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 2014 driver game

 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

McLaren

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

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

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

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

Massa gets his 2014 seat

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

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

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

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

A final note about young drivers

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

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

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

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

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

all photo's from autosport.com

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