Hamilton wins to take third world title

It was always inevitable wasn't it? From the season start all the way back in March when Lewis Hamilton cruised home to victory in Australia, it has never been in doubt. It's true Lewis has been in the best car, one with a very significant advantage, but it's also true he has stepped up a gear this year.

Hamilton's Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg was a worthy contender in 2014, but this time around he has been nowhere. Every step he's taken, Hamilton has taken two. He has been out-performed in almost every area and it showed in his disappointment after the race.

Beaten again, despite actually making an overtake stick against Lewis, but a later mistake less than 10 laps from the end cost him his lead and Hamilton was through and away. Once in front there was no way Hamilton was going to give it back.

Lewis has trounced his team mate and driven better than ever this year. There have been minimal mistakes, his 12 pole positions testify that he got on top of his qualifying issues of last year, he is still utterly committed in wheel to wheel racing and just blindingly fast. He has become a superstar this year, on the race track and away from it. He is a sporting hero and a very deserving world champion for a third time.


His third title equals his hero Ayrton Senna, the emotional obvious after the race as he quietly shed a few tears and composed himself before being jubilant on the podium.

In the actual race, Hamilton's drive was a bit mixed up, there were a few mistakes, a loss of pace at various points as the Mercedes failed to make its tyres work in the slippery conditions of the early laps. Hamilton was straight on it as the two Mercedes raced down to the first corner from the start.

Rosberg had been on pole but Hamilton drew alongside and then aggressively ran Nico out of road, forcing him off the track and also allowing the two Red Bull's ahead. A few virtual safety cars (VSC) and actual safety cars mixed things up but as the final restart came, it was Nico ahead of Lewis with 10 laps left. Hamilton set a fastest lap, Rosberg made a mistake, ran wide and Lewis was through. 

It wasn't his best drive, but it clinched him the world championship, and overall he has been supreme all year. 

Star of the race

Lewis Hamilton took his inevitable third championship with a win, Vettel charged up through the field to get onto the podium, Daniel Ricciardo was superb in the tricky conditions but it was Max Verstappen's drive to fourth that makes him my driver of the race.

Verstappen made barely any mistakes while everyone else slid off or clattered into others in the mixed conditions early in the race. Max kept his head though, raced hard and aggressively and eventually made his tyre strategy work. This guy is going to be a world champion sooner rather than later.

The Battles

There were so many incidents in the American Grand Prix over the whole weekend. Texas was feeling some of the effects from Hurricane Patricia resulting in second practice being washed out, qualifying delayed until Sunday morning and then that abandoned early. Still, a grid did line up for the race in still slippery conditions, but on a drying track when it would be crucial to change to slick tyres at the right moment.

As you would expect there were some fantastic battles in such inclement weather. The Ferrari's made some great charges after having taken 10 place grid penalties. Both Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen were soon battling in the top 10 with the Toro Rosso's and Force India's, of those Carlos Sainz was driving brilliantly as he stormed up the field after starting 20th and last. He ended up in 7th after a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pitlane dropped him a place.

Raikkonen crashed and eventually retired while Vettel looked at one point he might end up winning but finished in third. Sergio Perez took another impressive result with 5th while his team mate Nico Hulkenberg made a clumsy move on Ricciardo which took him out of the race.

There were battles all over the place, as the McLaren's enjoyed a more competitive showing with Jenson Button being able to race and fight, ending up a fine 6th. When the track was still wet the Red Bull's came on strong and Daniel Ricciardo stormed past Hamilton actually leading the race by more than six seconds at one point, so to later slip down the field as the track dried and ending up with a disappointing 10th is little reward for such a hard charging drive. His team mate Daniil Kvyat crashed after he too had been challenging for the lead early in the race.

The Williams cars suffered a terrible race with both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa retiring. Pastor Maldonado drove a solid race to take 8th after his Lotus team mate Romain Grosjean suffered problems and retired. Felipe Nasr in the Sauber took 9th. 

Things of note

Red Bull are still searching for an engine, with rumours of a Honda deal reportedly being blocked by McLaren. I still expect them to be on the grid next year.

Lotus have signed 2014 GP2 champion and their current reserve driver to partner Maldonado at what will hopefully be the Renault works team next season, once that deal is signed, which is taking its time.

The Title chase

Let's face it, I've been saying it all year, there never really has been a title fight. It's been Hamilton all the way, in control, devastatingly fast, no one has been able to live with his Mercedes partnership, least of all his team mate.

Hamilton has dominated Rosberg, so much so it's not even his team mate who lies second in the standings. Lewis gained so much confidence from his second title, what will a third title do to him? The other drivers have a lot to fear.

all photos taken from autosport.com

Lewis Hamilton: 2014 World Champion

As the teams unpacked for the first winter test in Jerez back in January there was already a perception that Mercedes possessed an advantage. Quite how big that was had yet to be determined, but there had been rumours circulating for months that 2014 would be the year of the Silver Arrows. Their power unit was meant to be way ahead of Renault’s or Ferrari’s and before he left Ross Brawn had brought in a number of top technical people that had been working on this seasons all new regulations for a couple of years, they were well prepared.

Go back a few years further to 2012, Lewis Hamilton had a tough decision to make. One which would likely shape his career and the success he’d have in the future. At this point in time he was sitting in what was developing into the fastest car of the season, the McLaren MP4/27, a car that brought him four victories.

Perhaps one of the factors that Lewis came to consider was that he should have had at least another three and be fighting for the championship with Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. That these losses were not down to him, but two down to basic operational errors by the team, perhaps made him consider a new era.

When he entered Formula 1 in 2007, he broke apart the establishment and did things no rookie had managed in years. He took it to his double champion team mate Alonso and damn near almost won the title in his first year. He did win in 2008, but it was a season that saw errors creeping in. When McLaren gave him a car that couldn’t defend his title, he went all out, but still it felt like the near perfect driver of 2007 couldn’t match up to the expectations.

2011 he fell apart, he admitted he was not in a good place, no other driver seems to have been quite as honest as Lewis to admit that. But he came back stronger in 2012, more consistent even with still tempestuous outbursts such as tweeting secret telemetry in Belgium as Jenson Button outclassed him over the weekend.

McLaren often gave him a good car, but they also let him down too. This was a team he had grown up with, parented him through junior formulae and helped to crown him world champion. But he was restricted by the team, not allowed to be who he wanted to be, perhaps he felt still treated a bit like a child.

Mercedes in 2012 had started positively, but were falling behind as the season progressed. But the new hybrid power regulations had already been agreed for 2014, and Ross Brawn and subsequently Niki Lauda sat with Lewis and explained the Mercedes plan for the future. The choice was simple; to stay at home or to flee the nest and become his own person?

As he sat in the Mercedes W05 in January 2014 and went out for those first exploratory laps, he knew he made the right choice, he was sitting in the best car by far, one which when pushed could lap a second quicker than anything else out there quite easily. This was going to be a year of domination for Hamilton, the quickest driver out on the grid.

But not everyone thought this. In his Karting years he was team mate to Nico Rosberg. He often had the beating of the German, and Lewis knew going head to head with Nico, it was he would win, who would ultimately triumph. However, Rosberg was initially favoured by many, the new regulations were said to favour the thinking driver, to manage these new fragile power units, the fuel restrictions and the tyres.

In 2013, their first year as Mercedes team mates, they were often equal, so Hamilton scored the most points and was the best qualifier but Rosberg had actually finished ahead more often when they both reached the chequered flag and had scored one victory more while he positively outclassed Lewis in the latter stages of the season.

Rosberg learns and consumes new information and experiences and absorbs them into his mind to use again. He learns and evolves as a driver that perhaps Lewis sometimes struggled with relying on his natural ability. Rosberg was over shadowed at points in that season, but then came back stronger.

So in the cold winter months of 2014, just as Lewis knew he had a car to take the title with, Nico thought exactly the same, this was his chance for championship glory.

Hamilton started out with pole position in Australia but was out within a few laps due to a technical failure, Rosberg won. He was obviously disappointed but it was just the first race and he knew he was better than Rosberg, and proved it by reeling off four straight victories including two races where he was the slower on race day than his team mate.

Then came Monaco and he realised Rosberg had learnt and would deploy tactics that might be called desperate, might be called calculated. Going down an escape road that brought out the yellow flags denying Lewis an opportunity to snatch pole back was deemed a mistake by the stewards but for most of the rest of the world looked anything but.

Lewis seemed rattled especially as Mercedes did not sanction Rosberg at all. He lost in the race, retired in Canada, made a mistake in qualifying in Austria and then at Silverstone too. This Mercedes, the car which should be giving him his second title was letting him down and then he was pushing too hard to make up for it.

He won the British Grand Prix, but more technical failures in Germany and Hungary qualifying left him charging from the back. Incredibly after a safety car in the Hungarian race he finished ahead of Rosberg to take third, despite a team order asking him to let Nico through which he argued successfully against. But this wasn’t how it should be, he should be winning, not fighting back from technical trouble and against a team mate who would arguably bend the rules. 

Any time he fought back, Rosberg would be just behind or come back stronger.

After the summer break came Belgium and possibly the decisive moment of the season. Lewis, though he had grown as a person and looked more focused than ever since he left McLaren was still open to bouts of outspokenness, of feeling like the world was against him, pushing him into a siege mentality. The car let him down more than Rosberg, the team did nothing to Nico after Monaco.

But then on lap one he’d grabbed the lead after starting second, but Rosberg having been beaten on the track several times by Lewis wasn’t going to be pushed around, he attacked, Lewis closed the door but Nico left his front wing in there causing a puncture for the #44 Mercedes which forced it’s eventual retirement.

Rosberg finished second in the end, increasing his lead by 18 points, up to 29. But Mercedes boss Toto Wolff was outraged, the world came crashing down on Nico, the fans booed him, the team fined him and made it clear it was unacceptable, team mates should not make contact.

Lewis suddenly felt the team was behind him, that they knew wrong from right, he reeled off five consecutive victories passing Rosberg for the lead in three of them. Rosberg fought back in Brazil, but by then Lewis had a points lead and a perfect start at the finale in Abu Dhabi launched him into a lead that turned into a win as Rosberg’s car failed, equalling the technical issues for both. It made Lewis Hamilton the 2014 world champion.

After all the tension of a title decider with the extra worry of double points it was a thoroughly deserved championship win, Hamilton has won 11 times to Rosberg’s five, and has defeated him in wheel to wheel combat every time. After Belgium his focus was brilliant. Lewis reset himself. Even when his qualifying problems seemed to continue eventually losing out to Nico 7-12, he’d have a think, go to sleep and by the time he woke up would be stronger, more determined to achieve his objective.

He’s invariably been the fastest driver on race day. His brilliance in understanding these new cars was fantastic. When everyone thought it would suit Rosberg more, Hamilton has defied those expectations and was the better on fuel consumption and looking after the tyres even when he was fighting his way to the front or streaking away in the lead.

His race craft in Bahrain where he spectacularly and robustly held off Rosberg was as intense racing as I’ve ever seen, his move around the outside of Rosberg in the pouring rain of Japan was mesmeric and his calm stalking of his team mate in the USA waiting for a mistake to pounce on was fantastic.

This is what everyone imagined would happen if you put the fastest driver in Formula 1 in the fastest car, he would reel off the victories. It’s only taken so long because Rosberg has been a brilliant competitor who has never backed off in trying.

Rosberg will come back stronger, it’s what he does, but with this success I think Lewis will also find an extra gear to take him to new heights of success. Mercedes should be just as strong next year and could well be start of an Hamilton era of success, where he gets the titles his talent has deserved, without machinery or mental blips holding him back.

Finally he’s come of age and is ready to attack anything that comes in his way. Lewis has showed himself to be not only capable of dealing with these problems but resetting himself to come back stronger than ever. Even after his title success he has said he’ll be focussing on making himself stronger next year for qualifying. The fight is never over in Formula 1, and this year Lewis has proved he’ll never back down, and always come back for more to take on his competitors and win. A brilliant year for the sport’s most naturally gifted driver and arguably the best racer on the planet.

all photos taken from autosport.com

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.

Rosberg collides with Hamilton to 'prove a point'

The gloves most certainly are off in this fantastic fight for the 2014 world championship. Lewis Hamilton in his media briefing after the Belgian Grand Prix says that Nico Rosberg deliberately did not avoid the collision at Les Combes which led to a puncture for the #44 Mercedes to prove a point after the team orders fiasco in Hungary.

Here’s the quote in full from crash.net “It looked quite clear to me but we just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose,” Hamilton said. “He said he did it on purpose, he said he could have avoided it. He said 'I did it to prove a point', he basically said 'I did it to prove a point'. And you don't have to just rely on me, go and ask Toto [Wolff], Paddy [Lowe] and all those guys who are not happy with him as well.”

He goes on to explain Nico’s mind-set as he came into the weekend. “It's interesting because we had that meeting on Thursday and Nico expressed how angry he was – I was thinking 'It's been three weeks and you've been lingering?!' He expressed how angry he was, he literally sat there and said how angry he was at Toto and Paddy. But I thought we should be good after that and then this result … it's interesting.”

Sensational words from Lewis Hamilton and one which contrasts greatly with the immediate reaction to the incident. Initially many thought it was just a clumsy racing incident, no one thought it was a deliberate act. My initial reaction was that it was Rosberg’s fault, that he was being a bit too opportunistic but that perhaps Lewis could have left more room. This is obviously not the case. However, he did not deliberately cause the clash but he did not remove himself from harm when it was obvious what was about to happen.

As Lewis says, it’s ‘interesting’ especially because throughout the season Rosberg has been painted as the driver who keeps his emotions under control and will not be controlled by them in stark contrast to how Lewis is often portrayed. But this incident clouds everything.

The benefit of the doubt was given to Nico in Monaco after the qualifying episode when he went off track which prevented Lewis setting a quicker time for pole position. Does that now have to be qualified if he thinks these things through?

Could this all stem from the Bahrain fight when many accused Nico of not being aggressive enough to get past an obviously slower Lewis? Has this been brewing since then? In Hungary Lewis was asked to let Nico through as he was on a different strategy to which Lewis being a much greater thinker than people give him credit for had already worked out that if he did he would be beaten at the end of the race, so why should he?

Rosberg was told Lewis would let him by, but this was not was Lewis was asked to do, it was more if he does try to pass don’t defend. Nico was never close enough to attempt a move. So we come to Belgium in which that incident has obviously been plaguing Nico’s mind throughout the summer break and he wanted to reassert himself against Lewis and in a way the team, who ended up supporting Hamilton’s stance on the Hungary team orders.

For a driver who is meant to logically work through things Rosberg’s attitude to this race seems rather backwards. He had an 11 point lead in the championship, has impressed people with his speed against Hamilton, what he did could well have ended up with his nose damaged or off and Lewis scampering away to victory and maybe even taking the championship lead. It was a stupid thing to do to ‘prove a point.’ Prove a point by making a clean move and demonstrating who the better driver is.

Admittedly we were only two laps into the race but Nico looked quicker at that point, he had another 42 laps to do something. To just leave your nose in a gap which was always going to close can now in the light of what Lewis says be called crude. A lot of people’s attitudes towards Rosberg will change now but even if it has been overblown, Rosberg is tainted. Surely this is not the way he would want to win a world championship.

Of course we have yet to hear how Nico will react to Lewis’ accusations. On Mercedes part they say that Lewis is telling the truth but Toto Wolff has said Nico's comments may have been misinterpreted. Rather than he said he deliberately hit Lewis, it was that he just didn't backdown. In the end that surely is the same thing for he knew it might cause a collision? For now Nico has said it’s a racing incident and it should be pointed out the stewards thought the same as there was no investigation but it’ll still be interesting to see how the team in particular respond to this.

To Rosberg’s credit he drove another fine damage limitation race after the incident, coming back strongly from a nose change to come home second. On the podium he looked shaken as the boos rang out from the grandstands and in the media pen he looked very uncomfortable. Was this someone who couldn’t understand why he has being grilled so hard or someone who knew exactly why?

In any event it cost Hamilton dearly. Lewis thought he should retire as soon as he got back out the pits from changing his puncture as the floor was wrecked costing him a lot of downforce.

He carried on with persuasion from the team but retired five laps from the end. You might have thought he would’ve learned from British Grand Prix qualifying to carry on pushing until there’s absolutely no hope, but in the end it was a pointless weekend which started strongly. He took the lead from second on the grid to head pole sitter Rosberg. He held off Sebastian Vettel in a near re-run of last year’s opening lap and then came Rosberg’s nosecone and that was that.

So Rosberg now holds a 29 point lead in the championship but what’s occurred in Belgium today looks like it will affect how the rest of the season unfolds especially from the team dynamic point of view at Mercedes. Team boss Toto Wolff has already said they will look at how they will run their drivers in the future.

I hope this doesn’t mean they’ll be put on leashes but Mercedes do not want another accident like this or worse. The tension in Italy is going to be electric and I think sparks will fly. All eyes will be on the Silver Arrow squad, how will Lewis react at the next race, will Rosberg remain defiant and how will Mercedes control their drivers? We’ll leave it to Lewis to finish: "He just came in there and said it was all my fault. When you’re out there you have to trust the people with their heads and [that they] don’t do things deliberately. After that meeting I don’t really know how to approach the next race."

FIA look to ban FRIC suspension systems

According to autosport.com the Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension that most teams use in Formula 1 could be banned before the German Grand Prix. The FIA has left the door open for the ban to be put back until 2015 but that will require unanimous support from all the teams.

Mercedes are thought to have the most advanced system and one which is one of the major strengths of their current dominant car. The chances of all teams agreeing to delay the ban then are slim one would have thought as some teams may not have the system or cannot work it as well as others so it may advantage them to see it banned sooner rather than later.

I'm sure Mercedes doesn't see it like that as it appears to be an integral part of their car. Apparently the FIA wrote to the teams on Tuesday to tell them they believe the system to be illegal. So what does FRIC suspension do? Well it's sort of trying to mimic active suspension which adjusted itself to stabilise the car which then helps with the aerodynamics.

In a note Autosport has seen Charlie Whiting, FIA technical delegate says this: "Having now seen and studied nearly every current design of front to rear linked suspension system we, the FIA, are formally of the view that the legality of all such systems could be called into question."

This is because the system is not rigidly fixed to car, so therefore could be seen as a moveable aerodynamic device which is outlawed in Article 3.15.

To me it seems strange that it is suddenly banned when nearly halfway through a season. I'm aware it isn't uncommon for the FIA to change things part way through a season, such as what happened with Pirelli last year. However just because they've done it before doesn't make it right. In fact I've never seen it as the right thing to do because it changes the playing field. Why should a team suffer when they've designed something that up to now was legal? These sort of decisions should be made in the off season if it's a system that is already being used.

By all means if a team invent something during the system and it's a little dodgy then ban it, but if most have had this system when the season start to ban it now does seem unfair. 

Teams have been running their cars in this kind of configuration since testing started in January, how can it now be illegal? Ok they've said they have just finish studying 'nearly every current system' but it has been around for a few years now, and Renault introduced a version as far back as 2008, so the FIA have known about it for a while.

I do find it a strange thing to do, especially less than two weeks before the next race with minimal chance to test. The last day of testing at Silverstone is tomorrow, (Felipe Massa was fastest today) I hope the teams see sense and delay the ban until 2015, but as the autosport article notes, if one teams design isn't that good or if even they don't have a version of this then why should anyone else benefit? If a team then chooses to run it in Germany, then a team could make an official protest if the FIA's opinion is that it is illegal.

I'm sure this will cause a fair amount of controversy, but lets see what happens first, I hope any such ban is held back to 2015. Although again as I have written before, it might be against the moveable aerodynamic devices rule but I hate seeing Formula 1 being so consistently constrained by the rules. I know they do it for money reasons, but this is the most advanced motor sport, could we stop trying to standardise everything and let the teams breathe and invent so the best drivers in the world can thrash these devices around a track. This is meant to be a breeding ground for creativity that should be allowed to flourish. 

Anyway, that's another story, as for this story it should be watched with interest and if a ban does come in it'll be very interesting to see which teams benefit and which teams don't and if the pecking order changes at all.

Is Rosberg about to take control of the title race?

The first Austrian Grand Prix since 2003 promised much and delivered plenty. Not quite the spectacular race we hoped for but still a lot to get excited about and plenty of drama for the championship battle.

Nico Rosberg lead a Mercedes 1-2 and now finds himself with a five race buffer, it’s an opportunity for him to control the championship a bit more. If we assume there are no reliability problems then Lewis needs to win five races with Nico finishing second before Lewis Hamilton can retake the championship lead.

Despite the fact Lewis won four races on the trot earlier this year, the likelihood of him repeating it and adding a fifth isn’t great as Rosberg seems to have found a bit more fight to challenge Lewis, while it now seems other teams might be able to get involved at the front a little bit more, which could work out in favour of either driver to be honest. For Lewis at least, he might prefer a bit more competition if he can get a car or two in between himself and Nico.

Mercedes do retain a sizeable advantage though; if qualifying hadn’t have 

gone awry then I’m not sure Williams would have been quite as close as they were.  He no longer needs to take as many risks as Lewis Hamilton does, he can afford to let Lewis win a couple if he is having an off day or his car is developing problems he can nurse it home rather than keeping up the fight.

Of course he is a racing driver and he won’t want to do that at all but there are options available to him. On the other hand, we saw when Rosberg had a 25 point lead after the Australian Grand Prix that Lewis went out to dominate, and he did so for a while. 

It could happen again, and I feel sure if Lewis’ pit stops had been a bit quicker (he lost nearly two seconds compared to Rosberg) and he’d come out that much closer to his team mate and not had Valtteri Bottas’ Williams in the way during the second stint he might have mounted a more consistent challenge, a ninth to second is good, but I think the win was definitely on.

Lewis has had a few reliability retirements while Rosberg has had none. In fairness to the title battle I hope Rosberg has a couple of his own to even it up and then we can see if Lewis will take as full advantage as Rosberg has. On the other hand as Lewis said himself in his BBC sport column if he has another failure then Rosberg's lead could be too big.

It’s perfectly possible that reliability problems could strike the silver arrows again too. For the second consecutive race they struggled with cooling which affected the energy recovery and the brakes again. It wasn’t so bad this time as they eventually stretched their lead, but it raises concerns especially as it was the same sort of problem. Hot weather does not appear to be their friend at the moment.

It all looked a lot friendlier after the race between the two, but it’s obvious that it could all explode again as it did in Monaco. Hamilton has to strike back quickly, and ideally for him he needs to take a large chunk of points off Rosberg in one race, not just have a Mercedes 1-2.

It’s the small things that make up the whole and at the moment Rosberg is grabbing every little thing he can, and he’s making it work. There’s been speculation that he’s quite adept at grabbing things to make things better such as copying Lewis’ setup or searching the telemetry for where Lewis is quicker and then copying it, something that apparently annoys Hamilton. In the end why should his main competitor steal his advantage, surely he should find it for himself?

Whatever the situation though, Hamilton is so far keeping a cool head even if the championship fight momentum is not with him right now. Both could crack under the pressure, even in this race on the last lap Rosberg ran wide which could have given Hamilton a dramatic last lap victory if he hadn’t then done the exact same thing.

It is of course still too early to determine the outcome of the title race but the next race is Silverstone and Hamilton needs to impress in front of his home crowd. The momentum swing has to start there otherwise Rosberg will begin to be in control of this championship and Lewis can’t let that happen.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

14 things to ponder in F1 2014

Formula 1 2014 is just two weeks away from hitting the track and commencing one of the most anticipated seasons in years. Huge regulation changes mean this season is something of a reset with turbo engines back with us amongst other chassis changes. 

Many teams will see this as an opportunity to progress up the field, but it'll certainly be easy to fall too with reliability going to be crucial. Added to a huge shake up with the driver line ups this year, 2014 already shows signs of being a vintage year. With so much going on here's a few things that might be focused upon as the season unfolds.

1. Will the new technical regulations throw Red Bull back in the pack?

2. Will the loss of Ross Brawn hurt Mercedes?

3. Is Kevin Magnussen going to shine bright as all are predicting?

4. Lewis Hamilton to become increasingly frustrated with F1?

5. Does Daniel Ricciardo stand a chance against Sebastian Vettel?

6. Will Bernie survive several trials this year or throw F1 into turmoil?

7. Should double points in Abu Dhabi be dropped?

8. So, Kimi and Fernando at Ferrari; Harmonious or fireworks? And will Ferrari           be in for a year in the doldrums?

9. Lotus to survive the year

10. Reliability to be the determining factor in the 2014 title fight

11. McLaren and Williams to thrive again?

12. Nico Hulkenberg to bag a top drive before the year is out

13. Marussia and Caterham to use new regulations to finally climb into midfield?

14. It’ll be a lot closer than 2013.

And here are the answers…possibly

1. Yes

2. Yes, but perhaps it won’t tell until later in the year

3. I feel sure if McLaren get their act together Magnussen is going to be a

    bright star this year.

4. I hope not. Lewis is brilliant and if he gets comfortable in the car this year, 

    he can do anything that anyone else can do. I just don't think he likes this         style of F1, it's not flat out.

5. He stands a chance, but I don’t think it’ll last.

6. Probably. And isn’t F1 always in some sort of turmoil?

7. Yes, ideally before the year starts.

8. Harmonious. Kimi will just get on with it but I’ve a feeling Kimi might have             been better off staying with Lotus.

9. Well, if they survive the year. I hope they and all the teams do, more 

    money needs to come down from the top of the sport. The teams create 

    the show and deserve more and not just the top teams. Of course hiring             Pastor Maldonado may create a higher parts bill.

10. I think the teams will get on top of it quite quickly actually.

11. McLaren to do better, Williams to be more respectable. I think 2015 will

     bring McLaren back to the top table, while Williams can be a major team

     once more. Would love to see Ross Brawn at Williams.

12. Sadly, no.

13. Doubtful.

14. Yes, yes it will.

There are many more things to ponder, such as if Romain Grosjean can win a race, will the Formula 1 ever treat its competitors and circuits fairly, or will they drop the stupid double points rule. I hate it. I think my safest bet is that it's going to be a lot closer than 2013, how much closer comes down to whether one team has found a magic loophole, last time there was a major change in the regulations, Brawn found the double diffuser and won the championship. Brawn are now Mercedes, no wonder they've been tipped to be a title challenger this year. 

photo taken from autosport.com

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