Before we start there is one initial point that needs to be made - That. Was. Awesome. We've had season deciding races in the past, some of those have been the finale event, but out of all those we've witnessed, that was the greatest. The world turned on their televisions this afternoon looking for some madness, looking for unpredictability looking for something that turned a one sided championship challenge into a tight enthralling battle. We may all have been hoping for all of that to come true, but in the hours that preceded it - most of them at rehearsal - few would have bargained on the race turning into the immense dynamic event that it was. This finale had everything and more, safety car interventions, great racing and clumsy overtaking manoeuvres ending in contact and retirements. All of them brought to the fore by that one key ingredient, the ingredient we were hoping would set off some chaos, something that would convert a final race procession into a seething swirling sea of dynamism. In the end it wasn't enough to change the outcome of the title, but it was a lot of fun coming to that conclusion - even if we were robbed of the final two laps of the race.
That ingredient once more was rain, it made a fleeting visit in the opening phase of first qualifying but despite initial ideas that it might have stayed dry throughout the race, fortunately, that didn't happen. First it was dry, then it was wet, then it was dry again - and then it was both wet and dry before the rains set in for the final phase of the race, and of course we all finished in formation under the safety car in the rain. I have seen a lot of races from here in blog HQ, most of them before it was Blog HQ and over that time there have been few races where so much has been going on that you lose track completely of where all the cars are in the race - or how they got there. Even the TV director couldn't catch up with much of the racing. It does make me wonder how earth I am going to transform all of those events, passes and incidents into words and comprehensible paragraphs. So here goes...
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| Image credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk |
In all of the championship finales that the blog has seen the anticipation before this one was so much more intense than it was before the start of this race, a thick but undecided veil of cloud was waiting ominously over the top of Interlagos. But the forecasts suggested that it would clear leading to a dry race - a forecast that seemed unnerved by a thin mist moisture sweeping over the grid, as many nervous faces looked away from the radar screens and stared up into the sky. The track surface was merely mildly damp, nothing to force the teams to discard their slick tyres for the intermediates, with nothing to suggest that it would get any worse...oh how wrong they were to be.
On a greasy track both of the Red Bull cars were slow off the line allowing Felipe Massa to make a brilliant start to clear the entire second row and pass Button through the first corner. Alonso followed but his progress was halted by Mark Webber - but where was the German Bloke in this - he'd fallen behind both Ferraris and behind Hulkenberg's Force India. Being in the middle of the pack is a dangerous place especially when heading down towards the dampest corner of the lap, on cold tyres. A danger that was very narrowly avoided when Kimi Raikkonen directly behind Vettel locked up and come very, very close to wiping the German out of the race. The coast was far from clear, because he turned into turn four to find Bruno Senna was in the same place, Vettel was turned around by the Williams and span back into its path. Significant contact was made as Senna bounced off the Red Bull and into Perez's Sauber. Astoundingly Vettel was able to spin turn the car and keep going, despite taking some damage to the exhaust section of the car. Well done Newey, that is one tough car. Senna and Perez were out of the race with damage.
Having lost a place back to Button on the opening lap, Massa was now under pressure from Webber in the Red Bull - Mark got a strong run out of turn twelve and across the line but Felipe defended making Webber go the long way round. However as he had the Australian pinned to the outside Massa opened the door on the inside for Alonso to sweep past and take the pair of them - advantage Fernando, because at this stage by virtue of being on the podium provisionally, was the leader of the championship as Vettel was down the back of the field following the spin. Track conditions were getting slipperier and despite moving onto the podium Alonso was off the pace of the two McLarens out front. Meanwhile Hulkenberg is moving through the field, taking places away from both Webber and Massa to move up into fourth place. Fourth became third when track conditions got the better of the Ferrari driver running off at turn one handing the podium place to the Force India - advantage now passed back to Vettel.
Were things planning on settling down - not by a long shot, increased rainfall meant Alonso was still short of pace, building a long and angry train of cars behind him - with Felipe doing his best to distract Webber who was Fernando's immediate threat. Massa managed to pass the Red Bull to give Alonso some extra support as Grosjean, Kobayashi and Di Resta joined the train behind the two Ferraris, but the queue thinned out a little towards the end of the lap. While the camera focussed on the front of the train Romain Grosjean gets caught out by the damp and spins off planting the Lotus significantly in the tyre barrier on the exit of turn 11. Somewhere in the melee Maldonado had retired from the race, but god knows how or when because the camera work missed his departure. As TV replays tried to establish how Grosjean left the race, the footage cut back to see Webber pointing in the wrong direction in the first corner, a result of some contact from Kobayashi's Sauber. Both drivers were able to continue the race without any significant damage - a broken wing element on the Sauber but that was about it.
All this had resulted in a three car breakaway group out front with the two McLarens still fighting each other and Hulkenberg gaining as their battle continued. The lead pair swapped positions on the main straight, before Hamilton regained the place into the first corner, before Hamilton lost the position in the DRS zone before turn four. In the background Nico was coming ever closer to the front, and somehow Vettel was now inside the top ten despite being binned on the opening lap and falling down to the back of the grid. As for the rain, well it just kicked things up a notch - only a tiny one but enough to send some drivers to the pit lane looking for intermediate tyres. This lead to all kinds of drivers being out of position - a long way out of position as Heikki Kovalainen - the driver Caterham might be binning at the end of the season was 6th, with both Pic and Petrov also in the points. Button and Hulkenberg however stayed out front, on slicks because the rain was starting to ease off slightly and the surface was starting to dry out.
The main rivals found themselves fighting each other in the middle of the pack - Vettel passing Webber but this was only over 14th at this stage as the intermediates were still the most stable tyre, if not the fastest. Demonstrated by Hamilton as his inters were much quicker than the slicks on Massa's car, passing the Ferrari easily - as a result of falling further back Felipe brought his car in for intermediate rubber. Something that made the performances of the lead two more impressive being able to fight with each other on slicks miles ahead of everyone else - a fight that was won in Hulkenbergs favour when he passed Jenson to take the lead of the race before driving off to a comfortable advantage. Vettel was also on another recovery drive taking advantage of a mistake by Kobayashi in turn one to take the place from the Sauber. Those lower division cars in the midst of this battle were soon filtered out of the proceedings although Pic tried very hard to prevent Kamui coming past, pushing the Sauber onto the wet grass down the DRS straight. After all that has happened this race the next car in front of the German bloke was in fact Alonso's Ferrari as the pair ran 4th and 5th on the road.
If the race hadn't seen enough developments the camera cut to Nico Rosberg who had a badly shredded rear tyre, mere moments after Alonso calls his team informing them that there was a lot of debris on the circuit. Frankly I have no idea where half of it came from, some would have been the initial crash, some was Kamui's wing elements, the rest is anyone's guess the camera missed quite a lot. The bit Rosberg encountered was in turn five, and I can't remember anyone hitting each other then. As a result of this strange influx of carbon fibre shards lying around the track the safety car was deployed, much to the annoyance of Hulkenberg and Button who had a huge lead on account of staying on the track on slicks while everyone else pitted. It was also the first time in a long while when nothing happened in the race.
On the restart Hulkenberg was able to break away from the two McLarens behind, while Alonso was able to stay clear of his rival just one place behind. Vettel however was a little pre-occupied with the only remaining Sauber as Kobayashi passed the prospective world champion into turn one, oddly Webber was on the outside of his team-mate making it three wide into the first corner. The outside of the track was still a little too damp and ran wide and off the track. Kamui now set his sights on Alonso ahead. All drivers now lapping on slick tyres as the rainfall had now stopped, still leaving the painted lines and run-off areas extremely slippery. Further up ahead the McLarens swapped places once more seeing Hamilton pass Button into turn four in an effort to catch Hulkenberg ahead. Within two laps of passing Vettel, Kobayashi had now passed the Ferrari of Alonso in the DRS zone - passing two double world champions after the restart is a notable achievement. Although Fernando only spend half a lap behind the Sauber re-taking the place on the main straight.
Massa was the next driver on a charge, catching up to Vettel, aiming to place another car between the German bloke and his team-mate, the problem Sebastien had was not quick enough in straight line to keep other cars at bay. Massa used the DRS to get alongside the Red Bull before sweeping round the outside in turn three. Felipe then caught and passed Kobayashi's Sauber in much the same manner driving round the outside to take the place away. A feat Vettel was unable to replicate, lacking the speed to maximise the power of the DRS and remained unable to pass Kamui. As out front Hulkenberg continues to lead, pulling away from the cars behind him, things were less stable and consistent at the lower end of the points. Raikkonen was on a comeback after narrowly avoiding an accident on lap one, and then putting on the intermediate tyres a little too early and ruining the compound, to find himself in a battle with Schumacher in turn one. Kimi was forced to the outside of the Mercedes in turn one, but was able to hold the line through the Senna S only millimetres apart.
The track had developed a clear dry line passing the advantage at the front to Hamilon in the battle for the lead, but is also tempted drivers to use more of the track - this resulting in drivers touching the white painted lines and having problems. First up was Vitaly Petrov who was leading the final division and up for taking 10th in constructors for Caterham, sliding off in turn 8 losing that position. Next up was Mark Webber at Juncao, touching the line on braking and executing a elegant drift round the corner. The most pivotal error belongs to the leader Hulkenberg who performed an identical spin to Petrov and conceded the lead to Hamliton's McLaren.
This would have been a decent cue for things to settle down - for people to go and put the kettle on for the mid-race beverage, but it was the weather that decided to intervene this time gently starting to increase the amount of rainfall. At first everyone shrugged it off as the transition was quite gradual to begin with, Rosberg was the first to pit for the intermediate tyres anticipating a much greater amount of precipitation, Vettel was having difficulties communicating with the team so when he pulled in for a stop, no-one had any tyres ready. This time loss was compensated by Alonso staying out as the rain started to actually become rain rather than misting droplets, almost putting the car in the wall in the infamous rivers of turn three. Instead executing an epic save to keep him in the race. Raikkonen however was off an a mini adventure of his own, after going off in the final corner he took to an escape road behind the barriers. Kimi drove around on an old part of the track only to find the route back to the racing surface was blocked... We'll get back to that adventure later...
Because Hulkenberg had found pace in the wet, a lot more pace than Hamliton out front catching up to the McLaren and sensing an opportunity to take the lead through traffic. As Lewis was passing a Marussia, Nico went down the inside of both of them also when trying to avoid Kovalainen in the Caterham at the same time, on the damper inside line the Force India got sideways sliding into the side of Hamilton's McLaren tearing front suspension off and ending his race. Hulkenberg on the other side was able to rejoin the race, before being handed a drive through penalty for some apparent season. It was a spin that happened to involve another car, but never mind. This put Alonso up into a net second and then put him very close to taking the championship away from Vettel, who was in the minimum place needed to win. Taking that seventh place position from Kamui Kobayashi through turn five, edging the Sauber out onto the run-off in the process, after he Japanese driver didn't feel like giving up, fortunately the rain wasn't bad enough to fire the car into the nearest barrier.
Laps were running out and the rainfall was continually increasing, something that was hurting the pace of Schumacher dropping him back towards Vettel increasing his chances of making another position, a move that was made easier by the fact that Schumacher is friends with the German bloke. So he made the overtake very easy indeed, and Vettel was up into 6th place, making the championship that bit more secure. The only thing that could derail that would be Alonso taking the lead, but Button was 20s clear of anyone out front, with less than ten laps left a he was quite safe. Back to Raikkonen and he had managed to break free from the maze of escape roads behind turn 12, spin turning the car and coming back the way he came rejoining in 11th place. Completing more miles than any other driver in the race by this point. Just behind the Finn the bottom division battle was intensifying as Charles Pic was under-pressure from Petrov for 12th - the Russian used Alonso lapping the battle for the cover he needed to take the place from the Marussia. Slighly ironic when it was Vitaly who prevented Alonso taking the championship in 2010, for roles and fortunes to be reverse as the Spaniard helped Caterham claim their mini championship win.
Could we get through the final few laps without contact or any other kind of madness - well in short no - it all started with Kamui having a go at Schumacher for 7th place, the Sauber looked up the inside on the DRS straight. Of course the wing system has been disabled due to the increased amount of rain at this stage due to the conditions, it was the rain that prevented Kobayashi holding a tighter inside line and therefore slid gently into the Mercedes. Bouncing gracefully of Schumacher's sidepod the Sauber span round, but no damage was done. The final act of the race belonged to Paul Di Resta, who encountered difficulties up the climb towards the line, aquaplaning mid-corner and crashing heavily into the new safer barrier installed on the exit. Wondered when it would see some use this weekend, and it does seem to work as Di Resta only seemed disoriented by the hit. As a result the safety car was deployed again, but this was the penultimate lap meaning the race and the season would finish under the safety car. The race by the same man who opened the scoring back in Australia, mastering the difficult conditions and cementing his new role as number one at McLaren. Behind Button Alonso finished second, the best he could have got out of the car, but was it enough for the title. Felipe completed the podium for Ferrari in his home race.
Despite being span early on, and a powerslide through the penultimate corner, Mark Webber claimed fourth position, in 5th place Hulkenberg recovered from a crash and a penalty. But 6th place was enough to Vettel to take a third consecutive championship, after a first lap accident and pitting before the team had tyres ready for him. On his final race of a second retirement in Brazil - the first one Raikkonen has actually attended - Michael Schumacher claimed some points the first for Mercedes for a long while as well. In a race of lots of madness, Vergne managed to sneak through under the radar to take 8th place for Toro Rosso, recovering from a late spin Kobayashi stayed in the top ten in 9th for two points. The final point of the season goes to our Interlagos adventurer Kimi Raikkonen on his return from mapping the uncharted territory behind turn 12.
The bonus points championship points winners
At the conclusion of the final race of the season it is time to unveil the last set of scores in defining who gets the immense honour of being crowned the second ever blog HQ bonus points champion. Here are the final results.
- 25pts - Nico Hulkenberg - A brilliant race in the Force India, would have won if it wasn't for the contact with Hamliton, regret firing him yet Williams...
- 18pts - Jenson Button - Staying out on slicks in the beginning took balls and another great performance in difficult conditions
- 15pts -Vitaly Petrov - Scoring Caterham's best ever finish in 11th and earning the team 10th in the constructrors championship
- 12pts - Felipe Massa - A brilliant start and some brilliant overtakes to the outside of people
- 10pts - Kamui Kobayashi - Passing two double world champions in a space of a few laps deserves a mention
- 8pts - Fernando Alonso - Get everything out of the car, helped by accidents, but made save of the day in turn three on the slicks
- 6pts - Sebastien Vettel - Doing enough to win the championship despite being turned around and damaged on the opening lap
- 4pts - Adrian Newey - The is a mighty strong car you've built there, how it survived that hit is very impressive
- 2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Has to have a couple of points for avoiding Vettel on lap one, and then his random adventure at the back of the track
- 1pt - Mark Webber - Gets a point for that epic drift through Juncao.
I also want to give the following bonus points out in addition to a driver scores
- 10pts - Rain - Thanks for that race, your contribution was exceptional today
- 10pts - BBC - For doing a much better job than sky all year
- 10pts - Brazil - For being the greatest race of the season, up there with Canada 2011
The penalties championship
The last penalty of the season was handed to Nico Hulkenberg for that contact with Hamilton where a drive through penalty was issued.
The penalties
As this was the final race of the season I think I can let the various little driving infringements slide, because after all conditions were challenging - but of course everyone is not safe for there will be a penalty for the stewards for Nico's penalty because it was a racing incident and throwing penalties at people is not very nice frankly.
Looking forward to 2013
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