After the traditional four week break, Formula 1 was back with a bang this weekend, travelling to the idyllic and historic Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. With recognised corners like Eau Rouge and Pouon, the longest circuit in Formula 1 is also a drivers and fans favourite, making up one of the traditional 'big 3'-Monaco, Italy and Belgium. Those races were always the ones to win to be a successful race driver. The considerable break did nothing to prevent the rumours and gossiping up and down the paddock about potential changes and moves among the drivers and teams. Top of the list was the second Red Bull seat. With the news that Mark Webber will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of the season a few weeks ago, several names have been put into the frame, making it one of the most hotly debated topics in the sport. As the team currently lead both the Drivers' and Constructors' championships, it was assumed that a big name would be announced.
The initial reports suggested that the race was between Fernando Alonso, who had seemingly become disenchanted with Ferrari, and the Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, being the most consistent driver in the field, having just broken Michael Schumacher's record for the most consistent points finishes, has yet to be in a title challenging car since his return to Formula 1. The thinking was that the Finn would jump at the chance to join a title-winning team. Those reports were refuted by Alonso, albeit after a reprimand from the head of Ferrari, Luca Demontezemalo. Nevertheless, Alonso's chances were seemingly kai-boshed by Sebastien Vettel's admission that he would far rather see Raikkonen at Red Bull than the Spaniard. However, after extensive negotiations between Raikkonen's representatives and Red Bull, no agreement was made, and the Finn decided that Lotus was his preferred destination. With the two obvious big-name options extinguished, a third contender had been quietly but effectively putting his name forward. Australian youngster Daniel Ricciardo, who drives for Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso, has been putting in remarkable performances so far this season, finishing consistently in the points in a much weaker car, and regularly getting into the final session of qualifying. For me, he is the sensible choice, as Red Bull have always attempted to bring through the younger drivers in the sister team (with the likes of Vettel, Sebastien Buemi and John Eric-Vergne all coming through Toro Rosso's ranks). To bring in a big name seems to undermine the work that that team does.
Moving back to the events in Spa, qualifying proved one of the most exciting and unpredictable of the season. With rain teeming down before the session, only to stop minutes before the drivers were to begin their qualifying, the changeable conditions meant that tactics would play a bigger part than in many other grand prix. Fortunately for the top drivers, they managed to negotiate session 1, with the main casualty being the man touted for the Red Bull job, Daniel Ricciardo. With both Toro Rossos and Williams out of contention, the Caterham of Guido van der Garde and both of the Marussias made the cut, thanks mainly to the risky, but ultimately justified decision to swap to slicks before the end of the session. Q2 saw a relatively dry session, meaning that the top teams could return to the normal setup. Once again, this saw little in the way of surprises, with the mid-grid teams the ones that perished. Q3 was the one where all the action lay. With rain threatening to arrive, there was a queue of drivers at the pit exit waiting for the beginning of the session. As the rain will inevitably slow the cars down, the one that can get a dry lap in will be the one on pole. Unfortunately for those cars, the rain began heavily on their outlaps, meaning that none were able to set a fast lap on the dry tyres. With the weather only looking likely to deteriorate, it was Paul Di Resta that took full advantage. The Scot had elected to run on the intermediate tyres, meaning that he was able to take advantage of the conditions before they worsened. His 2:02 time seemed nailed on for pole, especially with his closest challenger Massa a full 0.5 seconds behind. However, events took another twist, with the weather clearing again as the clock ticked down. As the flag dropped, Nico Rosberg beat Di Resta's time by 0.08 seconds, ensuring that the Force India driver's heart did the same. However, the two Red Bulls and Lewis Hamilton had played the clock to perfection, meaning that they had an additional lap in the drying conditions in which to take the pole. All three went massively faster than Rosberg's time, as firstly Webber took pole, before Vettel and finally Hamilton beat the time. This meant that the Mercedes driver took his fourth consecutive pole, and 7th consecutive front row start.
In order for the Mercedes man to take his second consecutive win, a good start would also be required. Off the line, it looked as though he had got the jump on the Red Bull, with both Vettel and Webber struggling. Webber in particular had an atrocious start, falling from 3rd to 6th within a matter of moments, threatening to wreck his race. Vettel fought hard to keep both Rosberg and Button behind him, coming under pressure from the German into turn 1. Further back, Fernando Alonso once again proved his ability to start quickly in his Ferrari, moving from his 9th slot to an impressive 5th by the end of the first sector. After a good start from Hamilton, he struggled at the top of Eau Rouge, giving Vettel the chance to slipstream him down the back straight. The triple world champion seized the opportunity to gain an early advantage, taking the lead at Les Combes. He then set about breaking the DRS zone, a feat he had achieved by the end of the lap. With a comfortable 3.5 second lead within 5 laps, the German was instructed to keep an eye on his tyres, as wear would become increasingly important as the race went on.
Vettel's tyre issues were not the only concern in the paddock, however. Just behind, Kimi Raikkonen was struggling with brake problems. Almost from the very beginning of the race, his front left brake duct seemed to be pouring smoke at every braking zone, with the disc glowing a bright shade of orange. This was a danger warning for what was to come. On lap 26, after a long and protracted battle with the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, the Finn attempted to overtake down into the Bus Stop chicane. Instead of making the pass stick, the Lotus driver was unable to slow his car down for the turn, indicating that his brakes were in severe risk of failure. As the speeds reached at part of this track are unthinkable, risking a failure was not an option, forcing Kimi to retire the car. A shame, as this broke his record of 30 consecutive points paying finishes, eclipsing the record held by Michael Schumacher, however we always knew that eventually the run would come to an end.
The pit stop began for the top teams on lap 12, with Lewis Hamilton coming in and rejoining behind Romain Grosjean. Despite the Frenchman being on much older tyres, he struggled to pass the Lotus driver, losing time to both Vettel and Alonso. The Frenchman's reluctance to allow the Briton to pass was perhaps born out of the events of a few laps ago, where Grosjean got into a battle with the McLaren driver Sergio Perez. After the Mexican reeled in the Lotus in the DRS zone, overtaking him, he then forced Grosjean off the road, leaving the Frenchman angered, and the McLaren with a drive through penalty. Hamilton's inability to pass Grosjean was compounded by Alonso rejoining from his pit stop directly behind. After the Brit finally passed the Lotus, he was hunted down and eventually passed by the Ferrari. This battling allowed Vettel to extend his lead to nearly 8 seconds. There was more memorable battling down the field, as both of the Force Indias' and Perez attempted to go through Eau Rouge together, with a perfectly organised overtake the end result.
After the final stops, Alonso had managed to extend his lead over Hamilton to 3.5 seconds, whilst Vettel had a full 13 seconds over the pair. With the result of the race seemingly decided, the most exciting thing that happened was further down the field. In a four way battle, Esteban Gutierrez attempted to overtake Pastor Maldonado around the outside in the final sector, before being forced off the road by the Venezuelan. Though it seemed that the move was over, the Mexican appeared on his inside at the Bus Stop chicane, forcing the Williams driver wide. In trying to rejoin ahead of the Force Indias behind, Maldonado firstly clipped Sutil, before smashing into the side of Di Resta. Questions were raised as to whether this would bring out the safety car, meaning that Vettel's substantial lead would be erased. Fortunately for the Red Bull, the car was cleared, and the German could continue on his path. The only further excitement in the final few laps was the idea that Webber could be able to chase down and overtake both Mercedes' drivers. As it was, that never materialised, with the Red Bull having to settle for a respectable 5th place. For Vettel, this grand prix represented a Sunday afternoon stroll, with the German eventually winning by almost 17 seconds from Alonso, and a full half minute in front of Lewis Hamilton, the man he started on the front row with.
Before Spa, questions were being asked over whether Vettel was under threat from those behind him in the championship race. After this response, the firm favourite for this year's title is unequivocally the Red Bull driver. Something is going to have to go seriously wrong to prevent the German from taking his fourth consecutive world title, and I simply do not see it happening. Are we in for a reign of dominance that eclipses even that of Schumacher?
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