Round Fourteen: Singapore Review

Greetings Internet,

I would say the lights have now fallen on another race, but in this case the lights had fallen before the start replaced by their artificial counterparts emblazoning the track in the electric illumination. And it was underneath the mechanical lights that a wholly different breed of machinery did battle, and what a battle it turned out to be. There were angry drivers, happy drivers, and airborne drivers, and at the front of the race, more dominance was on the cards from that German Bloke placing his championship 

This was one of the few times where I actually got some of the pre-race estimations right - a massive gap did open behind the division one entries and the mid-field were bunched up together in groups. Bernd Maylander was able to add to his time in the lead as expected at what turned out to be a rather well timed intervention to the race. It was another day of contrasting fortunes with drivers falling away on pace and falling over each other, differing tyre strategies came and went, positions shifted and swapped. All under a serene Singapore night sky, 

Here is how the 14th race of the season unfolded.

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image

The Race

The cars gathered upon a floodlit grid, with 61 laps of motor-racing lying in front of them extending out into the night. Twitter reports from Ferrari claimed that the initial threat of rain that was postulated after qualifying had faded and that the race was going to be conducted in the dry. Taking out one element from a race which runs close to the 120 minute time limit on the racing, the rest of the variables however remained including the tyres and the all important risk of a Safety Car.

Starting lights ran through the sequence ready to unleash the 24 cars into the darkness, with Liuzzi allowed to start 24th instead of 29th like I suggested yesterday. Down at the opposite end Vettel made a rather uncontested start and vanished in to the distance. Webber didn't fare as well losing places to Button and Alonso while defending from Hamilton, who lost several places backing out of the manoeuvre to fall Behind the two Mercedes cars. 

It was a safe contact free start to the race, until it came to the back of the field where Ricciardo decided his car wanted to mate with Timo Glock in the Virgin racing car. Damaging Daniel's front wing which detached and caused a front puncture. The contact also damaged Timo's rear suspension making the car challenging to drive contributing to the no-longer-a-virgin racing machine to spin into the wall on the entry to the grandstand tunnel at turn 18.

Back to the top end of the grid, Button and the German Bloke had build a commanding break from the rest of the grid with Vettel a considerable distance clear as Alonso was holding up the rest of the division one pack. A pack minus Hamilton who after the opening lap found himself with his best friend from Monza - the Mercedes of Michael Schumacher. This time however he was able to scythe past Michael and Rosberg in quick succession to bring Lewis back up to the back of division one where Ferrari were running out of tyre life. 

Webber was the first to take the initiative against the Ferrari he was boxed in behind, using his superior tyre condition to cut underneath Fernando at turn 14 before sweeping round the outside of 15. Mark now becoming the master of passing Alonso in the most unusual places starting with the mega pass on him in Spa at Eau Rouge. A title which he would certainly extend on later...

This signalled the first round of stops starting with Fernando, followed later by Massa and Hamilton who pitted together - and then exited in the same order - the McLaren stuck behind the Ferrari. A scenario which never goes well with Lewis, especially a car that he had a run in with in Q3, combined with the team encouraging Hamilton to be less conservative. Pile all those factors together and the outcome was inevitable, a clumsy look at the outside of the Ferrari resulted in contact - Lewis lost a front wing and Massa gained a puncture.  The McLaren driver was also awarded a drive through penalty yet another stewards intervention for Hamilton once again applying his loyalty card for the officials.

Throughout the opening pit-stops Webber was dropped behind Alonso, while Hamilton and Massa found themselves on the same piece of tarmac once more, on this occasion the Ferrari had weaker tyres slipping wide. Opening the door for Lewis in a contact free overtaking manoeuvre. Alternate strategies were coming into play - the Force Indias were running long into the race and by doing so had jumped the Mercedes team and who were back running with One-Stop Perez. 

Rosberg was at the head of the queue, but fell foul of the marbles building on the final corner - One-stop Perez gained the place only for Nico to throw it back down the inside into turn one. The German nudged Sergio onto the run-off area, this brought Michael right up to the back of the battling pair, applying the DRS to attack the Sauber who defended the position. As that position lay outside of Schumacher's grasp another opportunity arose for another award - the high jump record for the weekend. Now Michael being Michael he decided to bend the rules on this competition - instead of waiting until the turn 10 chicane where the other efforts were made, he took a different approach. Using One-Stop Perez as the take off ramp sailing into the air with ease before crashing down and into the barriers shedding parts and pieces across the track. As predicted the race was to be interrupted by the Safety Car right on half distance.

Yes that is only the 50% mark so might be a good time to get some tea ready for the second half -  a long race on the television tends to result in a long old end of weekend summation. 

It took a long time for the cars to line up ready for the restart, Vettel had a brace of lapped cars between and nearest rival Button, which allowed him to once more vanish off into the twilight zone as everyone else negotiated the out of position cars. Webber re-opened his account of passing Alonso in the most challenging of places, this time choosing the abysmal turn 10 chicane - Mark managed to turn the most atrocious corner in the universe into a passing zone. The Safety Car cancelled out most of Hamilton's penalty placing him right behind the cars in front - and using the DRS was able to defeat the two Force Indias, Rosberg and Perez - who was still running after being run over by a Mercedes. Moving him up to 5th.

Division one was settled for the run to the end, a monumental gulf opening up to Di Resta - the leader of division two. The second group were remaining on their current set of tyres and were running 4-6s per lap slower than the division one cars. Up front the lead runners found the end of their tyre life and had to swap the old rubber for new to avoid falling into the same phase as the cars pursuing the Force India of Di Resta. Vettel's stop wasn't trouble free almost being collected by Jarno Trulli who was released into his path. In a phase of the race which didn't go too well for Trulli having been hit off camera by Jaime El Incognito causing a puncture on the Lotus for which Jaime was penalised. Jarno then retired a few laps later with a gearbox failure.

Due to the his drive-through, Hamilton re-emerged after the final stop back down behind all the cars he had to pass on the restart, however now on much superior tyres regaining the places was effortless for the McLaren and was soon back up to 5th. Having being caught out on strategy by the Safety car Massa had finally caught back to the tail end of the points which was subject to an inter-team battle within Williams for the last point. 

Contrary to popular belief there were some cars towards the front and Two-Cakes-Up Button was making a charge towards Vettel gaining on the Red Bull through lapped traffic. And it was in this lapped traffic that Massa managed to steal the last point from Rubens while the leaders passed through, the gain and loss of time between the two Jenson and that German Bloke out front favoured the McLaren as the laps ticked down. Next up for lappery was the group containing the Force Indias, Rosberg and Perez with Massa following the leaders to the back of the group. 

With two laps to go Jaime Alguersuari binned his car into the wall on the way into the tunnel, which would normally cause a safety car but considering the time left it was better covered under double waved yellows. The crash had no impact on the overall result and that German bloke crossed the line first once more, with Button in second preventing Vettel from winning the title, although he only needs one more point in the last five races. There is a decent chance that might happen.

Rounding off the podium was Webber in the second Red Bull, ahead of Alonso and Hamilton with Di Resta the last car on the lead lap narrowly avoiding being lapped in the final sector of the race. The rest of the points were filled by Rosberg, Sutil, while Massa passed One-Stop Perez on the final lap to claim ninth from the Mexican.

The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners.

With the actual championships pretty much summed up now with only one point needed for Vettel to win the title, attention turns now to the more important and very open bonus points championship. Here there are 60 points on the table any one of the 51 contenders can take the crown and that's just the scorers so far. But that number will start to fall after the winners from the Singapore GP.

10pts - Paul Di Resta - For being the lead division two finisher, beating the factory Mercedes team and staying on the lead lap, albeit only just

8pts - Mark Webber - For being able to use turn 10 for the forces of good rather than the forces of evil it was created with

6pts - Lewis Hamilton - For being able to pass most of the cars he raced with without contact, before and after the collision with Massa

5pts - Heikki Kovalainen - For being able to beat a Renault Squadron car piloted by wing commander Petrov on pace over the duration of the race

4pts - The Blog fish - For still being alive despite some tank swapping due to some hostility 

3pts - One-Stop Perez - For still salvaging a point despite being mounted by an elderly German

2pts - Michael Schumacher - For taking over the high score record from Kobayashi albeit cheating using Perez as a launch ramp

1pt - John  - Gets a point for hosting the outside broadcast solo and crafting the post-race food.

The Also Official Penalties Championship

After the penalty free weekend in Monza they certainly made up for it this weekend with two more incidents under-investigation due to the participants retiring afterwards. But so far here are the penalties offered up from the decided on track infringements

• Lewis Hamilton- Drive through - For making friends with Massa once more 
• Kamui Kobayashi - Drive through - For ignoring blue flags on the restart
• Jaime Alguersuari - Drive through - For hitting Jarno Trulli off camera causing a puncture on the Lotus

With pit lane incident for Trulli released into Vettel being investigated and Schumacher's flight also investigated post-race

The Still Official Dubious Dealings Championship

Now in addition to the FIA sanctions where will the penalty points fall for the race and they are as follows.

• Original Fish - For wanting to eat the official Blog Fish in the original tank, it is difficult to apply a drive through to a fish so penalty point has been given instead.

Well that is the only penalty point to be offered, the officials took care of most of it this weekend.

Looking ahead to Japan

From the streets of Singapore F1 now flies out to outstanding circuit in Suzuka - built with supreme flow and speed in mind opening with a thrilling first sector. One of the really entertaining tracks to drive - at least in the simulator - featuring another unique feature of the season, starting to collect unique features at this point in the season. But Suzuka boasts the only figure-of-eight layout of the season where the circuit loops over itself on the exit of the second degner corner. 

Out of the final races of the year the Japanese GP does offer the most sensational layout remaining, pushing both the cars and drivers to the limit. Last year it saw wheels falling off cars all over the place from contact and from failures so more excitement could be on the horizon.

In the days of Schumacher dominance Japan was often the scene of the title decider, where it was placed mathematically out of range of the chasing pack. And this year that scenario has arisen once more with a German bloke with an almost certain chance of claiming that single point needed to thwart Button's impossible challenge. It two weeks time will history repeat itself... will the Blog fish still be the official mascot so until next time these questions will remain unanswered. Farewell from the blog for now.

Singapore Pre-Race

Greetings Internet,

Well an interesting qualifying session has been conducted under the lights in Singapore, the track looking resplendent in the artificial glow truly emphasising the sparks and liveries in the darkness. The overall outcome may not have been too different, in fact not different at all - considering the same team has been on pole for all of the races this season, and that team ended up with a complete lockout of the front row once again.

The session did see larger gaps between the cars throughout - naturally there were pockets of close competition but the three divisions were clearly formed this weekend with virtually no overlapping of categories. After issues on Friday regarding the track coming apart in the corners some curbs had been removed most notably the ones after the second bridge. The chicane at turn 10 still remains - a complete abomination to the world of motor-racing and if I didn't need the TV my lunch would have been propelled at it with some force. That said it probably works for touring cars or other low powered formulae.

But back to the session at hand after a little distraction regarding a satanic corner - which doesn't mean it plays decent metal music - there was a qualifying session to account for here and here is how things unfolded this afternoon.

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image

Qualifying


After spending some time at the community centre - the home of my almost theatrical exploits and where victory was attained in throwing ping-pong balls into jars. Albeit once. But victory none-the-less, as a result the blog now has an official mascot in the form of the blog goldfish - who doesn't actually have a name yet but all in good time on that one. Just hope the fish lasts long enough to see the season out.

While the fish was acclimatisation to his/her new surroundings it was time to turn the attention to the impending start of Q1. But like in Monza when the lights went out none of the cars did - hiding away in their garages waiting for someone else to leave first to clear up the surface first. In the end it was Williams with Rubens Barrichello who were the first to break cover and take to the streets - with his team-mate not too far behind.

Their initial control of the time-sheets was erased when the division one cars left the pit garage to destroy the efforts Williams had put on the board. McLaren were the early leaders with Button, but this was before Red Bull set a time - and given the ominous pace set by Vettel in FP3 Jenson's time out front was numbered. It didn't take long for the German Bloke to destroy the fastest time to go 0.6s faster than anyone else.

At the back the drop zone was populated by the three newer teams who were a long way off the pace as they were in Monza. Leaving only one place in relegation, this week it was Renault Squadron who were struggling. Their car was having difficulties in the high downforce configuration and were woefully slow in comparison to their usual form. Both Vitaly and Bruno swapped places in the drop zone but on the final lap Senna pipped Wing Commander Petrov binning the Russian out of Q1 and into 18th place.

Next up there was Q2, minus the three bottom teams and Petrov, this session was brought to life by Lewis Hamilton as the first car to the track. So the internet claims but I was making a nice mug of tea in the inter-session break and mistimed my return. Anyhow in this session division one were on track early on Button once again taking the early lead - only to be beaten once again and considerably by that German bloke. Both drivers running the softest compound tyres for the run.

Just as Vettel had completed his lap the session was brought to a temporary stop - and not surprisingly it was the horrific turn 10 'corner' that was the cause of the stoppage, along with it's victim in the form of Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber driver had been hitting the curbs in the chicane in practice - already holding the record for the airtime, but Kamui eclipsed that record in Q2 soaring off the second curb and into the outside wall. A red flag was flown until the Sauber was winched away and the barriers pushed back.

Time for Q2 - part two and the intervention had caught several drivers out such as Schumacher and Massa who were on a lap when the red flag came out. But easily managed to sail into the top ten - with Renault Squadron out of contention this weekend there were two places opened up in the final session. Force India were the team to take those places despite a strong challenge from One-stop Perez and the Williams cars. A mammoth gulf lay between the top three teams and everyone else, Mercedes were on their own as the 4th team and for this weekend Force India were in formation flying in fifth. Somewhere on his final run Hamilton encountered difficulties causing a rear puncture off camera, Lewis theorised that the curbs were responsible, perhaps a loose bolt like the ones seen in FP1/2.

The final session was about to begin - and a queue was forming at the end of the pit lane Two-Cakes-Up Button headed the line from the two Ferraris and Hamilton. As a result the four cars headed out in a line and held each other up, to the point where Hamilton was trying to pass Massa in front on the exit of the tunnel; before making the move stick on the final chicane. Red Bull however were in space by themselves with the other teams in the pit lane. The opening runs placed Vettel once more considerably in the lead from both McLarens and Alonso, while Massa aborted the lap.

Final runs of qualifying were building to set the line up for the race tomorrow. Force India and Michael Schumacher deciding not to play remained in the garage - automatic penalty points for them then. Consequently Massa and Rosberg were the only cars to add to the leader-board, in what was turning into a neutered conclusion to the session. With Hamilton stuck in the garage as timing the refuelling didn't allow a final run ended his chances of improvement. Webber brought the only real change hoisting the second Red Bull onto the front row, alongside Vettel who in turn failed to extend his advantage after a mistake in the horrific chicane.

So the grid was set completely in Noah's ark formation for the top ten with Red Bull leading McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Force India - the last three cars not taking part. Resulting in a rather colour coordinated grid, which demonstrates the importance of car performance here as teams were for the most part running in close pairs. With the main exception of Sauber where Kobayashi was attacked by the evil thing that is Turn 10...

The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners


Although the final segment of the session was somewhat dampened by 30% of the competitors not taking part the highest rate of none participation of the year so far there were points to be awarded for those who did do a good job today.

• Kamui Kobayashi - for holding the highest jump in the chicane, when such a corner is placed in the track may as well make use for it and Kamui gained the most air albeit ending in the wall. But he was higest before that in FP2 so still gets a point
• Jaime Alguersuari  - for getting so closest to the wall - on camera at least - on the exit of the turn 11-12 chicane before the Anderson bridge. I'm sure D.C. called it something else but from the perspective of this corner of the internet it is the Anderson bridge.
• Sebastien Vettel - such dominance of the qualifying session does really deserve a bonus point
• The Official Blog Fish - gets an introductory point for joining the team here
• Williams - for being much more competitive here, pulling away from STR and this week Renault Squadron with a decent chance of getting some points this weekend.

It's the Blog fish in its new habitat

The Also Official Penalties Championship

Only one penalty has surfaced this weekend and that has been handed to Vitantonio Liuzzi after his collision in Monza wiping out Petrov and Rosberg in turn one. Liuzzi has been awarded a 5-place grid drop after qualifying which turns out to be completely pointless considering he starts last anyway, which should be now 29th position behind all the support vehicles on the grid as well. But in reality will have a grand total of zero effect on the outcome of the starting line up.

The Still Official Dubious Dealings Championship

There are some penalty points to be awarded after today's session, and they are assigned as follows

• Michael Schumacher: For not running in Q3
• Adrian Sutil: For not running in Q3
• Paul Di Resta: For not running in Q3
• The turn 10 chicane: For being completely and utterly pants 

Looking to tomorrow

The grid may be set but that may not mean the final order has been decided. Red Bull may be in for another win but what may occur behind them is anyone's guess, McLaren and Ferrari will be rather close and the early stages of the race Mercedes could tag along and take advantage of their strong starts. Then there will be a gap developing back to the mid-field with Force India and Williams in close company. 

As usual there will be cars towards the back looking to make up for a poor qualifying in an effort to get their cars back up to where the raw pace dictates they should be. In this instance that torch falls to Kamui Kobayashi after crashing in Q2 will be looking for an improvement and naturally some bonus points. On top of that there is Renault Squadron who will be hoping their race pace will be better.

But this being a street track there is a high chance of madness with outbreaks of contact and carnage, so a safety car intervention is a strong possibility and have been common in previous running of the Singapore GP. Then there is a second element of madness that could join the proceedings, the chance of some rain... showers are apparently in the area and one could strike the circuit. Now rain, during a night race would be something completely different a whole new experience altogether. Would the artificial floodlights create blinding reflections off a wet race track, and what visibility problems would a cloud of spay cause at night. 

There are so many questions and possibilities for what is the longest race of the season coming in at close to two hours and maximum time. So plenty of time for different strategies and accidents to play out on the streets of Singapore. This is one of the most exciting races of the year as the streets can throw up so many possible outcomes, so prepare the race snacks for the immense spectacle that will take place tomorrow. 

Round 14: Singapore Preview

Greetings internet,

With the European phase of the season completed now, the teams have set up in the first of the final flyaway races on the other side of the world at the Marina Bay street circuit over in Singapore. A track far removed from the tradition and power on show in the temple of speed that was Monza, gone are the royal parklands, the sweeping straights under the autumnal tree canopies. Replaced by the barriers of steel and concrete weaving through the financial district of the city under the lights.

Singapore offers the season's only full night race of the year - with Abu Dhabi running into the sunset and finishing under the lights. Here - or more accurately there - in Singapore the floodlights carve a ribbon of powerful illumination through the city, woven intricately across the cityscape. It is one of the more unique venues on the calender, the cars glisten in the artificial glow, the sparks from the plank are greatly emphasised in the night. Seeing the cars dancing between the barriers and curbs is a fantastic spectacle, negotiating the lap which features two bridges and a short tunnel which dives underneath the spectator grandstand in the final sector.

And as the blog stats have shown, this little corner of the internet does appear to have a following in Singapore, so to all the people there I hope I can cover the race to the standard it deserves

The Track

Credit to the FIA for the track map

Singapore is the third street track to join the calender alongside Monaco (and for some reason Valencia is still classed as street track) and stands apart from the other city tracks on the schedule. Aside from the night running of the event the layout is configured from differently to European style street tracks such as Pau and Monaco and this is due to the nature of the road network and the topology of the available streets. Making it more akin to American street circuits set on major highways and filled with 90 degree junction style corners. 

The area around the starting grid is a permanent facility, the first five corners, and the final double apex corner aren't part of the street network and are only used for the race weekend. The rest of the track is the bumpy streets of the city itself peppered with a little too many corners, it may be an atmospheric environment to race under but the layout is pushing it a bit - especially considering the most of the corners are the same.

However all is far from negative, the innovative grandstand tunnel and the historic Anderson bridge is provides some very interesting scenery, including a strange glowing blue dome building which when illuminated is spectacular. The use of the main highways does allow for some speed which is often missing from street layouts, and with speed comes the opportunity for overtaking, and contact which on the streets is inevitable.

But one thing that does happen with street tracks where building space for barriers and run-off is limited it that corners are compromised in the name of good old health and safety. In Singapore compromise surrounds the Anderson Bridge which is rather narrow and cambered, where speeds have been culled by the most irritating chicane on the face of the planet. The turn 10 vortex of evil is mountainous cavern of curbs, which tend to throw cars into the outside wall. Placed to take speed out of the cars before entering the bridge section, and to create a slower corner in an area there is no place to add run-off space. 

Now it is time to unveil this week's video - the layout used is the 2009 version with a wider turn 10 (it's still awkward but a little faster) and a different pit entry line. The wall on the outside of the entry to the final corner is a little further away from the side of the race track. But aside from that the layout is identical, as a result the lap time is a little faster - resulting in the blogmobile setting a time that would be pole by a considerable time so here it is.

What to Expect

Being a street track in the category of things to expect you can roughly add anything to that category - the last time we went to a proper street track (not including Valencia) we ended up with the first safety car of the season and a red flag. So who knows, but there will a series of things we can predict before the madness and the collisions take place - although that only managed to make turn one in Monza. 

It can be assumed that Red Bull be very competitive as normal considering their strength in high downforce configurations. In qualifying pace, the strong mechanical grip of the Ferrari and the McLaren should keep them close to the front, making the battle for pole by no means an inevitable conclusion, although it would be difficult to bet against the Red Bulls. 

Mercedes are likely to fall backwards perhaps behind Renault Squadron - last year saw Schumacher hitting everyone especially Saubers, which seems to be his favourite team to hit. With the mid-field close behind - that section of the grid is going to be very tight and difficult to overcome, Force India and Sauber could be the top two teams in this division. Demonstrated by their pace in Canada and Monaco two similar tracks even though Montreal was rain affected. 

Down at the back of the grid the newer teams will want to put on a better showing then they managed in Monza, where they were dropped considerably by the established teams exhibiting a bigger gap then normal. However the length of the Singapore layout and the number of corners may make gaining ground difficult. On the other side, the nature of the circuit can play to the smaller teams in the race, being behind the carnage and safety cars allows them to make different strategic calls to take advantage of the unpredictability. 

KERs and DRS.

So far this season KERs hasn't made too much of an impact - there have been a couple of KERs based overtaking manoeuvres. Hamilton on Button in Shanghai and Schumacher on Hamilton in Monza are notable examples, but the KERs system show more prowess and advantage in terms of lap time in qualifying rather than the race itself. But here things could be different the succession of 90 degree corners and traction zones could allow for some ingenuity. Using the boost to catch a driver off guard and make a move where they least expect it. 

Coming into the tunnel, or into the hairpin after the Anderson bridge - could be chances for a spontaneous manoeuvre  Also in groups of cars on restarts before the DRS becomes available there could be chances for KERs to take a more active role in the race as well as the qualifying session.

Then there is DRS, for this weekend there will only be a single zone, as a result of there not being enough long straight sections to choose from to implement a dual system as in Monza. In Singapore the zone will be located where the permanent section of the section meets the streets, on the exit of what is officially listed as turn 5 (claiming that little bend titled turn 4 is an actual corner). This is the biggest stretch of the layout, and is one of the bumpiest sections on the lap which will make overtaking manoeuvres into the corner at the end of the zone more entertaining. It's the same corner, where Hamilton and Webber made contact last year, and with the DRS in play more efforts could fall the same way. 

The straight also includes a slight kink, under normal circumstances will be no problem even with the DRS flap open - corners such as  the epic Blanchimont and Curva Grande have been run with the wing open. But the uneven surface of the track could make the cars more unstable through that bend - although the overwhelming downforce generated by the cars should be able to overcome that given the very shallow radius of the corner.

Singapore on the whole is definately a weekend worth waiting for, it's one of the events you pick out on the calender to look forward to. The atmosphere of running under the lights is immense, seeing the colours of the liveries to come alive - unfortunately no one has picked up the reins from Jordan and run a bright yellow car, that I'd much like to see. With a blue racing stripe would be nice too a la the Blogmobile that would do very nicely indeed. 

It's a race where anything can happen, such is the case with street tracks - except Valencia which still isn't a street track despite what the world thinks. The night time environment tends to unleash a some extra crazy driving - as often seen in NASCAR where a full moon seems to open the green light for madness, although it doesn't take too much for them to go nuts. It is going to be an exiting and enthralling weekend full of competition and intrigue. Stack up on the race snacks as Singapore welcomes F1 2011 onto its twilight streets. 

   

Round Thirteen: Italy Review

Greetings Internet,

As the light starts to wane here, the sun has also set on the European leg of the season, teams and drivers now preparing for the voyage into the exotic fly-away concluding races of the season. As the championship rolls closer to the finale in Brazil the hopes of catching and defeating the all dominant Vettel are becoming increasingly unlikely as the German Bloke refuses to stop winning - we've been in that position before when a German in red car was enjoying a similar exercise of destroying the field.

Today saw a race of two halves, an opening section doused in excitement and a little bit of destruction topped off in the latter segment with serenity and stability, all of which for the most part was going on a long way behind the run-away leader. Very similar in fashion to the GP2 races which had some opening stint contact and racing before settling in for the run home - which in all occasions seemed to kick in around the half-way point. As for the other support action, well Eurosport once again has made a complete fool of itself - I think they've completely failed to realised there are two GP3 races this weekend and will show the second one at 23:20 Boo and Hiss in large amounts, I thought I was supposed to be the baddie.

But Panto audience participation aside there was a race of missed opportunities, misfortune and a little bit of carnage to pick our way through - so here we go...

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The Race

On the run up to another race on a significantly high speed circuit, there were more concerns and recommendations regarding camber and the maximum angle the teams could run to remain with the safe operating conditions of the tyre. The stricter controls avoided blistering in qualifying and less whining on the grid, the only issues affected Rosberg who was allowed to start on a different set as a result of damage to the originals.

The start line was a wash with anticipation before the beginning of what promised to be an outstanding race, with the exception of Spa the start of the races has been drama free, drivers taking a conservative approach waiting for the DRS to make up ground. But with the tight opening corner there was still going to be a risk, both the GP2 races saw contact in the Reatfilio on the first attempt. The car were sitting there waiting for those all important lights to go out - one light box fortunately I wasn't in control of - and they didn't have long to wait.

Each of the top three cars got away better than the car in front, and all managed to converge into the same piece of tarmac Button was boxed in as a Ferrari swept to the inside. Running three wide down the main straight with Alonso to the inside, Hamilton in the Middle and that German Bloke on the outside. Fernando had wheels on the grass as they tried to make room for each other, with luck and probably some skill they survived with Alonso taking the lead.

Luck was not the order of the day towards the back where, Liuzzi couldn't find some breathing space and put his wheels on the grass, which unsettled the car sending it spinning down the grass towards the rest of the field. Wing Commander Petrov couldn't apply evasive manoeuvres as the out of control HRT slammed into the Renault Squadron machine. Vitaly was propelled into the side of Rosberg while Rubens was pinned in between the three damaged but could restart. Inevitably the Safety Car was brought onto the track while the mayhem was cleaned up.

At the restart Hamilton had dropped too far off the back of Vettel in front - allowing Michael to get a run on the McLaren deploying the superior speed to blast past and into third, while Webber passed Button. On the next lap both Red Bull cars were on the attack on the respective Ferraris in front of them - Mark had a go at Massa which didn't end well, Webber found himself without a front wing and Felipe facing the wrong way. At the head of the field Vettel did a more complete job, launching the car round the outside of Fernando in Curva Grande using some grass on the exit to complete the pass. It would be the last time anyone would see the German Bloke as he vanished into the distance.

In a lap of contrasting fortunes for Red Bull things went from bad to worse for Mark Webber, with the dislodged front wing wedged under the nose of the car he went straight off on the entry to the Parabolica unable to stop the car bumping into the barrier. The first retirement for Webber since Korea last year which was also damage related.

Elsewhere an epic battle was developing between Michael Schumacher and Hamilton - the McLaren tried everything to find a way past but the Older German Bloke could still remember how to keep a car behind. He had the significant advantage in straight line speed to fend off a DRS charge with a simple application of KERs. Lewis did find a way through on the main straight but, it was only temporary as the Mercedes just powered round the outside in Curva Grande as Button joined the fight. After some more laps of dicing Hamilton looked up the inside in the same corner Michael re-passed him only to find the door forcefully slammed as Lewis took evasive action on the grass. Costing him a lot of speed, and a place to Button.

It was now Jenson's turn to wage war against the German, McLaren taking a tag-team approach to defeat the Mercedes. Button unleashed the passing prowess he has built up this season and on the first time of asking he found some space round the outside of Ascari and Schumacher couldn't fight it on ailing tyres. Before the round of pit stops began. Allowing things to calm down for a while.

Positions remained stable towards the front, Vettel was in a different dimension so things were more competitive further back. Alonso was rather alone in second as Schumacher had bought the lead two some time, with Button in third. Hamilton completed his stop and found himself once more behind his favourite Mercedes ready for another round of duelling with the German - exercising unnatural amounts of caution and precision. Will have to note that down - Hamilton doesn't hit anyone. But the battle was short-lived as Michael missed a gear on the run to Ascari allowing Lewis easily through, a slightly disappointing end to the fight.

Elsewhere, once again off camera Jaime El Incognito was living up to his title and slipped undetected into the points along with his team-mate, Di Resta and remaining Renault Squadron member Senna. But at the other end of the fortune scale were Sauber - One Stop Perez stopped once, alas it was at the side of the road with gearbox issues. The same problem also struck down team-mate Kobayashi who was on for some bonus points and close to some less important actual points. Mechanical dramas had also claimed Sutil and D'Ambrosio - an unusually high rate of attrition, possible related to the high temperatures and the specific demand of the track.

Throughout the field gaps were building between cars, with few battles developing - after an opening half of action and overtaking the race had settled down into an rather quiet event. Button however was running against the tide of cars settling for their position and had made inroads into Alonso in front, who was slower on the harder compound tyres. It was only a matter of time before he was caught by the McLaren, the lack of traction Fernando had in the Ferrari allowed Button to get a run out of Retafilio and up the inside of Curva Grande to take the place - not Fernando's favourite corner today clearly.

Vettel was the next car up the road from Jenson but he would need several more race distances and a rocket powered McLaren to even make an impression, so that was the end of Jenson's charge for the day. In fact it pretty much spelled the end of the racing action everywhere, Senna managed to pass Buemi but that was all. Hamilton closed on Fernando but couldn't get quite close enough to make a pass onto the podium. But it just seemed fair to leave one Ferrari up there for the Tifosi to shout at the podium celebrations.

Somewhere, in an alternate universe perhaps - a space so far in the lead you'd be closer to finding Narnia than finding second place. And it was in this space that Vettel existed crossing the line uncontested in an utterly dominant victory, Button was a rather lonely 2nd with Alonso holding off Hamilton for 3rd. After finally losing out to the two McLarens Schumacher came home 5th, realistically the best result for the Mercedes. Massa recovered to 6th, the bottom of division one, illustrating the void to division two  and the wedge of cars eliminated early on. Outside division one came Jaime Alguersuari, from 18th to being the best of the mid-field is another great drive. Paul Di Resta held off Senna for 8th while Buemi rounded out the points in 10th.

The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners

Deciding the points for this race was a challenging task because outside the opening 20 laps the race did sort of die off with the cars too spaced out. Thus eliminating the chances for drivers to really make a charge and do anything really worth bonus points. I suppose days like this are why the FIA use their inferior scoring system giving points for being faster or something. But I shall not be defeated here are the winners from the Italian GP.

10pts - Jaime El Incognito, it may have been off camera as usual but Jaime did move from 18th to 7th mostly in that opening phase.
8pts - Michael Schumacher, for being very entertaining and making the first stint brilliant racing with both McLarens, that's what you get points for
6pts - Sebastien Vettel, I suppose I have to after that ridiculously dominant today with a brilliant pass to regain the lead after the restart
5pts - Jenson Button - for once again being resilient making more passes beating the theoretically faster Hamilton. Staking a strong claim as team leader
4pts - Fernando Alonso - for a brilliant start and precision to avoid a major wreck on the main straight
3pts - Lewis Hamilton - for remarkable restraint, no crazed lunges and no visit to the stewards office
2pts - Vitantonio Liuzzi, two point was his bowling score for turn one so here are your points Tonio
1pt  - Felipe Massa - for being first in queue for the commandeered Team Lotus toilet

The Also Official Penalties Championship


Oddly enough there were no penalties, despite some turn one bowling and questionable defence from Schumacher - no-one was given an actual penalty, and I don't think I missed any. I suppose that really summed up the race - entertaining but orderly - a little too orderly towards the end. Even in GP2 things were oddly orderly. But I think next race could well make up for that.

The Still Official Dubious Dealings Championship

Again things were rather orderly, everyone had been very well behaved - even the drivers were stealing the Lotus Team's toilet were queueing while raiding the amenities, probably Massa's only pole position all season. But there is one penalty point which has to be handed out and that goes once again to Eurosport for making a complete mess of the support race coverage. Fools.

Looking ahead to Singapore


From one extreme to the other, moving away from the massive speeds of Monza with the shortest race time of the season off to the longest race of the year in the confines of the Singapore Marina Bay street track. The most unique and spectacular event of the season, the layout may not be as awe inspiring as Spa or as traditional as Silverstone. But under the lights in the Eastern darkness, the cars glisten and the sparks glow under the night sky.

As a member of the influx of tracks joining the season in recent years, Singapore is one of the most impressive new venues and provides exciting and unpredictable racing as is always the way of street tracks. Darting between the walls and under the flyovers the first leg of the concluding races of the year beyond Europe on the illuminated streets is the perfect way to start the run home in spectacular style. It may be new but the Singapore GP has already earned it's place on the list of races to look forward to in a season.

From looking at my statistics, there is a decent number of page views coming from Singapore so it's nice to be covering a home race for a quantity of the people who read this - even more reason to look forward to the brilliant Singapore Grand Prix in a fortnights time

Italy Pre-race

Greetings Internet,

We have another qualifying session under our belts now, the end of all qualifying in Europe until we return next year. Where the European season is cut officially two 8 races with Turkey being dropped from the calendar to allow space for the return of the US GP next year in Texas. And while we are on the subject of internationality the new stats feature on blogger's updated UI has brought to light some very interesting data. It appears these little ramblings are being viewed across the world with a decent following in the USA and Singapore, among many others. So hello to you people of the world and thank you for reading my little contribution to the internet.

Anyway back to the session at hand and well, things seem to be falling into a state of continued repetition on Saturday afternoons with that German Bloke refusing to relinquish his grasp on the top spot on the grid. On a track where the advantage was thought to be lower than elsewhere there is still a full half a second dividing Vettel from the cars behind. Agreed there were some mitigating circumstances that may have exacerbated that gap but still it is an impressive show of power from the German Bloke.

So here is how today's session fell into place when the action unfolded Muhahahahaha - well it's the beginning of Panto rehearsals so trying to work on character while writing this is going to be interesting especially considering I'm playing the baddie. And the in the words of Plankton "Being is so much fun", but with that little digression aside this is how qualifying for the Italian GP played out.

Credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk for the image

Qualifying 


Within the royal park, in the shadow of the monolithic banking that surrounds the final sector of the circuit, an atmospheric ambiance was building. The final race of the European phase was bathed in expectant sunshine. awaiting an clear fight for supremacy on the fastest circuit on the calendar.

Q1 was started not by the home teams but by the home drivers in the form of Jarno Trulli and Vitantonio Liuzzi for Lotus and HRT respectively. All three of the newer teams had been further off the back of the established grid in practice and were destined not to progress out of Q1, leaving a sole relegation space up for offer. At the front the whole of division one and the Mercedes cars were able to set times on the medium tyre without any threat of going out. Wing Commander Petrov was also in strong form after being out qualified in Spa.

The attention was aimed further back as a raft of cars swapped places trying to keep out of the doomed 18th position. Maldonado ended up in the fence on the inside exit of the parabolica after deploying DRS too early and spinning out, only the front wing was damaged. but while that was repaired he held the relegation spot. As the times began to fall it became apparent that Torro Rosso and Sauber were at the bottom of the midfield and it was between them to settle who would be knocked out. With Maldonado fixed he jumped well out of the drop zone unleashing the revolving door of relegation. By the time the timer counted out it was Jaime El Incognito who was relegated but with a prospect of bonus points tomorrow.

Then it was time for Q2, and contrary to tradition this year as the lights faded to green on the pit lane exit no-one seemed willing to leave the pit lane. Time for some audience participation - can you help get the drivers out of pitlane, oh yes you can... you see what panto does to a person. Anyway the first one to emerge from the garage was Maldonado and duly un-opposed went fastest. For the first 6 minutes of the session only the midfield teams ventured out but the top teams decided it was time to set some times and took over the top of the timesheets. Initially it was Two-cakes-up Button on the Q2 pole before that German Bloke replaced him.

As this was the battle to enter Q3 things were a lot more interesting on the other side of the qualification boundary, the top five teams had locked out the top ten places, with the exception of Renault Squadron's Bruno Senna. He was in an epic fight with both Force India cars who were the class of division two all session, Di Resta initally stole 10th from Senna before Sutil knocked the Brazillian down to 12th. Things were far from said and done as Junior Airman Senna was able to pick up a tow from Hamilton to find 0.006s ahead of Paul Di Resta with Sutil only 0.049 outside the top ten. The session also eliminated both Saubers and Williams cars along with Sebastien Buemi.

Then there were only 10 remaining for the final shoot out, and as with Q2 when the timer started a grand total of nothing happened. Once again there was a reluctance to leave the garage, but eventually Felipe Massa emerged onto the track. But where was the other Ferrari, where was Fernando can you find him - that's right he's behind you Felipe. The two red machines left in formation flying formation a la Renault Squadron aiming to tow each other round the track to improve lap time.

During the first round of laps Vettel headed the field from the Mclaren duo and then the Ferraris, with Webber not electing to do two runs, engine conservation perhaps considering he didn't opt for a new motor for Monza. Both Mercedes and Wing Commander Petrov were also on planning on a single run, with Mercedes off-setting the runs to minimise traffic. Drivers were opting to to do two/three laps per run which Vettel decided was a good time for an epic drift in the Ascari chicane.

Onto the final run of the day things didn't make an awful lot of sense - here is the most technical and advanced sport in the world and all the cars bar Rosberg managed to be in a single queue headed by Webber and finished by Vettel. There was an outlap of drivers jostling to find some space Vettel backing off behind Vitaly and Webber and Button I'm swapped places twice for the lead of the queue. Inevitably this would have compromised the runs of those trapped in the middle of the jam, where the Ferraris and Schumacher were running.

Surprisingly enough Webber at the front of the queue didn't manage a particularly fast lap on either of the efforts as he only managed 4th, which then became 5th when pipped by Alonso. The MacLaren drivers failed to improve cementing the grid in place. Wing Commander Petrov managed to beat both Mercedes to be the lead non-division one entry, with Senna not doing a time in 10th. But the last car over the line was Sebastien Vettel who pulled a faster lap out to extend pole position to 0.5s ahead of Hamilton and Button.

The Official Bonus Points Championship points winners


Here are the winners from the Itallian GP qualifying session

• Daniel Ricciardo - for out-qualifying team-mate Liuzzi for the first time and in Vitantonio's home race
• Force India - for being the clear class of the mid-field and having both cars less then half a tenth from the top ten
• Wing Commander Petrov - for being the lead non-division one car, ahead of the Mercedes team
• Sebastien Vettel - not so much for being as dominant as normal but for an epic slide in Ascari
• Jarno Trulli - for being considerably the fastest division three car instead of being beaten by Heikki

The Still Official Dubious Dealings Championship

Only one penalty point is to be awarded after qualifying and that goes to Bruno Senna a sort of instant penalty point as as reward for deciding not to bother with Q3. I know it's a strategic call but it's too defeatist and if you made the shoot out why not have a go - they could have got Rosberg who was on an alternate strategy and started on the clean side of the grid. But no laziness prevailed, so people what do you think we should do to him.... oh dear not that, after all this is a family production. I know how about that penalty point and it has been hence awarded.

Looking to Tomorrow

Well with the grid in place there is a slight two-by-two look to the field with car performance having a greater influence than driver prowess. But will that carry forward into the race tomorrow who knows with the dual DRS zones in operation there is a significant chance there will be some position changes to re-arrange the order. Even though Vettel may have taken a dominating position, keeping it for the 53 laps of the race may not be so easy.

There is also intrigue further back the likes of Jaime El Incognito and Kobayashi are much further back then they would like although it does seem that's where the pace of those cars is at this weekend as all four entries from Sauber and Torro Rosso are in the same zone of the grid. It could be interesting to see them marching forward given the current run of the driver in 18th place scoring points on the race day. Sauber could be especially interesting given their ability to conserve tyres on a track where pitting less is a strong advantage.

It promises to be a very exciting race, and that is even after the funnelling effect of the first corner where wings and wheels could get detached. I would extrapolate how things might work looking at the GP2 start but Eurosport aren't showing it till later, at the same time as Dr Who... BOOO!!!! HISSS etc. But this season has shown the drivers showing a lot of restraint on the opening lap - except in Spa where madness prevailed. Waiting until the DRS is activated to improve their position with less risk. I expect the European season to be ended this weekend in spectacular style with a fantastic race, so until then my international audience I bid thee farewell in preparation for the closing number.

Round Thirteen: Italy Preview

Greetings Internet,

It all seems that not too long ago we were setting up camp on the eve of the European season and now here we are a day before this part of F1 2011 comes to it's final weekend. The last stop on the European calendar before the far flung reaches of Singapore, India and Brazil, is the Autodromo Di Monza - the fastest course on the calendar serving as a high speed gateway into the flyaway races concluding the year.

The Italian GP is also the home of the extremely loyal Tifosi - the oceans of Ferrari fans out in force to pledge their allegiance to the red cars on home turf. One of the historic venues on the calendar Monza has been one of the staple venues on the calender. Maintain its general layout over the years, with the main exception of the terrifying steep oval banking being cut from the circuit but still remains as a reminder of the feats of bravery exerted by those who raced on the frightening slopes. Chicanes have been added and re-profiled at Retafilio and Della Roggia. But other than that Monza has retained it's atmospheric status.

The Track

Credit to the FIA for the track map.

Monza is the most power dependant of the circuits of the year, with the highest average speed of the season and as a result often ends up being the shortest race of the year in less than 80 minutes to complete the 53 laps. The majority of the field will be opting to take one of their new engines for this weekend to ensure they have the greatest amount of power and reliability available to them.

In amongst the plethora of power Monza does actually include some corners, and rather important ones at that. Offering up some strong overtaking options especially when the DRS comes into play, the first two chicanes are the most obvious places to make progress. But there is also a chance of overtaking into the Parabolica the final corner of the lap although improvements in aerodynamics and braking have made the breaking zone rather small. The slow chicanes however are a major choke point on the opening lap with the apex curbs being raised to prevent cutting funnelling the field into a rather small space. There is a significant chance that wings will be lost negotiating them on lap one, which extends through to the beginning of Sector two in Variante Della Roggia. 

Because of the high speeds Monza has the lowest downforce configuration of the season since the old Hokkenheim track was neutered of it's blasts through the forest. The teams will be bringing special Monza spec parts to the cars to maximise the pace on the unique layout, in GP2 the cars run without the top wing plane to generate higher straight line speeds. But with great speed comes great risk as we say in Belgium last time out with a major accident in the GP2 race in the infamous Eau Rouge - Fabio Leimers car was torn in two in the morning race last Sunday. That sort of accident is not likely this weekend but there is a risk of the more dangerous airborne style accidents always a threat in open-wheel race cars. It's these accidents that cause the most harm to a driver when the car lands back on the ground, the lack of padding in the base of the vehicles sends the impact force into the driver's spine causing injuries. Such a problem did arise in Spa as well also in GP2 where Colletti fractured vertebrae after flying over Russian driver Aleshin's car. 

Fortunately such events are rare and Monza despite being the fastest of layouts has offered mostly carnage free racing - with the exception of the unfortunate events of 2000 - but now it is time to unveil the video prepared for this weekend, free from doom saying words of carnage and mayhem. Not free from some naff driving and inaccurate racing lines however. 

As normal the lap time is a long way from the times that will be produced over the weekend, even the F1 2011 mod I have is running in the 1:27's compared to the 1:30's of the Blogmobile. 

What to Expect

Well being one of the more unique layouts of the year focussed more on speed and low downforce the front teams should be even closer then usual. The inherent grip of the Red Bull car won't be as effective here as aerodynamic prowess is aimed further away from cornering speed and more towards straight line speed. This is beneficial for their immediate rivals, McLaren will be looking to perform well, with an in form Button racking up the Bonus Points and Hamilton eager to recover from an error in Spa. On top of that there is Ferrari, spurred on by the devout Tifosi crowd and a very competitive car with strong mechanical grip demonstrated in Monaco.

Behind them, Mercedes will be aiming for another strong weekend, where the strengths of their car match the format of the track - allowing them to close the gap to the division one cars and pull away from a resurgent Renault Squadron. Things in the black and gold awning have been subject to change, former driver and bonus points championship contender Squadron Leader Heidfeld has been honourably discharged from the Squadron, making Senna a more permanent recruit. With Grosjean waiting in the wings for a possible future call back since his season finishes this weekend, Renault Squadron will be hoping to stay away from the gaining mid-field.

Speaking of the mid-field, determining how that is going to end up is much of a lottery, as when downforce is lowered the distance between the cars will close so it it will become more competitive. Force India and STR will likely be towards the front of the group but Sauber and Williams won't be too far behind, the struggle to keep out of the first relegation zone in Q1. Provided of course the bottom 6 places are held by the newer teams and that is no longer a certain fact, alternate tyre strategies or some alternate weather could see Lotus mixing up that pack in the first session.

KERs and DRS

KERs this weekend may not be as useful as on other circuits as the gains at higher speeds aren't as strong as the gains when appliying the additional power out of slower corners to draw up on the car in front. But this accounts for the overtaking element of the system, in terms of lap time it will be invaluable as on a power track having more power is always a good idea. It will hamper the ambitions of the newer teams to break out of Q1 where their lack of the system could be quite a hindrance.

Then there is DRS - theories are conflicting on how it will affect the racing this weekend, of course both of those theories are mine at the moment but I'm sure other more rational who actually know about these things folk can come to similar conclusions. The first possibility is that because the rear wing angle will be much lower than normal anyway the speed increase from activating the system will much weaker than at other events. 

On the other hand there is a new system in place in Monza - two independent zones with their own detection and activation points opening up more opportunities across the lap. One being on the main straight leading into the Retafilio chicane and the other after second Lesmo on the run down to Ascari. Both sections are preceeded by a high speed corner exit, possibly ending with DRS performance similar to Spa and Turkey where the zones proved excessive and the overtaking was rather easy indeed. 

Those theories are based on the events for the race itself, where as in qualifying there is no limit on the DRS usage and it will provide significant lap time gain as so much of the lap will be at full power with the wing open. Despite it being on a low downforce circuit, the quantity of the application points will severely out weigh the reduced gains it will have to offer on Saturday afternoon.

The Italian Grand Prix marks the end of the European season which started in Turkey all those months ago - with a little break for the scheduled madness and mayhem that is also named the Canadian GP. Monza is a nice atmospheric conclusion to this phase of the season upon the spectacular blasts through the royal park in the shadow of the imposting former banking. It is going to be another outstanding weekend through all sessions, the precision and competition of qualifying and then the main spectacle of the race itself which will be another outside broadcast.