, Vettel is always there on the podium, and when they have the speed to win, he crushes them and now lies 46 points ahead of Alonso. No wonder he looked so overjoyed. If the challenges were about to come, Red Bull stopped them emphatically.

Ferrari still down, but not yet out

And now for a little hope. Ferrari looked like they were falling back in terms of pace and even team harmony over the last few weeks and races. At least today despite only qualifying both cars ninth and tenth they were able to get back on the podium rather convincingly.

Again though, they have a lot to thank Alonso for; while Felipe Massa struggled with contact and KERS issues to finish seventh, the Spaniard made a fantastic start. Down to Eau Rouge for the first time, Alonso was already fighting Mark Webber for fifth place and hung on the inside to pass. Lap 4 and he was up to fourth, a DRS pass on the Kemmel straight promoting him ahead of Button.

A couple of laps later he did the same to the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg and after the first round of pit stops dived down the inside of Lewis Hamilton to take second into La Source. Demonstrating the amazing straight line speed of the Ferrari he then managed to hold off Hamilton as he attacked the Ferrari back into the DRS zone. That speed will hopefully stand the Italian team in good stead when we arrive in Italy.

Any hope of a Ferrari challenge faded away like the chances of rain spicing up the race. Practice and qualifying had precipitation interruptions but nothing was about to upset the progress of Vettel, so Alonso’s charge came to an end with second place.

It was still a good result, and Fernando was happy with the improvements the team had made, finally translating well from the design office onto the track. However, he won’t be happy about the gap Red Bull had, but it’s a start and now it’s crucial they use this new momentum to springboard not just above Mercedes and Lotus, but ahead of Red Bull too.

Mercedes Belgian attack fades

Mercedes came to Belgium as the form team, having taken the last three pole positions and victory at the last race in Hungary in convincing style. However, the team never looked like they had the speed this weekend, and if it wasn’t for the mixed conditions in qualifying, another pole position was unlikely.

Hamilton couldn’t hold back Vettel or Alonso but I think he can still be happy with another podium finish. He wasn’t comfortable in the car at Spa, but he still managed to finish ahead of his team mate Rosberg who ran close to him all through the race.

They would have hoped for more though, they expected this track to lend itself to them, just as they do with Monza in a couple of weeks, so they’ll be disappointed they weren’t able to give Red Bull more of a race. The team complained of not being able to get the front and rear tyres to heat up at the same time, so upsetting the balance. Still third and fourth isn’t a bad result, but perhaps when thoughts of a championship challenge were beginning to surface then this result isn’t going to induce the widest of smiles.

Mark Webber in poor start surprise

Why does it always happen to his car? Ok Webber has made a number of decent starts over the last few races but too many times problems seem to afflict his start procedure causing him to fall back and fight his way up again rather than racing at the front where he should be.

Webber should have been on the podium today, he had the speed. Maybe if unleashed he could have had a crack at Vettel, he was on the only other person able to have that speed at his disposal. However, a poor start dropped him down and he found himself stuck behind Rosberg for the majority of the race to end up in fifth position at the finish.

It does seem odd how many problems Webber is experiencing this year. Yes Vettel has out qualified the Aussie at every race but when Webber is matching Vettel, then something happens to affect his race, strange. Of course any thought process about this which leads to conspiracy theories of favouritism are not to be taken seriously.

Game over for Kimi?

After a double podium in Germany, another second place in Hungary, Lotus looked like they were on the attack. Then the midseason break happened and they come back to one of their worst weekends.

Kimi Raikkonen’s record points scoring streak ended at 27 consecutive races as he suffered brake failure caused by a helmet visor rip off being stuck in the brake duct which meant it overheated. 

Romain Grosjean’s attempt at a one stop only yielded an eighth place. Not the result the Enstone team wanted. It puts Kimi down from second to fourth in the title battle, now 63 points behind Vettel, that’s the equivalent of over two race wins and a fourth place.

So is it all over for Kimi’s title aspirations? Well they were built on consistency and maybe bagging the odd win. Now they’re utterly reliant on a few Red Bull failures. It’s happened once this year, I’m not sure anyone expects it to happen again, but I suppose stranger things have happened.

Esteban Gutierrez shines and other little notes

Gutierrez may have only finished 14^th and behind his team mate Nico Hulkenberg, but I thought it was his best drive of the year. I think he’s been a lot closer to the highly touted Hulk than many have given him credit for.

This weekend he showed great pace but unfortunately it was never allowed to show itself when it mattered with an end result. Fast in practice three, he ended up in 21^st after qualifying when wet conditions scuppered a lot of team’s grand plans.

In the race he made an amazing move around the outside of Pastor Maldonado at Blanchimont, although he was off the track, but it was gutsy and definitely a wow moment. He was given a drive through penalty, but without it he might have been on for a point and well ahead of his team mate.

This caused Maldonado to be off line in to the Bus Stop chicane, first the Force India of Sutil clipped his front wing off, so Pastor dived for the pits not realising Paul di Resta was coming round too. The Williams took the Force India’s left rear off causing di Resta’s retirement.

Di Resta could have had pole if the rain had kept coming, but Sunday turned into a nightmare. He had started 5^th but ended up falling through the pack, the Force India’s just don’t have pace since the tyre design change. Sutil still managed to grab two points for ninth.

That wasn’t enough to keep McLaren behind in the constructor’s championship. McLaren hoped for a podium and looked like they might make a one stop work with Button before pitting a second time to end up sixth and move up to fifth place in the teams battle. It was their most competitive showing and Button suggested afterwards that if McLaren had been bolder on strategy they might have ended higher up.

Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo charged through the field from 19^th to 10^th to give the media a chance to ask him questions which didn’t concern his unconfirmed promotion to Red Bull. It was a good eye catching drive.

Stewarding

I think there needs to be more consistency in the stewarding process, and perhaps actually a bit more leeway given to some of the moves which are marginal, we don’t want to actively discourage over taking do we?

Firstly, I don’t think Sergio Perez’s move on Romain Grosjean should have resulted in a penalty. The Mexican squeezed the Lotus at the end of the Kemmel straight into Les Combes but it wasn’t too much and I think he gave him just enough room. Grosjean could have backed off earlier as he’d already lost the place, but he was trying to keep it but ended up out braking himself.

If you look at a similar incident with Hulkenberg and Jean-Eric Vergne, then Hulkenberg squeezed Vergne at the same place but this time Vergne did was Grosjean wanted to do and hung on round the outside and actually ended up forcing Hulkenberg off the track. It was impressive racing and a great move by Vergne, but if Perez got a penalty for probably not forcing someone off the track, the surely Vergne should have had one too?

Gutierrez suffered his penalty for running beyond the track limits and gaining an advantage. Yes, he deserved it by the letter of the rules, but it looked amazing, and it was such a brief moment you wish it had been allowed like Grosjean’s move on Massa in Hungary. But if you’re sticking to the letter, then it had to be a penalty. It’s just it doesn’t seem to be applied every time, and sometimes for something completely innocuous.

The title fight

So, do we knock Kimi off from our title challenger list? Probably. How about everyone else? It’s tempting. After this performance from Vettel, it’s hard not to think about it, but there are still many races to go and performance can swing to one team or the other. It just so happens that Red Bull is the most consistent this year, oh and they’re also either the fastest or one of the fastest.

But there was that impression that if title challenges were to be mounted, it had to happen from here, and it kind of feels almost a sense of desperation in the media that that deadline is now extended to Italy. If Vettel wins there, he’d be over two race wins in front of his nearest rival. That’s a lead Vettel would never give up.

all photo's from autosport.com

Belgian Forecast

There are nine races to go and four drivers still in the championship fight; time to let battle recommence. What better place to start the second half of the season than at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium, one of the most fantastic circuits still on the calendar, a true test of man and machine.

Let’s get the weather out of the way first. Friday is hot, Saturday is rain and Sunday is cloudy. It’s going to be a troubling time for the drivers and engineers because as we know predicting the weather in Spa is never an exact science. Neither is predicting the weather in general, but especially so here. It has its own micro climate and those light clouds on race day can easily change it to big threatening black ones loaded with H2O.

It could be a winning gamble if it rains on Saturday to qualify with a wet set up in the hope it’ll stay that way on Sunday. Just as easily it could be one way to fall through the field. It’s going to be exciting times in Belgium as it always is for the Grand Prix.

There are two DRS zones this year, one on the Kemmel Straight after the awesome Eau Rouge and the second one on the start finish straight. To be honest I’m not sure why they have either, this is a track that you can pass on fairly easily, so why make it a mere formality, it seems a shame but it’s just a minor complaint.

Pirelli are bringing the Hard and Medium compound tyres which should be very durable. Spa has a lot of fast corners and puts a great deal of stress into the rubber so despite the change of construction the Italian firm are making there are no repeat of tyre failures over the 44 lap race.

All of which I believe will suit the Red Bull and Mercedes. They have been the out and out fastest cars all season; only tyre difficulties have restrained them during the races. With the tyres now seemingly suiting them a lot better, perhaps we’re about to see a proper head to head between the Bulls and Silver Arrows.

Time for some predictions then; I’m not sure you can look past a Mercedes pole position here and Lewis Hamilton is the man to secure it. Hamilton has been awesome here since his first trip, although the end results haven’t always made that quite clear. He has one pole position and one win, although it should have been two. In my mind at least, Lewis has now firmly gained the upper hand over Nico Rosberg and will be the man to beat here; I can see him controlling the race if all goes to plan.

However there are a few caveats; the new construction tyres suited Mercedes in Hungary under extreme temperatures. This at least suggests that Merc have got their tyre eating issues under control. But we still have to wait and see how they go on a fast circuit like Spa, where there are much faster corners and the tyres will be under more sustained pressure. The harder compounds of tyre should make life easier but it would be wrong to just assume that the Silver team have got it all sorted now. Still, if they’re about to make a championship charge then you’ve got to hope it is.

Sebastian Vettel arrives in Belgium in control of the championship table. He knows he has one of the fastest cars and he knows it should only get better as he can now push the car harder thanks to the redesign of the tyres.

The only question mark is if this tyre change has left them behind Mercedes now. They’ve got a good head start but it might be that they’re going to need it. Hungary certainly showed that Mercedes could maintain a good pace and look after the tyres. However, Vettel was stuck a lot of the time in traffic and wasn’t able to run a clean race. If he hadn’t have been trapped behind Jenson Button for over 10 laps, the result may well have been different and he’d at least have been ahead of Kimi Raikkonen for second place.

Red Bull are going to take some beating, a track like Spa should suit their all-conquering aero and Vettel is in the best form yet. It’s a safe bet Vettel will be on the podium. His team mate Mark Webber has gone well here before too, and he’ll be wanting a trouble free weekend. He’s shown good pace but too often his car has let him down. It’s certainly left Vettel well clear of him in the championship.

Last year Lotus arrived in Belgium with a lot of optimism surrounding them as they looked to capitalise on their consistency. But their development tailed off and they dropped back. This time Lotus are on an upward trajectory again. Double podium in Germany, another second for Kimi in Hungary; two races they also could have won. That’s what they need to do quickly if they’re to make inroads into Vettel. Kimi is a master around Spa, four wins between 2004 -2009 and he could be the surprise winner. I'm sure he'd be bouncing off the walls should he grab victory. Well, maybe a half smile. Well...

Even more so if his team mate can take out half the championship contenders as he did last year. However I’ll make the bold prediction that Romain Grosjean will not attempt to take out half the field. In fact he’s improving his judgement, well some of the time, he has inherent pace and could go well and like other team mates of championship contenders could be a factor in deciding the outcome of the title.

Lotus have tremendous race pace but they still need to qualify better, at Spa grid position isn’t as important and if they want to mount a challenge they need to claim victory soon, where better than Spa? At least if he can keep in front of Vettel that’ll be a start. More results like Hungary where you have two challengers in front of the German will keep this championship alive.

Even better if they can have three but how likely that’ll be is up for debate. Ferrari has fallen back dramatically, and I can’t see the Prancing Horse returning to the top anytime soon. Their developments have been lacking and you can sense the frustration slowly bubbling with Fernando Alonso as he watches another title chance slip away.

I think he’ll be fighting this weekend, but he’ll be lucky to get on the podium; however if anyone can, Fernando can.

I expect McLaren to show some good form, last year Button dominated for them, that’s not going to happen this time but I think they’ll finally usurp Force India from fifth place in the constructors championship.

Force India usually go well here, but since the tyre change, they’ve struggled. There’s no guarantee that they’ll find a solution quickly. Williams are still trying to develop something out of their 2013 car while Toro Rosso are excited about their new aero developments which they hope will push them back towards the front of the midfield. Sauber meanwhile are treading water.

Marussia have just announced a Ferrari engine deal for 2014, but that’s not going to help them now and with the loss of Technical consultant Pat Symonds to Williams, I can’t see them getting back up ahead of Caterham.

One of the best tracks of the year, with some of the most random weather in the world, it’s going to be an exciting weekend as Formula 1 returns.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Daniel Ricciardo looks set for Red Bull seat

Kimi Raikkonen's manager Steve Robertson has all but confirmed that Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo will drive for the world champion Red Bull team in 2014 replacing the departing Mark Webber. Robertson told Autosport that talks with Red Bull had come to an end thereby leaving the only other real contender as Ricciardo unless of course you believe the fanciful rumours that Fernando Alonso was in talks with them too.

Ricciardo is a risk, of that there is no doubt. He qualifies well but has yet to demonstrate consistent performances in the races, in fact often his Toro Rosso team mate Jean-Eric Vergne ends up ahead. However also of no doubt is that Ricciardo offers a great deal of potential and perhaps it would have been wrong to ignore that in favour of Kimi despite the fact the Finn would offer instant speed and consistency equal or better than Mark Webber offered. 

But perhaps Red Bull also thought that to team Vettel with another world champion might create friction despite the two drivers reported friendship. This move also demonstrates faith in the Red Bull young driver project of which so far only Sebastian Vettel has graduated to the top.

The Australian will offer solid support and probably won't be expected to lay too much pressure on Vettel, especially in his first year. I think it's great to see a new driver gain a spot with a top team, it's always good to see new winners, and with this drive he'll certainly be expected to win.

However, his promotion won't guarantee him instant success; with the massive 2014 regulation changes there is no certainty that Red Bull will be the team to beat. Sergio Perez has found out that joining a top team is not always an easy way to step on the podium.

I think Ricciardo deserves his shot but I wouldd have liked to seen Kimi in the team, for no reason other than it would be an exceptional mouth watering line up, and it would be great to see them racing together. I'm not one to subscribe to the Vettel has to go up against a top driver in the same car to prove himself. He's one of the elite drivers out there, there shouldn't be any question, but still it would have been nice, and if Vettel had won out, which ultimately I think he would have done, it would have enhanced his reputation nicely indeed.

So what of Kimi Raikkonen? Well his preference is to remain with Lotus if they can sort out their reported financial difficulties. He obviously wants them to remain a top team, and they can only do that with a suitable budget. It's rumoured that a Kimi hasn't been paid on time on a few occasions this year already, but Lotus surely remains his most likely home, after all the team is built around him now.

The other rumour that the BBC's Eddie Jordan has claimed is that he could end up at Ferrari in place of Felipe Massa. How ironic it would be if he were to rejoin the Italian squad after they paid him not to drive in 2010 paving the way for Alonso to join. 

How happy Alonso would be to have Kimi in the team is uncertain, and it definitely would mean they couldn't run the team as a one car operation. Felipe Massa is compliant and he still has time to save his seat as he did last year, but Kimi rejoining Ferrari isn't as unlikely as it sounds and remember Jordan has previous having predicted Hamilton's move to Mercedes. Having said that Ferrari have denied reports that it is a done deal, and have said that they're not yet focusing on their 2014 driver line up.

Other possibilities for the Ferrari seat are Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg as I wrote earlier this year here. Hulkenberg particularly has strong Ferrari links and could be promoted if Massa's time with the prancing horse comes to an end.

There are still three top line seats available this year. One at Ferrari and two at Lotus. Kimi is certainly going to be having one of them, while if his recent improvement in form continues then Romain Grosjean will remain with Lotus.

That leaves one and if Kimi isn't at Ferrari next year then it won't be too much of a surprise to see Felipe Massa still. I still have hope that he can rediscover his form of 2008/9 but that Ferrari drive I think is the most likely to change. Hulkenberg may not have been having a great season in terms of results at Sauber, but his profile is still good and he's seen as a driver who has major potential. 

di Resta's profile isn't as high despite his good form this year. He deserves a chance in a top team, but I can see him being looked over once again. He was beaten by Hulkenberg at Force India last year, and he does seem to have gained a reputation as bit of a whinger. 

Whether right or wrong, di Resta hasn't managed to gain himself a star quality performance that makes people sit up and take note, such as when Hulkenberg took pole position for Williams in 2010. 

It's still an interesting driver market out there, but expect the major seat to be announced this coming weekend, as Ricciardo deservedly joins the big time.

photo taken from autosport.com

Vettel's title to lose, Hamilton's to win

Formula 1 is about to return and commence a nine race run over thirteen hectic weeks which will decide the 2013 championship. It’s a four way battle at the moment, with Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton fighting for the big prize. But surely it’s already a certainty who’ll win? Vettel heads up the table 38 points clear of his nearest challenger, no one’s going to catch him now.

Well most people thought that about Alonso this time last year. As we headed to Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium Alonso was 40 points ahead and ended up having to settle for the runners up spot once again as Vettel surged ahead in the final races.

That could well happen again, but whereas Ferrari didn’t have the best car, this years Red Bull is certainly one of the fastest out there. It’s not always been able to show it due to conserving the tyres, but since Pirelli changed their construction to be more consistent and durable at the last race in Hungary, the odds on Red Bull wrapping everything up for a fourth straight year were greatly lowered.

Vettel must remain the title favourite when we start the second half of the season. He has been the most consistent performer of the season so far, barely putting a wheel out of place, only a mechanical problem forced him into a retirement at Silverstone. Otherwise he hasn’t finished lower than fourth, such consistency combined with his four victories, double the amount of anyone else, has made him the ultimate 2013 performer and likely title winner.

His main 2012 challengers Alonso and Raikkonen remain the closest to him in 2013, but with notable differences. Whereas last year they had a poor car, Alonso and Ferrari were working in complete harmony and maximising every opportunity that came their way to almost take the title, this year there’s been slightly more discord.

Alonso has made a couple of mistakes and Ferrari hasn’t been operationally sound either. The developments they’re bringing to the track aren’t working, and so they’ve gone from looking like one of the fastest to being merely the fourth best out there.

Not even Alonso can keep on dragging the car to miracle results and you sense there’s a bit of frustration creeping in as he watches his glory years go to waste. There were rumours linking him to the vacant Red Bull seat despite most F1 observers believing he was tied to a Maranello contract until 2016. And Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo didn’t take kindly when their star driver said he ‘wanted the same car as the others’ as a birthday present.

Before the Schumacher era, Ferrari were often found to fall into disarray if things didn’t go their way, and Alonso has shown before he can throw his toys out of the pram with the best of them. Having said that, there’s also no team with greater experience of winning and no driver who will push to the maximum to achieve what he wants.

They’re not out of the title hunt yet, but unless they are well on the pace on Spa, I can see the rest of the season being more interesting not for how they maintain their title chances, but for how the team and driver relationship develops.

Kimi lies second in the championship and has once again shown great consistency in his Lotus. He’s not one to allow himself to be troubled by off track activities despite the rumours around him concerning the driver market. He’s out of the running for the Red Bull seat now, although there is a significant rumour linking him with a return to Ferrari. Well if you can’t have a Vettel-Kimi line up, it’ll be just as exciting to have an Alonso-Kimi one instead. However his preference remains to extend his time at Lotus if they can prove to him they have the financial means to compete as they are now.

But this will be of little concern to him, what he’ll want is to win more races. And to win more races, Lotus and particularly Kimi need to improve their qualifying performances. The last two races he has finished second after starting fourth then sixth on the grid. If he can get onto the front row, then more race winning opportunities will open for him. Arguably he’s had the fastest race pace for the last two races, but it is not being used thoroughly because he has to work his way up to the front again.

Kimi is still certainly in this title fight, but you do have to wonder whether Lotus really have the resources to be able to compete for an entire season. They dropped off last year, they can’t do that this time, but they need to start winning quickly. After a lull for a few races, at least unlike Ferrari they appear to be heading in the right direction, if they can be near the front at Spa Kimi will be here to play for the rest of the season.

Lewis Hamilton is now the most serious threat to Vettel’s quad title chance. Let’s forget about Mercedes’ secret tyre test and all the palaver surrounding that for a moment. It happened, they didn’t know the tyres and then they missed out on meaningful tyre testing at Silverstone before Hungary. It’s simplified but let’s leave it at that for now.

It was not much later in 2012 that around this time Lewis Hamilton was weighing up whether to seek a new challenge at Mercedes or stay in the bosom of his slightly controlling family at McLaren; with the benefit of hindsight, what a fantastic decision.

Mercedes have grown hugely over the last 10 races, they were almost immediately quick in qualifying (they’ve scored seven pole postions, Rosberg 3; Hamilton 4) but couldn’t make the tyres last yet again in the races. This looks to have been solved.

They were already making progress with this, but as with Red Bull, Mercedes look to have greatly appreciated the tyre changes and look likely to be race contenders for the rest of the year. Just in time for a late championship charge.

With this tyre formula qualifying has been perhaps the only time when you can really see a cars full pace unleashed. With that in mind Mercedes total of 7 poles to Red Bull’s 3 is significant when you think that Mercedes tyre degradation issues might be a thing of the past. Potentially Mercedes look like they could win every race remaining, which is what they need if they want to get anywhere near Red Bull.

We’ll get the definitive answer at Spa where the high speed corners will put extra pressure on how cars look after their tyres. If Mercedes can go well here, then they’re going to be a factor for the rest of the year. They already showed they can last in the extreme heat that Hungary provided, which before might have scuppered their chances.

Meanwhile on the driver front Lewis Hamilton is settling in and getting faster and better as a result. He’s still not fully comfortable in the car, but he’s now finally beginning to assert himself over his team mate Nico Rosberg and has reeled off the last three pole positions while also claiming his first win for the team in Hungary which will just add to his confidence.

He has some personal issues off the track but unlike in previous times he looks to be using this to focus on his racing, from pain perhaps he can create something good for himself. Lewis is focused and determined to make his Mercedes switch work, and right now it looks like it’s coming together. He’s producing exceptional speed in qualifying; his pole laps this year have been sensational. Just think what he’ll be able to do when he’s fully one with the car, Lewis definitely can make a title chance happen.

However, Hamilton is the furthest behind of the championship challengers, 48 points to be exact. Vettel’s not just going to hand out free gifts, he’ll be as consistent and ruthless as he has been all year and will take the best result available to him every time. He isn’t a three time world champion for nothing, and it’s going to take a lot to stop him claiming a fourth.

all photo's taken from autosport.com