Round 19: Brazil - The Grand Finale of 2013

Greetings Internet,

Well, that is all for 2013, the entirety of the season virtually identically represented by the events of a single race. We had a pro-active opening phase when no-one really knew what was going on which settled down for a bit before a brief period of action - and petered out towards the end as we all waited for something different to happen. It was a far cry of the final race we were treated to in 2012 with cars charging through the field, changeable weather, and even the lower teams battling tantalisingly close to the actual points. But the Brazilian GP has to be the highlight of the second half of the season not only because of the significance of this race for several key members of the F1 paddock but as a genuine race event. There were times when cars were three wide overtaking each other, and a brief threat of a safety car intervention, a threat which almost fooled the very best team in the heat of battle. On top of this there was the ever growing level of fog and cloud engulfing the circuit, blocking out the horizon as it closed in on the race track. Yet somehow despite a very ominous sky and a weekend completely doused in precipitation there was no real rain during the race. How on earth can this keep happening, for the most of the second half of the season we have been tormented with the offering of rain and then being left disappointed. This was the closest we've come to a rain interrupted race, since those two damp laps in Malaysia, but still nothing - a whole season without rainfall during a race despite having to cancel qualifying in Australia due to monsoon conditions...

In the end you tend to overlook these things because the end of the season has so many story lines, some coming to an end, and others diverting towards a new beginning, and many more yet to be written. It was a race making the end of Webber's time on the grid as he departs to join Porsche's LMP1 effort, we saw Massa making his final Ferrari start and Perez leaving McLaren. Yet there is still so much left to be decided - where does Maldonado take his grumpy, crash-prone bags of money, who gets Hulkenberg and are Di Resta and Perez going to Indycar over in America. But one thing remains constant, that German bloke is on unbeatable form, and in the face of uncertainty in Brazil - it was the same name on the top step of the podium.

The Race

The coverage opened to a scene blanketed in some very thick and angry looking clouds - which looked promising - but the ground on the other side looked very dry indeed, and of course we know now that balance wasn't set to change. Special tributes were made for Webber and Massa's final races with their respective teams - Red Bull were had supplied the team with some stereotypical Australian head-gear (minus the corks). Although I feel there is a missed opportunity for an inflatable Kangaroo somewhere in that equation.

When the lights went out all that special Australian support didn't get his car off the line particularly quickly, but neither did the leading Red Bull containing Mr Vettel - thus giving Rosberg the lead into turn one, as in Singapore. Alonso got boxed in by Hamilton and dropped to 4th ahead of Webber and a fast starting Felipe Massa. Everyone was well behaved this time and no damage was incurred on the opening lap - which meant Jenson got to keep all of his front wing for a first race in a long time. But the key point was that Vettel wasn't leading - perhaps we were in for a mega race after all... Well not for long because at the end of the opening lap the Red Bull just drafted past the lead Mercedes and vanished off into the distance. Shucks... Just behind them Alonso was performing the same move on Hamilton, Mercedes were lacking straight line speed for once, maybe someone was banking on a little moisture on the circuit perhaps... Having been compromised by losing a position to Fernando, Lewis found himself under attack from Webber, where the retiring Australian went round the outside of Hamilton in Ferra Durra... well done indeed.

Lotus' hopes of improving their constructors championship position went up in a significant plume of smoke as Romain Grosjean's engine detonated itself climbing the hill out of the final corner. Unleashing a vast cloud drifting across the circuit - this time it cleared without incident, in Monaco a few years pack a similar situation led to a Sauber being upside down against a wall. The end result was that Grosjean had to run alongside the wall down the pit-lane to get back to the garage - fortunately no-one needed use visit pit-lane in this early stage of the race. It was more bother for Mercedes, and this time for Nico Rosberg who was coming under pressure by those cars set up for the dry conditions first it was Alonso drafting past in a straight line, and then Webber round the outside of Nico in turn one. Speaking of cars making progress, for once it was a good news story for McLaren as both Button and Perez were making progress. More so for Perez, who had to replace a gearbox following the crash yesterday started 19th, had gained 6 positions inside of the opening 7 laps. Jenson was on the edge of the points as his strategy of starting on the harder compound tyres was starting to come to the fore.

A less than covert radio transmission was delivered to Rosberg informing him that he was not to hold up Hamilton - which is the moderately more subtle version of the message Lotus shouted at Raikkonen in India. Naturally Nico obeyed and didn't resist when Lewis placed the car on the inside coming down towards turn four. Webber also made more progress using DRS to deal with Alonso to take second place, to form a Red Bull 1-2... again. With that all sorted for the time being it was time to take a look at how the McLaren charge was coming along, and it seemed to be going rather well for once, Perez had taken the place from Valtteri Bottas to move into the final points paying position. Jenson was having a similar amount of success in a battle with Nico Hulkenberg's Sauber - Nico fended off Jenson's first attack through the Senna-S but got a better exit to take the spot away in the second DRS zone.

It was around this time that the first messages about the rain were broadcast, and they were very contradictory - some drivers were warned that showers were on the way, but the official weather radar said no rain for the next half hour at least. We all know what actually transpired on the weather front, but at this stage in the race we didn't mind too much because things were pretty entertaining, McLaren as a team had moved up 17 places in total by 1/3rd distance. It was also time for the pit-stops which didn't work out too well for Bottas - firstly he lost a position in the pit-lane to the Force India pit crew because of Williams additional wheel procedures. As he rejoined he entered a battle with Jean-Eric Vergne - not quite in the same manner that Alonso and Vergne did in Abu-Dhabi. Bottas used DRS to pass the Toro Rosso into turn four, but drifted wide and got re-passed, and lost a further position to Heikki's Lotus - who despite complete anonymity was still in the race. Jenson's charge was briefly interrupted by his need to make a pit stop - but shortly after he rejoined the race he decided that is was a good idea to go three wide with Maldonado and Ricciardo on the main straight. It was a good idea and a well executed one to take both positions simultaneously.

With any talk of rain gone for a while things settled down throughout the stops, but through the strategies a couple of positions were swapped around - Massa jumped Hamilton and Alonso capitalised on a slow stop by Webber to re-take second place. The Australian was able to redress this change by passing Alonso again on the front straight, whereas Hamilton wasn't having quite the same success. But in the end it didn't really matter, because Massa was handed a drive through penalty for driving over the pit-entry line on more than one occasion. In reality is was a fair penalty as the rule was clearly stated before race, but why of all races decide to get tough on track limits when the decisions have been sporadic all year. Furthermore that line has been there for years and years and no-one cared before now, but these things happen and the penalty dropped Massa down towards the bottom of the top ten.

The rain conversation started up again, and various team principles were staring into the sky and wandering round the pit gantry to get a sense of what was going on, the occasional hopeful droplet landed on a camera lens but nothing more. Increasingly dark and ominous clouds smothering landmarks and the helicopter footage looked far too promising - but once again nothing materialised. Curse you weather, curse you.... All this confusion must have got to Vettel because for some completely unknown reason he started allowing lapped cars to overtake him, Adrian Sutil was the first car through and a lap later Jean-Eric Vergne also made the pass on our all dominant leader. I wonder if news of this phenomena filtered down the field and somehow made it's way to Valtteri Bottas in the Williams. Because he planned on unlapping himself by passing Hamilton's Mercedes, but this didn't work at all. Lewis defended against Valtteri but seemed to forget that the Williams existed and moved back across the track - where Bottas' car was positioned. Contact was made ripping the rear wheel off the hub on the Williams and causing floor and tyre damage to Hamilton's car. Bottas was out of the race but Lewis could limp back to the pits for a new wheel... only be handed a drive through penalty for the contact afterwards.

A disabled car sitting in the gravel sparked Red Bull's safety car paranoia and immediately called Vettel into the pits - seemingly forgetting they'd also asked Webber to pit. So Sebastian turned up and the Red Bull crew were waiting with Webber's tyres instead, forcing a rush to get the right set out of the garage and onto the car. To make matters worse Webber had to park in pit lane while all this was being sorted out - but in the end no positions were lost such was their advantage over Alonso in third place. Additionally there was visible rain settling on the camera lenses around the circuit not just a couple at turn four, but once again the volume and density of this precipitation was not strong enough to influence the track conditions never mind induce actual wet or intermediate conditions. At this point the clouds had merged into a thick veil of fog seemingly enclosing the circuit but failing to threaten the race. Reports from Ted Kravitz in the pit lane suggested that it was only a light misting rain which was borderline useless and was not intensifying.

This seemingly tentative situation with the rainfall - or lack thereof seemed to dilute the state of play for the final phase of the race, the majority of the positions seemed more spaced out - and the final positional change within the top ten happened with 13 laps still remaining. This change occurred as Lewis Hamilton, following his penalty took 9th place away from Webber's replacement - Daniel Ricciardo. But the moisture must have been doing something as we saw Gutierrez getting all kinds of sideways in turn 6 in his battle with Di Resta, and we also saw Charles Pic's rear suspension seemingly dissolve in turn four forcing the Caterham to retire on the climb up to turn six. The yellows stayed out for a while as the car threatened to emulate Bianchi's Marussia in Germany and roll down the hill - but with damaged rear suspension that was less of a threat. Elsewhere rounding his season off in traditional style by slamming the door on Jean-Eric Vergne and getting himself turned round in the process. A similar thing happened in Austin and Vergne was penalised, but no such lunacy this time around - whoever gets Pastor next season is going to have fun... and hefty repair bill(s).

With the rain more of an inactive backdrop to the event it was left to Vettel to claim a 9th straight victory in an excessively dominant season. Webber bid farewell to the sport with a strong second place and celebrated by removing his helmet on the cool down lap - the FIA will probably get him for that. Alonso rounded out the podium for Ferrari so the top three in the drivers championship finished the final race in the top three. Even if it was in a slightly different order. Jenson Button scored McLaren's highest position all season in 4th place, after starting 14th on the grid, ahead of Rosberg who once lead this race... well that went well.... Another very impressive performance for a McLaren today as Perez finished 6th after stating way back in 19th place. The drive through penalty dropped Massa down to 7th ahead of a rather anonymous drive from Hulkenberg in 8th position, and the points were concluded by Hamilton in 9th and Ricciardo in 10th.

So that was it, the end of the year - rounded off by more doughnuts from Vettel and an accompanying set performed by Felipe Massa, not that the TV camera director picked up on that one. It is a shame to see Webber at what seems his happiest on the very day he retires from the sport, falling down on the podium and merely springing back up to continue celebrating. I suppose this is the problem, all the layers of procedure and regulation prevent any form of real emotion at times, the sort of thing that forced Webber out in the first place. It was also nice to hear Alonso praising Massa on the podium - how he deals with Raikkonen in 2014 will be very interesting. In fact the entirety of 2014 does sound exciting with all the changes that are coming... even if it is to the soundtrack of a questionable V6 soundtrack.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

The final event of 2013 may not change the direction of the championship, but here are the points winners from the Brazillian GP.

• 25pts - Sergio Perez - 19th to 6th... why is he being fired again, including going round the outside of Gutierrez in turn 6.
• 18pts - Jenson Button - 14th to 4th, the best result for a McLaren all season and a three wide pass down the main straight, that'll do nicely
• 15pts - Mark Webber - Brilliant passes on Rosberg and Hamilton, why are you retiring there is plenty more pace left in there
• 12pts - Felipe Massa - Very good start and for some non Red Bull based doughnuts 
• 10pts - Adrian Sutil/Jean Eric Vergne - definitely get bonus points for un-lapping themselves by passing Vettel
• 8pts - Max Chilton - Finished all 19 races this season, not bad for being considered the least qualified driver on the grid - and the only driver to do so...
• 6pts - Sebastian Vettel - Another win, and some more doughnuts 
• 4pts - Nico Rosberg - For being someone other than Vettel legitimately in the lead... even if it was only for a single lap
• 2pts - Nico Hulkenberg - More points for Sauber, but not enough to catch Force India
• 1pt - Alexandre Premat  - Major kudos for helping James Courtney out of the passenger side of his car following a severe shunt at Phillip Island 

The Penalties Series

There were a few penalties issued in this our final chapter of 2013

• Felipe Massa - Drive Through Penalty - For crossing the line in pit-lane a few many times
• Lewis Hamilton - Drive Through Penalty - For biffing Bottas under braking for turn four
• Giedo Van Der Garde - Drive Through Penalty - For ignoring blue flags 

The Penalty Points Series

In addition to the conventional offences there are a couple of other loose ends to tie up in the penalty points series

• Rain - Where the bloody hell did you go... all season long
• Pastor Maldonado - Does racing room apply in his corner of the world
• 2013 - Deservers a penalty point overall
• Red Bull - For making everything else look bad
• Porsche - For not giving us Webber back

Off into 2014

If this race was a step into the unknown then, the journey into 2014 will be a completely blind plunge into the endless abyss of confusion - and that sounds very promising. Regulation changes and a mass reconfiguration of the driver line ups is a cataclysmic recipe for inconsistency and reliability mishaps. We've got the enticing prospect of Raikkonen and Alonso in the same team - if he turns up - and some new faces looking to make a start in the form of Kvyat and Magnussen plus rumours of Ericksson from GP2 joining Caterham. It has to be better than this, let it be better because it needs to be, someone needs to stop Vettel before he evolves into an unstoppable, all powerful mutant. But we won't find out how things are going to sort themselves out until well into the middle of next season because right now nothing is clear. And that is exciting... bring it on....

Round 19: Brazil - The Grand Finale Qualiftying

Greetings Internet,

Well that took a little longer than expected as the tropical climate produced some rainfall this afternoon, enough rainfall to force a mid-session delay one that was typically over cautious. So it is a little odd that in all of the changing conditions that we've seen in the past couple of hours we've ended up with an identical front row that we've seen on other occasions this season, in fact the grid doesn't look particularly too rearranged. Normally when we have a fluctuating session like that you can see cars well out of position which would set up the race for a plethora of excitement... remember those days.. Well not anymore unlike Australia where the session was characterised by people bouncing off the scenery folks were relatively well behaved and only one car ended up with damage in fact we didn't see to many drivers getting spectacularly sideways. What on earth has happened such that even challenging conditions such as those seem to be well within the stability of the current generation of race cars. To rub salt into those wounds we were even reminded about tyre conservation when the cars were over 20s off the actual dry pace... will those complaints ever end. Considering there is only one event left of the season, probably.

However if these conditions continue onto raceday, things could finally be entertaining because there has been a lack of that recently...

Qualifying 

For the first part of the session the rain was predicted to intensify which forced a queue of cars to form at the end of the pit lane a queue which Marussia missed and thus forced themselves in - did seem a little impatient. And on top of that what would be the benefit of a Marussia leaving the garage ahead of a faster car - they tend to get penalties for not being as fast as the others in qualifying and thus being in the way. Hamilton was at the front of the queue ahead of Charles Pic and it was the Mercedes driver who took an initial top time - ahead of Vettel and the two Nicos. Traffic was becoming a problem for the Lotus team firstly Grosjean came upon Chilton in the technical phase of the middle sector to which Romain was not entirely pleased about. Kovalainen was having similar difficulties with the two Caterham team, first having to pass Van Der Garde and then Pic.

As predicted the rain started to intensify which became a problem for Vergne and Gutierrez who wew in the relegation zone as track grip decreased. It was at this time that we saw the Force India team host their own intra-team drifting competition - Di Resta's effort was a little slide around the turn 8 hairpin after putting a wheel on the painted lines. Sutil however was much more proficient, selecting the fast turn three to get sideways, destabilised by the infamous river that caused a lot of accidents in 2003. As times were getting progressively slower it was a major surprise to see Heikki find enough time to put his Lotus up into 5th place. This gave hope to the likes of Vergne and Maldonado, and Gutierrez just on the safe side of relegation. Of the three it was only Vergne who made and significant time and dumped Esteban out of qualifying along with Maldonado. It rarely seems like Pastor is giving it a go at the moment.

Off into Q2, and the forecast suggested that the rain was coming and thus the best times were only available at the start of the session - so we had another queue, again headed by the Mercedes team, and as a result it was the silver cars that set the inial pace. Ferrari went third and fourth with Alonso ahead of his outgoing team mate. But naturally it wasn't long before the two Red Bull cars found themselves at the front, and there is no points for guessing that it was indeed Vettel who was at the very front.  Things were very close for making out of the relegation zone, both McLarens, Force Indias, Hulkenberg and Bottas were presently outside the top 10. But just like in Q1 the amount of time open for competition was curtailed by the presence of some more rain, preventing drivers from improving their times. Therefore certain competitors who would conventionally be highly praised in the wet were not able to show any pace.

To counter the worsening conditions several drivers opted for a new set of intermediate tyres to recover some of the grip. It worked really well for Grosjean in the Lotus who went fastest of all at the time. Contrasting fortunes at Lotus because it also coincided with Hulkenberg improving to progress into the top ten at the expense of Kovalainen. Alonso had moved into second place ahead of Vettel but the rain was considerably intensifying snuffing out any further improvements. Sergio Perez tried to find a little more pace, but ran wide onto the run-off on the exit of turn four and span the car back across the track into the wall damaging both the front and rear of the car.

As the rain got rather heavy, qualifying as an entity was delayed to allow the storm to pass over and to give the medical car plenty of time to have some laps negotiating the puddles and rivers that had formed across the track. In total we had forty-seven minutes of rain induced suspension before Q3 could get underway.

Eventually it was time for Q3 and breaking Mercedes' streak of leading the pit lane queue were all four Red Bull branded cars since they all made it into the top ten. While the top four cars in track positions continued onto their flying lap -  Grosjean brought the car back in for intermediate tyres. This in itself demonstrates that the session could have started much sooner, maybe we've reached the point where even using the wet tyres signifies that there is too much water on the circuit. Which also defeats the very purpose of having those tyres delivered to the track. Anyway rant aside it was Vettel who set the initial top time again, followed home by Rosberg and Alonso - but after their banker lap this set of drivers also went back to the pits for some new intermediates, realising it wasn't quite wet enough for the actual wet tyres.

This fact was confirmed when Grosjean went a second faster than Vettel on the intermediate tyres to claim provisional pole from the German bloke.Webber in the second Red Bull found a tenth over Romain to steal the pole position - but Sebastian took pole by 1.1s over his team-mate. That pretty much ended any challenge for pole position and meant we'd end the season with all qualifying sessions being won by either a Red Bull or a Mercedes, and only four different drivers. Rosberg put his Mercedes onto the front row ahead of Fernando Alonso. Webber joins Fernando on the second row with Hamilton and Grosjean sitting on row three. Behind them it is an all Toro Rosso row four with Ricciardo leading his team-mate by mere fractions of a tenth, rounding out the top ten is Felipe Massa for Ferrari and Hulkenberg in the Sauber.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

Conventionally in a session like this we have some stand-out performances that belay the generally accepted pace of the car, this didn't quite happen in any consistent sense. There sporadic moments throughout the disjointed event, and such here are the points from the first part of the Brazilian GP weekend.

• 10pts - Jean-Eric Vergne - One of the few drivers to make time when the rain increased in Q1 and then made it through into the top ten.
• 8pts - Heikki - Kovalainen - How that car ended up in the top five in the increasing rain in the first part of qualifying is mysterious.
• 6pts - Nico Rosberg - The only car within second of Vettel's excessively quick pole time
• 5pts - Valtteri Bottas - Another strong showing for Bottas, while Maldonado barely turned up
• 4pts - Adrian Sutil - Brilliant save of that slide through turn three as the rain increased 
• 3pts - Romain Grosjean - Won Q2 and was the first to move onto the intermediates
• 2pts - Paul Di Resta - Gets a couple of points for his drifting attempt in turn 
• 1pt - Van Der Merwe - Powersliding the medical car on the sighting laps at either end of the season

The Penalties Series

A couple of reprimands were handed to Gutierrez and Chilton following final practice, but the only punishment was handed to Marussia in a 5,000 EUR fine for releasing their cars in the side of the queue at Q1, forcing other cars to take avoiding action.

The Penalty Points Series

In the uncertain conditions there are a few points to hand out:

• Kimi Raikkonen - gets two penalty points for not turning up to qualifying both at this race and in Austin because he hasn't been paid
• The FIA - what is the point of the wet tyres if the paddock is forbidden to use them any more
• Romain Grosjean - Complaining at slower cars far too easily again
• The invited class of cars at the final WTCC race in Macau - Although it is a weekend late that batch of cars behaved terribly causing an immense accident under yellow flags and almost murdering a marshal - shame on you all.

Looking to Tomorrow

This is it, one race left in the V8 era, one race left in this twisted mess of a season, plagued by tyre difficulties, an abuse of the DRS system to excess, conservation based events all boiling down to the same conclusion. Rain is threatened for this final chapter in this story, rain that could end 2013 with something special, something worth remembering this championship for, before we venture off into the uncharted territory of the 2014 regulations. This is our last stand to make something of this year... The grid suggests that Vettel will scamper off into the mildly damp distance leaving the rest of the field to fight it out amongst themselves. And I hope that it shall be the greatest fight we will have seen this year bring it on...

Round 19 - Brazil 2013 - The Grand Finale

Greetings Internet,

It has been a long season, one which has had it's ups and then plummeted over the latter course of the year. Things transpired, other round things exploded and the entire universe seemed to implode from that point onward really. It has not been the most enthralling of seasons, the art of racing has been foregone for the pursuit of tyre management and painful conservation. A season which many teams, drivers and people at home perched far from the edges of their sofas, will not be displeased to see end. Of course no one really knows what lies on the other side of the oncoming off season, a plethora of rule and design changes are afoot which could considerably adjust the balance of power. Of course the lack of energy present in these final few races, means there is already a strong focus on the 2014 productions. And of course, with Red Bull having won everything in India they too have been able to work on the next all conquering vehicle.

But what does that leave us with this weekend in the grand finale of the 2013 season, unfortunately not a lot really - pretty much all of the championship positions have been settled in both the constructors and in the drivers titles. Instead we shall have to sit back and enjoy the show where no-one has anything really to lose and nothing to gain, there is only pride and personal aims at stake. For those still looking for a secured 2014 drive this race is the last chance to offer themselves to potential employment. Those like Perez who had the rug at McLaren pulled out from under him in the dying phase of the season, and then there is Kovalainen who has been given a chance to throw his name into the hat. On top of this there is the issue of drivers with financial support earning priority over arguably better drivers without those bags of cash. It is this very problem that cause all kinds of bother down at Lotus where financial deals define who gets the free place instead of pace and ability. Luckily that is all played out on one of the better tracks we get to visit - instead of another dreary generic Tilke-drome it is traditional, flowing and brilliant. One that has favoured the likes of Webber, Massa and Hulkenberg in the past... especially considering that there might be some rain... allegedly.

The Track

It is a good things that we have the opportunity to end this season on a high, something that will make us - the general public look back favourably on the year. In 2013 the Brazilian GP was utterly fantastic it had rain, incidents and  brilliant racing - even without the increasingly dynamic championship battle between Alonso and Vettel it would have been a highlight of the season. After the season we have just witnessed we all need something like that to round it off. Sao Paulo is the perfect place to host such a event, like India the culture is so vibrant and colourful, full of energy and life - and has delivered many races to match that temperament.

The opening phase of the lap is wonderful, a powerful blast right in front of the fans ends in a cascading, descending chicane where the apex is ever so slightly after the turn in point. The descent is not as extreme as Laguna Seca's infamous corkscrew chicane (why we don't go there instead of a multi-million dollar new circuit is beyond comprehension) but provides a brilliant overtaking opportunity. A corner which was used to effect one of the cleverest teamplay overtaking moves in recent times as Massa passed Webber but allowed space for Alonso to pass the pair of them... yet Ferrari fired him still. What is the most irritating about this is that the FIA have decided that this conventional overtaking zone needs DRS... for gods sake why. This what is annoying the folks at the moment, diluting any opportunity for actual racing with gizmos - and this is why people are just looking forward to 2014...

After the opening sequence the track exits onto the back straight, which is also another DRS zone heading towards turn four. But once you escape the clutches of DRS turn four is rather good, simple but effective as it opens out so you can carry more speed through the exit. But if T4 is enjoyable then it's successor is even better, Ferra Durra which is a high speed positively cambered climbing corner which feeds into the technical phase of the lap. Now if we were presented with a series of hairpins like this in any new track and we'd complain. In fact when a similar concept was trialled in Indianapolis and it did not go down well - although that particular implementation was a complete abomination. Yet here in Interlagos we're fine with it, because it works - the track is cambered to ease the inherent understeer, that and the fact the at the corner radii seem well judged as well.  At track which flows with the contours of the land is all too often steps ahead of one developed artificially.

At the end of the technical section which is concluded by the brilliantly named 'Bico de Pato' hairpin the speed starts to build back up again towards the end of the lap. Starting with the tricky downhill corner at Mergulho which has seen several cars end up in the barrier over the years as it attracts a very inconvenient river of water in the rain. At the very foot of the hill is Juncao corner, where Raikkonen decided to get quite lost in last season's race, venturing off into the support paddock roads which were not open at the time. But Raikkonen is further afield this time round - and I don't see Heikki making the same detour. After Juncao there is a steep high speed climb between some high and imposing concrete walls. A series of very fast kinks with very little run-off space bring the track back to the start line... even if it is now disgraced by more DRS

What to Expect

There are already forecasts for rain over the course of the weekend, now I know what you're thinking we've had that message before... Spa, Monza, Korea, Japan all had some threat of rain but absolutely nothing happened. So the cynical among us would assume that the same is going to happen again, showers in practice and maybe even in qualifying but nothing on race day. Of course we all want some rain, to drown the DRS out and to inject any form of randomness and chaos into this final race of the season. In any event it can only be assumed that Red Bull will once more be a dominant force and one of the pair will go on to win the race, will Vettel allow Webber to win the final race of his F1 career - nope, not by any means. If the previous races are anything to go by then Grosjean will be the nearest contender and wrap up the bonus points championship which is also all but decided. Somewhere in the middle of all that there will be the local specialist Massa and the Mercedes drivers.

If the conditions do get a little dodgy then you'd have to guess that Hulkenberg, Button and Bottas could be in for a very good weekend, and of course Nico needs to reinforce his reputation as a very promising talent without a major drive in his future. However the people at Sauber have said that if no deals come through he is welcome to stay with the team - well done Sauber - because Lotus are looking at money and the lunacy of Maldonado it comes with as a potential solution. The other option of Force India would not be helpful frankly for Nico, it would cost continuity and have no performance gains. It is also a part of the grid Perez could be looking at, and none of the Force India are confirmed. There is much to play for in that respect, some of which lead to desperation and craziness and whoever falls out of the series might consider looking to Indycar in replacement of Dario Franchitti who can no longer compete through injuries sustained in that Houston accident.

We can only hope that this final event offers everything that we have been missing over the course of this year - because we are leaving the ear of V8 engines behind it would be unfair for things to peter out with a whimper. It is also the final race for Mark Webber before he goes over to Porsche in their new Le Mans program. It could also be the last time we see several other members of the current grid, the likes of Perez, Gutierrez,  Sutil and Di Resta are in a very uncertain position without any security moving into the next season. Lets end 2013 with the best race of the year....please...

Round 18: 'Murica 2013 - Review

Greetings Internet,

I'd enjoy so much to make it to this part of the weekend full of enthusiasm for a race well enjoyed, but it seems those days are fading fast, I'm not saying that this rendition of the USGP was an appalling waste of time by any means, because that would be wrong. But it seems like every weekend we are just watching the same race play out just set to slightly different backdrop the same groups of cars keep appearing next to each other race in race out. Webber finds himself with Grosjean, Alonso with Hulkenberg and Hamilton somewhere in the middle it is all a little repetitive, and of course none of this is happening within sight of the actual lead of the race. Today's race wasn't completely devoid of activity because the DRS was not overpowered, and almost well balanced I hesitate to say - and therefore there were some overtakes that might make it into the highlight reel. Miles better than those utterly soulless and defenceless passes we've been exposed to more often than not.

The most perceptive among you may have noticed that there was no post-qualifying update, and that was manly because I was unavailable at the time and only caught up with the coverage by 2am which as a little late to start writing a post. But in order to ensure that the points table remains valid bonus points will still be awarded, because the session still happened and people still deserve points. I might also add that assigning points on Saturday was a lot easier than the task of finding enough points winners for the main event.

The Race

Based on the excitement of 2012, and the rearranged grid we had following a bunch of penalties handed out before the race to Gutierrez, Button and Chilton along with poor grid slots for Rosberg, Massa and Jenson again - it looked oh so promising. We also had a clean and a dusty division on the sides of the grid which could lead to some interesting combinations of drivers and positions into the first corner, more plus points. But the start of the pre-race parade lap roughly summed things up - the car Jenson was riding in broke down, and as Rosberg's driver tried to pick him up he almost rolled back into Perez.. But eventually Button hitched a ride with Alonso - and was not penalised as Webber was in Singapore.

At the real start there will be no points for guessing that Vettel arrived at the first corner first, and also no secondary prizes to guess that Webber lost places - to Grosjean and to Hamilton. Further back in the field Button managed to complete his hat-trick of damaging a front wing on the opening lap we think it was on the back of Felipe Massa's car at the top of the mountainous first corner. Everyone was being all too well behaved, now if we want that to change we look to Pastor Maldonado who has been on an almighty tirade against the team this weekend. On the back straight however it was the Venezuelan that came under attack from Adrian Sutil in the Force India. Sutil moved across seemingly oblivious to the Williams and turned himself into the inside barrier shedding parts and pieces of his car in the process bringing out the safety car. Which for once didn't have to wait for a quarter of a century to allow lapped cars to catch up, although it is odd that Vettel hadn't lapped anyone yet.

On the restart, normal service resumed where that German Bloke vanished off into the distance and like the past seven races, was never seen or heard of again. Grosjean was sitting in no-mans land in second unable to catch Vettel but protected from Webber by Hamilton. Lewis was starting to have a bit of bother from the second of the Red Bull's - Saturday clearly demonstrated that the blue cars have more than enough of a pace advantage over anything else. Behind this lot was a rather long train of cars, lead by Hulkenberg and Perez - stretching to Jean Eric Vergne in around 15th place. Maldonado was removed from this train after being forced to pit for a damaged wing following the lap on shunt. However in this era of tyre management - each of the cars in the queue were sitting about 1.5s apart from each other. Outside of DRS range and not to suffer too much in the turbulent air.

The one thing that could disrupt this stagnant state of affairs was tyre degradation, this being the specific sort of situation Pirelli's magically disintegrating tyres were designed to intervene in. Hamilton was starting to find this out as his tyres were less than healthy giving Webber an additional advantage. An advantage that became abundantly clear as the Australian was able to brake down the outside of the Mercedes without any resistance whatsoever. And so on lap 13 the top four positions were settled. kind of explains a lot really. As Mark eased off into the distance Hamilton's mirrors became full of the Sauber of Nico Hulkenberg who'd broken away from the front of that train of cars he was running, however the gains were only gradual. Which gave Hamilton plenty of time to tell his engineer off for keeping him informed, only later in the race to complain that his engineer wasn't giving him enough data... make you're mind up Lewis

Looking back at Raikkonen 2.0 (Heikki) and a difficult start had placed him outside the top ten behind a battle involving Ricciardo and Rosberg, for the final championship points places. Heikki ducked out the battle for some new tyres hoping to leap-frog the cars in front - Rosberg sensed this strategy and needed to get past Ricciardo to defend against the Lotus. The best opportunity was at the end of the long back straight, and Nico came from miles back to throw a lunge down the inside and make the pass stick. Daniel tried to retake the place but it belonged to Rosberg. However the plan failed because when Ricciardo and Rosberg pitted they rejoined behind Kovalainen who had also claimed a place from Di Resta at the same time duelling through the first two corners. Gaining three places by stopping a few laps earlier - but that additional tyre wear might come back to haunt him.

Unlike most races this season where teams were attacking all kinds of different strategies, everyone was following a similar approach, except Vergne who became the only car out of sync - and to a lesser extent Gutierrez who pitted on lap one for damage. Therefore these were the only two cars which were remotely out of position and in with a shout of interfering with any of the front running cars. Interestingly both of them ended up in front of Sergio Perez, who after being fired by McLaren was still the fastest driver in the team - this Magnussen chap needs to be rather quick to justify replacing the Mexican. Vergne was attempting to hold off both of the entrants from south of the border in the worlds fastest Mexican stand off. But his tyres were losing their life and Gutierrez managed to slip past at the end of the main straight. The time Perez was trapped behind the Toro Rosso allowed Alonso to jump the McLaren as the Ferrari rejoined.  Fernando then followed that up with a pass on Esteban on the exit of the first corner.

Back with Raikkonen 2.0 and it was all going a little pear shaped with some mysterious loss of downforce issue seeing the Finn lose places to Di Resta and then to Rosberg's Mercedes. Heikki had to then pit for a new nose section to correct whatever ailment that was crippling the Lotus. Rosberg then took the place from Paul's Force India even though neither were presently in the points, not a grand day for Nico really. At the other end of the spectrum was Williams' driver Valtteri Bottas, after a fantastic qualifying session the Finn was still in the points showing strong pace during the race. Esteban Gutierrez was his next target and Bottas made the pass round the outside of turn two cementing the position into the start of the fast series of chicanes, very impressive.

Checking in on the front of the race and something strange was happening between Grosjean and Webber, Mark blatently had a faster car and could close the gap at will, but was unable to pass. So after a couple of laps of pressuring the Lotus, he'd back off and just drop away from the back of Grosjean's car. Then a few laps after that he closed the gap again repeating the cycle - while the pair were actually catching Vettel, of course a lot of that would have been Sebastian just driving extremely gently around the track to bring the car home. The only unresolved battle was between Alonso and Hulkenberg a battle that seems to have arisen several times in the recent races. This time the Sauber was far from the unpassable force it has been in other events - most notably in Korea. Fernando had a strong pace advantage trimming seconds off Nico's lead - and using the same strategy he employed in the inaugural race in Austin got a better exit off turn one and took the place.

The final phase of the race was very subdued with little chance of any positional changes especially towards the front, not quite the same further back where Gutierrez was trying to emulate what Hulkenberg managed last race - passing a pair of Toro Rossos. But this time he'd have to pass them one at a time, which didn't work out so well. Esteban threw the Sauber down the inside at the first of those awful hairpins after the long straight. He tried to ease Vergne wide to claim the place, but JEV wouldn't budge and contact was made, the speeds are low there so Esteban was just span off to the outside and rejoined. Then further up front Alonso was running into tyre difficulties and thus allowed Hulkenberg to catch back up and attack for 5th place. Nico went up the inside into turn one but Alonso countered the pass on the exit and reclaimed the spot and held it to the end of the race. This being the final lap there wasn't much of that race left.

Vettel claimed another win, not quite in such dominant fashion, but I assume if he was allowed to he would do so, Grosjean held onto second place with another impressive drive - no-one else can compete with Red Bull right now. Webber rounded off the podium in third place, with Hamilton in a distant 4th place. Alonso held off Hulkenberg to claim 5th ahead of the Sauber driver, the fired Perez scored points for McLaren today in another impressive drive. But in 8th place, tripling Williams' points haul was Valtteri Bottas beating the likes of Button, Rosberg and Massa while Maldonado had an abysmal weekend. Rounding out the top ten was Rosberg in 9th and Jenson Button in 10th.

The Bonus Points Championship points Winners (Qualifying)

Because I was slightly preoccupied with the events in central Durham on Saturday I did miss the opportunity so assign bonus points for Qualifying but here they are:

• 10pts  - Valtteri Bottas - Completely annihilated Maldonado and got a Williams comfortably into Q3 without inclement weather conditions like Canada
• 8pts - Sergio Perez - On the weekend he has been turfed out of McLaren to out-pace Button consistently and also make it into Q3
• 6pts - Esteban Gutierrez - Despite horrific display of driving in Q1 made it two Saubers in the final part of qualifying
• 5pts - Heikki Kovalainen - First time back in a quick car in a long while and placed the Lotus within 6 tenths of a superbly performing Grosjean
• 4pts - Romain Grosjean - Again the closest thing to the Red Bulls 
• 3pts - Fernando Alonso - For making what seems like an awful Ferrari perform well
• 2pts - Pastor Maldonado - Deserves a couple of points for not wiping Gutierrez out at the final corner because that was silly. 
• 1pt - David Croft - For suggesting that Vettel listens to Rammstein to set things up for the session

Bonus Points Championship Points Winners (Race)

Now for the points for the events that took place today:

• 25pts - Valtteri Bottas - Tripling Williams points in a single event on a day when the other car was miles off the pace - and for that pass on Gutierrez
• 18pts - Romain Grosjean - Once again immensely inpressive beating one of the Red Bulls and holding the position under pressure, and for wearing the hat in the press conference
• 15pts - Nico Hulkenberg - The Sauber is again duelling with Alonso while Gutierrez hits Toro Rossos outside the points
• 12pts - Sergio Perez - Stating to score points on a regular basis, just as he is fired from the team
• 10pts - Fernando Alonso - In a race were Ferrari were poor still maintained pace during the race
• 8pts - Sebastian Vettel - Another victory and some more points. 
• 6pts - Jules Bianchi - For winning the bottom class of cars when Caterham have conventionally been the team to beat back there.
• 4pts - Jenson Button/Nico Rosberg - The only two drivers from outside the top ten on the grid that scored some points today.
• 2pts - Mark Webber - For a great pass on Hamilton early in the race
• 1pt - Red Bull - For putting the IT guy on the podium, power to the nerds...

The Penalties Championship

The stewards had been busy this weekend and these were there decisions:

• Max Chilton - Drive Through Penalty - Issued after qualifying because the Marussia is a slower car than the Williams and a Force India and got in the way... apparently. Folk would be more livid if he'd move offline and hit someone...
• Esteban Gutierrez - 10 Place Grid Drop - For being a fool in Q1 almost wiping Maldonado out in the final corner, weaving randomly in the braking zone.
• Jenson Button - 3 Place Grid Drop - For overtaking under red flags in the farce that was the first practice session
• Jean-Eric Vergne - 20s Post race time penalty - Was for some reason given a penalty for being hit by Gutierrez which makes no sense whatsoever, sometimes I wonder.

The Penalty Points Championship

There are some other contributions that need to be made in this table:

• Pirelli - For not brining the Stetsons onto the podium, most disappointing, poor show
• The Stewards - What in the universe is going in there sometimes
• Pastor Maldonado - Has frankly been a bit of a prat this weekend, complaining about the team and theories about car sabotage is bang out of order. 
• Lotus - As much I do like Kovalainen passing over Valsecchi seems, well wrong - it is only the remotest chance that they'd defeat Ferrari or Mercedes in the constructors anyway. 

So onto the Grand Finale

Well this time last season we actually had a championship left to fight over, and this time there is nothing close, even all the mid-table battles are spaced out enough to ensure that there is very little for anyone to fight over. But hopefully Interlagos can provide what has been missing from so many events this season - an actual race. Of course that might mean we require some rain and some chaos - I'd like some chaos and mayhem to round of this season. And frankly these 2013 cars no longer have a lifespan after that race so a few of them could get banged up a bit. I reckon there is a lot of people on the grid, who've waited for this season to be over for a while now and maybe 2014 will offer something a little better. So until then farewell from Blog HQ.

Round 18: 'Murica 2013: Preview

Greetings Internet,

The penultimate race of this season brings us to the USA, and the state of Texas at the rather grandly titled 'Circuit of the Americas'. But in the two week interval between Abu-Dhabi and this race the driver's market has been run through the blender and all kinds of nonsense has fallen out the bottom. A while back I questioned whether F1 was broken - this time I merely ask - what on earth is going on? Some more line-ups have been confirmed and others thrown into complete disarray, and god knows what Bernie has been up to but it sounds nefarious. To kick start out plunge into the unknown this weekend, the world was made aware that a certain Mr Raikkonen is not going to turn up - under the current excuse of back problems - but frankly he's just buggered off. I'd imagine the ongoing dispute about who isn't paying who is more of plausible reason for Kimi's absence... I mean it's not as if Raikkonen is in dire need of a salary to add to the assumed millions he already has. But this caused a problem for Lotus as they needed a new driver for the final pair of races, and to maintain the championship battle, conventionally you'd bring in the third driver - Davidi Valsecchi. Apparently not, Lotus also have connections with the former Renault Squadron drivers: Squadron Leader Heidfeld, Wing Commander Petrov, and Bruno Senna... none of them got the call. The team even asked two-time retiree Micheal Schumacher if he wanted the seat, at this rate I was expecting a call, but out of nowhere Lotus have selected Heikki Kovalainen. Now I have no problem with Heikki at all, it is almost a straight swap, one Finn for another, but it seems odd - considering Heikki effectively works for Caterham and they already have a reserve driver...

Is that all, oh no not by a long shot - remember at the start of the season when we remarked on the chance Sergio Perez had been given at McLaren... well they've now fired him... The car has been less than exemplary and neither him nor Button have been able to do anything with it - so what did Perez do wrong. There is a chance that the key factor may be money... again... and the state of Sergio's funding what ever that may be. So they've brought in Kevin Magnussen from FR3.5 - there is no doubt that Kevin is fast and whatnot and is in the McLaren development program, the same one Hamilton came from - so it might work but that leaves Perez without a ride. Further back Williams have adopted Felipe Massa after Ferrari gave him the boot to partner Valtteri Bottas in 2014. This adds Maldonado to the refugee pile with Perez, and with the likes of Hulkenberg, Sutil, Di Resta and Guterrez also looking for drive confirmation it's going to get messy. Then we come to Sauber who have an abundance of drivers - currenly Nico and Esteban, but there is Sirokin and his Russian money and fresh rumours of GP2 driver Felipe Nasr in the running, it is getting chaotic. Next season's grid could be the most misshaped melee in several years, all strapped into unknown redesigned machinery... it's a recipe for madness, and I like madness.

The Track

As to this weekend however I predict a significantly smaller quantity of madness, if any at all, that said the return of the US GP last season went down rather well considering it is after all another monolithic modern circuit. Conventionally that very sentence would bring with it a sense of disappointment and disillusion especially considering that we've just finished the race in Abu Dhabi which is another Tilke-drome. But fortunately this venue is ever so slightly different because when the designers sat down to discuss the track one of the first things that came mind is that they wanted to make a racing circuit based on classic features from other tracks around the work. That has been fused with the modern scale of newer circuits and facilities to form a track which is decent to drive around, and keep Bernie and the influential folks up at the FIA.

Despite the European inspiration behind the track it doesn't feel out of place in America - it has the Texan nature for grand scale built into it, the first indication is the mountainous cliff that leads into turn one. Many circuits have elevation changes and some steep climbs, but this incline is massive, and at the top past the clouds somewhere there is the apex at the peak. Yes it is a generic hairpin, but the way it has been implemented is novel and interesting. After this mountain and the altitude sickness, there lies nine brilliant corners - a sequence which is based on the Maggots/Becketts sector at Silverstone. But that only really has four corners, and this being America and Texas it has been ramped up to nine - and it is brilliant idea, decorated with some very patriotic run-off space... which will probably result in some more track limit investigations.

At the end of the first sector is another raised hairpin - not to the same level as the first - which feeds onto a huge back straight which is a little unnecessary, but considering how far away all those chicanes took the lap from the start it can be forgiven. Unfortunately all that good work in the first sector starts to come undone at the end of the back straight - again the designers took inspiration from Europe and this time the Hokkenheimring's stadium section. But there is a catch, the German version is so much better, because the corners are cambered well and it starts the Mobil Curve is brilliant - Austin's equivalent...well isn't. It has been installed as DRS based overtaking spot. Furthermore the remainder of the stadium section is completely flat and a little too clumsy, full of angles and what not.

Luckily this downer doesn't last long, because the final section of the lap is also rather good, starting off with a replica of Turkey's infamous turn 8 - admittedly it is not quite as good because the entry speed is lower and it isn't banked. But it is still a great feature which tightens slightly on the third of the three apexes. The penultimate corner of the lap seems on appearance to be a simple medium speed corner, but as the track falls away on the exit threw a lot of cars off into the tarmac run-off space, very deceptive. To end the lap there is another hairpin, but considering it is the end of the lap and because it sort of fits - I'll allow it... this time...

The Form Guide

Well looking at the manner with which the teams are attacking the driver market it seems that they are starting to lose interest in the remainder of this season - which is making it all too easy for Vettel to vanish out front every week. Which is why we're all paying more attention to what happens behind them in that battle for second in the constructors championship. Raikkonen's disappearance naturally is going to hamper Lotus' efforts to regain the ground on Ferrari and Mercedes. How well Heikki will fare as the replacement is doubtful - remember how far off the pace Fisichella was when he replaced the injured Massa in 2009. Then there was D'Ambrosio replacing the banned Grosjean at Monza neither are success stories. Therefore the advantage is handed to Ferrari and more so to Mercedes in that fight.

With the mid-field set to implode in a cataclysmic wave of uncertainty this is the final couple of races of stability as they duel for all important prize money places in the constructors championship -  money which could very well decide the final driver allocations for next season. Right now Sauber have the pace advantage, but Force India have better tyre conservation during the races - one-stopping in Abu-Dhabi to get both cars in the points. Williams are a longer way back, with Torro Rosso somewhere in between having the opposite problem to Force India - strong qualifying and weaker race pace.

At the very back the duel between Marussia and Caterham seems vary from one weekend to the next - in the mid season Marussia were glued to the back row... and more often than not Chilton still is... But Bianchi versus the Caterhams is a closer battle, not that any of them are going to secure any points this weekend.

In COTA's debut year it provided some great racing and made an instant impact on the season, defying expectations of being another dull generic racetrack this modern facilities seem to turn into. Importantly after the inane level of DRS passing in Abu-Dhabi - Austin showed that the majority of the second half of the lap can support overtaking and decent racing. And frankly the work of F1 needs a bit of energy after the spate of Vettel induced domination we've had to weather recently - and the American GP might be able to deliver all of that.

Round 17: Abu Dhabi 2013 - Review

Greetings Internet,

The internet is not pleased once more, it as an entity hates the result, it hates the seemingly random decision making process that might be going on in race control, it hates the monumental use of tarmac next to the track. I think the internet needs to sit in a darkened room for a couple of weeks and calm down. There are some things the internet should be displeased about - none of which really took place this weekend - it's all based on very strict precedents set out races ago precedents which are almost impossible to enforce. For example in India this problem of observing track limits was completely ignored - yet here in Abu-Dhabi at the beginning of the weekend there was a warning put out that indiscretions would be punished. But as the race weekend elapsed - absolutely nothing was done about it at all, two investigations in the race, both came to naught. So I can understand why people are completely disillusioned with the powers in charge, because nobody knows where the limits are and we are beset with tracks which allow these things to take place. To be honest I think the two decisions were the right call, but they directly contradicted with the messages put out before the race and a whole host of other decisions that have been made in Hungary and in Singapore. To make matters worse the support packages were much stricter at the same track, does make F1 a look a little silly now doesn't it

Underneath that veil of displeasure that has grown thicker in the second half of 2013, there was a race taking place on the Yas Marina circuit - featuring several interesting battles for those places outside the top three. It has been the scene of yet another scene of crushing domination - which the internet is also unhappy about - and in a straight fight without the help of the safety car and spending a lot of the race in a conservative mode - winning by half a minute is beyond excessive. But it is now what we have come to expect, no-one has any defence, nothing in their arsenal to get anywhere near that German Bloke... will Austin be any different... I highly doubt it.

The Race

What we had today was a race that was set up so well with fast cars at the back of the grid, Vettel off the pole and with the only driver that has beat him into turn one sitting alongside on the grid. So much potential... where did it all go...

At the start Webber wasn't able to hang onto the lead... Vettel virtually automatically went to the front and like so many other races this year - was never seen of again. Rosberg also took a spot away from Webber. Further back where we expected the entertainment to come from, it all went a little pants - Raikkonen ended up crashing ever so gently into Charles Pic and thus our hope of a back of the grid charge only lasted 300 metres. By the time Vettel completed the opening lap Kimi was headed for the airport... would the Finn return this year. Well, with that interest removed from proceedings we turned to Jenson Button also off the pace in qualifying looking for a better day... well he'd driven into the back of Paul Di Resta and had to pit for a new wing demoting Jenson to the back of the field... So that didn't go to plan at all frankly. Both were up for a potentially large bonus points haul, never mind.

Hamilton was well on his way to not having a particularly happy day, having lost places to Grosjean and Hulkenberg in the first half of the opening lap, finding himself staring at the back of a Sauber - like so many have done this year. Alonso was also having difficulties behind Massa - and given the fact that Ferrari have already fired Felipe, he was not particularly inclined let his team-mate past. We were then treated to a very unusual radio transmission to Webber as he was losing ground to Rosberg, surprise of all surprises there was a technical problem with the KERs unit. Mark was instructed not to use KERs to allow it to recover from whatever fault it had developed this week. While all this was going on, Vettel was in a completely different universe out front...again...

The soft tyres came to the end of their life by lap eight and a series of stops began - which lead to a very intriguing development. The group of cars including Webber, Grosjean and Hamilton dropped outside of the top ten - importantly rejoining behind Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber - where the current form and expectations broke down completely. Firstly Webber had no problem driving past one of the fastest cars in a straight line, Gutierrez seemed to allow Mark to ease past and off the Australian went to chase down Adrian Sutil. Grosjean was also able to engage the DRS to blast past the Sauber, even considering that the Lotus is supposed to be one of the slowest car in a straight line. So with all this evidence of Renault powered cars powering past the Sauber, why was Hamilton's Mercedes completely incapable of out-dragging Gutierrez. Also Esteban seemed much more inclined to resist the Mercedes placing the car firmly along the inside line in the only two places where passing seemed allowed today.

Grosjean was having a bit of bother trying to pass Adrian Sutil - because the Force India was once more running long on the tyres - Pirelli were not upset about this this week. After Grosjean made the pass in the first DRS zone Sutil simply re-took the place in the second zone. Just up the road Webber carved past another of the cars long stinting the first set of tyres, applying DRS to go past Vergne in the junior team car. All the while Hamilton was losing more time behind Gutierrez and his best course of action was to complain to the team and to Charlie Whiting. Di Resta was in the process being the next blockade as his tyres were coming towards the end of their lifetime - backing Rosberg into Webber, to which Mark took full advantage and took a net second place away from Nico... and with that the top four were settled before half distance....

With Gutierrez out of the way you'd think that Hamilton's day was going to get better, well...no... because there was Sutil in a car with just enough top speed to frustrate Lewis and not feeling the need to defend. As Hamilton was focussed on the back of the Force India he didn't really notice that Massa had rejoined from his stop behind the Mercedes, and Felipe threw the Ferrari down the inside to which Rob Smedley was well pleased, to take the place. Another car that was taken rather by surprise was Nico Hulkenberg, at the hands of Fernando Alonso - I assume Nico thought that the Ferrari would have the same problems passing the Sauber as it did in Korea - but Fernando was able to take the place at the end of the second straight. Overall Lewis was displeased complaining that he had no idea what was wrong with the car and it had no grip.

After Adrian finally decided get rid of his tyres, and rejoined in the middle of a battle between Maldonado and Perez just outside the points positions. Both Adrian and Pastor tried to go through turn 10 side by side, and both ran off the track - Sutil more so than Maldonado in the melee Perez had temporarily passed Sutil, but as he cut the chicane re-emerged ahead of the McLaren. Because this was a violation of track limits - again - there was an inevitable investigation which delivered no verdict. Likely because Maldonado pushed Sutil off, and went wide himself in doing so - and both were ahead of Perez at the start of the incident so no net ground was gained. Back with Hamilton - his second stop put him of all places behind Gutierrez... and so his day just continued to improve. Hulkenberg in the other Sauber was handed a penalty for an unsafe pit release against Perez - ruining any chance of points for the second race in a row.

The conspiracy theorists came out of their corner as the Ferraris had closed in on one another on the track with Massa running ahead of Alonso, and like the first time round wasn't going to let his team-mate past. Bearing in mind everyone assumed that both of the red machines were planning to complete the race on a single stop - like the Force Indias. So suspicions were well and truly aroused when Massa was called in for another stop, releasing Fernando, Massa fall back to behind Hamilton. Who in turn had found another car to get stuck behind - this time being Jean Eric Vergne in a one stopping Toro Rosso. This time Lewis wasn't trapped for as long, allowing him to build a gap and escape from Felipe who wasn't able to make the same pass.

Some of those conspiracy theorists might have been silenced when Fernando also had to pit because the strategy wasn't going to pan out as planned, but things got very interesting when he rejoined the track. Coming out alongside the Vergne/Massa battle - literally alongside Vergne. Alonso was eased off the track on the outside of turn three as Vergne maintained the racing line - rather than give up, Fernando kept it floored across the run-off bouncing across the kerbs for the myriad of alternate layouts and rejoining the track ahead of the Toro Rosso. Despite how risky the pass was, and how ballsy staying flat across the bumpy surface, the whole event became another discussion of track limits. For gods sake just put grass out there it is getting beyond ridiculous - fortunately no action was taken following a post race investigation. But it again highlights a horrendous lack of consistency in the regulations.

Because no-one was paying particular attention further forward it came as a surprise to see that Di Resta was running safely in 5th place making a one-stop strategy work once more - but that position was starting to come under threat. Both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were rapidly closing in on the Force India - only a pair of world champions on fresher tyres... how hard can it be. Given Hamilton's record of not being able to pass people today Paul had more to be concerned about from the Ferrari a car back. That concern became even more of a problem when Fernando pressured Hamilton into compromising his exit following the first DRS zone, allowing him to sweep past the usually slow in a straight line Mercedes. Being a significantly more powerful opponent, Di Resta was unable to resist Alonso's attack as he moved up into 5th position.

Just as a reminder, Vettel was still in the race, 30 seconds ahead of Webber and that was while sitting back and watching battles unfold amongst cars he was about to put a lap down. Where we had Hulkenberg after the penalty driving between both Toro Rossos as they went three wide down the first straight. But Vettel was unstoppable completely obliterating the competition today, in an identical car Webber was over half a minute behind in a very distant second - Rosberg rounded out the podium for Mercedes followed closely home by Grosjean. In the part of the race which was worth watching Alonso weathered the threat of a penalty to claim 5th - Paul Di Resta added to the list of cars that frustrated Hamilton and brought the Force India home in a very impressive 6th place. A rather miserable Lewis finished 7th a safe margin ahead of Felipe Massa in 8th. And on the final lap Perez took 9th place away from Sutil who finished off the points in 10th.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

Although at the front of todays race there was absolutely no competition in yet another dominant victory - at least Vettel made up for it with some doughnuts again - there was some entertainment further down the field to award points to.

• 25pts - Paul Di Resta - A very stealthy race on a well executed one stop strategy, looks like the title of being champion of the single stop has to be passed over from Perez
• 18pts - Nico Rosberg - The only one to remain in sight of at least one Red Bull today
• 15pts - Sebastian Vettel - Outrageously dominant, crushing Webber in the same car, and for some more doughnuts for which no-one has been fined for... yet...
• 12pts - Fernando Alonso - That was very brave as the car jumped and bounced at full speed
• 10pts - Adrian Sutil - Scoring points from being knocked out in Q1, in a race with very low attrition
• 8pts - Felipe Massa - Has to have some points for that brilliant overtaking manoeuvre on Hamilton to make his day even better...
• 6pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Through the middle of a three wide battle to take both places, brilliant
• 4pts - Pastor Maldonado - So close to doubling Williams' points score with another 11 place finish deserves some consolation points.
• 2pts - Fabio Leimer - Gets a couple of points for winning the GP2 championship
• 1pt - Tom Dillman - Has to have a point for unleashing super strength to lift a car off his head in the GP2 feature race, but was not cleared healthy enough for race two.

The Penalties Championship

Only a single penalty was issued today despite the investigations into track limits and the strict assurances that those were going to be enforced - and that was handed to Hulkenberg for the unsafe pit lane release into the path of Sergio Perez.

The Penalty Points Championship

At risk of starting to whine and moan on about things - but the Stewards are all over the place at the moment threatening and then not bothering to take any actions whatsoever. But this weekend don't see the point in issuing another penalty today, because if they'd punished Alonso there would have been something worth complaining about. But there is a penalty for Stefano Coletti for being well out of control in the first GP2 race, and a definite penalty point for tarmac run-off areas because despite the issue with the stewarding it is the way in which the tracks are designed which is at the source of this curse.

Looking Forward to the USA

In contradiction to many of the modern race circuits, the Circuit of the Americas is very good, yes there are some faults in the final third of the lap but overall it is a vast improvement over many of the general Tilke tracks we've been cursed with. Also it was one of the race where we saw much more action outside of the DRS straight so I think we are on for a very strong weekend...But and it is a big But... it is another track bordered by acres of tarmac run-off space which means this constant debate about track limits and the usage and abuse of them is set to rumble on.

I can see that enthusiasm for this season has plummeted considerably of late in the light of these constant issues, and a field rendered defenceless at the hands of a single driver. Will our second visit to the states be any different, probably not - but the rest of the field should more than make up for it. So until then this is farewell from Blog HQ.

Round 17: Abu Dhabi 2013: Qualifying

Greetings Internet,

Well on the basis of practice times, we all thought the impossible may take place under the artificial lights of the Yas Marina circuit. But as time elapsed and the final flag fell at the end of Q3, we all have a grid which looks oddly familiar at the very front. And the track descended into darkness it always give the illusion that it is far better than it is, simply because visually it is immense, a representation of the severe amount wealth present in this region and the huge excesses it can produce. It is strange that we arrive at this citadel of indulgence with a sport which is undergoing severe financial problems of it's own - the requirement for drivers to bring their own support instead of abilities is spreading infectiously through the field. At the moment Lotus are bearing the brunt of the current media coverage into their struggles, mainly surrounding the relationship between Raikkonen and the team. As it appears he hasn't been paid all season, but given the hundreds of millions the Finn should already have then should he really care... After all he gets to drive a really fast car and I'm sure sponsor events and appearances help keep him afloat. But there are other consequences to Lotus' troubles regarding their future line-up. Because whether a new influx of funds arrives determines if Lotus can buy speed with Hulkenberg, or sell his seat to Maldonado and his bucket of money from Venezuela.

It does make you wonder, if the team fighting for second in the championship can't afford to have a very strong pairing then what hope is there for anyone else, Sauber have already thrown their hat in with the Russians to secure funding. This came with the the caveat of bringing Sergey Sirotkin on board, but what does this mean for those teams at the very back of the field, the likes of Caterham and Marussia - how are they supposed to cope... This is another clear sign that things need to change but because those at the front are so powerful and so greedy there is no hope in hell of this curse ending anytime soon. But for now it is time to refocus on the race weekend at hand.

Qualifying 

The session started in the final hours of daylight, kicking of what's left of the season now that all the championships are all wrapped up and done with following events in India. Unlike many Q1 sessions this season, almost the entire field had taken to the track inside the first six minutes - leaving Fernando, and the Red Bull drivers waiting in the pits. Of those who had decided to take part thus far it was the Toro Rosso of Jean Eric Vergne that held an early lead, but of course the Toro Rosso is far from a top line car and it soon ceded that position because Mercedes were on form again. Rosberg held an 0.006s lead over Hamilton who needed to pit for a change of helmet. Eventually Alonso took to the track, but his Ferrari looked as unstable as Massa's this was not going to be a strong session, Fernando was almost three quarters of a second off the pace. Although that was good enough for 3rd, for a little while.

Finally Red Bull realised that they do have to qualify and set out on the softer compounds... and immediately created a front row lockout... we've been here before... To demonstrate how difficult things were for Ferrari this weekend, Massa was in the relegation zone behind Van Der Garde, and Alonso was only a few places further ahead as the pace available on the track dramatically improved. This saw a rapid series of position changes throughout the field. Sauber, Toro Rosso and McLaren climbing up the order - and of course Ferrari escaped relegation. This dumped Sutil and Gutierrez out - fairly embarrassing for the pair whose team-mates were setting times close to the top ten.

Q2 now and it was the Germans that left the garage first - Hulkenberg and Rosberg, with Vettel not too far behind. It was the Mercedes who took the early lead from Hulkenberg to deliver a Nico 1-2. A partnership which Raikkonen decided to interrupt - his car must be much lighter since there is no money in it at the moment - going second. Hamilton then went fastest as he did in Q1, but only 0.004s - a very finely balanced partnership at Mercedes. One wonders how long that will last once this business with Brawn finally comes to some form of a decision. But the session itself went into a phase of inactivity while tyres were changed and plans were formulated for the second phase.

What came next was another ramp in track evolution, as it seemed every lap placed a different driver into the top ten, Toro Rossos, Force Indias and McLarens all taking a share in holding one of the few places in the all important final phase of qualifying. Within this relegation zone was a certain Fernando Alonso, in a Ferrari which was refusing to co-operate, Massa in the other Ferrari was not doing much better only just making it into 10th place dropping Vergne out in the process. If Ferrari were having struggles then Button was in a world of pain, after spending the majority of the session in 16th place Jenson recovered to 13th. This pushed Alonso to 16th as Ricciardo and Hulkenberg also broke into the top 10. After a lock up on his fresh set of tyres Alonso didn't have the grip on a subsequent lap to make it through, and was only good enough for 11th - behind Massa again.

For the first time in Q3 that i've seen in a while, there was a queue forming at the bottom of the pit lane before the underground exit tunnel. On the basis of the first two parts of qualifying it seemed like Mercedes could stop this run of Red Bull domination, and it seemed they had delivered on their first runs. Nico lead Hamilton while Vettel was completing his lap... and as the German Bloke crossed the line, normal service resumed and there was a Red Bull out front. Raikkonen and Webber rounded out the early top five places. In a session where the battle for the lead had been measured in thousandths, having third of a second over the Mercedes pair seemed like an unassailable advantage as the cars prepared for the second runs.

Rosberg was first up, but he couldn't beat Vettel, then there was Webber setting fastest first and middle sectors - only one sector to go Mark's least favourite part of the track - but he conquered the series of repetitive corners to drop into the 1:39's and take pole. Vettel tried to recover the deficit on his final attempt but wasn't able to beat his team-mate to which the German was visibly displeased at only achieving second place. The only remaining challenge to a Red Bull 1-2 was Hamilton in the only Mercedes still on a lap  - but as he turned into that final sector the car got loose and span out, refusing to restart. Raikkonen remained 5th (until he was excluded for a technical infringement), Hulkenberg qualified the Sauber in 6th, and Grosjean in 7th. Massa beats Alonso to take 8th ahead of Perez and Ricciardo.

The Bonus Points Championship points winners:

Today's qualifying was markedly better than India and has provided us with a rather interesting grid, with cars out of position setting up what might be another entertaining race at the Yas Marina circuit.

• 10pts - Mark Webber - Beating Vettel on one of the German Bloke's genre of tracks right after he took a win in India.
• 8pts - Sergio Perez - A country mile ahead of Button in Q2 and making it through into Q3
• 6pts - Nico Hulkenberg/Paul Di Resta - Sitting up near the top ten while Gutierrez and Sutil went out in Q1
• 5pts - Daniel Ricciardo - A really strong lap to make it into the final part of qualifying
• 4pts - Nico Rosberg - The closest challenger to another session of Red Bull dominance
• 3pts - Giedo Van Der Garde - Was sitting in a qualification position for a while in Q1 and won the bottom division battle again.
• 2pts - Daniil Kvyat - Not long after being announced as Toro Rosso no2 Daniil takes the GP3 championship with a race to spare after dominating race one.
• 1pt - Felipe Massa - Another session qualifying in front of Alonso

The Penalty Points Championship

Well, the actual qualifying session went to plan and there was no nefarious goings on, but the attention turns to the GP3 series that followed qualifying where the plague of cars driving into each other in a straight line strikes again. Carlos Sainz Jr, and Patrik Neiderhauser tried to take each other out. Sainz Jr has thus been excluded but deserves a penalty point as well...

Looking to Tomorrow

While the Indian GP took place on a more drivable circuit it exuded all the anticipation of a public hanging and was just as lifeless - this is a poorer layout (even though it is dressed up in shiny lights and posh buildings) but seems to have much more potential. Some of that is the grid we have been left with - there is Alonso down in 10th place, Button in 12th and now Raikkonen has to start from last having been disqualified due to a problem with the amount of deflection in the floor of the car. Therefore we shall have cars on all kinds of different and opposing strategies meaning there will be phases when drivers will be out of position during the race, fighting cars with different speeds. Which is a recipe for madness, hopefully. Because all the titles are done now lets just have chaos.