Round 13: Singapore - Review

Greetings Internet,

Well we now ease ourselves away from the bright lights of Singapore, as the race came to a conclusion many, many hours ago now. As it has been for a while another show of unstoppable domination was on the cards for all of the 61 laps on the street circuit - it is starting to look despondently ominous for the remainder of the season. Singapore wasn't even considered to be the strongest of tracks for the Red Bull car to start off with, but neither was Monza or Spa... frighteningly both Korea and Japan in the coming races have been. If the pace is this unbeatable on weaker tracks then there is no hope when we go to a venue which is typically dominated by a German bloke in an excessively fast blue car. A car which has become so fast in relation to the rest of the field that the entire trackside population seem to be very resentful of our repeat winner. It does seem rather odd, it wasn't all that long ago when Schumacher could win races in reverse such was that phase of dominance and in that era we didn't have this level of animosity for the German. There are far bigger problems with the sport worth complaining about than the fact that one chap is doing a fairly decent job, unopposed on a regular basis.

As for the race itself it was an improvement on the previous two races - both of which also featured an unchallenged race for the lead - because the mid-field battle proved to be interesting in the second half of the race. After Singapore continued it's 100% record of providing safety car interruptions something that's hasn't really happened this season, with the exception of Monaco, people have been far too well behaved. Likely spending too much time complaining to spend knocking each other into the barriers. Once upon a time as soon as cars went two wide on a street track, at least one of them was going to come out of the equation missing a wheel or two. Today there was none of that sort of business, the race even concluded with an act of friendliness and comradery between rivals, but the stewards being the way they are cracked down on that sort of thing.

The Race

The day started with a flotilla of racing drivers fleeing from Martin Brundle on the grid - can't say I blame them all - and SKY were bordering on obsessive as soon as David Beckham wandered anywhere near a camera... This is not football, no-one cares about those overpaid fools, the 'value' of the players on a major team would fund the entire expenses of a top F1 team. Hell, a single player can cover the costs of Force India or Sauber including employing the staff. If Vettel's new 'fan' club want to boo something - go and boo that.

At the very start of the race the hopes of the entire world were raised when Rosberg beat Vettel down to turn one... Unfortunately the Mercedes went ever so slightly wide on the exit opening the door once more for Vettel to retake the lead - and once more, he was never seen of again. While everyone was watching all hope sink away in the face of yet more dominance Alonso was left alone on the outside line and went from 7th to 3rd in one corner. The other Ferrari of the now fired Massa was racing Hamilton, a battle that concluded down at the end of the back straight into turn 7, the pair have made contact here before - in 2011 when they stopped being friends. This time around Hamilton made the pass... but he was over the other side of the white line, an offence which has become a major crime at the moment and he was ordered to give the place back. At least this time the officials were giving fair warning before throwing the book at someone.

For a while it became a game of patience Vettel had vanished off to the count of over 6 seconds... by lap three and it wasn't getting any better for the rest of the field. So we had to wait for the DRS to be activated before anything happened, with the exception of Raikkonen passing Di Resta on the exit of the final corner. Turns out that back pain seems to have magically disappeared - and Kimi followed that up with a pass on Esteban Gutierrez on the outside of turn seven, without running off track and being shouted at by the powers that be. In this early phase of the race it was only Raikkonen who was making progress as he came up to the back of Perez - the only car he has made contact with all season, in Monaco, China and Monza. But everyone else was happy to stay put - Webber was told to drop back from Alonso and Rosberg rather than attack. Perhaps that plan made sense because all of the charging Raikkonen had been doing had ruined his tyres forcing him into an early tyre stop.

A couple of laps later more drivers started to filter through the pit lane which as per usual leads to a lot of cars being out of position - Webber found himself behind Ricciardo... and you can imagine that the Toro Rosso virtually jumped out of the way. Alonso however was not so fortunate, re-joining behind Paul Di Resta who has no obligations to let the car behind through and thus clung onto the position. This built a queue behind him containing Webber, Hamilton and Grosjean, a queue that remained until the Force India pulled in for his stop - by this time Vettel was so far ahead the distance could be measured using satellites and lasers. So we had to look elsewhere for some entertainment, and we found Maldonado who was still resisting the temptation to build a fort out of the plastic barriers. Instead he was trying to hold off Perez and Hulkenberg on his severely worn tyres. But this is when things got really odd, because Perez was half-way past Nico in turn seven, Hulkenberg left the track to avoid contact - leaving room for the McLaren, but was instructed to let Sergio have the position. So apparently not getting passed is now an offence too...

Now all the stops had been completed and everyone was back in position and Vettel was in another dimension, we needed something to closed things up a bit. Red Bull also needed something to at least give the rest of the field a faint sense of hope - so I can only imagine a subtle communication was sent down to Toro Rosso - introducing Ricciardo to the world of team orders and helping the German Bloke out. As a response said Toro Rosso was next seen planted in the wall under the grandstand tunnel. Of course making the suggestion that a team would as a driver to crash in Singapore would be silly, that sort of thing never happens... and as a result the safety car was released. So a brief period of time we actually saw Vettel near another car. But during this safety car session interesting strategy decisions were made - while lots of driver pitted, both Red Bulls and Mercedes' elected to stay out, because no-one could make it to the end from here...could they?

At the restart Vettel vanished off into the distance again and his race engineer phone the German up and told him to go really quickly... that's all we need, encouragement for him to destroy the field even more running at two seconds a lap faster than the entire field... The pace was so quick that even Grosjean's car was left breathless with an air compression problem of some sort - which according to the BBC transcript  Romain replied "Nooooooooooooooo". With exactly that many 'o's suffice to say Grosjean was not pleased as the Lotus was forced into retirement. Within 5 laps of the restart Vettel was 12s ahead of Rosberg... oh dear. 
The race was about to get more interesting as Webber initiated the process of the top four cars taking the stop they didn't make under the safety car - rejoining in 13th position. Rosberg and Hamilton were the next two to pit, but found themselves behind Webber's Red Bull and this is where the fun begins - because these three expected the train of cars in front of them to stop again...but they didn't. Vettel however was so far ahead he was able to stop and come out in the lead of the race now ahead of Alonso in second and of all people Jenson Button in a McLaren in 3rd. While Alonso had lots of clean space in front and behind him, Jenson did not have that luxury - instead his mirrors were filled with Kimi Raikkonen's Lotus - of these three only the Ferrari and the Lotus have a record of strong tyre management this season. 

Webber, Rosberg and Hamilton were on a crusade now that it had become apparent that in order to regain the positions lost by stopping, they were going to have to fight for them - although Rosberg was having a rather confusing conversation over the radio with his engineer. Apparently having no idea whether he should conserve tyres or give it full beans and attack the cars around him, kind of sums up the tyre era we live in - even the drivers have no idea how to drive the cars any more. Their first victim was Gutierrez, and the swarm momentarily had difficulty dealing with the straight line speed of the Sauber. A swarm that now had gained the attentions of Massa and Di Resta on the end of the queue. But as soon as Webber had made it through the floodgates opened and Esteban lost five places in the space of half a lap. Like a pack of angry increasingly angry bees the fleet lined up again and made haste towards Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, the next two cars in line. Hulkenberg decided he was having none of this - his tyres were ruined enough as it was to try and risk putting it in the wall to hold off the oncoming armada. So he didn't put up too much of a fight. 

While that onslaught carried forward towards Perez, the other Mexican had found a new queue of cars, narrowly avoiding being wiped out in the tunnel by Jean-Eric Vergne and Maldonado battling for the prize of being 11th. A fight to be in the prime position in case things kicked off inside the points. Word of those drivers scything their way to the front reached Raikkonen which meant he needed to dispatch Button and quickly before Webber and friends caught up. A task he took to with swift efficiency disregarding the DRS zones and went round the outside at the end of Esplanade Drive - the same move he pulled on Bottas earlier in the race. Raikkonen escaped just as the flotilla carved their way past Perez, although at the end of the charging pack Di Resta missed the braking point in turn seven and went into the barrier. Promoting Sutil into 10th to duel with Hulkenberg at the bottom of the points. It was Jenson who now had the attentions of Webber and co but there was a slight problem - and there will be no points for guessing that those problems happened to be on Webber's car. Mark was instructed to severely reduce engine revs and short shift.

Despite the problems Webber was able to pass Button - closely followed by the two Mercedes' coming into the stadium section - but he was unable to catch Raikkonen for 3rd. As the difficulties increased in the cursed Red Bull Webber was powerless to resist the Mercedes team and had nothing to defend with, the car was making all kinds of noises that is shouldn't make - the problem then became very apparent when the car caught fire. Still very odd that none of this happens to Vettel... hmm.... Speaking of the German bloke crossed the line to win by half a minute, and that was build over only half the race due to the safety car. Alonso scored another second place, drove very well yet still loses points in the championship, and Raikkonen bad back or not came from 13th to 3rd proving that both Ferrari and Lotus are still good on tyres - it just doesn't help like it did before the compound change. 4th and 5th for Mercedes Rosberg beating Hamilton to the line with Massa finishing 6th. Despite spending time in a podium place Button fell back to 7th just ahead of Perez in 8th. The points were rounded off by Hulkenberg and Sutil - Maldonado won the battle for 11th but couldn't add to Williams massive points total of 1pt...

On the slowdown lap, Alonso stopped to pick up Webber performing a taxi service back to the pits, however Fernando parked in the middle of the track to collect the Australian forcing Hamilton into evasive action. A brilliant gesture, just not executed particularly well - both drivers were reprimanded, but it was Webber's third reprimand so he earns a ten place grid penalty for Korea.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

The more observant among you may have noticed that I forgot to announce points from qualifying because I was a little short of time so will have to amalgamate both result sets today

Qualifying:

• 10pts - Esteban Gutierrez - A surprise performance in Q2
• 8pts - Nico Rosberg - for almost punishing Vettel and Red Bull's overconfidence
• 6pts - Mark Webber - the same as Rosberg but not quite as close
• 5pts - Felipe Massa - Some brilliant powerslides coming out of the tunnel
• 4pts - Romain Grosjean - Almost on the front row, breaking up the Red Bull/Mercedes' group
• 3pts - Giedo Van Der Garde - bounces of the wall and still temporarily claimed bottom division pole in the Caterham
• 2pts - Sebastian Vettel - oh go on have some points
• 1pt -Pastor Maldonado - Resisting the temptation to build a fort with all those barriers.

Race:

• 25pts - Sebastian Vettel - As much as dominance is boring, that was very impressive 32s in half a race...
• 18pts - Kimi Raikkonen - 13th to 3rd on a street track with a theoretical back problem 
• 15pts - Fernando Alonso - Keeps throwing everything at Vettel, and another brilliant start
• 12pts - Jenson Button - Almost had a podium, oh so close for McLaren
• 10pts - Mark Webber - Strong recovery drive, and for hailing Alonso as a taxi at the end
• 8pts - Hamilton/Rosberg - A unified attack force carving through the field 
• 6pts - Paul Di Resta - For holding off Alonso while being out of position
• 4pts - Hulkberg/Grosjean - Best radio communication responses in a long while
• 2pts - Gutierrez/Perez - Proving that two cars can fit through the new turn 10 alongside 
• 1pt - Felipe Massa - For not crashing the thermal imaging camera like Di Resta did within one sector of starting the race..

The Penalties Championship

Only one official penalty was divvied out this weekend and that was to Mark Webber, for picking up three reprimands and getting a 10 place grid penalty.

The Penalty Points Championship

• The Stewards - In what universe should Hulkenberg given that place back, could set a really unfortunate precedent - just force someone off without even passing them and get the officials to give you the place...
• Esteban Gutierrez - For not setting a lap in Q3... you thought I'd forget about that Mr Gutierrez
• Turn 10 - I'm not convinced 
• Fabio Leimer - For T-Boning Alex Rossi as the American tried to drive into the support paddock after the GP2 race finished.

Onwards to Korea

The days at the Yeongnam circuit may well be numbered as it might be forced off the calendar to make room for the likes of Mexico, Russia, Austria and New Jersey in the same manner that India is due to go missing in 2014; but it is the next venue on our journey towards Brazil. It is circuit Red Bull have been known to do well... better than Singapore so that sounds very ominous. The track itself is a tale of two completely different halves, an opening sector defined by some excessive straights leading into hairpins. While the rest of the lap feels like it belongs in Europe with several flowing corners albeit completely flattened out. The major bone to contend with the circuit is the sequence involving turns four to six - it is horrific, I mean even the original turn 10 chicane which has just been replaced had some redeeming qualities. If any part of the calendar needed sorting out, this would be it - that and the hopeless chicane at Calalunya. 

In it's opening visit to the season the Korean GP was complete madness, drowned in monsoon conditions and populated with safety car interventions, a race that ended Webber's best chance of winning the drivers title spinning into the wall and collecting Rosberg. So we might finally get some rain and hilarity on a Sunday, anything to put the brakes on Vettel's reign of supremacy and possibly inject some life into the championship. Because at this rate it will all be over by India...So until then, this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ.

Round 13: Singapore - Qualifying

Greetings Internet,

Somebody needs to take that German bloke away and leave him there for a while, because this is starting to look painfully easy for Mr Vettel to walk all over the rest of the field there was one stage when the chap was a second faster than everyone... So the battle as we all expected it to be will be for second place - only a storm and huge amounts of rain could wash away he chances of simply vanishing off into the night tomorrow and towards the championship. However some slight arrogance on the Red Bull pitwall was almost their undoing, and there would have been some mega bonus points to anyone who stole the latest pole position away from him. Alas it wasn't to be and it is normal service, the same two teams take out the front of the grid - with the exception of one interloper - as it has been for a while now. All getting rather repetitive.

But there have been some changes to the track, on Thursday I pointed out that the slow and cumbersome turn 10 chicane has been axed from the layout in favour of a newer faster corner lined with more plastic barriers. Barriers I might add that were called into action within 4 minutes of the start of the GP2 qualifying session as Mitch Evans became the only person to crash out at this new corner. The thing is this new corner is not very good, Singapore already has a problem of having lots of very similar corners, so why on earth did they decide that the optimum profile for the new 10 had to be the same as other corners on the lap. There is lots of room to create a corner that hugs the inside wall and feeds into the chicane before the Andersson bridge, it would be much faster and offer something different. This 'solution' filters the cars into a narrow approach and imposes a wider and shorter apex - seriously why, the original may have been artificial but at least it was unique. This is neither a high speed corner we all want or a new overtaking zone it is just generic nothing corner...

Qualifying 

Because time is a little limited today, a small matter of being on stage in a couple of hours or so, so as a result we'll revert to the more concise format as seen earlier in the season.

Q1

Max Chilton - Surprise, surprise the Briton spends another race starting from the back of the grid was barely noticeable during qualifying.
Jules Bianchi - Marussia have no pace at the moment in relation to their current rivals Caterham lining up behind the green cars again.
Giedo Van Der Garde - Van Der Garde bounced off the wall on his fastest lap but the car was able to complete the lap and at the time lead the lower division
Charles Pic - Pipped Giedo at the end of the session just by not hitting the wall I'd imagine
Pastor Maldonado - Another Williams knocked out of the first part of qualifying and more importantly Pastor has not found all that fort material in the new turn 10. Plenty of time for that.
Paul Di Resta - Out in Q1 again, since the tyre changes Force India have been nowhere and that trend has been repeated on the streets of Singapore.

Q2

Valtteri Bottas - Bottas may have escaped the relegation zone but didn't get much further in the next session only making it into 16th place
Adrian Sutil - The same could be said for Sutil, nowhere near the form the team had at the start of the season, the car that lead in Australia, while Di Resta almost took a podium in Bahrain - it's not going too well back here.
Sergio Perez - McLaren are still not doing well and have managed to be dragged into the driver rumour mill suggesting that Perez's seat might be up for grabs, 14th place today isn't a strong statement in dispelling these rumours
Kimi Raikkonen - Struggling with back pain issues this week, the more cynical among you may imply that those problems may be lack of money related and Kimi has effectively just given up, but either way the Finn could only manage 13th today. Personally I think he is looking for a visit to a local massage parlour...
Jean-Eric Vergne - In the dying seconds of Q2 Vergne was sitting in 8th, but the times tumbled on the last few laps and Jean-Eric was shuffled down the line and out of the top 10.
Nico Hulkenberg - Fractionally missing out on the top ten again, the last completed lap of the session demoted Nico by mere hundredths of a second.

Q3

Esteban Gutierrez - Lining up 10th does not tell the story of Gutierrez's day, remained completely anonymous up until the very end of Q2 when he somehow put the Sauber into 6th place... like Hulkenberg in Monza where on earth did that come from. But failed to set a time in Q3 and will get a penalty point for his trouble.
Daniel Ricciardo - Another top ten position for Webber's replacement although he was effectively last of those who set a lap in the final part of qualifying. But Toro Rosso are now competing with Sauber for top honours in the mid-field since Force India have fallen to the back of the grid.
Jenson Button - It is probably a sad state of affairs when qualifying 8th is a good day for McLaren and for Jenson, but kudos for going out and setting a lap even when it seemed like it would have been better to abort the session
Fernando Alonso - Ferrari are struggling a little and if you notice no mention of Massa yet, meaning Fernando is behind the driver the team have just fired... Interesting - but this drop off in form comes at just at the wrong time, just as Vettel is on a streak of complete dominance... goodbye championship.
Felipe Massa - Demonstrated the lack of grip in that car by powersliding out of the tunnel section coming very close to hitting the wall. Given Felipe's record of crashing on street tracks this has been a very successful day for Massa, perhaps Lotus will be giving him a call soon.
Lewis Hamilton - Sits last of the top four cars which interestingly accounts for 5th place on the grid, Hamliton seems happier than he was in Monza, but that didn't take too much considering how displeased he was then.
Mark Webber - Set out on the final lap hoping to steal the pole position from Vettel while the German was in hiding, set a strong first sector but lost three tenths at the end of the lap
Romain Grosjean - Proof that Lotus have some decent pace this weekend, if it wasn't for Raikkonen's back there might have been two cars up front, but Romain is doing a grand job of carrying the team in Singapore. Looking to secure his seat at the team for 2014
Nico Rosberg - Came oh so close to punishing Vettel for his seemingly excessive confidence in the final session, as Vettel hid Nico stormed to within a tenth of taking that pole away, despite being nowhere in practice.
Sebastien Vettel - The German bloke has been painfully dominant all session, so much that he gave up doing a final run in Q3 because at the time the margin was so large to second place. It came so close to all blowing up in his face but that Red Bull cannot be stopped at the moment and this is the closest he'll be to another car all weekend.

Looking to Tomorrow

Singapore always has the potential to be entertaining, with the threat of safety cars and running close to the maximum time limit of 2 hours. Because the chicane has been removed the laptimes are faster, meaning we should have a bigger margin to that limit - before safety cars get involved. In the GP2 race they managed to complete the session without brining out the safety car and without causing too much damage to each other. In the main race tomorrow things might be a little more sedate than previous years, calmer even Maldonado has stayed away from the barriers. For the most part the grid is in the order of pace, without anyone really out of position. There is the tiniest threat of rain but that hasn't happened for a long time now despite more significant forecasts. But with walls in close proximity anything is possible.

Round 13: Singapore - Preview

Y'arr Mateys o' Yonder Internet

It is probably an event of poor timing to for this post to coincide with International Talk Like a Pirate day, and being the start of the Singaporean GP weekend - a location with piratical connections if them there moving pictures wit that matey Capt'n Jack (not the torchwood version). Thar be a sea of tarmac waiting for the crews as they make landfall at a most magical port crossing the open waters and into the night. During the voyage from Monza there has been some rumblings in the turbulent seas within the paddock, Captain Button has sworn allegiance to his ship o' McLaren swearing that'd fight for them in resurrecting the shambles of a galleon they set afloat this season.

The other matey in a spot of hot water at the moment is First Mate Massa - marooned by the grand Pirate Luca Di Montezemelo - he is looking for a new crew. Jenson nailing his colours to the mast has closed escape from the desert island of unemployment. So Massa has been hailing across the harbour at Lotus, requesting to come aboard and speak to the captain. An opening has appeared on deck since Raikkonen jumped ship to plunder all the rum and ice cream in the Ferrari galley. Thar be a minor problem with First Mate Felipe's dastardly plan, as just off the starboard bow there is a lot landlubbers waiting for their chance at earning their sea legs. The likes of Valsecchi, Vandoorne, Magnussen, could all be sending out bottled messages to request an audience with the captain. On top of that thar be pirates in lesser ships looking to sail under a more prominent flag. Who knows, only time will tell.

 For thar be more pressing matters, to be decided under the mechanical lights of the Singapore streets, where the tyrant of the seas remains upon the crows nest looking down as rivals try in vain to mutiny against his dominance. Closest challenger Alonso needs Mr Vettel to pay a visit to Davey Jones' Locker for a couple of weekends to claim the ultimate loot. Perhaps the German Matey needs to be marooned along way from shore, or devious subterfuge up the Red Bull galleon with a little more ballast in the hull to slow 'er down. Alas through the lens o' me spyglass I spy a pivotal weekend in uncertain times.

Yer treasure map

This is only a young visitor to the calendar and in that time has made friends and foes alike, some vilify the track for having a lot of generic corners and some which defy sanity - which typifies street circuits outside of Europe. Over in the Americas, street circuits are defined by 90 degree corners and painfully artificial chicanes yet they still work out alright and can provide some brilliant racing. For the purposes of this argument we're going to ignore the Baltimore track that merely produced pile ups and ages sailing behind the safety car. In Europe our street tracks (not that our little island does them any more) use more flowing windy roads - like Monaco or Pau because that is the topology of the infrastructure. 

But I do not fall on the side of those nay-sayers, I am all for the Singaporean circuit, of course there can be some improvements mostly in the final sector between turns 16 and 21. Admittedly that section has been improved by the fact the track turns underneath the grandstand which is a nice feature after turn 18, but in order to fit it in it all seems at little forced to make it happen. But announcements on the run up to the race are promising, we are all aware of the very questionable chicane at turn 10, the one that throws cars into the barrier at the first opportunity. For 2013 that corner has been abolished, replaced by a single higher speed corner - which does seem rather odd considering it was put in place for safety reasons. We all know how much health and safety takes precedence these days, yet here the opposite has taken place, instead an extra layer of those plastic barriers. I reckon at the news a smile of pure joy spread across Maldonado's face, not only will the corner mirror tabac, but will lined with prime fort building materials. The perfect place to launch cannon fire at enemy vessels. 

The rest of the lap is fairly decent with overtaking zones fast and slow corners all bounded by concrete walls to punish the slightest of errors. Unlike the walls over here in Europe they are not metal guardrails that require hours of rebuilding after an accident, which is important because GP2 will be making the trip and they have a habit of crashing into things. Things needed delaying in Monaco after a Porsche race ruined the barrier at Massonet - not a problem here. As well as the fact that the track is wider allowing more cars to run two wide without making too much contact, all made safer by the fact that Schumacher isn't here, because that old captain crashed into his fair share of cars in his second wind, most of those being Saubers... Singapore may not be a traditional ribbon of road undulating through a forest, but at night it remains unique and spectacular.

Yar Manifest o' Form

I'll be donning me Pirate hat once more to cast a wary eye upon the roster, and it would seem that Shipmate Sebastian will likely be sailing out into the lead, out and over the horizon not to be seen nor heard from again. Floating listlessly in the wake of Newey's seafaring craftsmanship lies the rest of the fleet, even the sister ship seems to have a few holes in the hull and a smaller sail - a fate that new deckhand Ricciardo will be at the helm of. On the day before the main voyage the two captains of the silver ships may have some early pace, with a chance of taking pole position - but over a longer venture the Red Bulls are the fastest pair in the seven seas. Rum smuggling Raikkonen and the barmy crew aboard Lotus may be in for a strong quest for a points loot, high temperatures and narrow seas suit their vessels. The same could be same for Ferrari where First Mate Massa is requested to stay the course aiding his superiors before being asked to walk the plank. All the while McLaren will be forced to watch it all unfold a ways off the starboard bow.

In the tormented squall that is the mid-field it will be Force India team leading the crusade to plunder points right out from the noses of the bigger crews, Adrian Sutil and ship's parrot Di Resta have always faired well upon these strange tides. Placing open water between themselves and those lagging behind. Sauber have mighty Sea-farer Hulkenberg at the helm surging forth to bride that gap - an outstanding performance at Monza declared his intent. Hurling more than a bottled message across the bows at Lotus looking to sign an accord. Torro Rosso will have the measure of Williams where landlubber Maldonado will be looking to build another fort upon dry land waiting to lay siege to his rivals, and perchance exact revenge upon Marussia's financeer Mr Chilton.

Down in the cold and stagnant doldrums, Caterham have reasserted their dominance over the lowest of territories at the back of the grid, coercing Marussia to walk the lonely plank back down to the final row. Caterham should acquiesce the services of chief officer Kovalainen should flames break out below deck they need to call upon his special expertise on the bay. 

These are formidable waters and this latest page in this season's saga will be contested underneath the stars and electrical lamps and between the walls. Perhaps some turbulent weather and mighty storms may be able to turn the tide on this championship. 

Interesting times at Ferrari

Greetings Internet,

There have been some fairly monumental changes at the front of the grid in terms of driver changes, firstly last week it was confirmed that Ricciardo would take over Webber's car. Thus unveiling potentially the worst kept secret of the season, a decision that everyone saw coming. Then there was what took place over the past few days at Ferrari - a process that started with an announcement from the team that actually contained and announcement. A different press line than their releases over the Italian GP weekend - where they made an announcement announcing that they had no announcement to make... Finally out of all that we had some clarity, Ferrari are relieving Massa of his services - which Alonso is not too pleased about because he liked working with the Brazilian, because he was a helpful team-mate and friend.

So who else could fill the role that Felipe had done so well, albeit a little off the pace and with a spate of inexplicable accidents, as it so happens they decided to secure the services of a certain Mr Raikkonen. Now that is a dangerous decision, of all the drivers whose name had been suggested if Massa was sent on his holidays - Hulkenberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi - Kimi is the least likely to play the number two role to Alonso. You'd have to think that initially Fernando would have the upper hand and may be faster on ultimate race pace as seen in so many recovery drives from dodgy qualifying sessions. So that would make Raikkonen on paper the number two driver, since equality hasn't really been invented at Ferrari - years of Irvine and Barrichello supporting Schumacher and latterly Massa too. A couple of anomalous seasons when Raikkonen and Massa were team-mates things were slightly more level - almost winning Massa the 2008 title had Glock not handed it to Hamilton in the final corner of the season. So this does open the door for a potentially quite fractious power struggle - which could either push the team forward and finally beat that German Bloke...or it could implode in a cloud of animosity and carbon fibre.

Then there is the other point Kimi was himself sent on his holidays to the WRC and a slightly odd visit to the NASCAR truck series, as a result of falling out with Luca Di Montezemelo. It is strange that the announcement was made after Alonso himself had been displeasing the don of Ferrari by justifiably complaining about the quality of the car. The train of thought is that Stefano Dominicali wanted Raikkonen in and had to persuade Luca to allow it to happen, because Stefano is slightly less traditional and wants the strongest line up possible - and it is an exceptionally powerful pair... if the car works well enough in 2014 to allow it to shine through.

How does this impact everyone else

Of course this decision unleashes several ripples down the field, affecting teams that might have anticipated to have an empty space that needed filling, or those now short of a driver, combined with the fact that the earlier confirmation of Red Bull's decision opens up a place as well.

First off there is Toro Rosso - since Ricciardo has now been promoted into the fastest car grid - not bad for some - the junior team does have an opening... or two if Vergne also ends up on holiday. Of all the repercussions from high interest moves, this one remains very localised, because the Red Bull program is a closed system. They feed new drivers in through lower formula, some reach Toro Rosso - most of which are then fired over time and the tiniest fraction of that subset will be sitting in the Red Bull team in 2014. So all the Toro Rosso team have to do is stick the metaphorical net in their junior driver pool and fish out the next hopeful. All the signs point towards Antonio Felix Da Costa taking the seat, while other rumours orchestrated just to meddle things up suggest GP2 driver Felipe Nasr might have a chance. That decision could go anywhere and no-one is really safe.

Secondly Lotus find themselves with an empty seat now Raikkonen has set up camp elsewhere, there is a slight indication that Lotus are not monumentally pleased about losing their star driver but need to seek a replacement. Because this is more recent decision the list of drivers linked to the seat is massive, we have existing drivers like Hulkenberg and Maldonado with his Venezuelan oil money helping out.  Then there is the set of drivers Lotus/Renault have used before - Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jerome D'ambrosio who replaced Grosjean when he was having a time out. On top of that there are a list of potential rookie drivers including DTM driver Robert Wickens and GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi from the same team Grosjean graduated from. But wait, there's more Massa presently doesn't have a drive, Button has no official 2014 contract and Kobayashi is mentioned for a comeback drive. It's almost names in a hat time down at Lotus and picking one out of that lot is very complicated, and to make matters worse Grosjean isn't confirmed to stay on at the team either...

Another team that will be affected by Ferrari decision to go for Kimi is Sauber, a large proportion of the internet and defecting commentator Martin Brundle anticipated Massa's departure but expected Hulkenberg to be alongside Alonso. So this causes a problem for Monisha at the little Swiss team because abnormally for a lower mid-field team they have an excess of drivers connected with the potential race seats. At the core of this is the fact their two present race drivers are important in different respects to the team - Hulkenberg is rather good at what he does - putting that car in the top five last time was immense. While Gutierrez has money and Sauber really need some of that, which makes up for his often questionable performance. This is complicated by Sergey Sirotkin, the team are trying to shoehorn him into a race seat for 2014 because Russia may be more likely to invest in the team. The process has already cost Robin Frijns a connection with Sauber and potentially eliminates him from contention, but then there is Bianchi - tipped to be the replacement for Hulkenberg when he moved to Ferrari. Because that move didn't happen the problem cascades down to Marussia but I don't think they'll mind hanging onto Jules - though that depends on money as well.

A final issue with Sauber is that Massa is now floating about, and Sauber have had a good relationship with Felipe having employed the Brazilian before Ferrari bought him up - Sauber have been used as a Ferrari training ground hence why Hulkenberg was looking promising. It is also why Bianchi has been linked with the team due to his Ferrari connections, but could that channel work both ways and we could see Massa going back home to Sauber.

It is all getting a little crowded at the moment so many people fighting over so few opportunities  - last season we saw Kovalainen, Glock, Petrov and Kobayashi go missing from the grid, all recent GP2 graduates, and all drivers that had potential but have been forced out for the likes of Chilton, Maldonado and Gutierrez. But there is still a lot more to unfold, especially on an announcement for that newly available space at Lotus.

Round 12: Italy 2013 - Review

Greetings Internet,

I am starting to think that rain is forbidden on a Sunday afternoon, on each occasion it has been threatened the skies remain clear and the track remains dry. If we were to stage a race at the bottom of the pacific ocean, the seas would part to leave a track as parched as the surface of the Attacama. Much like the situation was in Spa events managed to unfold such that the majority of the race became a foregone conclusion - the two participants mostly out of position encountered early difficulties removing them from the equation and stifling the prospect of a race long charge through the field. Furthermore this race saw some glaring disparity in the effectiveness of DRS from car to car, it was either completely useless or monstrously overpowered. We also learned that you need the straight line speed of a scalded cheetah to get anywhere close to passing a Toro Rosso around Monza, yet they themselves don't have the pace to catch the cars in front of them. I've no idea what on earth has been going on at the famous autodromo but all of the series have been a little...off. GP3 driving has been a little silly, and it flows from one extreme to the other in GP2 - four corners of intense racing followed by several laps of roughly sod all going on. At least the F1 race was a little more consistent, and ramped up towards the end - but once more that top step of the podium may as well have been booked and set in advance. Maybe next time things will be different, room for madness on those streets.

The Race

Hopes were momentarily raised when the pit-lane seemed a little damp in the build up to the race, and rain was present in the air, still falling albeit lightly - helped a little with the fact that cars were heading to the grid on intermediate tyres. A hope that as per usual faded into the familiar sense of disappointment, because the rain came to an abrupt end, the clouds rolled away, and the track was completely dry with plenty of time before the start of the race.

Off the line it was unsurprisingly the two Ferraris that made the most ground, sweeping past Hulkenberg like he didn't exist. Massa also managed to slip past Webber, and it almost seemed like he defended from Alonso - if that was the case he'd probably be shown the door for not jumping out of the way. Despite being all alone in the lead on the really long run down to the first corner, Vettel locked up and flat-spotted his front tyre. Although the entire wheel could have fallen off and the car would still be the fastest thing around. Further back Kimi Raikkonen found himself behind Perez, and given the amount of altercations they've had this season Kimi thought it best to nudge the Mexican down the escape road - unfortunately it ruined the Lotus front wing in the process dropping him to the back of the grid. But on the whole it was a unusually damage free run through the first chicane. So that was made up for in the braking zone of the Della Roggia chicane, as Di Resta clobbered into the back of Grosjean. Romain could continue, but Paul was missing a front wheel and was forced to retire.

Vettel was clear off in the lead, and as per usual was never seen again, Massa was second while Webber held of Alonso for third. Hulkenberg still existed but had Rosberg for company in summary of how this race was to play out through the remainder of the race, only one position changed in the top six from now until the end of the race...But if we just looked at that then the race would seem dull, uneventful perhaps - yet everyone else seemed to be having fun. A train of cars behind Vergne including a recovering Hamilton was initially quite excitable, Lewis passing Gutierrez in the second chicane. That backed the Sauber up into the Williams team who in turn were almost passed by Pic in the Caterham. Perez was having the same trouble trying to pass the other Toro Rosso of Ricciardo - whilst being caught be Grosjean. Both these groups were able to duel amongst themselves but had nothing for the Toro Rosso roadblocks.

As soon as the DRS window opened Hamilton breezed past Jenson as if he didn't exist before the Ascari chicane - because the McLaren team had got the gear ratios wrong and were defenceless. Further forward Alonso made a move round the outside of Webber in the second chicane easing across on the racing line on the exit of the corner. Once again Mark found himself without a front wing endplate - this time didn't lead to a subsequent barrage of fastest laps, only Van Der Garde has the ability to improve Adrian Newey's handiwork. Hamilton's charge was about to encounter a bit of a problem, starting with a complete failure of his in-car communication system which meant he couldn't hear the team inform him of a slow puncture developing on that Mercedes. This allowed Button to recover the gap and then retake the place on the outside of the Roggia chicane - interesting to see more passing away from the DRS zone. Except for Massa moving out of the the way for Fernando - but that was an inevitable team manoeuvre - there was no way at all Massa would have been allowed to keep that place...Now would Kimi be so co-operative.

Vergne may have lost Hamilton after the Mercedes finally recognised the problem via the almost archaic system of using a pit-board and pitted - only to rejoin behind Raikkonen - but the Frenchman gained Jenson Button staring at his gearbox. However there was nothing Jenson could do the Toro Rosso was far too fast in a straight line - until it broke down before the first of the Lesmos, narrowly missed by the McLaren as Vergne pulled it out of the way.  Grosjean and Perez on the other hand, were still struggling to make any ground on Ricciardo allowing Button to work his way up to the back of that particular train of cars.

While nothing else was going on, it was time for the pit-stops - and this being a one stop race the strategy was slightly less relevant making it less of a tactical event - just a case of running the tyres until they were done, swap the other set on and then go to the end. Of course that process changed for Raikkonen and Hamilton who were forced into an early stop. Red Bull once more illustrated their dominance by stopping both their cars on the same lap, with immaculate consistency 2.6 and 2.7s for Vettel and Webber respectively - servicing both cars within 10 seconds... This turn around was enough to move Webber in front of Massa and much closer to Alonso in the other Ferrari. Everyone else retained position, in relative terms as late stopping cars were temporarily out of position - Raikkonen was back up to 5th after being last on the opening lap. The two McLarens found themselves back behind Ricciardo after the stops but Jenson had made it through past Perez, without the need to knock carbon fibre off each other.

Speaking of intra-team battles Mercedes ran two wide through the opening chicane with Hamilton taking the position. Lewis then caught up immediately to Hulkenberg and almost performed an identical pass on the Sauber, but not being team-mates he was able to defend more robustly but Hamilton used all his KERs to go round the outside through Curva Grande. Nico and Nico then resumed the battle they'd been in since the start of the race, but lost a lot of ground by missing the first chicane and having to meander through the maze of polystyrene marker boards. Hamilton was told to pit - but proceeded to set the fastest lap instead, some more communication issues going on there, eventually Mercedes were able to apprehend Lewis to give him some new tyres.

In the final phase of the race we were set for another battle towards the front as Webber was right behind Alonso and was clearly in a much faster car - considering the Red Bull is realistically faster than everything. But the team came on the radio once more to the Australian to say something was wrong with the car, this time it was the gearbox. In order to get the car home he had to short shift in the traction zones - losing ground out of the chicanes on the Ferrari and ending that battle. Instead we turned to Raikkonen and Hamilton on a two stop strategy and much fresher tyres fighting back from outside the points. Kimi was making considerable progress - first picking off Gutierrez and then Sutil in very quick succession closing rapidly on the McLaren pairing of Perez and Button. But once again just as things were going to get interesting Lotus informed Raikkonen that his KERs was malfunctioning ending that battle. This allowed Hamilton to use his KERs once more in Curva Grande to take the place. Further forward the potential for Massa to come after an ailing Webber for 3rd came to nothing as Felipe was struck down with KERs problems of his own. Was anyone allowed to to battle today.

Vettel won the race a country mile ahead of every one else, even he had slowed down through his own gearbox issues, Alonso scored another podium for Ferrari at their home race, which the tifosi were quite pleased about. Webber was locked into third by his technical difficulties and safe from Massa and his technical difficulties - Mark parked the car at the end of the pit-lane. Not sure if that was wise with the post-race track invasion, Fisichella parked a Benetton on the the front straight several years ago and the fans stripped it like a crowd of angry vultures. Aside from the Ferrari/Red Bull contingent - the two Nicos finished in the same places they ended the first lap in, Hulkenberg doing well to score a top five place ahead of Rosberg. Ricciardo proved to be completely unpassable, and so did the other Toro Rosso for the brief time it was running. Grosjean was the only Lotus to score points in 8th position and one of the few drivers to make up a few places today despite barely been spotted on Camera. Hamilton was able to use the DRS advantage to defeat both McLarens in the dying laps to score a couple of points while Jenson held onto the final point ahead of Raikkonen in 11th. Kimi incidently went from being the closest rival to Vettel, to being out of the hunt in two races losing 50 points to the German Bloke...2013 does look even more inevitable as it progresses.

The Bonus Points Championship points winners

There are some races where it is difficult to decide where to assign the bonus points with so many different stories developing throughout the field - this is not one of those races, the majority of the grid circulated in roughly the same positions they started in. So many battles were taken away through excessive DRS or ineffective gear ratios making overtaking impossible, others were ruined through technical dramas. Of all the races of the season this one promised so much, so often and then each time crushed that potential out of existence. But points must be assigned to someone, 10 someones in fact, so here goes.

• 25pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Had to take the top score, beating Mercedes, McLaren and Lotus in this years Sauber which is a shadow of it's former self
• 18pts - Lewis Hamilton - Despite being massively grumpy, that was strong damage limitation driving today
• 15pts - Fernando Alonso - Still the only car able to come within a million miles of Vettel
• 12pts - Mark Webber - A broken front wing, a ruined gearbox and still gave Alonso a run for his money
• 10pts - Felipe Massa - Driving well to try and retain that drive for the coming season
• 8pts - Red Bull - Two completed pit stops within around 10s seconds... needs points
• 6pts - Toro Rosso - For creating a car that cannot be passed, endorsed by Gandalf I'd imagine
• 4pts - Sebastien Vettel - Fine the German Bloke can have some points
• 2pts - Charles Pic - Wins the lower division
• 1pt - Adderly Fong - Wins the high jump award for Monza for a massive wheelie in turn one during the GP3 race

Looking forward to Singapore

If there is one track of the season that doesn't need any rain to make things interesting it is the twilight streets of Singapore lots of inviting walls and movable barriers to for Maldonado make a fort out of. Pastor managed to fail to notice the same barriers between the Lesmos and no forts were built. The Marina Bay circuit has been a polarising venue among fans and supporters of the track, because it is seen as novelty addition which doesn't really add anything to the season. But here at Blog HQ it is met with great approval, it is a different type of street circuit to Monaco, almost making the comparison very limited, the roads are wider, the straights are actually straight and overtaking is possible. There are no health and safety run-off areas, and the slightest error leads to a concrete wall and some missing wheels.

Leaving the fastest circuit and the shortest race of the season and heading to the longest most draining event always pushing the two hour limit and frequently attracts the presence of the Safety car. However this time Schumacher isn't on the grid, and he was responsible for some of those safety cars for assaulting Saubers, and then Vergne's Toro Rosso because it was in the vicinity of a Sauber. So potentially this time things might be a little less destructive, either way we might go to Singapore and something might happen, and Vettel might not be impossibly fast...well we can dream.

Round 12: Italy 2013 - Qualifying

Greetings Internet,

Monza may not have brought about the rain fuelled extraordinary events of Spa, but that turned out to be a very intense session indeed, and there have been some very displeased remarks at the sharpest end of the field. You'd think that qualifying at Monza, whilst being a little tighter on times than other circuits, should be a very routine sequence of events, well apparently not. This weekend also brought some rather disconcerting news from Sauber, claiming they will do their damnest to get Sirotkin in the car, who has only recently turned 18. This plan only works out if Hulkenberg finds somewhere else to go in 2014 which in turn has a lot to do with what happens over at Ferrari. After the goings on today things on home turf for the Italian outfit may be even more unsettled than usual, where no-one is particularly safe.

Onto qualifying today, and all that mentioning of predicted form can be thoroughly thrown out of the window a world where Mercedes should be fighting for pole position and Lotus should be doing battle with Ferrari didn't make it in the shipment over from Belgium. It can also be assumed that any reservations and restraints drivers had about their comments was left behind with them - open the door for some brutal honesty and transparency, which frankly is a good thing. We live an age where every interview and comment appears to be constricted a generic template - the jury is still out on Alonso's comments about the team, but Hamilton was more than clear on his opinions, no templates involved there. But the only template that remained was at the very front of the grid, another display of domination and if there are no rain interventions in the race I can foresee yet another disappearing act from a certain German Bloke

Q1

As a very mafia-esque array of personalities lined up at the back of the Ferrari garage, Gutierrez and Rosberg took to the track - Nico looking to make up for lost time after missing most of FP3 with technical difficulties. Of the pair, oddly it was Gutierrez who set the fastest time, while Ferrari left the garage in formation using Massa to tow Alonso round in the slipstream. Something that Ferrari always get up to here at Monza, and it was a strategy that seemed to work as Fernando went fastest. But this is where the form guide starts to fall apart, because of all the teams to mount the first challenge Toro Rosso aren't usually mentioned, but Vergne was able to put the car at the top of the timings - that team performance was followed up by Ricciardo putting the car third.

With half of the session gone, we still hadn't seen anything of Vettel as those on track where sharing the responbility of sitting in third place, first Hamilton took it away from Ricciardo and then Button took it from his former team-mate. Jenson was only 0.15s away from Vernges time but was enough of a gap for Vettel to fit his Red Bull in, to claim his turn in third place. Down in the relegation zone it was very competitve between the Force Indias, Williams and Gutierrez because Toro Rosso were plying their trade a little further up the grid. One by one the Force India team pulled themselves out of the relegation zone, demoting Gutierrez and Bottas neither of which could recover and make it into Q2. It seemed like the battle for pole was going to be measured in the tiniest fractions of tenths and hundredths... until Vettel rocked up and found over a quarter of a second to end the session a long way out front...again.

Q2

Toro Rosso were the first to leave the garage this time around, but Ferrari once more in the drafting formation were not too far behind - again using Massa as Fernando's little helper for the afternoon. If Kimi takes that place I doubt he will conform to the role of helping the Spaniard out quite so well. Thing were starting to get a little ragged, Vergne powersliding out of the Della Roggia chicane putting a wheel in the gravel, while Grosjean took to the air jumping across the speed bumps in the middle of the Rettifillio chicane. But to top things off Hamilton had a more dramatic excursion running off wide on the exit of the Parabolica but Lewis was able to keep the Mercedes from bouncing off the barrier. However the car must have taken some damage from bouncing across the gravel as he was in pit-lane for a while.

At the front Alonso benefiting from the draft was fastest just ahead of Ricciardo but Webber was still able to split the pair - only thousandths from taking the top spot, the only thing this recepie was missing was a increasingly blonde German in a really fast car. True to form that German Bloke inevitably went fastest... rapidly turning into an exercise of even more domination, give the chap a wheelie bin to compete in and he'd still go fastest. No wonder the team came on the radio to say he was quick enough.

When the chequered flag came out the order got weird, firstly the two Lotus cars had no pace and fell down the standings, while the Toro Rosso's remained competitive inside the top five, making it four Red Bull backed cars in that top five...Then there was Hamilton trying to recover from his earlier incident, but everyone was trying to make it through meaning traffic was quite the problem... most significantly Adrian Sutil his most bestest of friends, but even on the lap before Lewis wasn't fast enough and dropped out of Q2 allowing Nico Hulkenberg so sneak into the top ten.

Q3

In the first series of runs only half of those remaining elected to set a time, of the group it was Webber who took the initial lead. Ferrari circulated around in the same formation flying approach they'd been throwing at qualifying all day. It is odd that no other team were up for drafting their cars off one another, but of all the teams on the grid it would Ferrari the most likely to sacrifice one drivers pace to support the other. But the plan was not working out as neither car could come close to the Red Bull, unless it was another Red Bull driven by that German again - and Vettel virtually sauntered his way to the front.

One stop for some new tyres later and everyone was taking to the track for that last challenge to find out who was going to be second on the grid. Once again Ferrari were in formation but Fernando was not happy - complaining initially on the radio that Felipe was too fast to be helpful. A statement steeped in irony after the infamous 'Fernando is faster than you' comment in Hockkenheim a while back, but Alonso was not done with ranting at the team. Depending on what the exact translation is Alonso either called his team 'idiots' or sarcastically called their strategy 'genius'. Either way Massa out-qualified a very angry team-mate and neither of them made it onto the front row which has an all Red Bull affair. Then something magical happened, as the drivers were completing their final runs, and Webber closed fractionally on an all dominant Vettel crossing the line through a cloud of dust from Vergne's powerslide through the gravel in the final turn, the Ferrari second row lockout was ruined. It wasn't a McLaren or Rosberg's remaining Mercedes but Nico Hulkenberg in a Sauber putting the car third... not a Q1 or Q2 3rd but out and out overall top end of the grid 3rd...

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners 

On a day where Hamilton described his own driving as idiotic, Alonso might have claimed that his team were idiotic and some of the driving in the GP3 was idiotic, but less so than it has been in other events, the points have to go somewhere. These are the results of the first part of the Italian GP weekend.

• 10pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Where on earth did that come from, outstanding
• 8pts - Felipe Massa - For being too fast, it made Alonso unhappy 
• 6pts - Jean-Eric Vergne - For being so fast in Q1, and somehow not planting that in the wall at the end of Q3
• 5pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Emulating what Vergne did in Q1 in Q2 mixing with th top teams
• 4pts - Lewis Hamilton - Also for not putting it in the wall in the Parabolica, but for coming forward in the interview and not blaming everyone in sight. See Di Resta it is possible
• 3pts - Van Der Garde - Once more leading the bottom division 
• 2pts - Romain Grosjean - Two style points for the micro flight in turn one
• 1pt - Fernando Alonso - Couldn't have timed his rant better, with every influential person in the Ferrari team sitting in the garage including Mr Montezemelo himself waiting on the pitwall

The Penalty Points Championship

Only one penalty was added to the records following today's session:

• Adrian Sutil - three place grid penalty - For holding up Hamilton in the Parabolica 

Looking to Tomorrow 

We've been enticed by the prospect of rain before, it was only last race where potential showers were the projected highlight of the race, and then they never materialised, so I will not be getting my hopes up for some rain induced mayhem and carnage. But Monza is a track where overtaking and racing is possible in the dry, even if the DRS system will make some of those passes a complete formality - why on earth DRS is needed on the fastest straight in the whole season is beyond me. 

In either condition it is entirely forseable that Vettel will vanish a long way into the distance and will never be seen of again - if Webber gets off the line he'll probably go along with him. The intrigue lies with everyone else, with Hulkenberg leading a potentially angry Ferrari team into the first corner could be very interesting. On top of that outside the top ten we have cars a long way out of position including an also quite displeased Hamilton and both of the Lotus cars. Competition for the last place on the podium on downwards is going to be very intense and makes for a potentially very entertaining afternoon. So until then this is farewell from Blog HQ

Round 12: Italy 2013 - Preview

Greetings Internet,

So this is the end of the European season, the final race before the season vanishes off into the exotic realms of Asia, the Americas and the Middle East - none of which are quite so fond of the questionable cuisine of chips and mayonnaise the Belgians were all for last time around. Not only does this final visit to the continent frequent the fastest track on the calendar a legacy of the high speed traditions of the sport, but Italy does great pizza. However in the dark realm of BlogHQ there is neither pizza, mayonnaise or high speeds if this internet connection is anything to go by, but there is another prospect for a spectacular weekend in the immediate future to make up for all that.

In the interlude between Spa and this race one of the more significant pieces of the the driver market fell into place, as Red Bull came out and announced exactly what the entire world had suspected for a considerable amount of time. That Webber's vacant position within the team would be filled by that Australian with a disturbingly positive demeanour - Daniel Ricciardo, I sense that his disposition will be even more overjoyed than normal this weekend, might have to sedate him just to take the edge off a little. Meanwhile the world is still waiting on the other major decision down at Ferrari, and the team have made a special announcement announcing that they will not announce any decisions on the line-up for 2014... which makes total and utter sense...

In other news an estimation of the 2014 calendar has been released, totalling a record 21 races, stretching almost into December. The V8 Supercar race at the Telstra Sydney 500 is becoming in danger of not being the last decent race of the year at this rate. But ideally given time and other potential unforeseen circumstances - there should be an upcoming feature on the new calendar and the new and returning circuits that we are all looking forward to next year. But on the subject of tracks, time to take a look at the one that the teams are setting up in at the moment.

The Track

It could be considered that this is the simplest of layouts on the calendar, effectively consisting of four corners, three chicanes all connected by reasonably high speed straights, combining to make this the fastest of all the venues. This of course then means that this is conventionally the shortest race of the season due to the higher average speeds, without a safety car intervention that is - which can't quite be ruled out.

Turn one - the Rettafillio chicane has gone through several iterations, at one point it was two chicanes one after another, the second of which turned out not be Hakkinen's friend after he thought it had cost him the 1999 championship. Incidentally this is potentially the only recorded event of a Finn exhibiting anything other than a flat, monotone demeanour. It's present incarnation is a little tight and merely attracts mayhem and collisions, it is a corner where front wings go to die. Additionally the curbing is mountainous, you need a sherpa to make to the peak of the apex, but without them everyone would just cut the corners.

Curva Grande at turn three has been the scene of some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres, generally involving Vettel and Alonso - the 2012 duel was outstanding where the German Bloke passed the Ferrari on the grass. In this current day and age, Vettel would probably been penalised for such an achievement. At the far end of the track the two Lesmos are flowing and gently cambered allowing the slowest (non-chicane) corners to be that little bit faster also with none of that health and safety tarmac run-off on the exits either, just grass, gravel and then the wall. After the first of the two back straights - Monza likes straights - lies the Ascari chicane out of the three on the lap, this is by far the best. The site of where Raikkonen ruined a Ferrari before he fell out with Montezemelo - it has also been the scene of many an epic powerslide between the second and third parts of the corner.

The final part of the lap is the long, increasing radius corner at the Parabolica building speed back up onto the front straight - where in the past two lanes of racing traffic would run side by side as the banking loop switched over with the course we know of today. For some reason the completely insane and incredibly steep banked corners are no longer in use - might have something to do with a severe threat of severe injury and the lack of catch fencing to prevent cars from flying into the forest - so on balance the current layout is pretty brilliant as is.

The Form Guide

Being a very unique track certain cars will be better suited to the high speed, lower downforce configuration than others - for example Red Bull are conventionally better suited to higher downforce venues. Tracks like Silverstone, Suzuka and Interlagos come to mind - but not Monza, however Vettel was able to destroy the field at Spa, another high speed track. Meanwhile Mercedes are usually tipped to do well in these sort of tracks but couldn't keep close to Alonso and Vettel. As usual Mercedes will be very close to the front on Saturday but lose a little on race day, because this is now autumn here in Europe temperatures may not be high enough for Lotus to retain the form they held earlier in the year. While a low downforce track might help McLaren close the gap.

Times are often quite close at Monza, which makes the far end of the top ten very interesting, Force India will certainly at the front of the Mid-field train, looking to pick of a McLaren or Lotus or two along the way. To which Di Resta may well complain, because he does like to complain from time to time. Toro Rosso might be next because in the speed traps they tend to rank fairly highly, of course that doesn't take into account the extra drag caused by the extra large cheesy grin Ricciardo will be wearing this weekend. This leaves Sauber and Williams - likely in that order, well more likely Hulkenberg, Williams and then Gutierrez - although Esteban had a decent race in Spa so might be alright at Monza.

Caterham and Marussia had an amazing qualifying session in Spa, guessing the conditions brilliantly, but in out and out pace they are solidly at the back. Caterham are starting to leave Marussia behind, and Van Der Garde is making considerable improvements - going from battling Chilton for the great honour that is last place, to leading the division beating Pic and Bianchi. Jules initial domination of the class has faded slightly along with the pace of the car, although in relative terms for the most part is still keeping Max well beaten.

Just like in Spa there is the risk of rain during the weekend, a certain wet Monza GP in 2008 saw a certain German Bloke win in the Toro Rosso, which at the time was just as far off the pace as it is now. So as much as a rain affected race always sounds like a good idea, in Italy it does have a history of encouraging Vettel based dominance, and we have had quite a lot of that at the moment so something else might be nice, until next time this is farewell from BlogHQ.