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

The Brazilian Forecast

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Bottas stars in America while Vettel makes it look easy

It was a tough choice to pick who had the biggest starring role of the second American Grand Prix to take place in Austin, Texas at the Circuit of the America’s. There’s an obvious choice, but in a season in which one of the oldest and most successful teams in Formula 1’s history have struggled to even scrape a point I think you have to go with Williams’ Valtteri Bottas.

The young Finn has been overlooked during the season but has displayed a calm composure throughout his first season at the highest level. His team mate Pastor Maldonado may to some be seen as a budget driver but we shouldn’t forget his fantastic race winning performance amongst a number of other fine drivers from 2012.

The fact that Bottas has generally proven to have an edge, certainly in qualifying which he leads 11-7, marks him out as a driver who will become one of the stars of the sport. We’ve seen flashes of his talent come through, his remarkable third in qualifying for Canada in mixed conditions which also displayed his defensive skills on race day showed that he was one to watch.

However a complete weekend that would make people sit up and take notice has failed to materialise until now. Bottas was on it the moment practice started in Texas. His qualifying was remarkable, heading the field in Q2, before admitting that he underperformed in Q3 to line up ninth. This time though, there was to be no falling down the pack as in Canada.

His car allowed him to fight. He had a good start, and was up to eighth by the end of the first lap, while Maldonado had clashed with Adrian Sutil who spun into the barriers to cause a first lap safety car. Bottas kept his calm and fended off anyone who came near and even attacked Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

It was a truly impressive performance, he trounced his team mate, kept his pace up and made one of the overtaking moves of the race as he flew around the outside of Esteban Gutierrez into turn two to claim the line. It was breath taking, and as he fought for Williams’ only second points finish of the year utterly nerve wracking.

But he kept it together and brought the car home in eighth place to claim his first four points in Formula 1. It was a showing that he needed, but one which was always coming.

Alonso spell-binding again as Hulkenberg shines once more

As Ferrari get slow Alonso still grinds out the results. He’s not been on the podium for five races now, but he’s still fighting for everything he can get. He’s a true warrior of the sport who will just never give up.

After his Abu Dhabi exploits where he jumped over a kerb to avoid Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso registering over a 25g impact, he had to go to hospital for a check-up. Since then he has suffered from headaches and back pain, yet still today he fought until the end.

He lost a place at the start to Sergio Perez to run in seventh for the opening half of the race, but managed to jump the McLaren driver at his first and only stop as most went for a single stop strategy. He passed Nico Hulkenberg to move up to fifth, but then as the race came down to its last few laps the Sauber driver began to creep back up to the back of Alonso.

The Ferrari’s tyres were done, and the Sauber began to grow larger in the scarlet cars mirrors and was into the DRS zone ready to make a move. On the final lap he made his move diving down the inside into turn 1, but Alonso is wily, he knew it was coming and had prepared for it. He let his car go wide to get a better exit and swung straight back past Hulkenberg to keep his fifth place with Hulk settling for sixth.

It’s not the result Alonso wanted but it was the best he could do on the day as his team mate Felipe Massa languished in 12^th. Nico Hulkenberg again demonstrated why he should be in a top team, qualifying fourth, losing out to Lewis Hamilton at the start but generally keep pace with the everyone behind the top three. Another impressive showing, but one I fear will not lead him to the Lotus seat which now appears to be heading to a driver with money.

Grosjean secures another podium

Romain Grosjean secured his fourth podium in five races with second place. Behind Vettel he has scored the most points in the last five races, a fantastic run of form which adds more credence to why he’ll be a top line driver in 2014. I just hope Lotus secure enough funds to keep up their current top team status and bring out a good car which continues to allow Grosjean to shine.

It was said in the Sky commentary that a Lotus insider has said that since Grosjean became a father over the summer he has matured and taken a step back and reassessed his priorities in life. This has made him relax more and calm down. He’s pushing but letting things come to him rather than make things happen and risk a mistake. He’s also using a psychologist to put him in the best frame of mind for his racing.

It certainly seems to be working; he made a great start to move from third to second on the opening lap despite being crowded at the start. Mark Webber also put in a good showing behind in third and was closing down Grosjean towards the end of the race. It’s a mark of how increasingly mature the Lotus driver is as he didn’t even feign to block Webber in the DRS zone. He was confident enough to know the Red Bull driver wasn’t closing fast enough and he could maintain his line throughout. If the Lotus is good next year, Grosjean is going to be on it, that I think there is no doubt.

The Battles for points

Lewis Hamilton put in a lot better showing than he has done recently, running relatively strongly in fourth throughout the race. He said he noticed a difference in the new chassis that Mercedes brought him after his previous one was discovered to have developed cracks.

He couldn’t keep pace with the leaders though and had a number of fairly grumpy exchanges with his engineer on the radio which Ross Brawn said the team were getting used to in a rather annoyed fashion it seemed. Lewis wants to win and when he can’t even compete it doesn’t go down so well, still it was a better weekend.

Nico Rosberg seemed altogether calmer in the other Mercedes but after a poor qualifying session had left him in 12^th he did manage to get his race on towards the end to fight his way into the points and claim a decent ninth spot.  

Sergio Perez has out-qualified and out-raced his McLaren team mate Jenson Button for the last three races and for that he has been sacked. Admittedly his replacement Kevin Magnussen just looks to be awesome but still I think that Perez has been treated slightly harshly. He put in another good showing to finish seventh while Button grabbed tenth after a spirited drive from 16^th on the grid. He had suffered a three place penalty due to overtaking under red flags in practice.

Esteban Gutierrez deserves a mention for battling his way up the field. He looked quick again and had made it into Q3 but took a ten place grid drop for blocking Maldonado in Q1. He finished up 13th after Jean-Eric Vergne got a 20 second penalty added to his race time for colliding with the Mexican. 

Heikki Kovalainen also starred as Kimi Raikkonen’s replacement lining up seventh. He fell to 12^th at the start but had fought his way back into the points before front wing damage and failing KERS caused him to make an extra stop and lose pace.

Shall we save the best until last?

What more superlatives can we come up to describe Sebastian Vettel. Yet again he was awesome, yet again he took pole position, led most of the race and romped home to the win, setting another fastest lap which will have annoyed his engineer and once more celebrated in style with some fantastic donuts.

He’s a phenomenon is Vettel. He was in utter control throughout and his fastest lap two laps from home was six tenths quicker than anyone else, you know, just to rub it in a little. He was very emotional on the podium and he seems genuinely over whelmed with everything he’s achieved, as if he can’t quite believe this is happening to him. It’s a wonderful sight to see someone truly appreciate that they are in the midst of making history and it obviously means just so much to him. And it’s not just himself, I think he feels it for everyone in the Red Bull team.

It was his eighth consecutive victory, which makes him the first driver ever to achieve eight wins in a single season. Some people describe it as boring, and there is inevitability to a race when you see the number 1 Red Bull streak into the lead at the start. But this shouldn’t matter to fans of the sport, yes we want to see exciting racing but what you are witnessing is perfection.

Once again Vettel was magnificent, and moving onto the final race in Brazil I’m sure he’ll be a strong bet for the triple hat trick. Of course Brazil often throws up some rain, but you know what, Vettel’s pretty good with a car on H2O too.

Final Result after 56 laps:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

3. Mark Webber - Red Bull

4. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

6. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

7. Sergio Perez - McLaren

8. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

9. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

10. Jenson Button - McLaren

11. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

12. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

13. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

14. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus

15. Paul di Resta - Force India

16. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

17. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

18. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

19. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham

20. Charles Pic - Caterham

21. Max Chilton - Marussia

R. Adrian Sutil - Force India - Accident

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The American Forecast

It’s the final week of Formula 1 for the 2013 season. What seemed to start out as a pretty competitive year has turned into a demonstration of just what an incredible force Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have turned into since they first started their onslaught of the silverware in 2010.

The final double header of the year starts in Texas at the circuit of the Americas, the second visit to what is a fantastic venue. Last year produced in my opinion, the best race of the year, the purest in terms of out and out racing.

Lewis Hamilton tracked Vettel for the majority of it, and only an intervention by an errant backmarker allowed him to close up enough to execute an admittedly trick DRS pass. It didn’t end there though, Vettel didn’t let Lewis go until the chequered flag, it was intense stuff and we can only hope this weekend produces similar inspiring racing.

At the moment Texas is looking sunny and cloudy on all three days of the event, with not much chance of rain. There are two DRS zones this year, the first is on the start finish straight while the second is after turn 11, where Lewis made his pass for victory last year. The tyre compounds for the race are medium and hard, so I’d say it’s likely to be a one stopper, much like last season.

So will 2013 champion Vettel make it eight wins in a row? Well surely we all know the answer? Well no, you can never be certain with many things in life. However, it sure is likely. He took pole last year, and was close to a win, the form book this season has hints that he could certainly claim victory.

However, I’m not sure he’s going to have it all his own way. Mark Webber’s form over the last few races has certainly been better, and he knows that with just two races of his career left it’s now or never, or next week if he wants to make it ten Formula 1 victories. Just beat Vettel one more time Mark, you’ve done it before, why not do it again?

It’s possibly because Vettel is driving so above everyone else right now he’s making it look just too easy. But it’s never easy to trounce someone quite as highly regarded as Webber. I think the other hope for victory has to come from Mercedes. Either Hamilton or Nico Rosberg can take the fight to Red Bull.

It’s been Rosberg recently, but I’ve a feeling if Lewis feels comfortable then on this track he can produce something special especially now the team have brought him a new chassis after finding two big cracks in his previous one which would have affected performance. Mercedes do still have the pace, at least in qualifying to try and cause an upset. In Abu Dhabi if it wasn’t for a spin, Lewis could have taken pole position, he was up on Vettel before that incident. He is definitely one to look out for.

Lotus too could spring a surprise. Probably only from one car though, that being the car of Romain Grosjean. It was getting to a point where that might have been the case anyway even with Kimi Raikkonen in the other car, but now he has been side-lined with his back injury it seems unlikely that Heikki Kovalainen, the chosen replacement will manage to do better than Kimi.

I do hope Heikki shows what he can do though. He’s a talented driver who has been wasted at Caterham these past few years, he at least deserves another crack at it, so good on him.

I’m also tipping Sergio Perez to give a decent performance for McLaren. He’s been unceremoniously dropped after just a year, and he’ll be out to prove and advertise himself to those teams with seats available and who are willing to except some Mexican money to pay the bills.

I think along with McLaren the battles between Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso will be interesting as they scrap to be the best of the rest. I expect after Abu Dhabi that Force India have finally found out how to work these current tyres, so I’m looking to Paul di Resta to show himself off and secure his seat for next year.

Let’s not forget Ferrari either. Felipe Massa out-qualified Fernando Alonso here in 2012, and given recent showings there’s no reason to expect that not to happen again. With Massa now safely ensconced in a Williams seat for 2014, I hope he’ll race without fear and finally show not just glimpses but really perform like he did in 2008/9.

Despite the championship being sewn up this race has plenty of potential to be a thriller. I’m looking forward to it.

all photo's taken from autosport.com

The Abu Dhabi Forecast

So now Sebastian Vettel is world champion for another year, it’s all over isn’t it? Might as well pack up and go home now the title race is over for another year despite three races still to run. Well yes, you’d be foolish not to place a cheeky bet on Vettel making it nine race wins a row; if you enjoy a bet that is.

But this is Formula 1 and at some point people lose. They won’t always win. People once lamented that Michael Schumacher would win forever and no one else would get a look in. But no, in his last two seasons he lost the title, and in his second career he didn’t even win a single race.

Things change in sport, no one can win forever. With the pressure of the title race now finally done with, perhaps Red Bull’s and Vettel’s concentration will slip momentarily and allow others the chance for glory (unlikely).

We’ll see if there is any hope for that at this weekend’s race at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. It’s been on the calendar since 2009 and is now a dusk to night race. The tyres for the weekend are the soft and medium compounds which were used at India last weekend. As the race descends into darkness, although with hundreds of lights shining upon the circuit, it’ll be interesting to see how the tyre performance changes as the temperatures change when the sun goes out. It’ll still be hot though, the forecast is for the minimum temperature to be 23C this weekend.

There are two DRS zones this weekend between turns 7 and 8, with another one between turns 10 and 11. At a circuit which was hard to pass on and destroyed Fernando Alonso’s title hopes in 2010 as he struggled to pass Vitaly Petrov, it’s certainly worth having two DRS zones to make it slightly less, well dull.

So it’s guaranteed that the 2013 world champions Vettel and Red Bull will be up there fight for pole position and victory but who else will be in contention? Well I’m still hoping that Mark Webber will get a win in his final season of racing. He’s been a lot more competitive the last two weekends despite saying he is suffering with his motivation. It would be great for him to get one over on Vettel before his time in Formula 1 is up.

Never mind Red Bull for now though, even if they were to streak into the distance there’s still plenty of action out there to look for. The squabble for second in the constructors championship is an interesting one, with Mercedes ahead of Ferrari and Lotus closing both down.

Nico Rosberg was strong for the Mercedes team last time out, while Lewis Hamilton was a bit disappointed with his performance over the weekend. Lewis is always good in Abu Dhabi so I think he might have a chance of sneaking pole. It’ll also be interesting to see just the Mercedes team react to the increasing rumours of Team Principal Ross Brawn’s imminent departure.

I think Ferrari are done this year I can’t see them getting anything other than the odd podium in the last three races. You’d have to say that purely on last weekend, Felipe Massa will give the scarlet squad just as good a chance at a podium as Alonso. Massa put in a polished performance and will give him encouragement as he looks to secure his 2014 seat.

If Romain Grosjean hadn’t struck out in Q1, then where might he have finished in India? Second probably, as he rose almost unnoticed to snatch the final podium spot from 17^th on the grid. I still think he might grab a win this year and I think Grosjean will get another podium this weekend, maybe even a win. Kimi Raikkonen on the other hand will probably just want to get one over on his upstart team mate. Actually, I doubt he’ll care, he was at risk of not even turning up as disagreements with the managers at Lotus have started to create tension, especially with Alan Permane who swore at Kimi over the radio last weekend.

However, Kimi won in Abu Dhabi last year, there’s nothing to say he can’t do it again. Lotus are strong, probably the second fastest at the moment, so if Red Bull slip up I think the black and gold cars will be there.

Watch out for McLaren as they look to confirm their improved performance from India. Sergio Perez did particularly well last weekend, while Jenson Button will be looking to somehow grab an elusive podium.

In the midfield battle I think Sauber still have the edge and I believe will be the fastest ahead of Force India and Toro Rosso who actually both outscored Sauber after Nico Hulkenberg’s retirement.

There’s still plenty of action to be had, and like I said before, in Formula 1 and sport in general, no one can win forever. Will Red Bull win the last three races? It would be a brave man to bet on that. 

all photo's taken from autosport.com

Six wins in a row gives Vettel title number four

There should be no doubt whatsoever that Sebastian Vettel belongs with the true greats of Formula 1. His sixth win in a row, his tenth this season secured him his fourth consecutive world championship joining the likes of Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher. It also helped Red Bull wrap up their fourth constructors crown.

As with so many of his victories Vettel’s drive today was emphatic. Many pundits predicted that Red Bull’s other driver Mark Webber could take the victory as strategy options for the race were varied. Vettel was starting on the soft tyre which could barely last five laps whereas Webber had qualified on the medium tyre and could have a lot longer first stint while in theory Vettel would be stuck in traffic.

Vettel hasn't won so many races and taken so many titles without things going his way. It’s not to say that events just fall for him, he makes it happen, he’ll see the opportunity, take it and exploit it to the furthest it can go. He did that today.

Starting from pole position, the only man to ever start from pole in India in three events, Vettel flew away from the line. He made a slight movement to the right to just let the Mercedes pairing know he was there before just taking off. Felipe Massa had made another excellent getaway and had bolted past both silver cars down into turn four, but Vettel headed the Ferrari by over two seconds as they crossed the line for the first time.

Vettel pitted after just two laps dropping down the field to 18^th place. As other soft tyre starters pitted he quickly gained positions and made decisive moves to get rid of the medium tyre starters too. So fast was he that he was into the top three in ten laps and after Massa, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton had pitted to get rid of their soft tyres managed to get past Sergio Perez’s McLaren to take second and lie only 11 seconds behind Webber having been more than 18 behind.

It was an impressive performance. Once Webber had done a similar short stint on the soft tyres and made his final stop to go back onto the mediums, Vettel was back in the lead having made his final stop too. There was to be no stopping him. Try as he might Webber has just not been able to compete with Vettel this season at all, so as he tried in vain to catch his dominant team mate it was yet again the Australian who suffered the Red Bull bad luck.

An alternator problem took out Webber with 20 laps to go. It made the team look at Vettel’s data, a faulty sensor was leading them to believe that his car too could be on the verge of failure. Not that it stopped him lighting up the time sheets to record a fastest lap so far. As ever with Vettel though, he knew when to push his car and when not to; once he’d battled back into the lead there was never going to be a challenge to him.

Partly this is down to the fact that the other teams just have not done a good enough job this year while Red Bull have continued to develop their car with purpose. Vettel may well bow down to the Adrian Newey designed car, but significantly the other part is that I just don’t believe anyone is as good as Vettel at getting the maximum out of a good car. 

Anything the team ask of him he can do. We must not forget the Red Bull hasn’t been this far ahead for half the season, but Vettel had learnt from last year and had still built a pretty decent points gap before with the tyre changes and developments they allowed the car and consequently Vettel off the leash.

Once everything is honed you are not going to stop a driver of Vettel’s calibre. I will write more about his season as a whole over the next few days, but right now should just be a celebration of a remarkable driver. Some have said he’s making the racing boring, but he had to fight for his win today, and even when he’s dominating it’s an awe-inspiring performance.

Even his own victory doughnuts showed the world he’s the best at that too, for which he got a reprimand. But no matter, today was Vettel’s day and he took the glory with remarkable emotion and humility, he knows he’s lucky to do this job and he comes across as just a regular guy but one with an immense talent for driving racing machines right to the edge; no one could touch him this year, a truly deserving four time champion.

Grosjean charges from the back

Lotus have no need to worry about next season at all. They must know this now as Romain Grosjean took his third podium in a row with a fine third place finish from all the way back in 17^th. It was a great drive built on one of the longest first stints on soft tyres; he stopped on lap 13.

The Lotus’ look after their rubber well but this was fantastic. His team mate Kimi Raikkonen stopped six laps earlier and tried to make it to the end of the 60 lap race. It didn’t work, Grosjean used his slightly fresher tyres to close down Kimi, they were battling for the final podium spot and despite how quickly Grosjean was coming at him, the Finn didn’t make it easy.

Coming down to turn four Grosjean went for it around the outside, Kimi on dead tyres held him wide giving him a slight nudge and pushing Grosjean off the track. Romain had taken the place but gave it back as he’d exceeded track limits something that perhaps last year he’d have lacked the head to realise this.

He calmly pulled off the move a lap later while Kimi sank several places before grabbing some extra softs with a couple laps remaining and taking seventh. But Grosjean is the form driver and if hadn’t been for a poor team choice to keep him on medium compounds for Q1 he’d have probably taken second and maybe, just maybe challenged for the win.

Perez stars to give McLaren timely reminder

Sergio Perez took a great fifth place finish driving with a calm assuredness and his typically have a go passing moves. He started from ninth and as the soft tyre starters pitted he rose up the field to run second behind Webber before his first stop at half distance. A few laps on the softs and he switched back to the mediums to run just behind Massa and Hamilton.

He drove with consistency and maintained a good enough pace to allow him to be in a position to take advantage of any problems. Hamilton was catching Kimi’s tyre suffering Lotus, while Lewis himself was feeling his tyres giving up too. Perez used it to his advantage and using the DRS he passed both of them in one go and simply drove away. McLaren should give Perez another go next year, I think he’s driven well enough to be given a good car rather than the truck they gave the Mexican this year. Meanwhile his world champion team mate Jenson Button could only finish a disappointing 14^th after a problem filled race.

Massa looks to secure 2014 seat

Massa is in talks with Williams for next year, so it was good of him to put in his best race performance for some time. He out-qualified his Ferrari team mate Fernando Alonso yet again to line up fifth and then produced a great first lap to lie second. Once Vettel had pitted early he led for several laps before he had to make an early stop too.

Unfortunately while Vettel emerged in clean air, Massa came out into traffic and couldn’t cut throw the field quite as efficiently. Still, he held off the Mercedes pairing successfully until the final stops when Rosberg undercut him. He still managed to keep Lewis at bay and even began to close in on Grosjean. A good drive, one which he’ll need to replicate in the next three races if he really wants a 2014 place.

What the rest of the field did

Rosberg put in a great drive for Mercedes. While at first it looked like the silver arrow pairing might be relegated off the podium despite a great qualifying of second and third, Rosberg kept it all together and through strategy made it ahead of Massa. It was a crucial earlier stop that got him out ahead of Grosjean and meant he had first crack at the deteriorating Kimi. Second place was a decent result in a weekend when he looked to have the edge over Lewis who could only manage sixth.

The Force India’s had their best weekend for some time with Adrian Sutil particularly putting in a sparkling drive towards the front of the field before his first pit stop. Of course under the radar, Paul di Resta actually claimed the bigger points with eighth while Sutil slipped to ninth. A good result for di Resta, one that he desperately needed but not one which will have been noticed I fear.

It was about time Force India had something to shout about as they’d fallen behind Sauber and Toro Rosso on pace, but out scored them both this weekend to help them maintain their sixth place in the constructors race. Daniel Ricciardo grabbed the last point after running as high as third. Sauber meanwhile suffered misfortune as Nico Hulkenberg retired while Esteban Gutierrez got a drive through penalty for jumping the start.

Fernando Alonso

I can never forget the death stare of Alonso after he failed to win the world title last year. It was a face of such total disbelief and disappointment that he’d come so close and yet once again had failed. Today I imagine it was just one of resignation.

He hadn’t come close at all this season, in fact once the first few races were out of the way it was as if Ferrari failed to turn up. Well in a way, that is what happened as they haven’t brought any decent developments for quite some time. I believe Alonso on occasion has been guilty of perhaps phoning it in with the occasional flash of genius. He’s not looked happy, and after a race where he got into more scrapes in one lap at the start than he did almost all of 2012, I think we can forgive him that.

A damaged front wing and possibly the suspension too meant he could only manage 11^th. It wasn’t enough to delay Vettel his glory, only a top two position might have done that but we need Ferrari to produce a great car next 

year, I think Alonso needs to be reinvigorated.

It’s not over yet

There’s still three races to go, and still much winning to be done. I wouldn’t bet against Vettel getting another three wins to match Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season, then again I still believe we will see a new winner this year too with Grosjean being that man. A lot of racing is still to be done and with the title pressure off it’s time to have some fun. For Vettel that started in India but now he’s on a celebratory road trip, can anyone stop him? 

Final Result:

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull

2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes

3. Romain Grosjean - Lotus

4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

5. Sergio Perez - McLaren

6. Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes

7. Kimi Raikkonen - Lotus

8. Paul di Resta - Force India

9. Adrian Sutil - Force India

10. Daniel Ricciardo - Toro Rosso

11. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari

12. Pastor Maldonado - Williams

13. Jean-Eric Vergne - Toro Rosso

14. Jenson Button - McLaren

15. Esteban Gutierrez - Sauber

16. Valtteri Bottas - Williams

17. Max Chilton - Marussia

18. Jules Bianchi - Marussia

R. Nico Hulkenberg - Sauber

R. Mark Webber - Red Bull - Alternator

R. Charles Pic - Caterham - Hydraulics

R. Giedo van der Garde - Caterham - Accident damage

all photo's taken from autosport.com