RIP Jules Bianchi

Last year on the 5th October in the Japanese Grand Prix Jules Bianchi crashed his Marussia in the pouring rain. It could have happened to anyone, it was a set of circumstances that was just a fluke. He was in a coma for nine months, but last night on the 17th July it was announced Bianchi had passed away at just 25 years old.

He had won titles in Formula Renault and European Formula 3, race winner in GP2, points scorer in Formula 1 with one of the greatest moments in recent F1 history when he took eighth on the road, ninth after a penalty at the 2014 Monaco Grand Prix.

Little wonder then that  he was part of the Ferrari young driver academy and had tested for the prancing horse many times. He was rumoured to be on his way to Sauber for 2015 with the potential of a Ferrari drive in the future. The dream was there in front of him, that he didn't make it is a tragedy.

All thoughts go out to his family and friends. There has been an outpouring of sympathy from the rest of the motor racing community, he was a well liked guy but also a determined racing driver. He died doing what he loved, but it doesn't make it any better.

Above all Jules was a fighter, nowhere was this more evident than at Monaco as he muscled his way inside of Kamui Kobayashi in a place where no one overtakes. It was fantastic stirring stuff and it'll be remembered.

RIP Jules Bianchi.

Talking points from Russia: Driver market, safety and awkwardness

The inaugural Russian Grand Prix was won by Lewis Hamilton who did as he pleased on his way to the chequered flag. It was a fairly uneventful race, but the weekend in Russia had several notable talking points. A full race report and title discussion can be found here.

Interestingly talk about if Formula 1 should even be in Russia had long since quietened down, but then the conflict in Ukraine hasn't been amongst the headlines recently so I guess out of sight out of mind. The FIA has never dealt with political situations anyway, only if safety was threatened would they intervene. 

There was a lot of chatter about potential safety cars being used for the race for any incident where it wasn’t an easy retrieval but in the end the race didn’t need one. Or rather it did need one to clear some debris or something because Pirelli went conservative which meant the race was in need of a random element.

Perhaps if they’d brought the super-soft tyre rather than the medium the degradation might have been more and we’d have had the two stopper race most were predicting, but it probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference as  I’m not sure the track offered much in the way of passing opportunities, not even the DRS seemed effective although turn three looked awesomely long and super fast with cars able to go side by side in the opening laps.

In the end the cameras seemed more interested in picking out Russian President Vladimir Putin’s arrival half way through the race and watching him sit in the grandstands looking impassive and then getting cosy with Bernie Ecclestone. Then off he went to the drivers cool down room before the podium which was unorthodox and proceeded to ask them how much weight they lost during a race. Nico Rosberg stood up for the drivers and answered as Hamilton and Bottas hid in the corner.  It was a desperately awkward moment to watch.

As was just before the start when drivers gathered at the front of the grid for a respectful one minute silence for Bianchi and for the national anthem. I hope this doesn’t become a common theme in regard to the national anthem, the drivers want to be getting in the zone at this point not parading themselves for an anthem they likely don't know. 

As for the minute silence it seemed a rather gloomy thing to do, much better were the stickers on cars and helmets which the drivers have chosen to show their respect and support to Bianchi, certainly it's better than these orchestrated moments which were just uncomfortable.

The driver market

Another talking point continues to be Vettel and Alonso’s destinations for 2015. Vettel is 99.9% certain to be at Ferrari but the termination of Alonso’s contract is still to be officially confirmed and if he isn’t at Ferrari his most likely destination is to McLaren-Honda surely? Perhaps this race when McLaren comfortably out performed Ferrari will make him hurry up and sign. But another rumour is he might go back to team Enstone, or Lotus, where he won his titles when they were called Renault.

Apparently he’d bring a lot of backing to the team and with them having the Mercedes engine package next year they are bound to jump right back up the grid. They really seemed to be about to engage in a title fight before this year, but they have now lost a lot of talented designers and engineers to other teams because of money worries.

I think as Alonso seeks his third title, he’s got a fair few options but none too enticing. The worst option would be if he were to take a sabbatical, I truly hope he doesn’t, it would somehow mean less to see a driver win a title without him on the grid even if he isn’t in a competitive car.

Whatever he does, and he keeps saying he knows what he’s doing, I’m sure it’s taking longer to announce because he’s trying to put clauses in a contract so he’ll be available for Mercedes in 2016 should a seat become free. Perhaps the real shocker this year will be he is announced as a Silver Arrows driver for 2015, he is smiling rather wide through his increasingly straggly beard after all. Whatever the situation is I’m sure the likes of Button, Grosjean, Raikkonen and Magnussen would just wish it would happen soon so they can get their futures sorted out.

Potential Safety Changes

So three weeks off before three races in four weekends starting in the USA. After the initial investigation into Bianchi’s crash led by the FIA's race director Charlie Whiting they held a press conference on Friday detailing Bianchi's accident and responding to issues people had with how the incident was dealt with (here) and potential changes for the future as a result of this. 

I've already mentioned the safety car but America may see the testing of new yellow flag speed limits to combat drivers not responding to slowing down. Other new things likely to come in are skirts surrounding tractors to prevent cars going underneath but that’ll have to wait until 2015. The sport hasn’t overreacted and is taking the time to analyse and absorb what happened before rushing decisions. 

They are again going to look into canopies but their implementation would likely be along way off and some drivers, notably Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel have voiced concerns about losing what Formula 1 is, open wheel and open cockpit racing. There are also still issues as to whether they improve safety overall. However, the FIA are doing something and that’s good to see. #ForzaJules

all photos taken from autosport.com

Can Bianchi's crash improve F1 safety?

Jules Bianchi crashed at yesterday’s Japanese Grand Prix, striking a digger that was recovering Adrian Sutil’s Sauber after it had crashed at the same turn 7 a lap previously. He suffered a severe head injury that has been operated on and is currently in intensive care at the Mie General Medical Centre in Yokkaichi. The world of Formula 1 is now reflecting on what could have been done better to prevent such an accident happening again. They must analyse but there also must not be knee jerk reactions that affect the sport in a detrimental way.

Formula 1 has not suffered a death at a Grand Prix for over twenty years now. Since 1994 the sport has had a few broken legs, a couple of concussions and the dreadful accident of Felipe Massa during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend in 2009 where he fractured his skull from which he made a full recovery. It has come so far in terms of safety but there is always room for improvement. But first of all would we even be discussing safety if Bianchi had missed the recovery vehicle? Probably not but we should have been as regards recovery vehicles on track.

When rain is pouring down and getting stronger and a car has already gone off with light fading should there be an immediate safety car? There are many instances where if one car has gone off another might follow. Look at the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix or the 2007 European Grand Prix where cars only just missed a recovery vehicle. Only a few weeks ago for the American round of the World Endurance Championship, over 10 cars went off at the first turn on the same lap because the rain had become too much. These warnings were not taken on board but such is hindsight.

Yesterday the original Sutil crash was covered by double waved yellow flags, which means slow down and be prepared to stop. It alerts the drivers to the presence of machinery and marshals on or near to the track. However as much as drivers might lift off, they’re still going at speed. Perhaps in future in these sort of conditions, and even in the dry, before a digger or other safety vehicle can come on track a safety car must be called to neutralise the race.

Martin Brundle almost had a similar accident in 1994 at the same circuit, just missing the recovery vehicle but striking a marshal, he has been advocating something being done about this for years.

Another option if possible would be to make circuits have more cranes so as to pluck the cars off the track without the need for a recovery vehicle, although it wouldn’t always be possible. Therefore we can eliminate the use of a safety car to slow racing after every accident which is what 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has said today.

I’m not sure all incidents need to be covered by the safety car, in the Formula 1 world where we have increasingly sanitised race tracks with large run off areas, it’s not always necessary. It’s no coincidence that Suzuka is a favourite amongst the drivers because it’s a challenge but it’s also one of the more dangerous with limited run off, it gives them an extra thrill. However, maybe in the aim of prevention it is time to deploy the safety car if ever there’s a car on track that needs a recovery vehicle, especially in the rain.

There are also questions about whether the race should have been moved to an earlier start time because of the impending typhoon approaching the area. In the end as the drivers have admitted, conditions weren’t too bad. I think it should have been moved as they had advance warning of possible torrential rain, but purely because the 3pm start time doesn’t leave a lot of room in case a race is delayed as dark descends at 5.30pm at this time of year in Suzuka. The FIA asked if circuit owners wanted it moved but it was deemed unnecessary because of ticket holders getting to the track on time. I don’t think it had anything to do with TV coverage especially as the FIA were the ones asking if it should be moved.

Further to that it was wet all day, the Bianchi accident could have happened at any time of day such were the conditions affecting Suzuka so in the end when the race started had no on the accident and the organisers were right in the end. After scouring the F1 press, there was another call from the Guardian newspaper for canopies covering the cockpits.

The head is the most exposed part of a driver in single seater racing and there have been times when you wince as a car comes near a drivers head such as Vitantonio Liuzzi launching near to Michael Schumacher's head in Abu Dhabi 2010 or Romain Grosjean going over the top of Fernando Alonso's head in Belgium 2012. Recent tests regarding them are ongoing. In Bianchi’s accident I don’t think a canopy would have made much difference, in fact it could have made things worse. It looks like his car went partially underneath the digger, if it had gone headfirst a canopy might have trapped him in the cockpit, or caused more damage to his person.

A canopy might be good for preventing wheels or other pieces hitting the head at speed, but in an accident when striking a large vehicle such as this, which should never happen, but its debateable whether it would have made any difference. And my personal view is that covering the cockpits takes away part of the drama of Formula 1, it’s a step too far. With wheel tethers in place and helmet safety constantly being improved I don’t think there’s a need for canopies. Next they’ll want guards over the wheels which might as well make them look like small LMP1 cars from the WEC, you just need to cover the suspension.

Formula 1 and single seater racing in general is open wheel and open cockpit, I think it’s part of the essence of the sport. Pick the right spot at a race track and there isn’t something more impressive than seeing a driver battle with his machinery.

I think as long as Formula 1 learns from this accident then they can keep the sport at an acceptable danger level because Grand Prix racing is inherently dangerous, it’s never going to be completely safe when you strap a man or woman into a 200mph car and ask them to push it to the maximum. It of course has to be an acceptable risk for the drivers to participate, although if things hadn’t become so safe, I don’t think there’s a single driver out there who wouldn’t still be pushing for all their worth.

I often think of F1 drivers as modern day gladiators. Their arena is the race tracks of the world, their weapons the machines they drive to the limit, sometimes beyond. It’s hard to grasp just what kind of skill they possess to keep their cars on the limit of adhesion as they battle wheel to wheel for the glory of winning. It’s as true now as it was when the sport started.

For many drivers that danger is like a drug, the thrill, the surge of adrenalin as they push the fastest cars in the world in their pursuit of victory. It’s like no feeling in the world to them dancing on the line between life and death. Obviously they want to race in the knowledge that everything is being done in regards to safety but you know it can’t be completely safe, I think many of them like it that way, witness Kimi Raikkonen, foot flat to the floor in Spa ploughing through a cloud of smoke at the top of Eau Rouge which he had no idea what it was covering. Foolhardy or impressive?

For us mere mortals watching from the comfort of our sofas it’s an admiration that these supremely fit athletes push their machines and bodies in conditions that we would immediately wilt in. Theirs is a sport that can take them to the edge of life as they confront extreme heat, battle the rain, the g-forces, and they do it willingly to feel alive, to be the best, to live their dreams. They are singularly focused people who will not give up on what they want. Most drivers who reach Formula 1 have been craving a desire to be in the ultimate sporting combination of man and machine since they were children.

They’ve pushed themselves, fought hard, never backed down and maintained their passion and drive to succeed through all kinds of sporting setbacks, but they’ll pick themselves up and continue to push to achieve what they set out to do.

Even the drivers at the back of the grid are exceptionally gifted. Bianchi is one such driver, meant for greater things than the brilliant two points he took for ninth place driving for back of the grid Marussia. A Ferrari Academy driver, he seemed destined to move up the grid and go for glory.

At Suzuka he was once again leading the Marussia and Caterham battle pushing hard in a car that in general terms is not a match for the midfield bunch let alone the top cars. But he was doing something he loved, pushing to the maximum. Hopefully he can make a full recovery from his injuries and continue his rise up the Formula 1 ranks. 


all photos taken from autosport.com except canopy picture from formula1.com

Jules Bianchi suffers head injury after accident in Japanese Grand Prix

Jules Bianchi of Marussia has suffered a severe head injury and is undergoing surgery after suffering a horrible accident in the Japanese Grand Prix. Following surgery he is to be moved to intensive care.

He had spun off at turn 7 and hit a recovery vehicle that was picking up Adrian Sutil’s Sauber which had hit the wall at the same corner the lap before. It appears as if the Marussia struck the back of the tractor causing the race to be stopped with nine laps to the end.

The FIA has released a statement saying "The CT scan shows that he has suffered a severe head injury and is currently undergoing surgery. Following this, he will be moved to intensive care where he will be monitored."

The Grand Prix took place at its scheduled time despite the threat of a super typhoon heading towards the circuit in Suzuka. There will be a lot of conjecture about what should and shouldn’t have taken place today and at what time but the fact is it did, and I don’t think the horrible accident to have injured Bianchi should affect people’s opinions on that.

When Bianchi’s Marussia hit into the JCB that was picking up Sutil’s already crashed Sauber it was nothing to do with if and when the race should have taken place, it was just a terrible accident. The rain had got heavier after a convenient break in the weather allowed the race to go ahead but an incident like this could even have happened at a dry race, although as Sutil said after he believes a safety car might have been appropriate to allow his car to be rescued. He also reported ‘aquaplaning at this corner’ which appears to have caught out him and Bianchi.

Having said that it’s not your usual situation when there’s a rain storm and you can’t judge how much rain there will be. They knew a typhoon was heading for the track days ago and that the start time was only two and a half hours before sunset. There was obvious potential for the race to be delayed and they had plenty of opportunity to move the race to an earlier start time but the circuit owners Honda refused. This seems like it would have been the sensible option but as so often happens in Formula 1, the sensible option is often the route least likely to be taken.

However, in the end I don’t believe that this had any effect on the race, it was just a wet race and it certainly didn’t really contribute to Bianchi’s accident. With hindsight, perhaps given the conditions there should have been a safety car when Sutil crashed.

For the future maybe there should be more cranes around circuits to pick up a car without having to send a recovery vehicle on to the track. Formula 1 cars are very low down and if striking a higher vehicle can have terrible consequences as Marussia know from the terrible incident with Maria de Villota during straight line testing in 2012.

Bianchi is part of the Ferrari driver academy and has been tipped to one day driver for the Scuderia after impressing during the last two years and scoring Marussia’s first points earlier this year. It can only be hoped he makes a full recovery.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Rosberg wins in Monaco as Mercedes civil war begins

The Monaco Grand Prix truly ignited the battle for the 2014 world championship. In the all Mercedes fight for the title Lewis Hamilton looked to be in the ascendancy. Having taken the points lead in Spain after his fourth successive win it was crucial for Nico Rosberg to strike back around the streets he won on last year.

Rosberg duly took the victory from pole position, holding off sustained pressure from Hamilton for most of the race. He made a perfect start and despite fuel issues during the middle part of the race kept it all under control to take his second win of the year and hit the front once again in the championship battle.

If Rosberg had lost out to Lewis for the fifth time in a row, then it was going to start looking rather sketchy as to whether he’d ever manage to take the fight to Lewis. Have no doubts it was essential that he won this race.

That meant he had to lead out from the start, the best place to do that is to start at the front of the grid. He did this under, shall we say, controversial circumstances. Every time the Formula 1 circus arrives in Monaco there is mention of how Michael Schumacher supposedly parked his car at La Rascasse in 2006 and blocked the track to prevent Fernando Alonso setting a better time during qualifying.

No wonder there was immediate suspicion on Rosberg as knowing he was down on his own provisional pole lap he locked up going into Mirabeau and ran down the escape road bringing out the yellow flags. The pressure certainly seemed to be getting to him at this point, but suddenly that pressure was transferred to Hamilton.

Hamilton was behind Rosberg on the track, and after the first laps had been set was just 0.059 slower. On the second run he was quicker at the first sector but backed off as the yellow flags waved for his team mates car, Hamilton’s chances of securing the most important pole position of the year were over. Immediately he thought it had been done on purpose and from there his head seemed to go, this was a race he desperately wanted to take pole at and win to demonstrate his dominance over Rosberg as he had intimated in the lead up. That it seemed like he'd been wrong in his efforts to do so struck him hard.

My initial reaction to the incident was it was just a mistake, a driver pushing too hard knowing he was slower than his first lap and knowing that Lewis often pulls it out of the bag on his final attempt, just like he’d done in Spain. In fact Rosberg has had previous at messing up his final attempt in qualifying a few times this year, perhaps it was no surprise it should happen again.

I still think it was just a mistake, I don’t think Rosberg is the kind of driver who would do this kind of thing deliberately. But when you look at the replays it does at least look like he unsettles the car with a few movements of the steering wheel before he actual locks up his left front tyre. He just manages to guide the car down the escape road, but even with that most drivers would know that would bring out the caution flags.

Only Rosberg knows but on this occasion you have to give him the benefit of the doubt especially with regards to what has happened in qualifying in previous races this year. What it did do is ignite the fire that’s been smoking away for the past few races as the Mercedes drivers have come to realise this title is going to be fought by themselves.

Hamilton particularly seems to be letting the pressure begin to get to him despite his four wins this year. He knows he’s the quicker of the two drivers, but he knows that with the advantage Mercedes have Rosberg is always going to be there. So when on the occasions that Rosberg is quicker, and amplified by Lewis’ non-finish in Australia, he knows Nico will stay close to him on points and on weekends such as this can retake the points lead.

Lewis looked just utterly downcast, he obviously feels something dodgy went on despite the stewards exonerating Rosberg from any wrong doing. He even went so far to say that these two karting buddies were no longer friends. He ignored Rosberg completely after qualifying and after the race too. Nico is taking a more light hearted approach and saying they are still friends but this battle is just going to get more and more intense.

I hope Lewis doesn’t let it get to him too much as in reality this title is his for the taking. He is the better race driver, but he has in the past sabotaged himself by not letting his driving do the talking. Monaco could well have been a pivotal weekend in the championship.

Lewis’ driving can be affected by his emotions, when he’s in a good place he’s brilliant, when he’s not it can start going wrong. He can’t let any paranoia creep in. He already started questioning the team on the radio for not pitting him earlier when the second safety car came out for Adrian Sutil’s crash. But Mercedes have a policy of favouring the lead car as most teams do, something he did actually acknowledge after the race.

Rosberg needed to steal the advantage this weekend and he did just that. He was fast all through practice and looked in general to have the edge over Lewis. He took pole position, he made a perfect start and never let Lewis get to him despite two safety car periods. In the closing stages Hamilton got something in his eye which cost him several seconds and left him vulnerable to attack from the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo, who hounded him to the flag to make up the podium. Even during this period of the race Hamilton was more concerned with how far away Nico was rather than the fast catching Australian.

Whatever though, Rosberg took a fully deserved victory for Mercedes and with it there will now be two very distinct teams within the Mercedes garage. Canada can’t come soon enough for the next chapter in this title thriller.

Final Result:

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull

4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

5. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India

6. Jenson Button - McLaren

7. Felipe Massa - Williams

8. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

9. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

10. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren

11. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham

12. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

13. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham

14. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - Accident

R. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - Power Unit

R. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - Exhaust

R. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - Accident

R. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - Exhaust

R. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - Turbo

R. Sergio Perez - Force India - Accident

R. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - Fuel pump

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Marussia score in Monaco

Behind the civil war that looks like breaking out at Mercedes, Monaco was significant for many reasons not least that after over four years of competing at the highest echelon of motor sport Marussia took their first points.

Ok, so there were several retirements in this race. Sergio Perez failed to give Jenson Button enough room on the opening lap and spun into the barrier causing the first safety car. Both Toro Rosso’s had qualified brilliantly in the top 10 but mechanical problems robbed them both of a decent finish as did an engine failure for Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. Esteban Gutierrez joined the already mentioned Sutil in the barriers for Sauber while running a very strong eighth, while Kimi Raikkonen took himself and Kevin Magnussen out at the Loews Hairpin, sliding up the inside in a brave move that took them wide and stuck at the side of the road.

That though is to take nothing away from an excellent drive by Bianchi who despite being penalised five seconds for taking an initial stop go penalty for lining up in the wrong grid position under the safety car which is against the rules still came home in ninth place. What’s more is that it was done with genuine good pace. Officially he is classified behind Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, but on the road he held him off by over a second.

Couple that pace with an excellent barge against Kamui Kobayashi’s Caterham and you have to offer nothing but praise for a driver and team who are now in their fifth year. These two points take them to ninth in the constructors championship ahead of Sauber which is extremely impressive. This year Marussia have looked far more competitive but for various reasons haven’t been able to show their potential. They are still a long way off the ultimate pace but at least now they don’t have that pressure of when are they going to score their first points.

Vettel and Raikkonen can’t catch a break

To my mind Sebastian Vettel looked every bit as quick if not quicker than his team mate Daniel Ricciardo this weekend. But problems with his Energy Recovery System (ERS) in qualifying and then a Turbo failure in the race put paid to any kind of decent result this weekend. Once these reliability problems go, then we’ll see if he can do anything about Ricciardo.

Meanwhile Kimi was outqualified by Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso by over eight tenths of a second, which is huge. It only account for one place on the grid though. Off the start he was fantastic, Alonso got boxed in behind the Red Bull’s allowing Kimi to rip past both Alonso and Vettel into the first corner. At the first restart he got by Ricciardo too and ran a strong third for the opening third of the race.

However, during the second safety car period his race came apart, he was hit by Max Chilton’s Marussia and had to pit for a second time after maintaining his position through the first pit stops during the Sutil safety car. This dropped his right down the field, but he’d managed to climb back up into the points to join the battle for fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth. However a perhaps overly optimistic move on Magnussen sent them towards the barriers. With a turning circle which is not a lot they had to reverse out of the situation leaving them both down the field.

It was such a shame, it looked like he could have been on for a podium before the Marussia incident, and he had a healthy lead over Alonso. Perhaps in Canada Kimi might get a smooth weekend for the first time this year.

The battles through the field

Ricciardo continued his great form by qualifying and finishing third and moving ahead on points of his four time champion team mate. His attack on Hamilton at the end of the race was fantastic racing. He’d saved his tyres well and used that pace to really give Mercedes their first race of the year albeit with safety car intervention.

After Vettel retired in the early laps and Kimi dropped back Fernando Alonso ran a rather lonely race to finish fourth. As usual he’ll have run to the maximum for lap after lap, but the Ferrari race pace is no match for either Mercedes or Red Bull, it’s just another nail in the coffin for the Ferrari-Alonso relationship. Although the question of where he would go and who would take him is an interesting one, as at the moment there doesn’t seem any seat available that would be any better than Ferrari. 

Red Bull have their chosen two, both Mercedes drivers are signed up until at least the end of next year, with Rosberg a year on top of that. McLaren are unlikely to have him back and would need to settle in with Honda during 2015 anyway. The reputation he gained at McLaren for unsettling the team and his current frosty relationship with Ferrari have made him seem like someone who is difficult to work with, despite his other reputation as being the best around. Is the best enough though if it can hold the team back?  For now Alonso and Ferrari are stuck with each other.

Nico Hulkenberg launched a great move on Magnussen into Portier and then held off a train of cars for many laps. Eventually he finished less than a second ahead of Jenson Button who also put a good move on Magnussen down the start finish curve to finish fifth and sixth respectively.

It was a significant result for Hulkenberg. His Force India team mate Perez has taken the only podium of their campaign so far, out raced him in Spain and out qualified him in Monaco. He needed a strong result because after Perez was dumped by McLaren, for Hulkenberg to be out performed by him would be significant damage to his reputation and hopes of ever getting into a top car. He drove well avoided trouble and held off faster cars on degrading tyres, it was a fine showing indeed.

Felipe Massa didn’t stop under the safety car but managed to get his Williams into the points for seventh after starting seventh. Grosjean inherited eighth for Lotus ahead of the delighted Bianachi, while Magnussen managed to sneak back into the points for tenth.

It ended up being a rather eventful Monaco race with plenty of action down the field, and lots to look forward to with the many intra-team battles down the field. But what it has really done is ratchet up the title tension between the Mercedes drivers. Can Rosberg use this momentum to win again in Canada and pile the pressure on Hamilton, all will Lewis manage to respond in the best way he can, by just driving faster. With the drivers seemingly no longer talking, this is proving to be a battle than cannot be missed.

Final Result:

1. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

2. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

3. Daniel Ricciardo - Red Bull

4. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

5. Nico Hulkenberg - Force India

6. Jenson Button - McLaren

7. Felipe Massa - Williams

8. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

9. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

10. Kevin Magnussen - McLaren

11. Marcus Ericsson - Caterham

12. Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari

13. Kamui Kobayashi - Caterham

14. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber - Accident

R. Valtteri Bottas - Williams - Power Unit

R. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso - Exhaust

R. Adrian Sutil - Sauber - Accident

R. Daniil Kvyat - Toro Rosso - Exhaust

R. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull - Turbo

R. Sergio Perez - Force India - Accident

R. Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - Fuel pump

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Drivers of the year 2013 - Q2

For numbers 23 to 17 please click here

And so we continue our countdown from 16 to 11...

16. Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

The latest flying Finn flew under the radar for the majority of it. He actually had a pretty decent showing despite lacking some of the sparkle that was expected as he was often out raced by Maldonado despite being ahead on the grid. Still an exceptional showing in wet qualifying in Canada when he started third and an even better dry top 10 start in the USA followed by four points for eighth marked him out as one to watch. He’ll be even better next season, hopefully Williams will provide the car for him to shine as much as people thing he is capable of.

15. Jules Bianchi (Marussia)

Marussia had the jump on Caterham for the early stages of the season and Jules Bianchi took full advantage of that. While dominating his team mate, he also took on and beat the Caterham’s even when they overtook them in development. It wasn’t as noticeable once Caterham were more fully in control so he began to be a bit overlooked but it was a great display for the Ferrari young driver. Perhaps the only surprise is that his performances this year didn’t yield a move up the grid, so slightly disappointingly he’s at Marussia for another year.

14. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso)

I thought it was a bit unfair of Red Bull to seemingly so easily dismiss Vergne as a replacement for Mark Webber. Vergne for much of the time is a perfectly competent driver with great potential, he may be out-qualified most of the time by his now ex-team mate Daniel Ricciardo, but often they’ll end up on track together with Vergne ahead. If Vergne can find an extra bit of speed in qualifying he can move up the grid. With GP3 champion Daniil Kvyat joining him he’ll have to up his game if he wants his career to move on up.

13. Paul di Resta (Force India)

It looks like di Resta is going to fall out of Formula 1 for next season, it’ll be a shame if he can find a way back because he deserves to be competing. Remember this is the guy who beat Sebastian Vettel when they were in Formula 3 together. But the thing is he does himself no favours with his I’m owed attitude that sometimes comes across in the press. His public perception isn’t great and it didn’t help that this season despite a positive start to the year there was a terrible middle of the year when Force India couldn’t get a handle on the tyres; for four consecutive races di Resta had incidents too.

Hopefully he’ll bounce back, there’s too many drivers competing that perhaps shouldn’t be there, but despite this when you’ve been in F1 for three years and you don’t look like you’re progressing, you’re lucky to have to been in F1 for three years.

12. Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)

Ricciardo got into Q3 nine times in the 2013 season. That’s five more times than his team mate Vergne did and that’s pretty much why he’s the one going to Red Bull. It’ll be interesting to see how he gets on against Vettel there, was he picked because they believe he’ll do a good enough back up job, or as some people suspect he can grow into a superstar himself. His qualifying indicates he’s fast enough, his race performances sometimes seem to show he can’t maintain that pace, but that could just be because he can manage to squeeze more out of the car over one lap than it’s capable of doing for 70. 

Whatever, there are still questions to be answer but it’s going to be fascinating to see if he can manage to put some pressure on Vettel in the German’s own team.

11.  Sergio Perez (McLaren)

To have a McLaren driver down in only 11th spot is an indication that the driver may have not performed to expectations but that also yet again McLaren have produced a dodgy car, except this one wasn’t just dodgy, it was a bit rubbish.

Perez started off quietly this year as he found his feet, but I thought he actually drove rather well. He had some problems but it was a learning year and he definitely displayed some fight and not an insignificant amount of pace too. 

Jenson Button may have out-scored him but Perez actually won qualifying 10-9. No points gained there but it showed that in many ways he was the equal and certainly in the latter few races of the campaign he was the go to man for McLaren’s points scoring. It’s a shame he won’t get another year in a better McLaren as exciting rookie and Renault 3.5 World Series Champion Kevin Magnussen takes over but at least he stays on with Force India.

For the top 10 please click here

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Five drivers who can move up the grid in 2014

Mark Webber retiring from Formula 1 has left a few interesting possibilities in the developing 2014 driver market. It’s not just the Aussie leaving that will alter the look at the front of the grid, there are potential openings at Ferrari and Lotus to consider too.

Felipe Massa started well this season but a sequence of incidents dating back to Monaco has cast doubt on his future once again. Despite a couple of great drives to the podium, particularly at the last race in Germany, Romain Grosjean’s future at Lotus has been in doubt all year as he struggles to harness his speed with control and consistency.

If Grosjean can repeat his Germany performance his drive should be fine as I think there’s certainly a race winner in there somewhere and maybe even a potential world champion. The same with Massa who has the speed but lacks the consistency he once had from 2008/09 pre-accident.

Lotus’ current star driver is Kimi Raikkonen and he is known to be in talks with them and Red Bull. The rumours go with a transfer from Enstone to Milton Keynes but nothing is confirmed.

But with possible seats open at three of the top teams who are the drivers likely to step up? Most F1 drivers are potential race winners but out of the drivers looking to move up the grid, here are the ones I regard most likely to be contacted and also the ones most deserving of a chance; Paul di Resta, Nico Hulkenberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne, Jules Bianchi and Valtteri Bottas

The Red Bull seat

Apart from Kimi, there are only two others who look to stand a chance at getting the most coveted seat in the sport; Toro Rosso pair Ricciardo and Vergne.

Both have been slightly hit and miss but they are increasingly getting their acts together and becoming more impressive. In Monaco and Canada Vergne produced outstanding qualifying and race performances to grab two points finishes. Since then he’s dropped back a bit while Ricciardo has qualified 5^th and 6^th at Silverstone and the Nurburgring respectively.

They never seem to be shining at the same time, and it’s this inconsistency that could let Kimi into the drive even if it does seem a bit of a kick in the teeth for the Red Bull young driver program. If they don’t get the drive they don’t seem to be under consideration by anyone else and Red Bull have already shown their ruthlessness with this program when they ejected the fast improving Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi from Toro Rosso at the end of 2011.

If they don’t immediately have Sebastian Vettel levels of talent, himself a former Red Bull jnr, then life gets tough. Whereas Vettel won a race for Toro Rosso, no one else has come close to replicating that for Toro Rosso. But whereas Vettel had a Toro Rosso designed by Red Bull in 2008, since then they’ve been designing their own cars which has made it difficult for them to reach those heights again.  

Red Bull have the likes of Antonio Felix da Costa doing a good job in Formula Renault 3.5 and Carlos Sainz Jnr struggling but improving in GP3 to promote if they continue their upward curves. The consequences of this could mean Vergne and Ricciardo might not just lose out on a promotion but also lose their drives which would be a great disservice to them both.

Potential seats at Lotus and Ferrari

Paul di Resta seems to fly under the radar a bit, but his reputation and image have grown a lot this year. Not sure the image is always brilliant mind you as he has launched a few tirades about his Force India team. Criticism of your team is generally understood to be kept in-house.

However, his performances on track have shone brightly this year. After being eclipsed by Nico Hulkenberg last year, di Resta looks to have come back stronger and has made a number of fantastic charges through the field after problems in qualifying. His drive in Bahrain too was worthy of a podium that he just missed out on.

The tyre changes may leave Force India at a disadvantage from now on but he’s already shown himself to be ready to challenge at the front with some great on track battles with the likes of Lewis Hamilton. That being said, of the three teams with potential openings the only one I could potentially see him getting is a drive at Lotus and that could only be if Grosjean returns to misfiring ways.

I say this because Hulkenberg’s future is important for the driver market too. He left Force India to join Sauber this year, a move which looks increasingly like a big mistake. Officially he made the move because he saw Sauber getting podiums last year and they looked like they were moving up the grid.

Unofficially they’re regarded as something of a Ferrari junior team. Before Sergio Perez moved from Sauber to McLaren he was being looked at strongly as a replacement for Felipe Massa. Massa himself was originally put with Sauber before he moved to Ferrari.

Hulkenberg is highly regarded in the paddock and has a higher profile than di Resta. Despite his lack of points this season, he has dragged a number of decent point scoring results from a struggling car. It should also be remembered that even though they were close, as team mates at Force India Hulkenberg beat di Resta significantly in the final points.

So if Kimi leaves Lotus and Grosjean stays, I would say Hulkenberg would be first in line to grab that drive whether rightly or wrongly. Even if di Resta has improved, perception in Formula 1 is very important and Hulkenberg is perceived to be one of the next big things.

However, di Resta could get the drive if Hulkenberg replaces Massa. This is where Jules Bianchi comes into the story. Bianchi has been in the Ferrari young driver program for some time and could have been racing for Force India this season if the team had taken Ferrari engines for 2014.

Bianchi has been impressive this season driving for Marussia in his rookie year. He’s annihilated his team mate Max Chilton so far and despite the team falling back since the start of the season is still mixing it with the Caterham’s.

Ferrari really rate Bianchi and as he would only be in his second season in F1, he would probably be more accepting of a support role to Fernando Alonso whereas Hulkenberg is ready to win, especially after a season where he hasn’t even had a sniff of a podium.

Bottas

So there we have it, the complex world of the F1 driver market, these five drivers are the ones most likely to make a move to one of the bigger teams but I would like to mention Valtteri Bottas who will likely still be with Williams next year to continue his development; he’s very highly regarded there. Bottas is in his rookie year but despite a poor car is showing well against his race winning team mate Pastor Maldonado. 

His performance in Canada where he qualified third and defended well against far superior cars has marked the Finn out as a future winner. He hasn’t been mentioned for any of the drives available but I’m sure he will be on the way up soon enough.

Here are some of the permutations regarding the potential drives available.

Red Bull:

Vettel & Kimi/Ricciardo/Vergne

Lotus:

Kimi & Grosjean/Hulkenberg/di Resta; Grosjean & Hulkenberg/di Resta; Hulkenberg & di Resta;

Ferrari:

Alonso & Massa/Bianchi/Hulkenberg 

all photo's taken from autosport.com