Sebastian Vettel completely dominated under the lights in
the Singapore Grand Prix. On Saturday he’d taken pole position, not even
feeling the need for a second run in Q3 as despite Nico Rosberg getting close,
his first time was good enough.
In the race he made a decent start, but Rosberg made an even
better one, going inside into turn 1. There could have been a race, oh it came
so close to being a race, at least for the first stint. But alas, Rosberg ran
wide and Vettel swooped back into the lead and then obliterated the opposition.
He was 1.9 clear at the end of the first lap, four seconds
clear after two laps. It was done, dusted, over. Vettel was in a class of his
own. Not even a mid-race safety car could spoil his day. As many of his rivals
pitted under the full course yellow, Vettel, Rosberg, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton
stayed out. Only Vettel could make this work. When the three behind pitted
again they went back into the back, their pace insufficient to have pulled a
gap.
Vettel monstered the Marina Bay circuit, two seconds a lap
quicker than anyone else. It was a monumental performance, no one else could
touch him. His engineer told him to get a gap, often they’re telling him to slow
down, but when Vettel is let off the leash his speed is explosive. He came in
for his final pit stop way ahead of Fernando Alonso who was making his tyres
last from the safety car period.
As Webber, Rosberg and Hamilton fought back through the
field, Vettel ran serenely at the front, tied up the loose ends, dotted the I’s
and crossed the t’s, he was untouchable. It was one of the most impressive
performances this year. Shame on those who keep on booing him on the podium
too; it would be nice to have closer competition but it’s not his or the teams
fault they keep on winning. He’s a good guy, with a strong desire to win, and a
performance like today should be celebrated.
Yes, it would have been nice to have a race for victory, but
the actual win was a demonstration of someone who maximised everything and was
in a class of his own. If there were still any doubts about who will be crowned
2013 world champion, I think they’ve flown away in to the night sky.
Action in the pack
Behind Vettel there was a quite the action filled race going
on especially towards the end. In the opening laps it was all about tracking
the progress of Kimi Raikkonen, who qualified only 13th while
suffering from a bad back. Despite this he made decent progress at the start and
made a number of passes to move himself up the order.
It was when he came up to Jenson Button’s McLaren that
progress slowed. But it was during the safety car period that it all kicked
off. Daniel Ricciardo had qualified ninth but had dropped through the field at
the start. He crashed on lap 25 blocking the track into turn 18. The front four
stayed out while the likes of Alonso, Button, Raikkonen, Sergio Perez, the
Sauber pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Esteban Gutierrez with Paul di Resta
sandwiched between them, all stayed out.
When Webber and the Mercedes duo pitted they emerged behind
this rabble and began to charge followed by a three stopping Felipe Massa.
Webber had jumped Rosberg in the stops but the silver cars were soon on his
tail, and they began to charge back up the back.
It looked like Button might have a chance to take McLaren’s
first podium of the year, but with ten laps to go his tyres were crying, Kimi
in the Lotus, always kind to its tyres made a fantastic move around the outside
of Button to claim the final podium. It was a timely move because Webber and co
were bearing down on them by up to three seconds a lap. However, once Kimi was
ahead of the McLaren, the podium was his as his times improved greatly to keep
the Red Bull at bay.
Alonso finished second after a great start that launched him
from seventh to third, with the safety car interlude and the differing
strategies, second was easily his. But he had no challenge for Vettel and
without the safety car he’d have almost certainly been behind the Mercedes cars
too. So the thoughts that Ferrari would suffer on a return to high down force
tracks proved right. It’s again the genius of Alonso that has been relied upon
to give them a respectable result and for the Spaniard after four years of trying, that simply isn't good enough anymore.
Kimi followed behind with a great little drive, while the
Mercs of Rosberg and Hamilton followed behind in fourth and fifth, Rosberg
probably should have had a podium though, but it’s not working for Mercedes at
the moment. Hamilton has not had a good last couple of weekends, Rosberg is beginning to reassert himself, which is actually nice to see that he hasn't been crushed by what was actually a fantastic run of form by Hamilton.
Massa cruised up to sixth while Button and Perez dropped due to
their dying tyres to seventh and eighth. It looked like it could have been a
great race for McLaren at one point but again they flattered to deceive.
The Sauber’s looked good today, running pretty strongly
during the race, with Esteban Gutierrez performing well this weekend
particularly in qualifying where he made Q3. Hulkenberg though took the points
for ninth, just unable to snatch a few more places from the struggling McLaren’s.
Behind Adrian Sutil took the final point as Force India disappointed once
again.
A bad day for…
Webber had charged comfortably into podium contention. He
was never likely to catch Kimi, but he was certainly giving it a go when with
just a few laps remaining his engineers came on the radio to tell him to slow
and shift gears early. Heat was rising in the engine; a water leak terminated
his progress on the very final lap while still just about in the points.
It got worse for Webber on what had been a drama filled day
already. On the slowing down lap Alonso stopped to pick him up. By walking onto
the track before all cars had returned to parc ferme he and Alonso for causing
a dangerous situation were reprimanded. As it was his third reprimand he will
suffer a ten place grid penalty in Korea.
di Resta was showing great form despite Force India once
again under performing. With a bad qualifying of just 17th place, he
was charging into points contention when he lost it and ploughed into the
barriers with just a few laps remaining. Not the sort of result you want when
you’re looking to move up the grid. Especially when Hulkenberg is performing so
well right now, it’s also unlikely we’re going to see Force India being able to
challenge without a bit of luck for the rest of the year, so this was an
opportunity missed.
Perhaps the most disappointed man should be Romain Grosjean
in the Lotus. He’d qualified a superb third, but had then dropped back at the
start to fifth. Still he was in a good position as the race progressed. Only an
air leak from in the engine pneumatic system prevented him from going on to
record a podium his Lotus team thought was a certainty.
His reaction on the radio was heart breaking for him. He’s
managed to combine his pace with consistency in the last few races but for
various reasons the results just haven’t come. Not yet anyway. Still, he’s
going in the right direction to show that he can lead this team next year.
The race stewards
The stewards again just messed up this weekend with some of
their decisions. The reprimand to Webber and Alonso seemed overly harsh in what
was just a nice sporting thing to do, even if Hamilton said he did nearly hit
the Ferrari when it had stopped. Webber should not have activated a grid
penalty on such an incident.
Particularly bad and a decision that seems unfathomable is
when they told Hulkenberg to give a place back to Perez when the McLaren driver
had not even owned said place. It was bizarre. The two were fighting up behind
the a Williams when Perez dived down the inside of the Sauber running deep into
turn seven. Hulkenberg then ran over the kerb to avoid contact. He had not
slipped behind the McLaren in this manoeuvre nor had he gained an advantage by
running slightly off the track. By doing what he did he avoided an accident
thereby saving both their races.
It was a particularly poor decision, it would be nice to
have some consistency. An incident earlier in the race when Hamilton had to
give a place back to Massa was fine because it was clear cut, Hamilton had cut
a corner which resulted in him gaining a place. Therefore it’s obvious to give
the place back.
Just because Hulkenberg ran wide off the track and
maintained his place isn’t gaining an advantage unless you count avoiding an accident
as something to be penalised, strange.
Onwards but the fight is over
It was kind of like reverting to type this race. Vettel won,
Alonso ground out a podium, Kimi charged from a poor quali to a podium. Only
the Mercedes didn’t quite achieve their pole position. It was a good race, but
the hope of a title challenge is over.
This time last year Vettel won in Singapore then recorded a
further three race victories in a row. The way Red Bull look right now he could
well win the last six races of the season. As impressive as that would be, let’s
hope for the odd challenge before the year is out to create some fireworks.
Final Result:
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
3. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus
4. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
5. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes
6. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
7. Jenson Button - McLaren
8. Sergio Perez - McLaren
9. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber
10. Adrian Sutil - Force India
11. Pastor Maldonado - Williams
12. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber
13. Valtteri Bottas - Williams
14. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso
15. Mark Webber - Red Bull - Engine
16. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham
17. Max Chilton - Marussia
18. Jules Bianchi - Marussia
19. Charles Pic - Caterham
20. Paul di Resta - Force India - Accident
R. Romain Grosjean - Lotus - Pneumatics
R. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso - Accident
all photo's from autosport.com
No comments:
Post a Comment