Radio silence for helping drivers

"The driver must drive the car alone and unaided." So says Article 20.1 of F1's sporting regulations as the FIA clamp down on radio communication between team and driver that help's with the performance of the car and driver.

Mercedes are a fine example of this, often you can hear them talking to Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg telling them where they could be braking later, where the advantage of their team mate is coming from on track. The perception is that the wider public are now viewing these once great gladiators in control of viciously fast machinery as mere puppets under the pit walls control.

In a way I guess that might not be too far from the truth, although not one I fully agree with. The full message sent to the teams on Wednesday night from FIA reported in autosport reads like this: "In order to ensure that the requirements of Article 20.1 of the F1 sporting regulations are respected at all times FIA intends to rigorously enforce this regulation with immediate effect. Therefore, no radio conversation from pit to driver may include any information that is related to the performance of the car or driver."

I think the intent of what the FIA are trying to do makes sense. They want the driver to be the star and for the public to see that he is the one in control and not attached to strings from the garage. I'm all in favour of the driver being given more control and can understand a sense of frustration when you hear a communication which helps a driver out and therefore erodes an advantage of another not through that drivers talent but from an engineer sitting by telemetry traces on a computer.

To my mind though it's just another case of Formula 1's current obsession with self improvement where it's not needed. As I've written before there is nothing wrong with the product, what’s wrong is the division of money to teams, about teams struggling for survival when there's no need for that to be the case, the fact that Formula 1 hasn't embraced social media and has no idea how to promote itself even with the major opportunity of a brave new world of regulations this year which no one knows about other than it's not as noisy. 

I'm sure there are some drivers who appreciate the radio help from the team, but equally I'm sure there's some drivers who just wish to be left alone. Perhaps it is a bit unfair when you're a driver who can cope with the complexities of the sport on your own and are able to manage all aspects but then that advantage is cancelled out because you're team mate or main rival has an engineer who is guiding them along.

To me it more emphasises the team element of the sport which unfortunately is so often overlooked. The radio transmissions add to the television coverage, and with this ban I'm sure we'll hear a lot less of the goings on of the drivers and the insight that brings. For instance you're able to learn how some teams operate, or which drivers request more information. How often do you hear Fernando Alonso looking for advice for instance compared to the Mercedes pair? It lets you realise sometimes who are the ones that need help, who want it, who don’t and who will get it anyway.

When does a communication become help anyway? How will that be defined? Thankfully the team will still be able to advise on pit strategy so we shouldn't lose classics like Hamilton's engineer Pete Bonnington saying it's 'hammer time' when it's time to push. Rob Smedley on the radio to Felipe Massa was always fun in the Ferrari days, but was often helping him and that kind of thing might be lost.

Still after all that, it's not going to effect anything radically and I hope in general there's still plenty of chatter broadcast, probably involving a lot of code words from teams that mean what they now cannot say. I do think it is just another case of F1 getting a thought in it's head and running with it for better or worse. We'll lose an aspect of team and driver and how they operate but maybe we'll gain from drivers being thought of as the real stars and in control of their machines again.

However as they’re the ones sitting in the car I always thought they were the ones in control and just utilising everything they could to drive them quicker. I think most people thought that anyway as at the end of the day when you're in a wheel to wheel fight no amount of advice is going to help a driver then and there. The new regulation comes into force at the next race in Singapore.

Drivers of the year 2013 - The Top Ten

For the first two parts please click here for 23-17 and here for 16-11.

We've reached the top, I'm not sure all will agree, but surely no one can deny who is number one...

10. Jenson Button (McLaren)

In his McLaren years and many before that too, Jenson has never been a great qualifier so perhaps it is unsurprising that he was out-qualified by his team mate Sergio Perez. Having said that Perez wasn’t thought of as a great qualifier either…

However, Jenson proved many times over that he can still bring the car home where it should be, and his race to fourth in Brazil deserved to be a podium. I wonder sometimes if Button needs extra impetus, I feel sure we’d have had more of those races if he’d still had Lewis Hamilton alongside him pushing him. With Kevin Magnussen joining McLaren and being touted as a rookie that will make as much of an impression as Hamilton, Button is sure to have his hands full. But I’d expect far more inspirational performances from him next year as a result as I’m sure he felt he didn’t have to overly extend himself to get one over Perez. This season he sparkled on occasion but too much did just seem slightly disillusioned.

9. Felipe Massa (Ferrari)

He’s been regularly beaten at Ferrari since Fernando Alonso joined the team so his performance at beating Fernando nine times in qualifying is pretty impressive. Once he learned he wasn’t being kept on he seemed to leap into life a bit more. He managed a podium early on in the year, but his best racing came in the latter half with fourth place in India a particular highlight where he out-qualified and out-raced Alonso pretty comprehensively.

It is time Massa moved away from Ferrari and I think he’ll have a new lease of life with a safe two year contract at Williams. As long as the team progress I think he’ll flourish and certainly show a bit more of the fight that characterised his early years at Ferrari that allowed him to nearly become world champion before his terrible accident in 2009. He was overwhelmed by Alonso, but away from that atmosphere he can show much more of the great racing that we saw only occasionally this year.

8. Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Webber may have finished third in the championship and taken eight podiums and took an astounding pole position in Abu Dhabi that showed total commitment but at other points he seemed decidedly lacklustre. And perhaps the harshest stat available is that his team mate Sebastian Vettel took 13 wins while he failed to take one in his final year of Formula 1.

Admittedly he probably should have had one in Malaysia after Vettel ignored team orders while mechanical failures and poor starts hampered other opportunities, but when you only direct comparison is your team mate he had one of the worst records in 2013. That’s no shame to a driver who seems to be getting better and better as he was still very close quite often and could often pull off some fantastic overtakes.

But when the Red Bull is as strong as it was this year, he’ll be disappointed he couldn’t push it the way Vettel could. I think Malaysia affected his state of mind and perhaps even a bit of his motivation. Maybe his mind wondered to his new life with Porsche in the World Endurance Championship, whatever though there were moments when you thought why is he retiring, but too often this year he failed to get the better results that he might once have gritted his teeth and dug in for.

7. Nico Hulkenberg (Sauber)

Well at least he’s still in Formula 1. Yes, despite more heroics behind the wheel this year Hulkenberg faced the very real threat that he could end up without a seat for 2014. The fact he’s ended up back at Force India and not moved up the grid is quite the travesty. He should have replaced Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus but unfortunately money talked and they took Pastor Maldonao, someone I’ve ranked 11 places lower.  If he’s not in a top team by 2015 he could well end up missing out.

But let’s hope that doesn’t happen because if he can produce another season with some giant killing performances then surely next year someone will give him a call. The Sauber wasn’t great in the first half of the season, but he still managed to knock out some points with some hard fought drives. The second half the car improved and his results rose as they should.

But nothing beats his drive to fourth in Korea, holding off Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso for lap after lap under constant pressure. It was a drive along with many others this year that merited more.

6. Romain Grosjean (Lotus)

If there was a prize for the most improved driver of the year there is no doubt it would go to this man. Although to start off with he looked tame. Last year ended in a bit of a disaster so this year to combat his wild ways he almost went in the opposite direction. It was as if he feared that to unlock his speed he had to push beyond his control.

Thankfully this turned out to not be the case, he clocked six podiums in total, four in the final six races and was regularly out pacing Kimi by the end of the season. There were some circumstances involved in this, the tyre change mid-season didn’t help Kimi, nor did the introduction of a longer wheelbase car. But Grosjean dealt with it effectively and outshone his Ferrari bound team mate to the point that in the latter third of the season Grosjean looked to be the most likely man to take the fight to Vettel.

Perhaps his sports psychologist helped, perhaps the birth of his first child made him grow up and mature. He’s said that he realised he focused too much on Formula 1 and by releasing himself from that pressure he’s thrived. Whatever it is, he’s matured into a fast, incisive over taker who looks in total control and will lead Lotus into the unknown of 2014 with deserved confidence. I look forward to seeing what he can do next year.

5. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

Everyone expected Nico to fall to Lewis Hamilton. That he remained strong against him throughout most of the year is a great credit to Nico. In fact there were times when Rosberg had quite a significant edge over his World Champion team mate.

Of course Lewis is one of the fastest out there and that did tell in qualifying, but not by all that much in the end. And in the races Nico won two races to Lewis’ one. Ok the second win was because Lewis and Vettel retired, but the first in Monaco was a masterpiece of control from a great pole position in which he kept the field behind him at a pace he wanted. It was sublime.

I think Nico has an edge with the conservation role in Formula 1 over Lewis. It’s only Hamilton’s brute force that has helped push him ahead, but with more tyres to manage and fuel conservation next year, Formula 1 is no longer about going as fast as you can which I think can help Nico.

He has continued his good form, although he still can have a tendency to fall back in races or just disappear, although that is happening less often.

4. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

Sometimes Lewis is great, sometimes he seems lost. It seems like he can’t maintain focus for a whole season anymore. It seemed like he was the ultimate professional in his first two years in Formula 1 which resulted in his 2008 Championship. Since then there have been lapses and even with a move to Mercedes these lapses continue to happen.

Admittedly in 2013 the Mercedes has not been to his liking. He hasn’t felt completely comfortable in all year, particularly with the brakes, one tool you certainly need for confidence. Despite this he has led the way for the team in the most part, taking five pole positions, a fantastic victory in Hungary and another four podiums too. He has certainly added impetus to a team that stagnated last year.

However, I feel like he is not using his full potential a lot of the time. Such is the talent of Lewis Hamilton he doesn’t have to drive to his maximum to be up there, but if he could just feel comfortable and get his head fully focused on his driving again, then we could see something special. Sometimes all it takes is a winning car, and if Mercedes produce the standard bearer many are predicting for 2014, then Hamilton can be something to behold.

3. Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus)

He may have not been paid all year, he may have been grumpy, had back problems and left the team two races early to sort said back problems in preparation for his return to Ferrari. He also may have not liked the change of tyres mid-season or the alterations to his car, or the fact his team mate Grosjean started getting the better of him.

But the thing with Kimi is, he just shakes it off, gets in the car and drives it to its maximum potential and that’s pretty much all you can ask. Ok, his qualifying since he’s been back has not been as good as it should be, but overall he was still beating Grosjean and despite his two race absence was still 51 points better off.

Kimi won a great race in Australia and was always up there fighting, no matter where he started from. His move to Ferrari could produce fireworks alongside Fernando Alonso, although I think they’ll get on fine. Kimi is there to do a job. Fernando thinks Kimi won’t be a problem as Massa was often quicker when they were Ferrari team mates. But that was Massa before his accident and Kimi when he was on his way out of Formula 1.

Now the Finn is in the ascendency again, I think Fernando is going to have a lot tougher time than he thinks. Kimi is relentless in his consistency and certainly will not be Fernando’s back up. Maybe not fireworks, but definitely some sparklers.

2. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)

I wasn’t sure who was going to be runner up. It was a tough choice between Kimi and Fernando. They both have qualifying as a weakness at the moment, but they also both have never say die attitude in the races and will always be up there fighting it out whatever. In the end I went for Fernando because he had more of an edge of his team mate and overall just a slightly more consistent year than Kimi did.

Yet again Fernando produced some fantastic drives, his wins in China and Spain were fantastic, his podium in Brazil was another highlight. But unlike in 2012, there seemed to be a few lacklustre displays too such as Monaco or India where he just didn’t seem as on it. And the mistake in Malaysia then Bahrain didn’t seem entirely Fernando. Perhaps even in those early stages that despite having a decent car to start off with he already knew that some developments weren’t working as they should.

Once again Ferrari couldn’t give him the car to take the title and that frustration boiled over in the middle of the year so it’ll be interesting to see how he handles Kimi next season. However, he still managed to find a pace his team mate couldn’t and obtain results which seemed out of reach as he always does. I hope he can challenge properly for the title again next year, he deserves to otherwise I can see his time at Ferrari not ending pleasantly.

1       

           1.  Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull)

Well what can you say about this four time champion that I and many others haven’t already said. He was simply brilliant this year. He topped anything he’d done before. He showed his ruthless streak in Malaysia and so many times he demonstrated his just awesome speed and consistency. He took nine pole positions, his lap in America when he looked out of it was fantastic. His race winning margins in Abu Dhabi and Korea just made it look easy while his defensive victory in Germany was a joy.

This year we watched history be made as he won a record nine times in a row and took 13 wins in total to equal the most in a season. Some will point to the tyre change helping Red Bull unleash more of the potential of their car, but it was updates to the rear of the car too in Belgium that helped optimize the cars potential.

It should also be pointed out that Vettel was a decent points haul ahead at the mid-way point, I’m not sure anyone was about to get on terms with him. Vettel only went two consecutive races without a win in the first 10 Grand Prix. It was under the radar domination but domination none the less. He showed he could produce the results when the car couldn’t in the first half and then exploited everything to the full when the Red Bull stretched its legs in the second half.

Vettel has undoubtedly been the best in the current regulations with his ability to drive counter-intuitively with the blown diffusers being a particular asset and one which his team mate was never able to master. His mastery of the Pirelli tyres has also been second to none, but next year comes a change. I think in previous years this may have been a worry, but I do believe he continues to get better and he learns so quickly I don’t think he has anything to fear. No, the rest of the field need to fear him as I think he proved this year he’s the best in the world. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com

It had to be Vettel in Brazil

It couldn’t end any other way could it? The threat of rain that so many wanted to create a thrilling finale to the Formula 1 season didn’t materialise, but in any case if it had done would it have changed the result? I don’t think so, Sebastian Vettel has simply been immense and in a way it would have been wrong for 2013 to finish in any other way other than with Vettel taking his ninth consecutive win and 13^th of the year.

He didn’t have it all his own way this time, Nico Rosberg qualified alongside him on the front row and took the lead into the first corner. He held the lead for all of one lap as Vettel tucked into his slipstream on the start finish straight and was easily through. He pulled a gap and was gone.

Only a fumbled pit stop stopped him from executing an almost perfect race. When Valtteri Bottas attempted to un-lap himself from Lewis Hamilton, the Mercedes driver moved over on the Finn just slightly that it broke the left rear wheel sending the Williams driver careering off the circuit. Red Bull immediately thought that a safety car could be called so brought Vettel in a lap early.

Unfortunately and as happened far too often, this compromised the race of Mark Webber who was due to pit that lap. As they rushed to get Vettel’s tyres out, the German was sat there losing time. He had only been 12 seconds ahead of Webber, so now he was stacked behind. It made no difference in the end, Vettel was released back into the lead while Webber maintained his second place.

Vettel reeled off the laps, a few drops of water did nothing to slow him down and he took a comfortable win followed by his now customary doughtnuts. It typifies just how brilliant he has been this year. He has got better every year he’s won, and being only 26 years old he can get better still.

Next year there are plenty of regulation changes including with the power trains or engines as most people like to call them, aero rules are also significantly altered and it’ll be a hard task for Red Bull to continue to repeat their success, especially after they kept on developing this year’s car longer than most other teams.

However, they have Adrian Newey still heading up the design team, and they still have Vettel, who I’ve no doubt could mix it with the more lauded talents of Fernando Alonso and Hamilton. It’s not going to be an easy task for anyone to beat them next year. As Vettel says on the radio, they’ve got to enjoy these victorious moments because you don’t know when it could stop. But right now, you’d be a fool to think that Red Bull won’t be right up there competing at the front again in 2014.

Webber finishes F1 career in style

Before Mark pops off to the World Endurance Championship with Porsche he had one more race to take part in, and he gave his all as he signed off with a superb showing of race craft and passing that puts many far younger drivers to shame.

He made his traditional poor getaway, and dropped to fifth, but he was soon pulling the moves to get up the order. His pass of Lewis Hamilton into turn six around the outside was brilliant, but just another one to add to a collection of great moves.

He was soon ahead of Rosberg too and set about getting on the tail of Alonso. These two have had numerous bouts before and this one was just as good as they Webber stalked the Ferrari. It was so good that after the first pit stops when Webber had a slow stop and came out behind the Ferrari, they did it all over again. Webber was just on it all race and even had a go at closing his team mate down, but just couldn’t manage it.

He’d obviously have liked to go out with a win but unfortunately Vettel has just become too good with this current generation of car. It’s all change next year, and Webber deemed it appropriate that this was a time to get out of the F1 circus. Probably the correct thing to do but after a race like this it seems like he’s still got much more to give.

However we shouldn’t forget that he has been soundly beaten this year by his team mate. It’s true that most of the time if a Red Bull had a problem then it would be on Webber’s car. It’s also true that a few contentious decisions went in the favour of Vettel. But I think from an outsiders point of view he got given a good crack at Red Bull.

He nearly and probably should have won the 2010 championship. Things went against him, perhaps Red Bull made a few dodgy calls, but I feel that he tied up towards the end and let it get away from him. He still put in a fantastic season but unfortunately he’s only ever equalled that kind of performance on a few weekends since, and not consistently like that year.

It’s the one that got away, but Webber has had a great career, some of the qualifying laps in his early years, especially in the Jaguar were of the highest quality while some of his race drives in the glory years of Red Bull could not have been bettered by anyone.

McLaren end year on a high

Jenson Button had a smile on his face for the first time in what seems like months. He may have qualified a rather poor 14^th, but he worked his way up quickly and efficiently and made the strategy work for him. He actually ended up in a rather comfortable fourth place, albeit with Hamilton and Felipe Massa having suffered drive through penalties.

But the fact Button got ahead of Nico Rosberg on pace and then kept him back will have pleased him and the team no end as they head into 2014. McLaren will want to forget this year completely, they haven’t even recorded a podium for the first time since 1980. At least it sets them up for the winter, especially as the departing Sergio Perez also managed to secure sixth place after suffering a gearbox penalty that meant he started from 19^th on the grid.

He had a tremendous drive and was only a handful of seconds behind Rosberg after he’d hounded him for several laps. Perez moves on though and the exciting talent of Kevin Magnussen moves in but it would have been nice for Checo to have had another year, I only hope he manages to find a drive for 2014. But with the money that backs him I’m sure he’ll be fine.

Battles in the pack

Despite another Vettel win and the lack of rain, the race was generally quite exciting. It was an interesting spectacle as teams had to gamble on the best set up in a wet qualifying while knowing that race day was probably going to be dry, or at least dryer. In the early laps there were numerous changes of position as everyone found their wheels on a dry track for the first time this weekend.

Alonso was an early mover as he made up ground after losing his third place grid slot at the start. He soon passed Hamilton and Rosberg to move up to second before he succumbed to Webber’s attacks. The Ferrari though looked particularly fast in race conditions and Alonso was able to keep in the number 2 Red Bull’s wheel tracks for several laps before eventually fading, but he was never too far away.

Alonso finished in third and cemented his second place in the drivers championship. It’s been a good year for him again as he’s driven as well as ever although I do feel he suffered a dip in form in the middle as he realised that yet again Ferrari were not going to deliver the goods.

You’ve got to think that the Alonso/Ferrari relationship has to deliver at least one championship, but if it’s not next year, a separation could come sooner than what’s written on the contract especially as the rumours go that the new Ferrari turbo engine is the weakest of the three manufacturers behind Mercedes and Renault.

Alonso was apparently meant to give up his podium to Massa who had another barnstorming start, and got up from ninth to sixth, before passing a few more to lie fourth. He was holding off Hamilton when he got a drive through penalty for cutting the pit entrance to much. Apparently he had been warned before but it seems a particularly churlish penalty, but then rules are rules. He still fought back to end his last race for Ferrari with a seventh.

Mercedes had set their cars up for a wetter climate, so it was not too much of a surprise to see them suffering with a lack of straight line speed. Rosberg initially took the lead but was easy prey as Vettel hunted him down over the first lap. He dropped through the field and even had to yield to his team mate as his tyres went off. He still just about managed to maintain a decent fifth place.

Hamilton would have finished higher than his eventual ninth if it hadn’t have been for his clash with Bottas which left him with a puncture and then his subsequent drive through. He didn’t know what happened but it didn’t look like he realised Bottas was alongside him, and he moved just slightly enough that it was probably his fault the clash happened. He managed to scramble back up to ninth but that was a fairly poor payback from what looked like a promising race.

Hulkenberg continued to put himself in the shop window with a decent eighth, but it looks likely that if he is to have a seat next year it’ll be a midfield one. Lotus don’t seem to be getting the deal with Quantum sorted to bring more money into the team which means they might have to go for a driver who brings money to the team which is a sad state of affairs. Paul di Resta could only manage 11^th, but he is a driver who should be in F1 but at the moment it looks like he could end up with no seat at all.

The final point went to Daniel Ricciardo in his last race for Toro Rosso before he moves to the big team next year. A competent driver, but when he and Jean-Eric Vergne had locked out the fourth row, you might have expected Toro Rosso to bring home a few more points than they did. Another team to suffer from a set up directed too much towards wet weather perhaps?

Lotus had an appalling last race of the year. Romain Grosjean had qualified sixth but at one point looked like he could snatch pole position. His engine went after just two laps, but the end of the season has been a real fillip for Grosjean’s career as he seeks to lead Lotus into a new era next year.

Marussia maintained their 10^th place in the constructors ahead of Caterham.

It is the end of the shrill V8, but the dawn of the turbo

So next year it’s all change. Gone will be the V8’s and in come 1.6 litre Turbo’s with various energy recovery systems which make the cars far more road relevant. The racing will certainly be different next year and the sound not quite as loud, but they’ll still be the best and fastest racing cars in the world.

The main question is can anyone stop Red Bull? As 2014 gets closer we’ll begin to learn more about how everyone’s doing, but you have to believe that with such fundamental rule changes, the order is bound to be mixed up, already we’re getting glimpses of who might be leading the back, with Mercedes rumoured to be on the right track while Ferrari could face further struggles next year.

I think we can safely assume that Red Bull will continue to mix it at the front but you have to believe they won’t have own F1 quite as much as they have done this year, the future is an exciting one.

There's still things to be sorted with drivers too with a number of seats still up for grabs as the off season starts. There's going to be a lot of negotiations and worrying winter thoughts for a lot of drivers.

But this past season has been good. It might not have been a battle to the end, but it was one of just a perfect combination of man and machine, and when that happens, they become unbeatable. Vettel and Red Bull were that perfect combination and this year they made history.

Final Result after 71 laps:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Mark Webber - Red Bull

3. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

4. Jenson Button - McLaren

5. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

6. Sergio Perez - McLaren

7. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

8. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

9. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

10. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

11. Paul di Resta - Force India

12. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

13. Adrian Sutil - Force India

14. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus

15. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

16. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

17. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

18. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham

19. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Charles Pic - Caterham - Suspension

R. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - Accident

R. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - Engine

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The Brazilian Forecast

In Brazil we trust. Rarely do we get a dull race around the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo and with the weather forecast predicting rain on every day of the event, the 2013 season could be in for a thrilling finale which might just see the dampening of the Red Bull party.

Not that it would take much of the gloss off what has been a brilliantly dominant campaign from the Milton Keynes based team. If it is a dry race then they have every hope of Sebastian Vettel continuing to exploit their car to the fullest as Pirelli are bringing the hard and medium tyre meaning the tyres should last nicely. There are also two DRS zones, the first on the start finish straight with the second coming after the Senna S.

If it is a wet race let’s not get carried away with thinking that Vettel will be out of it. He’s brilliant in wet conditions too and would have every chance of showing them off, but a bit of H2O goes a long way to mixing the pack up, especially if it’s a wet dry race. The weather at the moment seems to suggest that Sunday will be full of short showers not constant falling rain. So let's look to the positives for F1's final 2013 fling.

I can’t think of a wet race that Romain Grosjean has excelled in during his time of Formula 1, although over the last few years they’ve been hard to come by. If it is raining on Sunday then that will be the first wet race all year. However, my point was that Grosjean in the latter half of this year has been brilliant and put in some incredibly mature drives, not least his great run to second place last time out in America.

Lotus look to have the only car capable of at least getting into the mix with the Red Bull’s in dry conditions so if it is wet, perhaps this will be the chance for them to nab a second victory of the year, in fact it would mean they bookend the season. Definitely watch out for Grosjean. Even his replacement team mate Heikki Kovalainen might be worth watching out for. He looked quick in his first race back for nearly a year, especially in qualifying.

Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber will also be worth watching out for. He took a fantastic pole position for Williams here in 2010 and last year was leading the race comfortably for a while before a dice with Lewis Hamilton saw him sliding helplessly into the British driver. He still recovered to fifth while Lewis retired in his final race for McLaren.

Lewis looked to have rediscovered a bit of form for Mercedes in the USA ahead of his team mate Nico Rosberg, and he’s always looked quick here despite lacking a win. If it’s raining it might be a chance for him to shine one final time in 2013, his wet weather driving is usually something to behold and Rosberg isn't bad either.

That could also mean renowned wet weather specialist Jenson Button could finally grab McLaren a podium this year, or maybe something even better; he was the winner here last year in a mixed condition race. Sergio Perez too, in his final race for McLaren is pretty handy in the wet so it is potentially a race for them to go for the win with nothing to lose.

Valtteri Bottas made Williams look like a team to be taken seriously again in the USA with a strong qualifying and an equally strong race to claim their best result of the year. He was fantastic in wet qualifying in Canada, and with Williams having made real progress since they sorted out the rear end of their car, it would be worth keeping an eye on Bottas and Pastor Maldonado to spring a surprise.

We can’t forget about Ferrari either. In the dry, maybe we can, but again this hinges on the race being wet, but Fernando Alonso can be magnificent in these conditions and will exploit his car to its fullest to pull of one final miracle win. Felipe Massa shouldn’t be ruled out either, he’s a twice winner of his home Grand Prix, and in his final race for Ferrari will be desperate to go out in style.  

There are interesting dynamics in the constructors championship too, with a fight for second still going on between Mercedes, Ferrari and Lotus while down at the back, it takes just one mixed up race for Caterham to steal 10^th place and a lot of prize money from Marussia who’ve been in the vital spot since the start of the year. Caterham pulled off that feat last year, there’s no reason they can’t do it again.

There's plenty to fight for with regards to next year too. There are only a few seats left up for grabs and enough drivers currently competing to fill them up twice over. It's going to one final chance to prove themselves for the likes of Paul di Resta, Adrian Sutil, Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez, Pastor Maldonado, Giedo van der Garde, Charles Pic, Max Chilton and for some inexplicable reason Nico Hulkenberg. Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne have their seats safe for next year, but they'll likely be jostling with many of these drivers, so it could be quite the wild time.

We shouldn’t forget two time Brazilian Grand Prix winner Mark Webber either, in his final race in Formula 1. He’ll be desperate to finish his career with one more win to take him into double figures, and if it ends up being a dry race he should be the only one able to take the fight to Vettel and give us a rousing send off to the 2013 season. It doesn’t really matter if Vettel wins or not, I think some of his wins this year have been mesmerising. But it would just be nice to send this season off with an exhilarating fight for the win.

If it’s dry, it’s almost certain to be a Red Bull demonstration run, if it’s wet however, then let the sport come alive once more. Come on Formula 1, one last hurrah. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The 2014 driver game

 

As you may have noticed over the past week there has been a lot of movement in the driver market for next year, and even for this year. Let’s start with the biggest story, that of Kimi Raikkonen leaving Lotus before the end of the season so he can have an operation to cure his recurrent back problems.

It could appear to be that Kimi has left Lotus in the lurch but to be fair to the Finn, he hasn’t been paid this year, that money is not looking like it’s going to be forthcoming any time soon either. Added to that and probably more importantly, the recovery time of this op is estimated at around four weeks.

He’s facing a huge challenge with taking on Fernando Alonso at Ferrari next year, so will want to be ready to hit the ground running as soon as 2014 testing starts early next year. With the season finishing so late, it’s probably a good plan to get it done and dusted as soon as possible.

It’s probably a wise decision, although a disappointment for all Kimi fans not to see his smiling face for the final two grand prix. Nico Hulkenberg apparently turned down the chance to replace him as he felt it was too big a risk for just two races. Heikki Kovalainen grabbed the opportunity with both hands though. Having only played a bit part for Caterham in practice sessions this year he will be eager to show he still has what it takes. I sincerely hope he takes this opportunity.

However, I’d have liked to have seen 2012’s GP2 champion and Lotus reserve driver Davide Valsecchi be given the chance. After all what’s the point of having a reserve driver contracted if when the opportunity arises he is passed over? I know they are in a scrap to be in the top 3 of the constructors championship, but how are these reserve drivers ever likely to progress if they are not trusted for the job they’ve been employed to do?

I think it’s a bit ridiculous that he hadn’t managed to get a drive while someone like Max Chilton did. Yes, he was a race winner in GP2, but his drive was bought. The top level of motor sport should not be employing drivers who have paid for their seats. They should only be for the best of the best.

Perhaps a restructuring of the revenue generated by this global car circus would enable teams to afford to hire the drivers they really want and not the ones they need for the sake of budget. Even if it is an economic downtime, there is something seriously wrong when the top echelon of the sport has top teams not being able to afford to pay its drivers. But that’s an entirely different blog to be discussed later.

McLaren

Kevin Magnussen was awesome at the young drivers test at Silverstone this year. I was there and for lap after lap he just looked on it all the time, it was certainly very impressive. He also won the Formula Renault 3.5 world series this year, so I am glad that McLaren haven’t chosen to blood him in a lower team but have taken the chance to promote one from their own young driver program. I can’t wait to see how he performs next year alongside Jenson Button. I think Jenson is going to have his work cut out, much like Fernando Alonso did when a rookie Lewis Hamilton partnered him.

However the fact that Sergio Perez has been replaced after just one season seems a bit unfair. I hope he gets a decent driver next year because he deserved a bit more. Yes Button has scored nearly double the points but I think in general Perez has done nearly as good a job and certainly recently has looked the better bet for points.

It’s such a shame that he came to the team on one of their down years, as there is no doubting that on his day he’s a very good driver indeed. Much like Button in fact. And on their day, given the car in a certain year, they can be world champion, like Button was. But this looks like it’s back to the midfield for Perez, at least with his budget he should be able to secure a decent drive somewhere. I hope he does because I don’t think he deserved to be treated like this.

With rumours of Alonso perhaps joining for 2015 when Honda join the team, Button might have to look over his shoulder too, although the Woking team also have Formula Renault 3.5 runner up Stoffel Vandoorne on their books too so there’s another young prospect to look too. At least McLaren (along with Red Bull and Ferrari amongst others) are bringing in fresh good talent to fill the F1 seats. Watch out for Vandoorne, he’s plying his trade in GP2 next year.

Massa gets his 2014 seat

Felipe Massa will continue in Formula 1 next year at Williams. I’m delighted for him, he deserves to lead a team and I think getting away from Ferrari and the shadow of Alonso will do him good. I hope he rediscovers his form from before the accident in 2009 and shows that he’s not done yet.

If some of the rumours that his engineer from Ferrari, Rob Smedley might join the team as well as potentially a link up with Ross Brawn are true, then it could be a fantastic time to be joining the Williams team as they look to move back up the grid.

Valtteri Bottas is a good young hopeful and will keep Massa on his toes, but I think Felipe will believe he’s been hired to lead this team and I think that will give him the impetus to spark a second wave in his career; looking forward to seeing what he can do.

Of course that means Pastor Maldonado is now on the market with his masses of Venezuelan cash behind him, so the 2014 driver market is going to be a hot topic for some time to come with seats at Lotus, Force India, Sauber, Caterham and Marussia still to be announced.  

A final note about young drivers

The fact is money is hard to come by at the moment which is why many teams are looking for their drivers to bring a budget with them. Sometimes this means that a lot of the talented drivers who have not got the money miss out on an opportunity at the top of the sport.

This means that if this trend continues then the sport might not be presenting the best cars with the best drivers driving them. For instance last years GP2 champion did not get an F1 drive. This year at the moment it looks like the top 2 from GP2 are not going to get drives.

This is unacceptable. However the economy means that this may happen more often, so what I would like to see is the FIA buying two cars, perhaps year old ones or perhaps new ones from other teams and running them in free practice.

They would be run independently from the teams that made them so there would be no advantage for a team that sells a car. With these two cars, should a top driver from one of the top feeder series fail to find a drive in Formula 1 or high end alternative he would be given an opportunity to show what he can do to the teams and sponsors in the Friday free practice sessions.

Just put them in the shop window and maybe the teams might take a chance as might some sponsors. What with testing being restricted it would give a decent chance for drivers to get experience too. It’s a plan with perhaps many flaws, but flaws that could be ironed out. Surely worth a thought?

all photo's from autosport.com

Vettel's domination reaches perfection in Abu Dhabi

The Yas Marina circuit is beautiful to look at, especially when the lights go on as darkness surrounds the track in what is uniquely the only dusk to night race on the Formula 1 calendar. Nothing unique about the result though as Sebastian Vettel took his seventh win in succession in a drive that matched the fantastic surroundings.

The only mistake he made all weekend was on his final qualifying run, allowing an inspired Mark Webber to snatch pole position with a brilliant lap. Vettel quickly put that right, a perfect start put him into the lead by the first corner and as is now tradition immediately opened up a gap.

He was untouchable today as he has been so many times, but the win was secured with an advantage of over 30 seconds making it a truly dominant win. If he hadn’t have had to stay measured and in control of the tyres I’ve a feeling he could’ve lapped the entire field today. He seemed to be able to set fastest laps at will even when others had stopped for much fresher rubber; another awe-inspiring performance matched with even better donuts than his championship win.

Behind there was plenty of action going on and plenty of intrigue with various strategy calls between team mates. You wouldn’t think Caterham really needed to employ team orders for instance but yet there were apparently intense discussions between Charles Pic who was being told to let his team mate Giedo van der Garde ahead and the pit wall.

van der Garde was the faster at this point in the race but I would have thought in their current situation of being pretty distant from the midfield and normally ahead of their main rivals Marussia that they could just have let them race. But even at the back it seems there are ways the team would like their drivers to behave. As for Marussia, Jules Bianchi finished ahead of Max Chilton. Chilton is being rumoured to go to Caterham at the moment, I would imagine because he has a lot of money behind him. It can’t be because of his driving surely, as in all fairness to him Bianchi has utterly destroyed him this year.

I’d also give Caterham’s two current drivers another year anyways as they have been reasonably evenly matched, van der Garde particularly has improved a lot as the year has gone on. Just as I thought it unusual that Caterham were employing team orders it was equally noticeable that Ferrari didn’t, at least not overtly.  

Fernando Alonso was stuck behind Felipe Massa for a large majority of the race and not once was there a sign that they were wanting the Brazilian to move over. Massa should be allowed to race anyway, he’s already said he’s driving for himself now and since he was told he was losing his seat he’s been on it, at least in qualifying where he’s been ahead of Alonso for five of the last six races.

Fernando has mostly got ahead in the races pretty easily, but it was a stirring performance from Massa today particularly his move on Lewis Hamilton who was trying to overtake Adrian Sutil's Force India but forgot about the Ferrari who sneaked ahead pulling the move that Lewis failed to do.

However it was a little odd that when Massa pitted for the final time he was not put on the soft tyres he had favoured from his first stint which he thought was going to happen. Staying on the mediums meant he didn’t quite have the immediate pace he needed to stay ahead of Alonso who stopped six laps later and was put on the softs which enabled him to instantly set about attacking the likes of Lewis Hamilton whom Massa had been trying to track down again.

Whatever the situation at Ferrari it was an incredible bit of driving when Alonso kept his foot to the floor exiting the pit lane despite almost being baulked by Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso and having to jump the kerbs which resulted in him being checked out in hospital after a 25g impact. Alonso eventually finished fifth while Massa claimed eighth.

Completing the podium today were Mark Webber in the other Red Bull and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Rosberg has held an edge over Hamilton for the last few races and this continued today which is impressive as Lewis is usually very strong around here. At the start Rosberg got ahead of Webber after yet another poor start by the Aussie, but Webber is tenacious and never let the silver car out of his sight. He DRS’d Rosberg to claim a solid second spot for a Red Bull 1-2 while Rosberg just about kept clear of Romain Grosjean.

It’s been a strong end to the season for Webber, his pace has certainly lifted as his career winds down, but it’s saying something that in years gone by this would have probably won him a couple of races, this year though Vettel is just on a completely different level. Rosberg too is having a strong end to the year and is now only 16 points behind his team mate Lewis Hamilton who could only manage seventh.

Lewis struggled today, slipping back at the start before generally being out manoeuvred or stuck behind other cars like Gutierrez or Force India’s. He was quite downbeat about it which is expected because if a Mercedes was going to challenge the Red Bull’s this weekend you’d have thought it would be him. He’s still having braking issues though which will hopefully be sorted to his liking in 2014.

The Force India’s were back on fantastic form. Adrian Sutil ran strongly, his long first stint meant he was mixing it with the front runners for a long time before his tyres ran out of grip. Although he was lucky to keep his one point for tenth place after he looked to overtake Pastor Maldonado off the track.

The real Force India star though was Paul di Resta who regained his fantastic form from earlier in the year. Qualifying 11^th, he ran the softs to lap 20 then ran the last 35 laps on the mediums but kept them fresh enough to keep a decent pace and also do battle when needed. Alonso got him on the last few laps as he ran fifth, but he kept his sixth place from Lewis who just could not get past.

It was a timely performance from the Scot who has been overlooked with rumours he might not even be in F1 next year. The last two races will have nicely reminded people that di Resta is a driver who should be and deserves to be in Formula 1.

Romain Grosjean continued his good form with a mature drive to fourth place while his team mate Kimi Raikkonen went banzai after starting from the back of the grid due to his Lotus failing a front floor deflection test.

At the first corner he went for a gap inside van der Garde which was always 

going to close. His right front took a pretty tame hit but the angle hurt it more and Kimi was out of a weekend he nearly didn’t attend at all. At least he’ll be going to the final two races after discussions with the owners of Lotus, but to not have been paid at all this year just goes to show how much passions Kimi has for the sport.

Sergio Perez picked up ninth place and two points but it had looked like McLaren were going to get a lot more from the weekend. Jenson Button was out of it after damaging his front wing, but Perez had looked particularly quick all weekend but it just didn’t work out for him in the end.

Sauber meanwhile lost ground to Force India after what could have been a great result was stopped due to a drive through penalty for an unsafe pit release where Nico Hulkenberg nearly collected Perez. A shame because Hulk had looked very quick all weekend and looked set to finish ahead of the Ferrari’s at one point. 

A lot went on behind the runaway leader, so next time you see Vettel leading into the first corner, don’t despair, the race for victory may be over but behind there’s everything to play for. And as I’ve written several times now, no one can win forever but while he is it’s best just to admire someone who is truly at the top of his game.

Final result:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Mark Webber - Red Bull

3. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

4. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

6. Paul di Resta - Force India

7. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

8. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

9. Sergio Perez - McLaren

10. Adrian Sutil - Force India

11. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

12. Jenson Button - McLaren

13. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

14. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

15. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

16. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

17. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

18. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham

19. Charles Pic - Caterham

20. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

21. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus - Accident

all photo's taken from autosport.com