Drama Denied: What Was The Double Point?

The Hives put it perfectly - 'hate to say I told you so'. As I mentioned in a critical (and therefore fairly normal) post earlier in the year, I was not all for the double points race being discussed at the time. Having had that race - today's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, I can safely say I am still not a fan. A season full of twists and turns (even though viewers may have wanted a slightly more competitive field) has, thanks to the double points rule, seemingly been won emphatically. And this season review post will demonstrate that this has simply not been the case.

Though no-one can deny that the Constructors title has been long since over - really since about race five or six - the Driver's Championship has gone right down to the wire, with both Mercedes drivers in with a shout as the lights went out in the desert. It's worth saying that this would still have been the case without double points, though admittedly the pressure on Hamilton would have been non-existent.

However, after all the pre-race talk about avoiding technical issues, it was perhaps inevitable that the title would ultimately be cemented by a catastrophic ERS failure for Nico Rosberg. This left the German well outside the points, while his teammate took the top step in Abu Dhabi to extend his Drivers Championship lead to an impressive 67 points. Much like many football results we see, the final score simply doesn't tell the story, and this must be blamed, at least slightly, on the ludicrous double points final race.

Despite his enormous final margin of victory, the 2014 season started in the worst possible way for Hamilton with a DNF handing Rosberg a 25 point advantage. However, four straight one-two victories for the Briton saw him reel Rosberg back in as the pair headed to Monaco, with the Constructors Championship practically sewn up.

But the famous track saw an ugly twist in race, which threatened to break the two lifelong friends apart. In a move reminiscent of the cynical parking manoeuvre pulled off by Michael Schumacher in 2006 at Rascasse, a dubious "mistake" handed Rosberg pole and ultimately victory, bucking the trend of Hamilton wins and left a bad taste in the mouth. This would not be the only time the pair clashed, with Hamilton again feeling aggrieved at the tactics of his teammate at Spa later in the year.

With Hamilton's win at Yas Marina, Mercedes set a new record for most wins by a Constructor in a single season - 16. The only man to taste success was a surprising one - not one of the several world champions littering the field, but Red Bull new boy Daniel Ricciardo. His first race win in Canada was gifted to him, with both Mercedes drivers struggling with ERS problems - forcing Hamilton out, and Rosberg into second. He was also the beneficiary when the two Mercedes collided in Belgium, whilst poor strategic decision-making and changeable conditions handed the Australian the victory in Hungary. Though he has been fortunate, take nothing away from his performance - to comprehensively beat the four time world champion Sebastien Vettel, in the car he won the titles, both in qualifying and the race, is quite incredible.

Likewise, Valtteri Bottas's performances have also been eye-catching. Though the Finn failed to claim victory, he was a regular on the podium, more than matching his illustrious teammate, Massa. Moving back to the title race, the Mercedes pair swapped victories, with both taking their home races. However, after the incident at Spa, the team's sympathy sat well and truly with Hamilton, with a number of the upper echelons publicly blaming Rosberg for the crash. This clearly had an impact on Hamilton, as the Brit claimed the following five Grand Prix to take the initiative in the title race - 24 points ahead with just two races to go.

While in any normal season, that would almost see the title done and dusted, the threat of double points in Abu Dhabi placed more emphasis on the Brazilian GP. This time, the pressure told on Hamilton, with an uncharacteristic driving error having seemed set to jump his teammate in the pits. The spin left Hamilton 17 ahead going into today's GP in the desert, with the ERS problem for Rosberg killing any threat of final day drama.

So as I have mentioned, I am hardly the biggest fan of the double points rule. I was equally against the extension of the points to 25,17 etc... from the more traditional 10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 that I grew up with. So, using the older scoring system, how would the season have panned out?

	Hamilton	Rosberg
Australia	0	10
Malaysia	10	18
Bahrain	20	26
China	30	34
Spain	40	42
Monaco	48	52
Canada	48	60
Austria	56	70
Britain	66	70
Germany	72	80
Hungary	78	85
Belgium	78	93
Italy	88	101
Singapore	98	101
Japan	108	109
Russia	118	117
USA	128	125
Brazil	136	135
Abu Dhabi	146	135

So Bernie wants excitement right to the end? Newsflash Mr Ecclestone - you don't want double points, you don't even want the current 25 for a win scoring system - you want the system you used 10 years ago! Under the old system, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg would have come into today's race separated by just one point, knowing that the winner would take it all!

Malaysia Grand Prix: Different Team, Same Result?

New house, new start. My move has freed me up to go back to what I've missed: writing. And what better way to restart than with the revamped F1 season? After a season dominated by one car and one man, a monumental rule change, one that has been described as the 'largest for a generation', has levelled the playing field this year. Gone are the enormous shouting V8's, in favour of the energy saving hybrid V6s (despite the noise issue that still rankles with Bernie Ecclestone). Along comes a bizarre new chassis, which sees the nose dip in places I never thought possible. New moves, fresh faces. And yet the spirit and prize is the same.

These changes and the new equaliser took effect in the opening race in Australia. After a miserable winter testing session, Red Bull and world champion Sebastien Vettel came to Melbourne on the back foot. The winner of 13 grand prix last term, and the previous nine on the bounce will have left Albert Park in similar mood, after a mechanical problem forced the German out on just the seventh lap. This will be a common theme for this season, with the most reliable car being most likely to be the most successful. The pole sitter on the day, Lewis Hamilton, was also victim to the mechanical curse, falling the lap before Vettel. That left the win to his teammate Nico Rosberg, and a space on the podium for hometown hero Daniel Ricciardo - the first Australian to take to the rostrum at their home event. Given the success of his predecessor Mark Webber, that is quite an incredible statistic! We saw the return to form of Williams and especially McLaren, with new rookie Kevin Magnusson matching the feat of Lewis Hamilton in 2008 by getting himself into 3rd. With Jenson Button following in close behind, McLaren left Australia leading the Constructors Championship. Who would have guessed that at the end of last year?

If the teams thought Australia was bad, they would have been dreading Malaysia. Traditionally one of the most testing circuits on reliability, with temperatures pushing 50 degrees on track, it is a car killer. However, after Mercedes dominance in Melbourne, the rest of the field were granted the ultimate leveller in qualifying: a monsoon. Delaying the beginning of Q1 by fully 45 minutes, the rain just carried on. When the session eventually started, the cars were more concerned with tip-toeing around the circuit to keep it out of the gravel than taking it to the limit. As a result, Q1 began by maintaining the status quo, with a comfortable Mercedes 1-2. However, this safety was obliterated for Vettel with the news that he had a problem with the car and needed to pit for a reboot. Though this seemed to leave his place in qualifying in the balance, Red Bull managed to turn him round quickly and get him safely into Q2.

The next part saw an even more incredible turnaround as Q2 began in a blaze of drama. Toro Rosso's impressive youngster Daniil Kyvat had a nightmare, locking up and careering into the slow moving Fernando Alonso. The Ferrari driver, who had quite wrongly elected to run with the intermediate tyres, saw his front left suspension and wishbone broken, leaving him to limp back to the pits with his qualifying campaign seemingly in tatters and bringing out a red flag. Impressive work from the Ferrari mechanics meant that not only did the Spaniard get back out, but he qualified for Q3 ahead of his illustrious new teammate Kimi Raikkonen. The only real surprise to come out of Q2 was the failure of the high-flying Williams pair to reach the top ten shootout, with both Massa and Bottas unable to make the cut. However, up front Vettel managed to split the two Mercedes to give fans an indication of a competitive final part of qualifying.

Q3, like the two parts before it, began rather anti-climactically, with cars looking to set a banker lap. With the initial fears that Mercedes would run away with the pole, the initial 1-2 seemed set to stay. However, both Red Bull and Ferrari had other ideas. Fernando Alonso, who seemed to have completely recovered from the crash in Q2, got himself between the two German cars, before Sebastien Vettel came within a whisker of grabbing pole. As the chequered flag loomed large, the fight was on between the German and Hamilton for the top spot - or so it seemed. Whilst squabbling with Nico Rosberg to be the last one across the line to start their flying lap, Vettel inexplicably failed to make it before the flag fell, losing his final lap, handing Hamilton the pole on a silver platter. The only other change was Rosberg managing to drag himself into third and within striking distance of the lead. After a qualifying session that began slowly, with everyone assuming a Mercedes coronation, this handed fans some hope of a competitive season. For Hamilton, a personal milestone: he equalled the British record for pole positions that has stood since 1964 and Jim Clark.

In typical Sepang fashion, Sunday saw the return of baking conditions, with the teams preparing for the most challenging weather of the year. As the lights went out, pole-sitter Hamilton got away well, leaving team-mate Rosberg to jump the slow-starting Vettel into 2nd. The big winner was Daniel Ricciardo, who managed to sneak his way around the outside of the two Ferraris before hanging his teammate out to dry on the outside of turn two. With the Mercedes in clean air, Hamilton clearly relished the chance, repeatedly setting fastest lap after fastest lap to ease the gap out to five seconds after just 8 laps. Further back, Ferrari continued to struggle, although not entirely of their own doing. Kimi Raikkonen, embroiled in a close battle with the rookie McLaren of Daniel Magnusson, found himself carrying a right rear puncture after a tussle got too close. This left the Finn limping back to the pits and ending any realistic chance of a large points haul.

The collision hardly did Magnusson any favours either, breaking his front wing and causing him to hold up a gaggle (I believe that is the correct term!) of cars. In a frenetic start up front, Sebastien Vettel began homing in on his teammate before cruising past under DRS. It was the first time that the two had been wheel to wheel since becoming teammates, and the world champion seemed intent on sending a message to his less illustrious companion. As the cars began to look at pit stops, it became clear that the undercut would play a significant part in the race. Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, having made his first stop, began lapping at over two seconds a lap faster than the cars ahead. Although the Red Bulls acted quickly enough to keep Vettel in front of the Spaniard, Daniel Ricciardo eventually fell foul of this. However, by this point, the Mercedes drivers were out of sight of the chasing pack, bringing F1 fans a reminder of the dominant scenes seen so frequently last year.

However, all is not lost. With Rosberg struggling with the balance of his rear tyres, the Red Bull began reeling the German in at almost a second a lap, giving F1 fans an indication that perhaps Mercedes would not run away with races. However, it is worth remembering that Rosberg's was a wounded car, with his teammate continuing to scamper away up front. By the time Hamilton pitted for his second stop, the gap was up to over 10 seconds, at it was looking simply a battle for second.

With this, and the battle for the minor places the only close track action, attention turned towards the skies. Radio transmissions between Raikkonen and the Ferrari team intimated a spattering of rain around turn 14, threatening to spice up a rapidly predictable race. As it happened, it wasn't to be. Between the revelation and the chequered flag dropping, there was only one more piece of action worth commenting on. Daniel Ricciardo, after the misfortune of being disqualified in Australia (his fuel level gauge stopped working - something that strangely happened again here, but not on Vettel's car-coincidence?) found himself battling with Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg for 4th place as he arrived at his pit box for his final stop. However, a wheel failure, followed by a front wing failure a few laps later (both completely unrelated - coincidence?) seemed another example of the German world champion's teammate having the most outrageous bad luck. Where have we seen an Aussie get a raw deal at Red Bull before?

Nevertheless, hats off to Lewis Hamilton, who led home a Mercedes one-two for his first win in Malaysia by fully 15 seconds. Vettel's return to the podium was a welcome one for a man who has been too accustomed to the rostrum in recent years, but I get the feeling we will be seeing silver on that podium a huge amount of times this season. With the mind-numbing repetitiveness of last season, Formula 1 can ill-afford another season as one sided. Unfortunately, this rule change seems to have favoured one car, and until the rest can catch up, there seems little sign of changing.

F1's Double Points Finale: Just How Ridiculous Is It?

The news that Formula 1 is planning to award double points for at least the final race of the season has been greeted with almost universal derision from fans and drivers alike. I pride myself on attempting to put both sides of the argument before coming to a reasoned decision, and this will be no different. Personally, I disagree whole-heartedly with the changes, but then again I generally am averse to major change in sport. I disliked the points move to 25 initially, but this has widely been accepted.

After such an emphatic title victory by Sebastian Vettel last time around, it is unsurprising that bosses want to prevent the same repetitive, boring season next year. Handing double points for the final race of the season would certainly prolong the title race, as an individual would need to be more than 50 points clear before travelling to the final race to be assured of the title. However, even this argument has flaws. It would not prevent the situation that we saw this season, as Vettel would still have been champion entering the final race in Brazil, and his win in the final race would only add further emphasis to the margin of victory.

I have further issues with this proposal. At the beginning of the season, every team sets up their car in a particular way, with different top speeds and cornering ability. This means that the best car often changes depending on the type of track. If a track has a huge amount of straights, like Spa-Francorchamps or Monza, this inevitably favours a car with a high top speed. On the other hand, a track like Monaco or Singapore's Marina Bay circuit rely on twisting turns, meaning that cars with excellent turning ability and high downforce will be at an advantage. What this has to do with the proposal is regardless of the track that is chosen to be the final race of the season, it will favour one team in particular. Either this, or, even worse in my opinion, all of the teams will set their cars up with the final race in mind, meaning that there will be no difference between the cars from track to track, meaning that we will almost certainly repeatedly see the type of emphatic Vettel win each season. It will become who can set their car up for the final race best.

As I mentioned earlier, this proposal has been met largely with disapproval. Most outspoken of the drivers has been Sebastian Vettel. Whether that is because it disadvantages him should his championship lead next year not be as emphatic as this, or whether that is me being cynical, I am not sure. Nevertheless, his comments have been covered in media across the globe, and he has become the face for the anti-50 points campaign. As much as I agree with the sentiment behind his words, I have a serious issue with something he said. One of the soundbites used during his comment was 'it's like giving double points for the final game of the Bundesliga'. That got my back up. I do love a good analogy, but it is this kind of ill-conceived and poorly constructed notion that makes me think that sportsmen should just stick to 'I think that...'.

The reason this simple statement got me irritated is that the two aren't really comparable. Whilst they are both sports, there is pretty much where the similarities end. The key point that makes me disagree is the fact that not all of the teams play each other on the final day. In racing, every driver is on the track at the same time, and therefore each can alter their own fate and position. On the final day of the football season, Bayern Munich (the team in first) could be playing Eintracht Braunschweig (the team currently bottom), whilst their main title rivals Borussia Dortmund could be playing Bayer Leverkusen for double points. I know which I would favour in that equation. In football, the fixtures leave more to fortune than F1 ever can, and therefore the double points in football would be far more unfair than the double points in motor racing.

However, just because I am arguing against Vettel's usage of a misguided metaphor, please do not think that I support the new rules. I do not. I think, for the reasons I have outline, it is a ridiculous notion, which doesn't even achieve its original purpose. If an individual is really as dominant as Vettel was this season, they will win the final race regardless, as Vettel did. Designed to attract TV audiences, all this new rule would do would be to force the other 19 races into a lesser category, meaning that viewers are unlikely to watch them. This makes no sense, either for the benefit of the sport, or the wallet of Bernie Ecclestone.

Japanese Grand Prix: Not A Racer? Not A Problem

                         That finger. That victorious, but unbelievably annoying, digit. The sight of Sebastian Vettel's right index finger, oddly turned the wrong way around, will be imprinted onto the memory of F1 for some time to come. It has certainly been the only thing F1 fans will have seen for the entirety of the second half of this season. Red Bull's dominance has led to F1 being accused of being repetitive and borderline boring, with Vettel generally qualifying on pole and leading a practically lights to flag victory. Though it didn't happen this way in Japan, the end result was the same. The irriting twisted index finger raised in triumph come the end of the race. However, there have also been recent questions asked of Vettel's ability as a racer. Seeing as the vast majority of his victories have been won from the front, a question mark can still be raised above his head over his ability to relentlessly chase down and overtake those infront of him. When you think back over recent years, races like Japan in 2005, when Kimi Raikkonen, then at McLaren, came from 17th on the grid to overtake Giancarlo Fisichella on a pulsating final lap to win the race, really illustrate how much real racing ability you have. Similarly Jenson Button's 2011 Canadian Grand Prix win gives us the impression of a racer, coming from last place to win the race on the final lap. Vettel has not yet had that moment, and this was another race where he had the opportunity, but it went begging.

                          The race was overshadowed by the tragic news on Friday that Maria de Villota, a former test driver for Marussia, had been found dead in her Spanish hotel room. After a horrific crash during a test in July 2012, which saw her lose her right eye, and suffer massive head injuries, Maria showed incredible bravery to fight back. Whilst the crash effectively ended her career as a race driver, she would not be kept away from the paddock, becoming an inspiration to millions worldwide. Her smile and fighting spirit was matched only by her generosity and desire to do good, and she will be remembered by everyone involved in Formula 1, and the motorsport world in general. Such were the extent of her injuries from her crash, it was concluded that she had died as a result of her injuries, and the coroner released a report of 'death by natural causes' the following day. In memory of the 33 year old, many of the teams adopted her 'star' crash helmet design. Marussia had it emblazoned on several parts of the car, whilst Jenson Button had his own tribute, placing a star on his helmet to show his respects. She was a bright and bubbly personality for the sport, and Formula 1 will miss her dearly.

                            The Suzuka circuit in Japan has been described by many as a drivers' favourite. With its twisting, technically challenging corners, it is a race-track that forces every ounce of concentration and driving ability from the racers. Whilst it is unlike Monaco, in that one mistake does not necessarily earn you a trip to the barriers, one mistake can certainly cost you an exceptional amount of time. Every corner needs to be entered and exited smoothly, otherwise you have a great disadvantage to the cars behind and in front. The iconic corners include Dunlop, Spoon Corner and, of course, the 180 mph 130R corner. It is a circuit where we have seen some of the best, and most dramatic races in the history of the sport. This year's qualifying certainly added to this drama. In qualifying one, we had two separate fires! After fumes caught light in the Sauber garage, Esteban Gutierrez had to make a swift exit from his vehicle as a small fire started behind his head. Thanks to extreme safety regulations, and layers of fire retardant clothing, fire is, thankfully, not the threat it once was in Formula 1. However, it is always disconcerting to see flames in a garage, and luckily, it was an easily containable situation. If one fire during qualifying is unusual, two is extraordinary. However, just ten minutes later, John-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso was seen lapping with both of the rear brakes on fire, forcing him to retire from qualifying and pull up next to a marshal. This brought out the red flag, causing chaos as the lights went green. With several cars still under pressure from those behind, there was a free-for-all at the end of Q1, with both Massa and Raikkonen making daring passes in an attempt to find space. The big loser at the end of all this was Adrian Sutil. The Force India driver failed to find enough space, meaning that he had to start from the back (having opted to change his engine).

                                    Q2 saw no real surprises, with all of the protagonists comfortably through to the shootout. The main winner of Q2 was Nico Hulkenberg. The German is having a tremendous second half of the season with Sauber, and he has been linked with several teams further up the grid. Once again, he managed to drag a mid-grid car into the top 10. Q3 began quite slowly, with only 4 cars opting to take the opportunity to go out early. In the battle between the Red Bulls for pole, it looked like luck was finally on Webber's side. Vettel had been radioed to explain that his KERS system had failed, costing the German up to three tenths a lap. This would prove crucial. For the first time this season, the Aussie managed to beat his team mate. Such has been the dominance of Red Bull, that generally means pole. Behind that pair, Lewis Hamilton produced an excellent lap to edge ahead of Romain Grosjean, who has been ending the season strongly. Hulkenberg, however, was a revelation. In a far inferior car, he managed to outqualify both Ferraris and the Lotus of Raikkonen: a good effort. But the day belonged to Webber, who may have just had his final pole position.

                                     The Australian will have woken on Sunday morning hoping for the victory to go with his pole, however to do that, he would need to rectify a serious ongoing problem. Webber starts have been extremely suspect, and this has often cost him valuable places and points. Nowhere is this more important than on pole. However, Webber would have a nightmare start, but, even more unusually, as did his teammate. Off the line, the Red Bulls were swamped by Lewis Hamilton and Romain Grosjean, with the latter soaring into the lead. The Mercedes was less fortunate. In the process of overtaking Vettel, Hamilton clipped his front wing, causing a right rear puncture. This caused him to drift wildly, and dropped him right to the back of the field. It would eventually end his race, as the damage to the floor of the car from the delaminating tyre was too much to continue with. Further back, Jules Bianchi and Guido van der Garde tripped over one another on the run down to the first corner, spearing the pair into the gravel. The yellow flags proved a great aid to Romain Grosjean, as it disabled the DRS, preventing the Red Bulls gaining too much time. By the time the yellow flags were rescinded, the Frenchman had broken the 1 second window, and was looking good for the win.

                                      Suzuka is not a track known for its wealth of overtaking opportunities, and as such, the race would all come down to the most effective strategies. The front three all made their first stops within three laps of one another, retaining their places. This meant that round one of the tactical battle had gone to the Lotus team. Further back, overtaking was few and far between, with the race characterised by a large amount of car trains, most notably, the train forming behind Daniel Ricciardo's Toro Rosso in 4th place. With the Aussie running a long first stint, many of the earlier stoppers became trapped behind Ricciardo. This included the other Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Mercedes day had gone from bad to worse in the laps after Lewis Hamilton's retirement. At the German's first stop, he was released into the path of Sergio Perez, earning him a drive-through penalty and dropping him back into 12th place. With both Ferraris and Lotuses infront of Rosberg, Mercedes were looking like dropping a long way out of the race for 2nd place in the Constructors Championship.

                                       Back up front, the change of tyres had seemed to have a profound effect on the Red Bulls, moving them closer to Grosjean. Webber was looking particularly racy as he came towards the end of his stint, getting within the one second window. Like the first time, it was Webber to pit first and attempt the undercut, but this time, Grosjean and Vettel stayed out longer. The Lotus's pace had dropped away, allowing Vettel to reel him in quickly. However, try as he might, the German could not get past the Lotus. This time, when Grosjean pitted on lap 30, he had no defence to Webber behind, rejoining a good 5 seconds behind. Vettel then turned his attention to jumping the pair, however, he would have to do so on old tyres. It also became very clear that Webber would need to stop again, as the Aussie was setting fastest lap times and burning through his tyres. When Vettel did evetually stop, for the final time, he rejoined behind Grosjean. However, this time, on fresher tyres, he did not find it difficult to overtake the Frenchman. This was his only pass of the race, and he would need just the one.

                                        With Vettel flying away at the front, Mark Webber made his final stop, changing to the softer tyre on lap 47. If he could pass Grosjean quickly, he could make an attempt at hunting Vettel down. Grosjean, however, seemed to have learnt his lessons from the time spent being hounded by Vettel. Lap anfter lap passed, with the Australian becoming increasingly frustrated, and the race win slipped out of his hands. Though he eventually made an excellent pass on Grosjean on lap 52, there was little he could do to reel in his team mate. Vettel took the chequered flag to win his 9th race of the season, by 7 seconds from his teammate. Though Fernando Alonso finished 4th, meaning that the title was not mathmatically over, he conceded defeat to his rival. The title will be decided in India if Alonso fails to outscore Vettel by 16 points. Seeing as the German has had only 1 retirement in a year, it would take an extraordinary set of circumstances to deny him from here.

                                          But the question remains: is Vettel a true racer? Here, he had the opportunity to show everyone how tenacious and capable he is, however he at times looked out of ideas against Romain Grosjean. Though he did eventually overtake the Frenchman, it was the perfect execution of a better strategy that won the German this race. He certainly prefers to be out in front, as he is the expert of creating gaps and running away from the rest of the field. Whether he will ever win a race from the back of the field, putting the race in the annuls alongside those races like Japan 8 years ago, I am unsure. His car seems too good to need him to do this at the minute, so we may be waiting for some time to find this out.

Korean Grand Prix: Mid-Race Mayhem, Same Result

                      After Sebastian Vettel's dominant win in Singapore last time out, there has been little in the way of controversy and talk in Formula 1. The majority of drivers places have been sorted out for next season, there have been no significant bust-ups, and the titles both seem pretty much sewn up. This means that the last few races can be just be enjoyable on the part of both the drivers and those watching. All we can hope for is more in the way of competitive races, as it has become a bit repetitive with the German winning the last 4 races. Certainly the Red Bulls have adjusted better to the mid-season rule change, after the 'Silverstone-gate' tyre problems prompted a swift rule change. Whether the German has lucked into a fortuitous situation is up for debate, but it could certainly be argued that the title race would be considerably closer had the tyres not been forced to changed.

                        Yesterday saw the beginning of the end of this 2013 Formula 1 season, with the cars making the short trip from Singapore to Yeongam in South Korea. As I stated earlier, we are now hoping for more competitive races from her to the end of the season. And in the practice sessions, we appeared to get our wish, as the Mercedes seemed far closer to the Red Bulls, Hamilton being ahead of Vettel in both. This set qualifying up much more nicely than it has been ordinarily, as we are currently used to seeing the Red Bull and Vettel dominate. This time, whilst the result was the same, the manner was rather different, promising a rather different type of Grand Prix on the Sunday.

                         The early minutes of qualifying saw the Mercedes drivers setting the pace, with Hamilton leading his teammate. The structure of the qualifying was unusual, with all the drivers fuelled for three to four timed laps. This meant that the session had the appearance of being slow and tedious. The challenge for those in Q1 was seeing who could get through without using a set of the super soft tyres. As the session progressed, it seemed obvious that it would only be the pace-setting Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel that would get this advantage. However, moving onto the super softs, Hulkenberg, Rosberg and then Raikkonen all beat the Hamilton time. Towards the bottom, Paul di Resta, who has been going through a poor patch of form recently, was blocked on his final lap by Jules Bianchi, leaving the Scot perilously close to the cut-off. Fortunately for Force India, the two Williams' drivers struggled in Korea, meaning that di Resta got away with his poor time to qualify for the first time in three races. Q2 had the same structure to it, with Hamilton going quickest early on his new super softs, leaving Vettel to beat that time much later on. This already looked to be far closer than usual, and promised a much more exciting Q3. Further back, the big winners of Q2 were Sauber, with both Hulkenberg and Gutierrez making it into the final session. The Mexican's feat was particularly impressive, having qualified for Q3 on each of the last 2 races. The losers were McLaren, with both cars unable to make it into Q3, despite having started the session well.

                             Q3 began slowly, with only 5 of the 10 cars choosing to leave the garage immediately. In the race for pole, Red Bull won the first round, with Vettel and Webber edging out Hamilton and Rosberg. Even worse for the German driver, Romain Grosjean managed to get his Lotus between him and his Mercedes teammate. Red Bull were not having things all their own way however, as Mark Webber would have to take a ten place engine penalty after his qualification spot, as punishment for his misdemenour in Singapore. One thing that would have helped Mercedes enormously would have been Vettel to make just a small mistake on his out lap, as he cut it extremely fine with time to get across the line to start a lap. Fortunately for Red Bull, he just about made it. But as it was, he needn't have bothered. Lewis Hamilton was the only car to improve on his previous lap, jumping Webber, but he couldn't beat the world-champion elect. This handed Vettel his 6th pole of the season, and fourth in succession. There remained just a glimmer of hope for his rivals though, as no pole-sitter had ever gone on to win the Grand Prix the following day.

                                 The Yeongam track in South Korea is one I find particularly unusual. Having watched all of the Grand Prix held there, as well as having driven around it (albeit in my bedroom on the Playstation), I find that whilst the short first straight before the first corner avoids the majority of first corner incidents, cars infront are at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to the third and fourth corners. As there are two 1km straights for the drivers to negotiate, those behind have the opportunity to get a fantastic tow and fly straight past. It is little wonder, then, why the pole sitters have traditionally not been particularly successful. The middle section I also find bizarre. Whereas in other tracks I feel like the corners fit the circuit, like at Monza, the Yeongam circuit appears to have deliberately overcomplicated the twisty middle section. The pit entrance/exit also looked similarly overcomplicated, though I was glad to see that the pit exit had been altered for this year. Rather than feeding back into the heart of turn 1, which was certainly dangerous, it now feeds out on the exit of the turn, leading down onto the straight. Though it may not be one of my favourite tracks, it always provides us with great entertainment, and yesterday was no different.

                                    As the cars lined up on the grid, Vettel would have known that here, more than anywhere, a good start is essential. Fortunately for the Red Bull driver, he got one, catapulting himself away from the stranded Lewis Hamilton. The Mercedes instantly came under pressure from the fast-starting Grosjean, and found himself behind after the third corner. Further back, the two Ferrari's came millimetres from disaster, as Felipe Massa span, causing teammate Fernando Alonso to take avoiding action. This left the Brazilian way down the field, and compromised Ferrari's goal of securing 2nd in the Constructors Championship. This chaos allowed Daniel Ricciardo, who had started the race in 12th place, to jump to 7th. Even more incredibly, Pastor Maldonado, who had started the race a disappointing 18th, managed to jump to 11th by the end of lap 1. There was no such jump from Webber though. The Australian, having started 13th, could only make up a single place on the opening lap, and was struggling to pass those in front. The McLaren's were particularly troublesome, but having cleared the pair of those, he made his way to 8th by lap 8.

                                      Back up at the front, Vettel had managed to break the DRS gap, but he was not scampering away from the rest as we are so accustomed to seeing from the German. Interestingly, it was Hamilton that seemed to be struggling most during this phase, beginning to fall back from Grosjean and forcing him to pit on lap 9. Just a lap later, presumably to cover the Mercedes stop, the Frenchman was in. However, Hamilton's pace on his out lap was such that he and Grosjean came out side by side, with the Lotus clinging onto second place by the skin of its teeth at the end of sector 1. Vettel, having seen the change in pace, pitted the next lap, but he too lost time to the pair of them, rejoining just 1.5 seconds ahead. Just behind this trio, Daniel Ricciardo, who was trying to 1 stop, occupied 4th. However, this was swiftly taken from him as Rosberg quickly reeled in and passed the Aussie, forcing him to abandon his race strategy and pit.

                                        During the middle section of the race, a number of drivers began complaining of their tyres 'graining'. For those unfamiliar with the term, this is when, due to the extreme temperatures and pressure on the tyre, little balls of rubber begin to form on the tyre's surface. This has the effect of dramatically reducing grip, as the friction means that the tyres begin to slide on the track. Normally, graining cleans up eventually, but too long a period can play havoc with a race strategy and potentially cost vital points. Webber and Alonso both complained about it in the mid-20s lap-wise, but it was Lewis Hamilton that suffered the most. The Mercedes performance dropped dramatically as the race ticked towards lap 30, allowing his teammate to take 2-3 seconds per lap out of the Brit. Eventually, the German caught Hamilton coming onto the pair of 1km straights. He got into the slipstream and opened his DRS. However, no sooner had he moved to overtake, he had a front wing failure. The nose had bent down and was now touching the floor, sending sparks flying everywhere. Much to Hamilton's frustration, Rosberg refused to let him past, and to add insult to injury, then stole the pit stop that Lewis was supposed to have, meaning that Hamilton had to do yet another lap on the ruined tyres. He eventually pitted on lap 30, but that stop pushed him back behind the chasing foursome of Hulkenberg, Alonso, Webber and Raikkonen.

                                          Whilst Rosberg's sparking front wing was dramatic, it was nothing compared to the following 10 laps. Just 2 later, on the same straight, Sergio Perez had a front right tyre delamination, caused by a horrendous flat spot on his tyre. Luckily, this does not seem to be a recurrance of the old Pirelli problems, simply overusage by the driver. The carcass of the tyre was left on the road, along with a sizeable amount of debris. This forced the safety car out, enabling Raikkonen and Hamilton to gain back a few of the places that they had lost. On the restart, Raikkonen took full advantage of a poor Grosjean restart to nip infront of his teammate at turn 1 to claim 2nd. Further back, Sutil attempted to pass Webber on the way into turn 3, but only succeeded in colliding with the Red Bull. The collision must have ignited something in the engine, as Webber's car swiftly set on fire, forcing him to pull over and retire, and prompting the safety car out once again. However, confusion reigned as the marshals car was seen on track before the safety car had managed to pick up the leaders. Eventually, the situation was resolved, but it could have ended very badly.

                                              The race restarted (for the second time) on lap 40, and this time Vettel was not allowed to scamper clear quite as easily, as Raikkonen remained right on his tail. Behind them, Hamilton had a very poor restart, being mugged by the fast starting Nico Hulkenberg for 4th. The Sauber driver was having one of the drives of his career, but he would need to defend superbly to keep this 4th place. Fortunately for the Sauber driver, his set-up enabled him to keep Hamilton behind him in the top speed section, and he used all of his skill and car to keep the Brit behind in the twisty section. It meant that even with DRS, Hamilton could do little about the Sauber, and even resorted to an exasperated question of 'has anyone got any ideas' to his team. Up front, Vettel had begun to pull away from Raikkonen, as the Finn's tyres grew older. This allowed Romain Grosjean to close up on his teammate. Being encouraged by the entire Lotus garage, the Frenchman simply could not make the manoeuver stick, and eventually had to settle for 3rd. The fact that the Lotus team were so keen to have Grosjean ahead of Raikkonen implies that the Finn may have to endure a few tough and awkward races at the British-based team before heading back to Ferrari, as there is a clear sense of favouritism.

                                               But the day, as has so often been the case in recent weeks, belonged to Vettel. Another mature drive from the front to become the first man ever to win the Korean Grand Prix from pole. The records keep tumbling for the German, and I am certain that very soon he will be able to lay claim to the first ever quadruple world champion, where all of his titles have come in succession. For me, it will be interesting to see how Vettel reacts when he is given a car that is not constantly leading races. If he were in Alonso or Hamilton's position now, I think that Vettel may struggle, as we are yet to see him pull off many stunning overtaking moves or come from behind victories. Despite Vettel having won the race, my Driver of the Day is certainly Nico Hulkenberg. A phenomenal drive from 7th, and to keep Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, two world champions, at bay for the best part of 20 laps, is quite incredible. I would be extremely surprised if he doesn't recieve a phone call from a larger team in the next couple of years offering him a seat. Korea once again delivered on drama, action and intensity, but failed to deliver us a different result than the one we all now all too familiar with.

2013 Singapore Grand Prix: Has The Night Race Put The Title To Bed?

                          This weekend's Singapore Grand Prix from Marina Bay has perhaps pull the final nail in the coffin of this season's Driver Championship. With Sebastian Vettel leaving the Asian city-state 60 points ahead with only 150 remaining, it seems now a case of when and not if the German will take his fourth consecutive drivers' title. It is an incredible feat, matched only by fellow German Michael Schumacher, and he will be hoping to surpass his compatriot's record in the coming years. With the amount of years left in the Red Bull driver's career, I would not be at all surprised if Vettel did manage to take all of Schumacher's records away from him one-by-one, just less than a decade after people said they would never be beaten. It is an indication of the incredible domination Vettel has had on the sport, and no race has illustrated this more than the Singapore Grand Prix this weekend.

                           The big news in the weeks in between the Italian Grand Prix and the trip to Marina Bay is that Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, who had already spurned an approach from Red Bull, decided instead to move to his former employers Ferrari for the start of the 2014 season. My initial reaction to the Finn's decision was that he had decided to return to the team he won his one and only title with, and that the Italian side remained the most likely team to repeat that success with. Therefore, the decision seemed to be odd from the perspective that the Finn turned down Red Bull, but sensible on the basis that he is familiar with many of the Ferrari team, and I feel that he will settle in quicker with. However, reports over the following days suggested that Raikkonen's decision was motivated by both success and finances. The former McLaren man, in interviews with the international media, implied that he had decided to make the move to the Scuderia as Lotus had failed to pay his wages for a month. This simply puts the icing on the cake for the Finn, who has enjoyed a reasonable amount of success with the British team, but he needs to make that step up the grid if he wants to realistically challenge for any titles in the future.

                             Raikkonen, who was also suffering the effects of an injection he had into his back, was clearly still distracted by his new contract, as his qualifying did not go to plan. On any street circuit it is important to qualify well, as those further down the grid are more succeptible to first lap incidents, and getting stuck behind slower cars in front. In Q1, the Red Bulls, who had also dominated the practice sessions, were the only team able to cruise through into Q2 using only the hard tyres. Even the Mercedes, who have been notoriously good on a single lap, were unable to just stay on the hard tyres. Ferrari had an unwanted scare, as Felipe Massa found himself in the bottom 6 as the flag dropped. Fortunately for the Italians, the Brazilian managed to get himself into the relative safety of mid-table, but he did little to put himself in the shop window. The big casualty from Q1 was Paul di Resta. The Brit has struggled in recent races, and is no longer a stranger to exiting in the first qualifying session, so perhaps it should not be such a shock. Q2 saw Raikkonen depart as the big name dropout, as his back caused him too much pain to get his best lap. The man to take his place was Esteban Gutierrez. The Sauber driver managed to break into the top 10 for the first time, outqualifying his more experienced teammate in the progress. Vettel's dominance in the first two qualifying sessions seemed to be continued in the final shootout, as he blasted into the 1:42's, a full seven tenths faster than his nearest rivals. So convinced was the German that he had done enough, he decided not to return to the track, instead becoming a spectator. However, he would have been a nervous onlooker as Nico Rosberg set the fastest first sector on his final lap. As the Mercedes passed the line, Vettel managed a sigh of relief, as Rosberg could only get within a tenth of his initial time.

                                That one tenth would prove pivotal in the run to the first corner. Unusually, the Red Bull was beaten off the line by Rosberg, who powered off the line. Having passed Vettel before the first corner, the Mercedes ran wide into turn 2, allowing Vettel to sneak back up the inside to get the lead back. Behind, the big winner was, once again, Fernando Alonso, who went from 7th to 3rd in the space of two corners. Steering clear of any danger, the Spaniard went all the way around the outside of two rows to claim the final podium spot. In fact, the entire field managed to avoid contact on the opening lap, showing incredible driving accuracy. Once he had maintained his lead, Sebastian Vettel quickly made the break, scampering away from Rosberg. By the time the Mercedes made his first pit stop, Vettel was over 7.5 seconds clear. As the race ran on, it became more and more obvious that Vettel was strolling to a comfortable victory, so attention turned to the chasing pack behind. After the first stops, Hamilton and Grosjean began reeling in Mark Webber quite quickly, with the Australian on older tyres. Just as it looked that the result was inevitable, Daniel Ricciardo made an uncharacteristic error, locking up both front tyres and sliding into the barriers. This brought out the safety car, eradicating Vettel's lead and throwing the result back into the air.

                                   This lasted next to no time however, as no sooner had the safety car pitted then Vettel made the break once again. With one Red Bull scampering away, the attention turned to the other. Aussie Mark Webber had been battling with Hamilton and Grosjean since the early laps, and this seemed set to be an ongoing rivalry. However, his cause was aided by the sight of Grosjean's engine giving in on lap 38. When the pair then made their final stops, they fell back behind the majority of the chasing pack, meaning a full-throttle race to the finish. It seemed to be a tactical decision that worked, as the Aussie managed to perform the undercut on Nico Rosberg, to take an effective 3rd place. However, this was swiftly wiped away by Raikkonen's ability to perform the same undercut. With both Alonso, who was trying to one stop, and Vettel way up the road, the final podium spot was the only thing up for grabs at this point. With both McLarens one stopping, there were mobile chicanes that needed passing for those behind. However, this often became easier said than done, as Hamilton and Rosberg almost collected one another on several occasions when trying to pass Perez.

                                      Despite chasing Raikkonen down to try and claim the final podium spot, Webber began to struggle massively into the final couple of laps, losing four seconds a lap to the Mercedeses behind. He was eventually passed by both, before being forced to retire with a lack of fuel, and a sick engine, eventually setting fire to itself on the final lap. It is just the latest in a long list of misfortune for the Aussie, who will be glad to leave the sport at this rate! In contrast, his teammate Vettel came home to win the race with ease, leading by over 30 seconds from Fernando Alonso. However, for both, the day ended badly. For Webber, having accepted a lift from Fernando Alonso, he was penalised with a 10 place penalty at the next race in Korea, for three reprimands in a season. For Vettel, despite his dominant victory, almost guaranteeing the title, he was roundly booed on the podium. Whilst this was not the first time (it happened at Monza), the first time could easily be explained as being deep Ferrari territory. Singapore is not. To boo any racer is unacceptable, especially when they have performed so admirably this season. Whilst it could be argued that F1 is getting boring, as the German is sweeping everything and everyone aside, this is not justification for booing someone. I do not recall Schumacher being booed wherever he went, or Senna. I think that we have to credit Red Bull for making a terrific car, and Vettel for driving it so well.

                                     As for the title: it looks over. 60 points is a lot to recoup out of 150. We would need to see a few Vettel non-finishes for this to be anything other than a Red Bull and Vettel success. I simply hope that we do see a few more interesting and close races over the next few weeks, otherwise F1 will begin to become a touch tedious and repetitive. Since the change to the tyres Red Bull have seemed best prepared to deal with the rule changes and the tyres, giving them an inherent advantage. Next season, hopefully we will see a slightly different story, getting us back to the start of the season, where any one of 6 or 7 cars could win races.

Italian Grand Prix 2013: The Place Where Ferrari's Dreams Died?

                            Today's Italian Grand Prix marked the end of the European F1 season. Next, the Formula 1 roadshow rolls into Asia, with races at Singapore, Japan and Abu Dhabi to come. With Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel so far in the lead in both championships, it looks as though the end of the European season has coincided with the end of the F1 season as a competitive entity. Vettel's victory in the heart of Ferrari territory, at a circuit where they were unfavoured, signals a level of dominance that I fear will continue for the rest of the season.

                            But just how dominant have the Red Bulls been in Europe? It is interesting to look at the statistics of the European season, and the winners of each race. I will do a run down of the races undertaken, the winners, and the points based purely on European races. Spain was the first race of the season, which saw Fernando Alonso take his second victory on home soil. Monaco saw a win for Mercedes and Nico Rosberg, who took their second win in the following European race in Britain. Another home victory saw Vettel take his first European victory of the season at the Nurburgring. He would win another two, in Belgium and today in Italy, after a first Mercedes win for Lewis Hamilton in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Whilst the Red Bull man has won the most European races this year, he only beats Nico Rosberg by one, and the majority have come in the latter part of the season. This implies that his dominance is not as strong as initially suspected.

                             This is supported by the points accrued. Though Vettel does remain in the lead on European points, he is only 16 clear of Fernando Alonso. If we compare that to the 53 point lead that the German enjoys overall, 37 points of that must have come outside of Europe. Bearing in mind that there have been only 5 races thus far away from the continent, it implies that Vettel's dominance is considerably greater in Asia and America than in Europe. A little further analysis of the points also indicates that Vettel's dominance in Europe has only occurred since his home win in Germany. 75% of his European points have come in the final four races of the European season. If we compare this to Alonso, the last four account for only 55%, meaning that he has remained the more consistent. Whilst Vettel may not have been as dominant in Europe as elsewhere, Red Bull as a team certainly have. Between them, Vettel and Webber have accrued 206 points on European soil, a full 53 points clear of their nearest rivals, which would be Mercedes, with Ferrari a further four points back. Overall, Red Bull's lead currently stands at 102 points, which implies that Red Bull's dominance as a team is almost identical in Europe to away from it. Obviously, these statistics may alter, with a further 7 races to take place away from Europe this season.

                               In terms of the Italian Grand Prix, the practice sessions were all dominated by the world-champion elect. The qualifying session on the Saturday was expected to have a similar result. After the heroics of the Marussias and Guido van der Garde in Belgium's Q1, they sadly could not replicate the feat, perishing at the first time of asking. Q2 proved far more shocking, as the pole sitter of the four previous races Lewis Hamilton, 'drove like an idiot', in his own words, and could only manage 12th. Both of the Lotuses also had to watch Q3 from the pits, with Nico Hulkenberg and the two Toro Rossos being the shock inclusions to Q3. Having sauntered through to third session, Vettel cruised to pole, with team mate Mark Webber ensuring that Red Bull locked out the front row for the first time since the second race of the season. The big surprise happened immediately behind them, as Sauber's Nico Hulkenberg angered the Italian population, beating the Ferrari pair to 3rd on the grid. In double disappointment, Alonso had to settle for 5th, being beaten by his teammate for the first time in several races. This would do his race victory chances no favours, and would ultimately see his title bid go up in smoke.

                                The start at Monza is always chaotic, with the opening chicane normally causing several collisions throughout the field. This danger will not have been lessened by the start of Vettel. The German locked both front brakes on the turn into turn 1, sending a considerable amount of smoke up, clouding the vision of those behind. This inevitably had an impact on the consertina effect that occurred behind, with Kimi Raikkonen damaging his front wing in contact with Sergio Perez, sending the McLaren driver onto the escape road. Even more concerning for Vettel, the lock-up left worries of flat-spots on his tyres, with the potential to cause damage to the car, and ruin his one stop race. The Ferraris both had excellent starts, passing both Hulkenberg and Webber by the end of lap 2, with Alonso making an exceptional pass around the Red Bull man at the Curva Grande. Inter-team cooperation then started taking place, with Massa offering no resistance to a move from Alonso a few laps later, meaning that the Spaniard could get after Vettel. The German, though, was showing no signs of a flat spot, edging out a gap of 7 seconds by lap 10.

                                 Further back, after a good start, Lewis Hamilton was still struggling in the midfield. Having made up two places from the start, the Brit had failed to surge through the field, instead being stuck in a battle with Jenson Button for 10th. However, his afternoon was ruined by a couple of early problems. First, the engineers discovered an issue with the radio communications between the driver and the team, meaning that no message could be delivered throughout the race. Even more dramatic was the announcement that the Mercedes had a slow puncture, meaning that the Brit needed to pit, wrecking his plans for a one-stop race. This also explained the slow progress that Hamilton had been making. That message could not be delivered to the driver though, meaning that Hamilton stayed out for a further 2 laps before finally recieving the message and making the stop, but this will have cost him valuable time. He rejoined behind Kimi Raikkonen, who had been fighting back from the first lap incident. The Finn had been setting a succession of fastest laps, and looked like flying through the field. Hamilton, on fresher tyres, got right among the fastest laps, swapping the honour with the Lotus. As a result of this scintillating pace, the pair of them managed to pass those they were fighting before they made their stops (Button, Perez, Grosjean, Ricciardo). But would they have to stop again?

                                  Vettel's suspected problems seemed to be coming back to haunt him, as when he past the 20th lap, he began to lose half to three-quarters of a second a lap. Clearly concerned, the Red Bull mechanics decided to pull him in on lap 23, when the lead was just 5 seconds. After a quick inspection (2.7 seconds), they concluded that all was fine, and sent him back out. Alonso, attempting to press home his advantage, stayed out. Unfortunately for the Ferrari driver, this plan completely backfired. The Red Bull team's decision to keep Vettel out there was vindicated, as the German extended his lead to 10 seconds by the time Alonso made his pit stop. Instead of retaining the lead, the Spaniard nearly fell back behind Webber. Further back, Hamilton and Raikkonen continued their onslaught on the field, passing the other Mercedes in Nico Rosberg. However, this was halted by the unsurprising decision by Lotus to pit Raikkonen a second time, dropping him way down the field. Hamilton pressed on, passing Nico Hulkenberg for 5th, but ultimately his progress came to the same end, requiring another stop. However, just like the stop before, continuing radio problems meant that he stayed out a further two laps than they intended. Despite the best efforts of the Mercedes pit crew, he rejoined behind Raikkonen once again, in 14th, meaning that he would need to pass him on track. But would they be able to trouble the points?

                                     Up front, whilst Vettel scampered away at the front, Alonso was challenged heavily by the other Red Bull of Mark Webber. The Red Bull team would have liked nothing more than a 1-2 on Ferrari territory, further showing their dominance. However, once again misfortune struck the Aussie, who was told that they had a gear issue between the 2nd and 3rd gears. This meant that he couldn't get the necessary acceleration to reel in the Ferrari, meaning that he began to fall back a little. Even worse news was to follow for Christian Horner and the boys on the pit wall at Red Bull. Vettel seemed to be developing the same problems as his team mate. Fortunately, he had built up a healthy lead of over 12 seconds, meaning that he could take it a bit easier without costing himself the race. However, the news that the Red Bulls were having problems had filtered back to the Ferrari pit wall, and the drivers were soon pushing hard to catch the pair in front.

                                       In the battle for the points, Hamilton took the lead in the push for the top 10, passing the Lotus brilliantly round the Curva Grande, before getting past Perez's McLaren to make it into the points. But he wasn't finished there. He quickly managed to catch and dispatch the other McLaren of Button, before chasing down the pair in front of him. This led to a final lap dash for 7th place, with both Grosjean and Ricciardo in the Mercedes's sights. Up front, despite struggling through the final few laps, Vettel managed to nurse his car home for the maximum 25 points, winning by just 5.7 seconds. His 53 point lead seems insumountable, but this race could have been a different story had the problem emerged a few laps sooner. Perhaps he will have a bigger fight from his new Australian team mate, but for now he remains the top dog in Formula 1.

The 2013 Belgian Grand Prix: Questions Asked, Questions Answered?

                             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?

The Hungarian Grand Prix 2013: 'Miracle' Maiden Win For Hamilton

                         With the spectre of gender equality being the main topic of conversation in Formula 1 over the last two weeks, the Hungarian Grand Prix gave the sport a chance to escape the controversy. With Red Bull dominating the first two practice sessions, however, fears were raised that this weekend was going to be the most boring of the season. Fortunately, this was not the case. This blog post will review the events of the weekend in Hungary, but first, I wanted to give my own view on the issue that has dominated Formula 1 news over the past few weeks.

                           During the 'young driver' test scheduled for last week at Silverstone, Williams opted to run 30-year-old Susie Wolff, making her the first female driver to run in an official Formula 1 test for 10 years. This sparked great debate, with the BBC Sport website having only the news that a woman would be running a test at Silverstone as their F1 news on the front page. Despite what feminists across the country would have us believe, in my opinion this is a much lesser story than it has been made out to be. I do not hold the same, slightly bigoted views, of Sir Stirling Moss, that women lack the 'necessary mental attributes for Formula 1'. There are two logical reasons behind my view. Firstly, the accusations of nepotism. The fact that Susie Wolff, the Williams test driver, is married to Toto Wolff, the Executive Director of Mercedes, is suspicious enough. It becomes even more suspicious when you learn that he also holds 16% of the shares in Williams, giving him adequate sway to suggest potential test drivers.

                             However, argument one is irrelevant without argument two. I am a great believer that jobs should be earned on merit, meaning that the best driver gets the drives in the Formula 1 teams. I recognise that with the influx of cash and sponsors that this is often not the case, which is a shame. I also believe that positive discrimination is not 'positive' as its name suggests, but can often be as sexist and discriminatory as the alleged treatment of women in the first place. In such a competitive economy, reserving jobs for any gender, race, or ethnic group, which may result in a second-rate candidate being selected over the best, is unacceptable. The results of the Silverstone test reinforce my point. Had Susie Wolff blown the rest of the field away, setting faster times than her male counterparts, then I would absolutely say that this was newsworthy, and she would be a name to remember for the future (though the fact that she is 30 kind of makes a mockery of the 'young' part of the 'young driver test'). This would also have made my initial argument of nepotism irrelevant, as she could rightly have claimed to be there on merit. The fact remains that she was not, setting a pace a second off race driver Maldonado, and, even worse, 0.4 seconds slower than her fellow male test driver, who had less experience than herself in the same car. We do not make a massive issue of male drivers who set slower times than their male counterparts. Women say they want equality, so why should a female race driver who is slower be given any more airtime? It would be good to see a female Formula 1 driver, but when, and only when, the individual is fast enough to merit the drive.

                               Moving back to the events of this weekend, qualifying proved to be a major shock, based on the results from practice. Q1 gave us initial indications of the end result, with both of the Mercedes looking strong. With Vettel appearing to be off the pace, Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton took advantage, finishing in a strong 1/2 for the German team. Romain Grosjean, who had also looked strong in practice, finished 3rd, giving Lotus hope for a positive qualifying session. Red Bull had further problems in the shape of Mark Webber, who suffered firstly from an electrical problem, and then with a failure of the KERS system. This ensured that he would not be challenging for the pole, forcing him to withdraw from Q3. The main shock in Q1 was the disappearance of Paul di Resta. The Scot, whose team had been performing well in qualifying at the start of the season, struggled with the new Kevlar-lined Pirelli compounds, and found himself in 18th. Force India's loss was McLaren and Williams's gain. The two teams have made significant improvements since Silverstone, which we can only assume is to be attributed to a better handling of the new tyres. Q2 saw a continuation in the trend, with Mercedes once again securing a 1/2 finish, beating out the improved Vettel. Q2 will be best remember for the incredibly tight finish on the bubble at the end, with 8th to 12th all within the 1:20.5 bracket. This time, it was Sergio Perez who was the beneficiary, the Mexican fighting back from a crash in P3 to get into the top 10 for the first time this season. Q3 saw Vettel out of the traps early, to set a stunning 1:19.5, the fastest time of the day. This threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the pack. Could Mercedes respond? Rosberg crossed the line first of the pair, with his effort only good enough for 4th. But Hamilton is supreme around the Hungaroring, winning on 3 of his 6 races there. His 1:19.3 managed to beat Vettel's last-ditch attempt by 0.04 seconds to secure the most unlikely of poles. His third in a row, but could he now go and convert it into a victory?

                                  From the lights out, Hamilton managed to navigate the opening turn without losing a place, unlike in Germany. If Mercedes thought they had had a good start, they were sadly mistaken. Rosberg ran wide at Turn 3, before clipping Massa. This saw the German tumble down the field, going from 4th to 12th in just one lap. After trading fastest laps with Vettel, Hamilton eventually managed to break the vital DRS 1 second window on lap 8, ensuring that Vettel did not have the advantage in straight line speed. Vettel's inability to catch Hamilton was dropping him back into the clutches of the impressive Grosjean, and soon the young Frenchman was on the triple-World Champion's tail. Behind that trio, the Ferraris were struggling to keep up with the pace, heaping further pressure on Alonso's title aspirations. Hamilton's lightning-fast start had appeared to catch up with him when he had to dive into the pits on lap 9 for a fresh set of tyres. Rejoining behind Button, he quickly dispatched his fellow Brit on fresher rubber the following lap. This would prove to be the most critical pass of the race.

                                   Hamilton's early stop seemingly handed the advantage to Vettel, as it suggested that the Mercedes struggled with tyre wear. However, just two laps later, Vettel's tyres went 'off the cliff', and he was forced into the pit lane. He too, rejoined just behind McLaren's Button, except he found it far more difficult to pass the Englishman. After the first round of pit stops, the order was the same, but Vettel being held up behind Button allowed Lewis Hamilton to scamper clear at the front, and backed the Red Bull man into Grosjean, Alonso and even his teammate. Eventually, on lap 24, after 13 laps of trying, the German passed Button, but by this point Hamilton was already 11 seconds up the road. Vettel's pass left space for Grosjean, who took full advantage, only to bang wheels with the McLaren and force the Frenchman onto the escape road, cutting the chicane. This would have devastating consequences on the Lotus's race. Just a few laps later, he was handed a drive through penalty for 'exceeding the track's limits', dropping him into 8th.

                                     With Hamilton now in clean air, he could attempt to peg the gap. However, a rampant Vettel began eating into the considerable lead, and with Hamilton still unsure about Vettel's strategy, he knew he had to keep pushing. The Mercedes man pitted for a second time on lap 32, rejoining behind Mark Webber. This had potentially serious consequences, as the Red Bull man could easily back up the leader into his team mate. Fortunately for the Brit, he pulled an outrageous passing manoeuvere around the outside of the Aussie at Turn 2, once again giving himself a clean track ahead. Vettel's race strategy seemed certain once he had pitted just two laps later, as going a full half distance on a single set of tyres would have been highly unlikely. With Hamilton's lead now out to 15 seconds, a maiden race victory looked in the bag for the Stevenage-born man. The fight was now on for the podium places. With Raikkonen and Webber both 2-stopping, and with Grosjean now out of contention, both had a chance at 3rd, or even 2nd.

                                        Hamilton's final pit stop, on lap 50, meant that he had a seemingly comfortable run to the line. However, Vettel's pace once the Brit had stopped, forced the Mercedes to up his game again. Taking well over a second a lap out of him, Vettel rapidly brought the gap down to 10 seconds, and left Hamilton concerned once more. Lap 56 would have been a sight for sore eyes then, as the German finally pitted. As he made his final stop, it became obvious that the intended target with those laps was not to catch Hamilton, but to avoid slipping behind Raikkonen! He rejoined a full 5 seconds behind the Lotus man, but was now on fresher tyres. Quickly reeling in the Finn, he relentlessly attempted to pass, a pass which would have handed him another vital three points in the title race. However, despite the German's best efforts, Kimi kept him at bay for the remaining laps. Up front, Hamilton, who looked to be cruising, would have had a nervy last few laps when he learnt that his team mate, Nico Rosberg, had been forced to retire with an engine problem. This capped an incredibly disappointing Sunday for Nico, who had looked on course for a podium before the first lap incidents. Fortunately for Lewis, no such problems occurred, and he took the chequered flag in Hungary by a full 10 seconds from Kimi Raikkonen, with Vettel having to settle for third.

                                          A maiden Mercedes win for Lewis Hamilton, who, after so many pole positions, has finally converted one into a race win on Sunday. A mature drive, especially considering his personal circumstances, events that have been made all too public. Predictions of Lewis coming roaring back into the title picture are perhaps a tad premature, but I see no reason why we will not see that distinctive yellow crash helmet in the winner's enclosure more often this season.

                                

German Grand Prix 2013: Home Hero at the Nurburgring

                       The German Grand Prix represented the chance for many unlikely 'firsts' for several teams and drivers, as the 2013 Formula 1 season moved into its ninth race. For pole-sitters, and eventual winners of the last Grand Prix, Mercedes could claim their first home Grand Prix win since their re-introduction into the sport, somthing that the Silver Arrows craved. Similarly, both Nico Rosberg and, more surprisingly, world champion Sebastian Vettel were also looking for their inaugural victory on home soil. Of the rest of the field, the most surprising name to never win the historic race was Kimi Raikkonen. The championship contender had come within a lap of taking victory at the Nurburgring in the European Grand Prix of 2005, and had to retire from the lead of the German Grand Prix of the same year (held at Hockenheim), but had never managed to take the top step. All of these storylines led to an intriguing battle in both qualifying, and the race.

                         Before any racing had even begun, there was the very real possibility that there would be no racing at the circuit this last weekend. After the serious problems with the Pirelli tyres supplied at the British Grand Prix, many of the drivers stated that they would boycott the event should the problems resurface. Certainly an eventuality none in the world of F1 wanted, but an understandable conclusion, given the danger of the race at Silverstone. This meant that even more scrutiny was placed upon the tyres supplied, with Pirelli workers toiling day and night in an attempt to ensure the security of their products. As it was, there were no significant incidents in either free practice, or the qualifying. This meant that, thankfully, the race could continue undiminished.

                          A more positive note accompanying the Grand Prix was the Williams' milestone of 600 Grand Prix. Whilst the team have been noticeably struggling this year, failing to accrue any points from the opening 8 races, I remember many glories in my Formula 1 watching. Whilst I have not been alive long enough to see any of their world championship winning cars, there have been many memorable moments. One that springs instantly to mind are the many confrontations between Ralf Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya between 2001 and 2004. With the up-and-coming Montoya threatening to outdo his more illustrious teammate, a long-running spat developed between the two drivers. Whilst they did come to a 'working relationship', there were more than enough arguments, and more than a few collisions between the pair, that indicated there was no love lost. Another more recent moment is last year's incredible maiden victory for Pastor Maldonado at the Spanish Grand Prix. After a fortuitous pole, the Venezuelan held off the challenge from his competitors, particularly Fernando Alonso, to claim the most unlikely of victories for Sir Frank Williams and the team. A genuine giant of Formula 1, it will be a very sad day if the name Williams disappears from the sport. So here's hoping for many more memorable moments!

                           Back to the action of last weekend, the German Grand Prix qualifying took place in sweltering heats, with the threat of rain a distant memory. This allowed us to see the true pace of each of the cars, putting  Red Bull at a distinct advantage in the earlier practice sessions. Whilst Williams were celebrating their 600th Grand Prix, a double elimination in Q1 will have done little to increase the party atmosphere in their section of the paddock. Other than the Williams, the back of the field was filled with the usual suspects, the Marussias and Caterhams. Going into Q2, the from 4th to 14th were covered by just 0.7 seconds, promising an unpredictable and entertaining session. Whilst both the Red Bulls and the Mercedes had managed to make it into Q2 using just the harder tyres, the rest of the pack were not guaranteed such an easy ride. The big shock of Q2 involved the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg. Despite being tipped to contest the pole position, the German side failed to accurately anticipate the cut-off time, dropping Rosberg into 11th, and out of the session. The main losers of the second session were Force India, who after a couple of promising qualifying sessions, failed to get either of their drivers into the top 10, finished 12th and 15th. The main beneficiaries were McLaren, getting Button into the top 10, and Toro Rosso, with Daniel Ricciardo continuing to stake his claim to take over from Mark Webber at the parent team at the end of the year. Into the final session, the consensus around the paddock was for a Vettel pole, if not a front row lock-out for the Red Bulls. However, Lewis Hamilton threatened to derail the charge when he popped his Mercedes in front of the Red Bulls after the first round of lap times. Vettel responded, going to the top of the leaderboard as the chequered flag dropped. But Hamilton was still on a lap, and the Mercedes driver shocked everyone to beat Vettel by nearly 2 tenths.

                            After their success at Silverstone, everyone expected the Mercedes to be competitive in the race. And starting on pole at a circuit where they appeared to be on the back foot looked ominous for the rest of the grid. However, their dreams of controlling the race from the front went up in smoke as Hamilton was overtaken by both of the Red Bulls by the end of the first corner. Ferrari's low-key afternoon continued, with Felipe Massa spinning out of the race after just 4 laps. It is unclear whether it was a mechanical failure or a simple driver error, but it capped a fairly poor weekend for the Brazilian. Unfortunately, the main two talking points of the race were not for racing incidents. The first, and most serious, happened at the first round of pit stops. Mark Webber entered the pits on lap 9, for a routine stop as the soft tyres began to 'go off'. Due to the desire for a quick stop, sometimes the tyres are not quite fastened on correctly, as either human or mechanical error does sometimes occur. Usually, these errors are spotted and the driver is stopped as he leaves the pitlane. Unfortunately, in this case, Webber's tyre was so unsecurely fastened that it flew off as he left his box, causing mechanics to scamper out of the way and catching a FOA cameraman square in the chest. This comes as a stark reminder that F1 is a dangerous sport for more than just the driver. I wish the cameraman a speedy recovery, and I hope to see less incidents like this in the future.

                             Despite the incident, Webber was able to continue, albeit at the back of the field. After a few laps in which Lewis Hamilton fell back behind Raikkonen and struggled to keep Alonso at bay, the second talking point occurred. A routine engine failure on lap 25 turned into a nightmare, as Marussia's Bianchi pulled off to the side of the track. After a few flames and a lot of smoke, the drama had seemingly ended. That was until the car began rolling backwards across the track! At least there was no oncoming traffic to collide with the out of control Marussia, which would have made the situation far more serious. The safety car was deployed to deal with the incident, and when the race restarted, the two Lotuses began heavily pressurising the leader Vettel. When Grosjean pulled in for his second and final stop a few laps later, Red Bull's response was instant. They pulled Vettel in the next lap, ensuring that he rejoined in front of the Lotus. All eyes then turned to Kimi Raikkonen, who remained on track, worrying the Red Bull garage that he planned to one-stop. As each lap passed, the mood became ever more tense. Unfortunately for the Lotus team, 50 laps is all Raikkonen could manage on the tyres. However, his change to the soft tyres promised a nervous last 10 laps, as Kimi could now go a full second faster than his teammate and Vettel in front. Alonso too took that gamble, hoping to chase down the Lotuses for the podium.

                                The change in speed was instant. Both Raikkonen and Alonso began reeling in the front two very quickly, with Grosjean eventually moving out of his teammate's way to allow Kimi to chase down the race leader. Further down the field, Williams's 600th Grand Prix ended in disappointment, as an epically slow stop prevented Pastor Maldonado from claiming their first points of the season. An incredibly poor season so far from the veteran team, who need to improve in the second half if they are to challenge for the top 10. As we moved into the final lap, we were promised a showdown, with both the race win and the final podium spot up for grabs. It seemed it was destined to come down to the final DRS zones of the race. However, in both cases, they ran out of time. This meant that Sebastian Vettel took his first victory on home soil, and the 30th win of his career. Raikkonen maintained his incredible scoring run, and Grosjean took an encouraging podium, hoping to kickstart his Formula 1 career after a difficult first season. Alonso had to settle for 4th, pushing him even further behind the overall championship lead. After a promising qualifying, Hamilton and Mercedes faded, finishing 5th after a brief resurgence to overtake Jenson Button on the last lap. But the day belonged to hometown hero Vettel, who now takes an increasingly healthy lead into the second half of the season, knowing that the title is now his to lose.