Round 13 - Singapore 2015 - Review (Delayed)

Greetings Internet, 

After a weekend almost everything defied their traditional conventions, and I attempted relatively poorly to translate the intro to the qualifying post into Pirate. It stands to reason we were handed a race which too refused to comply to the form of the rest of the season. The sudden swap in performance was staggering - yes we saw it happen throughout the practice sessions and then in qualifying. But the race is a wholly different kettle of piranhas, and the Sunday evening in Singapore certainly threw most conventions to the winds, yet amidst the confusion there remained plenty of commonality to cling onto. Things to ground ourselves and remind us that the 2-hour epic voyage through the tropical streets was part of the same championship and the same sport we have been witnessing all season long. Manor were circulating on their own at the back - although at one point they got a little bored and decided to hang out with the rest of the group - because after all it can get a little lonely in last place. We had a McLaren team having another day they would rather not remember and Mad Max Verstappen turned into a stroppy teenager - and now has had his TV privileges revoked and his pocket money allowance reduced. This is what happens when you let the young folk stay up too late for a night race, clearly past his bed time. 

This most recent edition of the Singaporean GP wasn't an instant classic, there wasn't a titanic battle for the win or some mythic recovery of form by Mercedes to continue their domination. But it had all the traditional elements of a Singaporean GP - a 2hr race duration, safety cars, late race charges and lots of pretty lights... We traditionally don't visit Singapore for a simple, lights to flag strategy race, we come for the unusual, the weird and the outright bizarre - and we got a small sample of that on Sunday.

The Race

I suppose at this point I should make the disclosure that I am completing this post based on the BBC Highlights package, rather than the full race - because I was away from both the TV and the internet for the weekend. So I stole a little time to catch the BBC version of events where time allowed. Because as of this point in time I have spent about 15 minutes in the house since the completion of the qualifying update. It also explains why I am writing this on a Monday... or at least starting it on a Monday... and it has now spilled over into Tuesday.

Anyway back to the race itself - which turned into an outside broadcast in the end - and I sat down in preparation for a manic 61 laps of the city where four cars fought for the victory. But off the line it was suprisingly orderly, Vettel vanished off into the distance and the top six held their positions. Further back however there was a spot of bother for Mad Max Verstappen who's Toro Rosso had gotten stuck in anti-stall mode and refused to get off the line. The car was wheeled back into the garage and restarted in the pit-lane. Max would re-enter the race but one lap down. Further round the lap we saw the two Force Indias trying not to crash into each other at the apex of the ingeniously named 'turn 7'. Both cars avoided each other and the concrete barrier before sorting themselves out on the run down to turn 8. 

It was at this point, following a bunch of replays, that the highlights package skipped ahead to lap 10... so I assume that in the missing ten laps absolutely nothing happened. Which I will probably agree with, as this was a multi-stop race so everyone was more focussed on holding station until the first round of pitstops. Vettel had started to build a comfortable lead, but Ricciardo was starting to close the gap slightly. Raikkonen and Kvyat a little further back had the two off-pace Mercedes' for company but neither was a real threat to them. So we just waited for the pitstops to begin, and although it had only been a fortnight since the Italian GP - virtually all of the crews appeared to forget how to perform a suitable pitstop. Wheel guns were not being seated on the wheel nuts properly, tyres wouldn't come off or go on as smoothly as we are used to, it was all a little chaotic. Of the leading group it was Daniil Kvyat who dove for the pit-lane first in the Red Bull, likely hoping to leap-frog Raikkonen with the undercut and make it two Red Bulls in the top three. A valid strategy, in fact it was the same strategy that Ricciardo was counting on to handle being second to Vettel, but all good plans never quite go as expected...

While the pitstop window remained open Felipe Massa in the Williams became the next key volunteer to switch onto a new set of tyres. He too experienced pit-lane difficulties when one of his wheels look a little longer to sort out, but things were to get a little worse. As Felipe trundled out of the pitlane and back onto the circuit there was a Force India barrelling down the outside and fixed with a steely determination not to lose track position to the Williams. 

That Force India was piloted by Nico Hulkenberg, who cut across the front of Massa's car in a desperate attempt to defend the place. However Felipe was far enough alongside for that manoeuvre to be a more than a lost cause - as a result Nico found himself turned around and fired into the barrier. The collision knocked the Force India out of the race and gave Massa a slow puncture. Race control called a virtual safety car to allow the Hulkenberg's car to be dragged away. Under the virtual safety car everyone who hadn't already pitted, stopped for new tyres - which rather ruined Kvyat's strategy of using the undercut as any advantage had been erased by the VSC and to make matters worse he lost ground to the two Mercedes cars. After examining the crash site, the virtual safety car was upgraded to a full conventional safety car, meaning that for the upteenth race in a row - a Mercedes was leading... just not one of the F1 incarnations. This safety car intervention also played into Vettel's hands as it removed the chance for Ricciardo to try the undercut strategy to sneak into the lead of the race. Another beneificary of the real safety car was Mad Max Verstappen who under the rules of allowing lapped cars to move out of the way of the leading cars, ended up putting himself back onto the lead lap... I'm not sure if the system is supposed to work like this but it made the latter stages of the race more interesting so I'd leave it in... for now...

Several laps later, the safety car was recalled and racing got underway once more. Vettel continued to vanish off into the distance pursued by Ricciardo and Raikkonen. But the German bloke's disappearing act was only temporary as he started losing time to those following him. Allowing Ricciardo, Raikkonen and Hamilton to close the gaps to the leader. Lewis and the commentary team spotted this as a deliberate decision by Vettel to slow the pace. As it would back Ricciardo into Raikkonen in the hope that the second Ferrari could then overtake the lead Red Bull. While the plan was sound and had the added advantage of increasing the tyre life of Vettel's current set - Raikkonen was unable to capitalise on the opportunity. Likewise Hamilton was unable to do anything about the Finn in front of him and Rosberg was a little too far back for any of this to really matter to him. Meanwhile behind the scenes the powers that be up in the refuge of race control had been spending some time looking over the Massa/Hulkenberg incident and had come to a swift conclusion that the Force India driver would be handed a 3 place grid penalty. Considering we have seen drivers receive 50 place grid penalties this season for a single event, three doesn't seem so significant anymore. However the BBC highlights package didn't even mention that the incident was under investigation... well played BBC... Speaking of those on the receiving end of excessive penalties this season, time for a McLaren update. Jenson Button was running outside the points under pressure from Carlos Sainz in the Toro Rosso - and according to his team, the car was suffering from a slight overheating issue. Jenson at this point in the year had become quite accustomed to radio messages about mechanical failures he simply responded with "...anything else?".

Meanwhile a second radio call about technical gremlins was aired, at least the BBC decided to pick this one up - probably only because it emanated from Lewis Hamilton's car. If Will Stevens or Marcus Ericsson was having such a troubled time with their cars, I seriously doubt that it would have made it into the highlights program... Anyway Lewis was complaining of a lack of power, and his Mercedes was dropping rapidly off the back of Raikkonen's Ferrari. Over the following laps he started losing places and fell out of the points positions, and his descent through the field was accompanied by a large quantity of increasingly desperate radio messages. Mercedes attempted to rectify the problem with a series of reset codes and button combinations for Lewis to press on the steering wheel. None of the options were working as the championship leader plummeted out of contention, not that the Mercedes driver was ever in contention for victory in this race weekend anyway. So while Hamilton dragged an ailing Mercedes round the circuit, we hear that another car was experiencing technical difficulties. Felipe Massa still running after the contact with Hulkenberg reported that the car kept dropping into neutral, which would be quite problematic - but after nursing the condition for several laps was informed by the team that he'd have to retire the car.

As much as I like this era of increased telemetry and cost saving measures on component usage - it has completely erased the notion of driving the car into the ground. Even if something was a little wrong with it, drivers would drive around the problem and keep going until the car died completely. Instead drivers are told retire because they want to save components for a later date or that they have to limit the potential damage and save component milage. Back in the Hamilton camp, the issue with his car - which was later diagnosed to be a simple metal clamp which had failed - Lewis was on the radio asking the team these very questions. Was it worth retiring to save the engine and other parts for Suzuka - after much deliberation Hamilton was called to the garage. Meaning the championship leader was out of the race for the first time this season. To complete a hat-trick of retirements Fernando Alonso was also seen being wheeled back into his garage with yet another mechanical failure for McLaren... at least Button was in the points...

After a spate of retirements, we were all set for things to start calming down again - before the second round of pit-stops. But in Singapore we've all come to know that doesn't quite happen as planned. We cut to a screen informing us that the real safety car was back out on track - handing more laps lead to Mercedes - because there was a lunatic wandering down the side of the race track... Now I may be madder than a bag of spanners in a tumble drier, but you'd have to be a special kind of moron to enter a live race track with cars that would instantly kill you if they struck at any kind of representative speed. According to the internet this fool was a drunken Englishman - but no official statement that I have tracked down corroborates this statement. Although it does come at no surprise that the mention of drunkenness is affixed to a member of this island while on holiday... After the safety car was deployed the invader slipped through another marshaling post and was then promptly arrested. Vettel apparently saw the prat cross the circuit and take photos of the cars as they passed him... so could he be a Mercedes spy attempting to figure out why Ferrari were beating them this weekend, who knows. In due course the answers may be revealed. Anyway during the safety car period the drivers took the opportunity to visit the pits once more for their next rounds of stops. Again this played into the hands of Ferrari and Vettel because it took away even the remote opportunity for Ricciardo to perform the undercut and take the win.

As the fool had exited the circuit, this was a relatively short safety car intervention and once the stops were completed, lapped cars were instructed to get out of the line an overtake the safety car. A fairly reasonable and standard procedure - but Alex Rossi on his Manor debut wasn't really up for complying with these procedures. The American had probably decided that life was far more fun up amongst the lead cars and wanted to hang out with the bigger and richer teams. At the back of the grid, things get a little lonely. So Rossi took the restart third in line, just in front of Raikkonen - which must have irked the Finn ever so slightly as he couldn't attack Ricciardo as the race got underway once more. The Manor driver was swiftly overtaken on the main straight and drove off the road at turn one to get out of the way of the lead-lap cars. It was revealed later that Rossi had lost radio contact with the team, and therefore was unable to receive radio instructions to overtake under the safety car to get back in line. At least that's what the story is, but I think he just wanted to make friends up at the front of the grid. 

As the race resumed, the first few drivers all continued precisely where they'd left off - holding station once they negotiated their way past Rossi. But further back things were not quite so calm - with less than 20 laps remaining Lotus gambled on staying out under the safety car and gained track position. However there was a pack of cars with fresher tyres right behind them lead by Jenson Button in the McLaren. Jenson's first target was Pastor Maldonado - just the person you'd want to be having a battle with in the final third of a race on worn

tyres. Pastor defended the position if his life depended on it, forcefully crowding Button out at the third chicane from home. This compromised his line through the second part of the chicane and Jenson aimed for the inside on the run up to the passage under grandstand. Pastor saw this coming and slammed the door shut giving Jenson nowhere to go and no time to react - Button clipped the back of the Lotus sending parts of his front wing sailing into the air and into the path of the cars behind. Most of the pursuing pack managed to avoid the debris but Carlos Sainz struck it with the nose of his car and it exploded into thousands of shards of carbon fibre. Jenson had to pit for a new wing, thus ruining his shot at scoring points. 

This didn't mean that Pastor was safe from further attacks, because both Toro Rossos were lining up in attack formation headed by Mad Max Verstappen. Because of quick of the unlapping procedure that Rossi didn't take part in - Verstappen was back on the lead lap and fighting for points. It was clear that Mad Max had considerably more tyre grip than the Lotus he was attacking. He was able to perform the very pass Button was attempting, down the inside as the road turns underneath the stands. While Verstappen moved on to hunt down Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus - Carlos Sainz got to work on Maldonado, and he was followed by both Saubers. it would take a small miracle to for Pastor and his worn tyres to hold them all, or any of them off for the remainder of the race. What followed was a menagerie of cars overtaking Lotus' drivers as the initial track position advantage didn't prove to be enough. Verstappen passed Grosjean on the inside of the same chicane where he set up the pass on Maldonado. Whereas Sainz threw it down the inside of the Frenchman in turn one - easing the Lotus out onto the run off area as the Spaniard breezed past. It was at this point that both Lotus drivers effectively admitted defeat and put up minimal resistance against the pair of Saubers who repeated the overtakes performed by Toro Rosso. 

Having dispatched the Lotus drivers, the Toro Rossos - still running in attack formation descended on Sergio Perez in the one remaining Force India. He too was on much older tyres, but because both Sainz and Mad Max had used a lot of their new set carving through the field - the grip advantage had slightly diminished. Plus of course over the years Perez has been known for extending his tyre life beyond the conventional boundaries. This proved to be a much tougher challenge for Mad Max, allowing Sainz to close right up behind, to a small extent Carlos had used less of his tyres because Max opened the door on both Lotus' first and had to take more out of the rubber. This gave Sainz an idea, and a proposition. One that we have seen the main Red Bull team attempt at Monaco - let the driver who thinks he has more pace through to attack the car ahead... if it doesn't work reverse the places before the end of the race. There must have been more to the exchange over the radio that wasn't aired on the BBC highlights package, because all we were presented with was the instruction from the Toro Rosso pitwall to Verstappen to allow Sainz through. Now the english language is rich and diverse full of words we can use to express precisely how we feel about certain commands. Now despite Mad Max being Dutch and barely out of school, he does know a reasonable percentage of the words within the English language. So with all the possible options in mind the mad teenager simply replied with "No" barked with more than a hint of the disobedience and stroppiness of a child who has been asked to tidy his/her room. Toro Rosso repeated their requests, only for them to fall on deaf ears once again - there were not too many laps left for Mad Max to let Carlos through, and as time dragged on it left Sainz with even fewer chances to do anything with Perez if he was granted passage. Further back with another McLaren update - Jenson Button was also called to the garage to retire the car, so from a promising weekend and a real chance of scoring points, the team head away from Singapore empty handed. 

Things at the very front of the field were easy for Vettel - there was no late charge from Ricciardo, and the Australian had no real pressure from Raikkonen either. So the top three cruised home in the positions they started in. If that was the race headline it would completely disguise the slightly mad route the race had taken to get to this point, and the brilliant battles at the opposite end of the points. Outside the podium places is an unusual place to find a Mercedes powered car never mind one from the factory team, but in 4th place was Nico Rosberg, the sole representative from the all conquering Silver Arrows left in the race. Nico managed to trim the deficit to Hamilton in the championship by a little bit but lost more points to Vettel who closes in on his second place. Valtteri Bottas brought the one remaining Williams home in 5th place, ahead of Daniil Kvyat who was caught out significantly by the first virtual safety car intervention. Behind the Russian with the death stare was Sergio Perez, who had successfully held off the attacks of grumpy teenager Mad Max Verstappen. It also meant that Verstappen Jnr still refused to release Sainz - but by that point it was too late for it to matter anyway. So both Toro Rosso's finished 8th and 9th. Romain Grosjean tried to hold onto the final championship point but was overtaken by both Saubers, in the end only Felipe 'Fred' Nasr was able to score for the underfunded swiss team.

The Considerably Belated Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

While it may now be Tuesday - and we'll see if it doesn't become Wednesday before this is finally published... having started it on Monday. But I haven't been at my computer at Blog HQ for a while. The race itself was an outside broadcast, but anyway here, finally, are the points following the Singapore GP.

• 25pts - Mad Max Verstappen - From going a lap down at the start to scoring points and passing people en route - deserves many points
• 18pts - Carlos Sainz Jnr - A double for Toro Rosso as the team operated in formation to dispatch the opposition
• 15pts - Sergio Perez - One of the only runners on the worn tyres that managed to hold off the Toro Rosso onslaught
• 12pts - Jenson Button - Was on course for a decent points haul, had things not gone wrong with Maldonado
• 10pts - Alex Rossi - Made friends with Raikkonen and defeated the chap who has been in the car all season on his debut
• 8pts - Sebastian Vettel - Made that look very easy indeed, despite Ricciardo's best laid plans, the German bloke had that race completely under control through all the restarts.
• 6pts - Felipe 'Fred' Nasr - After Ericsson had been taking home the points for Sauber in the past races, Nasr added to the tally this time
• 4pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Was able to reel in Vettel from time to time and scored one of Renault's highest finishes in 2015
• 2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Rounded off a double podium for Ferrari
• 1pt -Daniil Kvyat - Got unlucky with the timing of the first safety car deployment but still but still had a decent day.

• -1pt - Track Invader - You utter plonker
• -1pt - BBC - Make longer highlights packages to accommodate a longer race, thanks
• -1pt - SKY TV - Give the races back to the BBC to make outside broadcasts easier, thanks

Looking ahead to Suzuka

The upcoming Japanese GP will be a difficult weekend for all involved for several different reasons. Mercedes will want to know why they were suddenly so comprehensively beaten in Singapore, Toro Rosso will need to know whether they can cut off Verstappen's TV privileges and lock his hotel room after 9pm as it is past his bedtime. But more importantly, and far more sincerely - the 2015 Japanese GP marks one year since the incident that ultimately resulted in the death of Marussia driver Jules Bianchi. At this point I don't know what the weather conditions have in store this weekend in Japan but a change in start time plus the new regulations involving virtual safety cars should prevent that perfect storm from ever forming again. 

Undoubtedly there will be tributes and reminiscences about what happened at the Dunlop corner, but there will also be joy in the fact that the Suzuka circuit is one of the the most universally loved venues to go racing on. The corners are spectacular and are placed beautifully. Each one has its own unique challenge and profile, so many are famous throughout the world of motorsport in their own right. It isn't one of those new soul-less car parks in the middle of the desert - it is a fantastic track, and of the remaining races it is easily the most enticing. Only Spa can be held in quite the same high regard, and perhaps Silverstone if you ignore that arena section. We like Suzuka because it is a challenge and it punishes errors with a visit to the barrier or a gravel trap. We just wish it didn't have the consequences it did in 2014.

Round 13 - Singapore 2015 - Qualifying

Ahoy Matey's aboard the good ship Internet, 

Thar running order be a little squally upon this day, I sit here upon the carpeted deck of blog HQ in front of the mechanical porthole gazing upon the distant lands of Singapore with an expression of grand surprise. If ye be wonderin' why I be scrawling in this incoherent tongue. Well I be tellin' ye - today be international talk like a pirate day, and therefore I be swiggin from me flaggon o' tea and typin' in the way o' the high seas. Thar session started wit thar news of dismay upon the decks of Lotus an' rumours o' mutiny among shipmates deep in the cabin spaces. Thar Capt'ns at Renault be casting thar spyglass upon the Endstone team most favourably - and an armada of nefarious lawyers be circlin' to strike up an accord to take over captaincy o' the crew. Across the waters in the sea o' Red Bull they be maroonin' thar mechanical sail provider - an' they be scouring the depths for new shipmates and loot to take thar vessels up to the top of the piratical hierarchy. Thar shipmates aboard Ferrari an' Mercedes be spying across the harbour at thar enemies an' considerin' whether or not they should be powering the opposition. 

But today that pecking order sailed into doldrums as the rulers of the high seas have been made to walk the plank, and dive into the rougher waters of the mid-field. Swathing fleets of marauding crews have struck up an accord to mutiny against the established order. In thar post session parlay, the captains remained confused at why thar vessels be not parting the seas quite as effectively. Upon the morn i'll strike up the electrical spyglass and see what the high tides have in store. For now I think I'll consign the pirate parlay to davey jones locker, for my keyboard be considerin' a mutiny for  manglin all the rules o' spellin' an' grammar.

Qualifying

The session started under an air of suspicion because the practice sessions had thrown up some rather interesting results. The mighty, unstoppable Mercedes team were nowhere near the front of the field - over a second away from the top times. Instead Ferrari and Red Bull were far more the dominant force - just as Red Bull and Renault had officially terminated relations, things started to look up. What made things even more interesting is that this bemusing turn around has come at exactly the wrong time for the statisticians up and down the paddock and across the internet who were pointing out that Hamilton and Mercedes were on course for equalling all kinds of records for domination... and how things change.

Q1

The first session of the day would provide an interesting insight into whether that strange practice form would carry over into qualifying. We'd have to wait for the top runners to take to the track - and instead we saw some of the other runners enjoying the circuit to themselves. Bottas was the first one to set a time, locking up through the new reprofiled bridge section on the approach to the Fullerton Hairpin - it's probably not called that but I have redubbed it as such because turn numbers are soulless and the commentary team are constantly mentioning the hotel on the exit of the corner. Other drivers were having fun through the section, particularly Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus who was every single shade of sideways across the bridge, but this time kept it out of the wall. 

Eventually the main runners ventured onto the circuit, and the battle between Mercedes and their rivals remained as one-sided as we've seen it all season long. With one slight exception that there was a case of role reversal taking place. Raikkonen took the lead from Bottas, only for Ricciardo to outpace the Ferrari. It has been a long time since Red Bull have been competitively fighting over the front row. While Mercedes were nowhere to be seen. At the other end of the spectrum down in the relegation zone McLaren were notably absent from that category as well - they were inside the promotion zone. Instead Sauber, Manor and Maldonado were in relegation instead. Ericsson promoted himself, shortly before Nasr replaced him as the sole promoted Sauber - but it wasn't over. Jenson Button, threw his McLaren at the final sector throwing caution to the wind and scratching his way into Q2 by less than a tenth of second. 

Q2

It was Bottas again who set the initial lap time in the second part of qualifying for Williams, but he like everyone else with a Mercedes engine were not having it quite their own way this weekend. In Monza it was almost a walkover for anyone with a German engine - but this race is a completely different story. The factory team drivers set almost identical lap times down to a few thousandths of a second - this just served to prove that the ultimate pace of the Mercedes car was a long way off the pace of those cars at the front of the grid. This time it was Daniil Kvyat and his death stare that was sitting at the top of the time sheets in a Renault powered car, with the two Ferraris and Ricciardo in close attendance. There was certainly a four way battle for pole position forming as closing in the final part of qualifying.

In the final runs of Q2 the focus was directed towards the relegation zone, where Force India, McLaren and Carlos Sainz. Several of these occupants had dreams of moving into the next round. Especially McLaren who saw Singapore as one of their few opportunities to get close to the points. But the final runs were sort of ruined by Carlos Sainz who brushed the wall coming out of the grandstand section. As he limped the damaged Toro Rosso back to the pits the yellow flags prevented many drivers from improving. Debris left on the circuit from the front wing meant that once Sainz had cleared the car, the yellows remained in place while the clock timed out. 

Q3

We headed into the final part of the session with a very strange prospect on the cards - it was looking highly likely that we would see the first non-Mercedes powered pole position since 2013. The factory Mercedes team were nowhere near the top times, and none of the folk in the garage seemed to have any of the answers. Rosberg spent the entire session chasing setup and it made no difference to their competitiveness. This time Ricciardo was the first of the contenders to take to the circuit, breaking Valtteri's streak of being the first driver to put a time on the board throughout the rest of the session. The Williams driver would make up for that later on. Ricciardo held onto the provisional pole position time, after an initial attack from Raikkonen and Kvyat - but there was one more contender left to upset the Australian's hopes and that contender was Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari driver eased his way to provisional pole position. As for the Mercedes drivers - they headed out on a used set of tyres for the opening run, Rosberg completed the lap a country mile behind the top four times. While Hamilton simply aborted his lap after making an error at his favourite corner - turn 7 (see this is why we need names) - running over the raised curbing on the exit.

So it was time for round two, and throughout the session we kind of theorised that maybe, just maybe Mercedes had something in reserve and were going to spring a surprise and take their conventional place at the top of the tree. Vettel's time seemed unbeatable, and it was starting to look even more so as every contender that crossed the line fell sort of the mark. Even the first sector times alone were an instant indicator that we were looking at a Ferrari pole. Ricciardo must have seen these sector times on his dashboard and thrashed the Red Bull through the final sector, he did improve his time but not his grid position. While none of Vettel's rivals could wrestle pole position away from him the German Bloke kept the boot in on his final lap and carved a mighty half second advantage over Ricciardo and a decimating 1.5 seconds over the leading Mercedes... what on earth has a happened...

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

That was a highly unusual session, one which has forged a sudden and sharp change in the running order of an unprecedented magnitude. Transitioning from a dominant Monza to this weekend being 1.5s off pole is a huge backwards step for Mercedes. But this allows others to sweep in and steal some points.

• 10pts - Daniil Kvyat - Recorded his best grid position on one of the more difficult circuits in an traditionally unfavoured car
• 8pts - Sebastian Vettel - That was a very powerful and dominant performance, that final Q3 lap was just decadent 
• 6pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Front row for the Australian is a brilliant return to form and sets up tomorrow's race brilliantly
• 5pts - Romain Grosjean - Completely anhilated Maldonado today, made it into Q3 while Pastor didn't leave Q1 
• 4pts - Fernando Alonso - 12th on the grid is a marvellous result for McLaren given their current performances this season
• 3pts - Max Verstappen - Takes some points for his very lurid slide and save in the high speed final corner on his last Q3 lap
• 2pts - Alex Rossi - A spontaneous debut for the American but he kept in touch with Will Stevens in the other car
• 1pt - Pastor Maldonado - Gets a point for his powerslide across the Andersen bridge in Q1

•  -1pt - Carlos Sainz - Gets a penalty point for ruining the end of Q2 with his visit to the wall.

Looking to Tomorrow

This looks to be a very intriguing race, once which doesn't have the ominous headline of another race of Mercedes domination. If Hamilton or Rosberg want to win this one they are going to have put a lot of work into it, and on the basis of the weekend thus far they probably don't have the pace surprisingly enough. So we are left with a four car fight for the lead as both Ferrari's and Red Bulls are on very similar pace, but I suspect that Vettel might have the edge on the rest of them.

Then there is the matter of the general unpredictability of any race on the tropical streets of Singapore. It is going to be a long two hour epic event with a very high risk of a safety car and some collisions which have typified previous races here. So it could be a conventional Vettel victory as we've seen many times in the Red Bull era... or it could be utter chaos. I know which version I'd prefer and it isn't the former option.

Round 13 - Singapore 2015 - Preview

Greetings Internet,

So the voyage begins at the conclusion of the tradition European season last race off to the flyaway races of Asia and the Americas - with the exception of a brief return to Europe for the Russian GP. Some of you might have noticed that there was no real concluding post following the Italian GP... well life kind of got in the way of that, something to do with flying off to Vienna for a week which sort of compromised the conventional post writing process. Although the Italian GP wasn't exactly an enthralling occasion - no race for the win as Rosberg was running an older spec engine. Ferrari couldn't maintain the pace they showed earlier in the weekend and Hamilton's final few laps were converted into a suspense novel as the engineers issued instructions and ordered Lewis "not to ask questions"... While that was all very suspicious, it turned out it was down to a discrepancy in the tyre pressures on the Mercedes vs the Pirelli mandated minimum settings. Despite initially being found in breach of the regulations, no real action was taken and the results stood.

In the weeks following the race the biggest news has to be the continued saga of Red Bull vs Renault. A recent comment by Renault has suggested that the 2016 engine contract with the teams - both Red Bull and Toro Rosso - is now under renegotiation. One of the news bites quotes Renault as saying they will want their own team or play no real further part in the sport. Rumours suggest that they will buy Lotus, to become a factory team. The Endstone team has run under the Renault name in 2011 - with Squadron Leader Heidfeld and Wing-commander Vitaly Petrov, know round here as the Renault Squadron. Such a purchase has been rumoured to place Maldonado's future a little in doubt. Grosjean is already in Renault's good books with his sponsorship coming from Total, who are friends with Renault. But Pastor's PDVSA association might not mix with Total and thus he might not be back. However Lotus in their current state do need quite a bit of cash to keep running so I imagine Renault would like to take on Pastor's sponsorship income to help fill some of the financial voids within the team.

Another reasonably recent development regards the lower echelon of the grid - and this time we don't mean the unfortunate situation that continues to rumble on at McLaren. We are looking further back, but not too much further to Manor, who have a new driver for the weekend. Alexander Rossi will be driving Mehri's car for the remainder of the season - with the exceptions of Russia and Abu-Dhabi where he will be on GP2 duty. This came as a slight shock to Roberto who only found out that he wouldn't get to play in Singapore until he'd landed in the country. The current theory is that Manor are giving Rossi the minimum number of races to earn a super-licence so that he can take a seat with HAAS - an American team joining the grid next season. It will be interesting to see how well he compares in relation to Will Stevens who has driven the car all season.

Marina Bay

The venue playing host to this most recent round of the championship is the Singapore street circuit. One the circuits that polarises opinions throughout the driver and fan communities. Some see it as a glossy gimmick, a night race for the sake of European race audiences and to overly glamourise an unimpressive street circuit with too many unnecessary corners. To some degree I can see that side of the fence, the circuit itself isn't the greatest layout in the world, but in reality very few street circuits are. They are confined to the topology of the road network and have little room for expansion or modification as the years go by. But I can see the unique appeal of the Singapore GP as a race and as a spectacle. Yes under the artificial lights it looks magnificent - but so does Abu Dhabi and the physical layout there is a bit pants. Night racing always looks more spectacular because the colours seem more vibrant and the sparks are emphasised - but it is down to the circuit and the drivers to make the racing entertaining. Singapore hasn't necessarily delivered on these finer points, but there is no denying that it is a supreme test for car and driver. The longest race of the season in hot, humid conditions on a bumpy circuit bounded by concrete barriers is an immense challenge. It is no surprise to note that every edition of the Singaporean GP has involved the safety car at least once such is the potential for making an error. 

This season the track has undergone some minor and probably quite irrelevant modifications since last year. For the most part the track has remained exactly the same since it's creation in 2008, generally because it is quite difficult to make wholesale changes to a street circuit. But adjustments have been made to the section around the Andersen Bridge, where the cars will now drive along the opposite carriageway to change the line into the hairpin. Swapping lanes also removes the need for the small chicane immediately before the bridge - straightening the road ever so slightly. Will this make any real difference in terms of overtaking as the designers hope... well I severely doubt it somehow. But at least they are trying something. This change is an addition to the removal of the odd triple apex chicane before this bridge, which was replaced with a dull and generic left hander. 

But all of the modifications only influence a small part of the track the rest of it remains the same - I would do a corner by corner inspection of the layout but given there are quite a lot of corners and most of them don't really stand up to much on their own I'd be at it for days. These posts are getting late enough as it is without hugely long winded explanations of why turn five is quite similar to turn nine and why in the great scheme of things that doesn't really matter to anyone. However despite being a wash with stereotypical street track 90 degree corners, the Marina bay circuit does have some interesting features. For example in the latter stages of the lap, the track burrows underneath the grandstands and emerges out the other side. The trouble is that in order to add this feature, a whole bunch of other corners had to be added just so that the cars would be in the right place to dive under the stands, and the corner itself is a dull and rather narrow generic 90 degree corner. Elsewhere the final corner is a nice high speed conclusion to the lap - because it is not part of the city road network it can be designed with a little more intent. Intent which is well used in this case. 

Overall some circuits are recognised by their iconic corners and tradition - Singapore will likely never be able to compete on that sort of level because the only really unique corner was ripped up and replaced some time ago. But this is one of those circuits where the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts, as a complete entity it is a magnificent challenge especially over the course of a race distance. It's a race that is filled with tension as everyone waits patiently for the safety car to strike. It is difficult to quite put into words why I fall firmly into the 'pro' camp when it comes to the Singapore GP even though we haven't been treated to a Hungary 2015 esque race of epic proportions around the streets. But I think it has a lot to do with how unique it is and how severely it differs from F1's current only other street circuit in Monaco. There is something grand and mesmerizing about it, maybe it's just the spectacle of the night race and the potential for madness at any corner that keeps the anticipation high throughout the weekend.

The Form Guide

As FP1 is just about to get underway, due to the slight time difference for accommodating the night event in Singapore I have no existing data to base my guesses on this week. But I can assume that because engine performance won't be quite so important as it was in Monza and before that in Spa, we will see a much greater mix of competitors inside the top ten. Of course we can expect Mercedes to be at the very top of the tree with Ferrari as their closest rivals. While the likes of Williams, Force India and Lotus may not enjoy the same degree of freedom to frolic around inside the points places as they have done in the past two events. Because it may get a little more crowded as we approach the final part of qualifying tomorrow.

The main culprits for this will be Red Bull and Toro Rosso, who do have strong race cars from an aerodynamic and chassis design point of view - it is just the case that they are being slightly held back by the power supply. A fact which has stressed the bonds between the Red Bull group and Renault this season, especially after the two high power races we've just seen and the rise in engine penalties the team have faced due to unreliability. The Singaporean GP has a much lighter workload per lap than Monza or Spa - but the bumps associated with a street circuit, intense tropical humidity and the sheer duration of the race may place quite a lot of stress on the engines. Both Renault powered teams should be a lot more competitive this weekend but the question remains as to whether they will be able to use any of that pace.

At the back of the grid we will likely find that Sauber may lose touch with the rest of the mid-field this weekend as they could use the Ferrari power unit to make ground in previous races, but it will have less of an impact this time. But I suspect that despite dropping off the back of their competitors up the road, they will probably be safe from losing any places to McLaren. As we have completed a significant proportion of the season thus far - 12 races - we are starting to worry if McLaren are ever going to fix the issues they are having integrating the Honda power unit into their car. It seems to be a catalogue of mechanical and electrical failures ravaging a car which has no straight line speed, no ERS power and isn't too handy round the corners. Perhaps we will have to wait until 2016 before McLaren can join Ferrari and Williams in staring at the back of the Mercedes cars. Also at the back of the grid we have Manor, who will be running Alex Rossi instead of Merhi this weekend - I doubt the driver change will get them off the back row (on pace that is, not after the inevitable menagerie of penalties which will probably be handed out).

From the air the Singaporean GP may seem like a superficial exercise in indulgence when you see the thousands of lights and deocdant cityscape surrounding the circuit.In some respects that's precisely what this race is about, but inadvertently underneath all the bright lights and artificial glamour, one of the most difficult races has been created. For that reason I welcome the Singapore GP and celebrate the potential it has to be an incredible weekend.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

What's this, Bonus Points, on a preview post - what on earth is the world coming to. Well as I outlined at the beginning of the post... all the way up there somewhere, performances and trips to Austria intervened with the conventional process of writing up the weekend. Therefore there were no bonus points awarded for the Italian GP - and the championship wouldn't be fair without counting all the rounds. Yes I am aware that I haven't done any counting thus far either... it hasn't been a particularly productive season here at Blog HQ. But I have made the spreadsheet that will write the HTML for the points table. All I have to do is fill in the results at some point in time. Anyway without further delay, a fortnight is enough, here are the awards for the Italian GP.

• 25pts - Daniel Ricciardo - In a car which seems to have all the power of a sloth Ricciardo managed to score points from the back of the grid.
• 18pts - Lewis Hamilton - I suppose many points have to be awarded when you effortlessly dominate the race, would have been more if he had any form of competition.
• 15pts - Felipe Massa - On the podium for Williams and had to defend as if his life depended on it to keep Bottas at bay for the final few laps.
• 12pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Made a complete mess of the start, but his recovery drive carving through the field made the race more watchable.
• 10pts - Marcus Ericsson - Another race in the points for the Sauber driver in a car which is sorely lacking development.
• 8pts - Valtteri Bottas - Scores some points for his role in the fight with Massa, not that the TV director wanted to look at any of it...
• 6pts - Daniil Kyvat - May have lucked into a point at Rosberg's demise but put another Red Bull in position to score at an unfavoured venue.
• 4pts - Mad Max Verstappen - While the toddler was well outside the points due to various penalties, he does score bonus points for his overtaking from a long way back in turn one.
• 2pts - Lotus - Both cars out at the first corner in unrelated incidents deserves a pair of consolation points. 
• 1pt - Roberto Merhi - Considering he is being shelved for a while by Manor, here have a point

• -1pt - Mercedes - Those radio messages to Hamilton at the end were probably a little to cryptic 
• -1pt - Pirelli - I'm not going to criticise Pirelli for making the tyres the way they have like many people have done, because they are only following orders. But they do get a penalty point for their handling of the mysterious tyre pressure case for Mercedes at Monza. Branding the whole investigation as a misunderstanding. For a sport based on advanced technology and regulations how can a tyre pressure measurement be so wrong... Only time will tell when more information surfaces.

Round 12 - Italy 2015 - Qualifying

Greetings Internet, 

Sometimes there are qualifying sessions that will live long in the memory - sessions that we look back on fondly with a wry smile. Like the Friday qualifying event for the 2003 French GP - when Minardi finished 1st and 2nd... that was a good day. Alas back then the Friday qualifying didn't matter too much as it just determined the order for the single lap qualifying event on Saturday and sadly Minardi were relegated to their traditional back row. Today we saw a session which didn't quite live up those standards, nor did it match the chaotic rain influenced qualifying events we've seen at Interlagos, Spa and Silverstone over the years. The difference in engine power often splits the performance levels between teams and dictates the ultimate grid positions. As practice illustrated - if you happen to have Mercedes or Ferrari power - it was going to be a far easier Saturday for you. Otherwise the hallowed ground of the top ten would prove to be a little too elusive. But we could still have a battle for the pole position... well we hoped but that too became a little more than a lofty ideal. At the end of FP3, Rosberg had to replace his upgraded power unit with one of the used, older specification engines putting him at a disadvantage before the first green light of the day. Because this was a previously used engine, there was no penalty for the change - unlike the numerous grid penalties suffered by McLaren and Red Bull.

Q1

Manor started the session with Will Stevens being the first car to take to the track. The rain that was initially forecast for Saturday did materialise - but far earlier in the day, and thus it had dried before qualifying had started sadly. The rest of the grid filtered out of pit lane and decided to take part... that is except Mad Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo who were remained in the garage while repairs were to be made to their cars. Of those on track, it was inevitable that a factory Mercedes was going to be sitting at the top of the time sheet - and considering only one of those cars has the newest iteration of the Mercedes engine it stands to reason that it was Lewis Hamilton setting the initial pace. The other factory team car in the hands of Nico Rosberg could only manage 5th

place with his opening lap.

Down in the relegation zone, it initially appeared that only one non-Manor GP car would be relegated with two Red Bull sponsored cars still in the pits. Therefore Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso were fighting over the right to take part in Q2. For the moment it was Alonso that was in one of the coveted promotion places, but that position became a little more tenuous as Daniel Ricciardo emerged from the garage to complete a token lap time. Even if the Red Bull was not going to be running on full beans, given the huge number of grid penalties heading his way, the car could easily displace the Spaniard and knock the McLaren out of qualifying. As the Australian took to the track McLaren's grasp on Q2 slipped away - finally falling out of reach when Ricciardo took away Alonso's promotion place. Mad Max Verstappen also took to the track but too late to complete a full lap, aiming only to set a couple of sector times in the hope that it would influence the order the penalties are handed out. There was one minor problem, the Toro Rosso team hadn't quite put the car back together properly before releasing the Dutchman. So on the approach to Curva Grande, Verstappen's car disrobed itself - shedding carbon fibre all over the track at the conclusion of the session. 

Q2

The second part of qualifying got underway, but it seemed as if no-one had told the rest of the paddock that it was time to get started. Eventually some drivers did part company with the security of their garages and take to the circuit to actually set some lap times. By virtue of being on track first Nico Rosberg ended up with the fastest time, but it wasn't for too long. Hamilton easily replaced his team-mate at the top of the timesheet, carving an 0.8s lead over the German. A few moments later, Lewis Hamilton found himself heading a different German - because Sebastian Vettel had elevated himself to second place, between the two Mercedes cars. Then another Ferrari joined the party as Kimi Raikkonen took over the second place - putting two Ferraris between the two Mercedes drivers.

Conventionally in this middle session, there is a lot of competition between a quantity of cars for the remaining top ten places - but that didn't quite happen today. The gulf in power between Renault and everyone else meant they had no real hope of being quick enough to challenge for a route into Q3. That left 12 cars fighting over the top ten places - even then only 10 of them had shown consistent top ten pace. Sauber were on the cusp of stealing a place from one of the Mercedes powered cars, but hadn't achieved it thus far in the session. Until Marcus Ericsson upped his game and delivered a very strong lap time to move him into 8th place. This came at the expense of Pastor Maldonado who was bumped down to 11th. The Venezuelan tried to repay the favour but fell a few hundredths short of 10th placed Hulkenberg's time, and was thusly relegated.

Q3

Ten cars remained, and not a single Renault powered car in sight, I daresay there may be some cross comments from various members of the Red Bull fraternity given the fact they are behind every other current engine iteration, barring Honda. Alas of those who did make it through, the final session got underway with Williams and Mercedes taking to the track first. Williams were trying the traditional Monza technique of using one car to deliver a slipstream tow to the other one. In this instance Valtteri Bottas towed Massa down the front straight - giving the Brazilian an advantage across the main straight. But their plan didn't help them come to terms with the might of the Mercedes team, nor could it propel them ahead of Ferrari at the end of the first run. Nico Rosberg was also reporting a handling issue in conjunction with the power disadvantage. Making it rather easy for Hamilton to finish the first half of Q3 on top. Nico however could only manage 6th place. The other Nico - Hulkenberg that is - was even worse shape as his Force India ground to a halt at the end of his lap. Fortunately he was able to get it into the pit lane and prevent a session red flag.

Part two of qualifying started with Bottas attempting to allow Rosberg through during curva grande in order to steal a tow from the Mercedes - but Nico saw what the Finn was plotting and didn't fall for the plan. When Rosberg completed his final effort he elevated himself from 6th to second - setting up yet another Mercedes 1-2. However there was sizable gap in lap time between the two silver cars, so the front row lockout was not guaranteed with several quick cars still setting times. One of those cars was Sebastian Vettel, who this season has capitalised whenever things go wrong for Mercedes - and with Nico struggling for pace the German bloke claimed second place. It got a little worse when the other Ferrari found even more pace beating Vettel to second place. Not long after having his place guaranteed for another season Raikkonen found a notable qualifying improvement. Even though pole position was locked in, Hamilton pushed for another run just to rub it in an extend the advantage slightly.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners

Even through the session wasn't exactly enthralling, and the engine dictating performance more than anything else - points still have to be awarded, and these are as follows.

• 10pts - Kimi Raikkonen - On Ferrari's home turf the Finn finally taken over the mantle as Mercedes main challenger and on the front row
• 8pts - Marcus Ericsson - For getting the Sauber into Q3, at the expense of one of the Mercedes powered cars
• 6pts - Lewis Hamilton - Topped all three sessions virtually unopposed
• 5pts - Carlos Sainz - 
• 4pts - Mitch Evans - From last place to a podium finish in the GP2 race is certainly worth some bonus points
• 3pts - Romain Grosjean - Scores the points for the coolest sideways slide captured by the slow-motion camera in the Ascari chicane.
• 2pts - Will Stevens - Pulled back the resurgence that Merhi has been experiencing for the past few races 
• 1pts - Max Verstappen - That Toro Rosso does look rather cool with the bodywork spread across the track.

Looking Forward to Sunday

Well the Italian GP has in the past been the home of some spectacular racing and some brilliant races - this probably isn't going to be one of them. Although we don't have a Mercedes 1-2 on the grid, we probably will have one at the end of the race. Ferrari might throw an upset if they can get in front of Hamilton during the long run to the Rettifilo chicane, and things might get quite interesting. Here's hoping - that opening lap will prove crucial tomorrow, and the rest of the race will probably be defined by the exit of the Variante Della Roggia. But lets see what happens. 

Round 12 - Italy 2015 - Preview

Greetings Internet, 

After another very difficult week in the world of motorsport, the teams drivers and fans will be heading to Monza for an expectedly sombre weekend. During the Hungarian GP we mourned the loss of Jules Bianchi, and now in the week leading up to the Italian GP, we were faced with the news that former F1 driver and Indycar driver Justin Wilson was also fatally injured. Justin was struck on the head by the nosecone from another car which had crashed during the race at Pocono. This has sparked rejuvenated discussions about head protection in open wheel race cars - while this incident took place in an Indycar, the same threats do remain present in F1. Felipe Massa was struck by a metal spring which had fallen out the back of the car in front and suffered severe head injuries. There have also been several close calls involving cars clambering over each other dangerously close to the cockpit, most recently involving Kimi Raikkonen and Alonso in Austria. The suggestion of closed cockpits has been raised again, but tests on current prototypes of the concept have proven to be not entirely helpful. Different materials have either shattered after taking an impact or deflected too much. Parallels have been drawn to closed LMP class cars, but the difference there is that those cars have a load bearing metal roof with doors - not just a big curved windscreen.

In other news, the driver market is looking far more stable than it was this time last season - more teams have locked in their current line up. The most recent being Williams who confirmed that both Bottas and Massa would be staying with the team for the next season. Also Force India have announced that they have extended Nico Hulkenberg's contract for the next two seasons... no news on whether they intend to keep Perez as his team-mate yet however. Looking at the grid as it stands, there are very few teams with available seats, potentially the biggest name change we might see is what happens to Jenson Button, as his contract negotiations have not started yet. With the likes of Vandoorne and Magnussen waiting in the wings - I'd say the pressure is on. But considering McLaren already have a spate of grid penalties coming their way, that seat may not be on anyone's wish lists for a little while. Until the problems with the Honda PU get sorted out anyway. 

Monza

After a trip to Spa, few venues can boast a similar level of tradition and history - Monza however certainly can. The temple of speed has been hosting races since the 1920's and for the most part the layout remains remarkably similar. Over the years modifications have been made, mostly in the general interests of safety as the cars grow increasingly faster. For many years the circuit featured an enormous oval with steep banked curves and minimal protection from being launched into the trees if something goes wrong. The historic banking remains a prominent feature of the venue - even if it has been decades since it was last used in anger. Standing as a ghostly reminder of a riskier, more dangerous time - and in light of recent events, some of those dangers have not gone away.

The Monza circuit is typified by it's huge top speeds, and in this era of DRS and hybrid turbos those speeds are higher than they've been in the past few years. Unless of course you are driving anything powered by Honda. So it is no surprise to find the lap starts in the middle of one of the high speed blasts with a long run down to the first corner. The main straight starts off being nice and wide, to accommodate the madness that generally is the opening lap, but by the time it reaches the Rettifilo Chicane - (lets see whether Antony Davidson remembers the iconic corner names to this historic venue unlike Spa...) - the track gets noticeably narrower. The Rettafilio - like Spa's Bus Stop Chicane - has undergone several versions over the years, more recently it has only been subject to the occasional re profiling. With various anti-cheating ramps and bumps being tested once the grass was removed. Once upon a time the opening lap at Monza almost guaranteed that a few front wings would go missing, but recently the drivers have grasped the idea of going through turn one without ramming each other. Which is a little boring, but with few competitive cars as is, we can't really go around losing any in turn one. 

The Rettafilio is followed by Curva Grande - on the surface a simple flat out left hander - but it becomes very important when you are trying to set up a pass into the second chicane - Variante Della Roggia. The conventional racing line leaves you exposed to a pass down the inside of the chicane, whereas a defensive line on the outside of the corner is slower allowing a competitor to draw alongside - on the outside. At the start of the race, the Della Roggia does present another opportunity for carnage and mayhem. The fateful incident of the 2000 Italian GP where a loose wheel claimed the life of a trackside marshal illustrated the challenges posed on the opening lap. Throughout the weekend I expect to see many drivers short-cutting the chicane and taking advantage of the run-off area. So I expect there will be a montreal-esque mandated route drivers must take to get back to the track without the risk of gaining an advantage. 

After Della Roggia we take a break from the chicanes for a couple of corners and reach the two lesmos, which give or take a little bit of re-profiling, have been part of the circuit for generations. Both corners are surrounded by the trees of the parkland circuit and both corners are gently cambered, dragging the car to the apex. Lesmo one tightens slightly on the exit, which is why we shall see many cars running wide over the course of the weekend - more so in the support races I suspect. The second Lesmo is a shorted corner and constantly tempts the driver to carry that little bit more speed each time - until eventually one or two will visit the gravel. It is nice to say that there is gravel on the exit of both Lesmos, which is a pleasant departure from the acres of tarmac that have plagued so many of the world's most famous corners. The second Lesmo is succeeded by the second of Monza's high speed straights heading through the heart of the royal park and descending underneath the historic banking.

At the end of the straight we have our third and final chicane - the Ascari Chicane. Which is the fastest of the three across the lap comprising of three apexes of gradually increasing speeds. Surrounded by more traditional gravel and featuring potentially the only piece of tarmac where the laws of track limits never really seem to have applied. After the final part of the Ascari chicane cars are often seen running out wide on to the access road for the shorter national circuit which rejoins on the back straight. Leaving only one more corner to go. That corner is one of the corners, if not the corner that Monza is known for - The Parabolica. This final corner came in for a lot of discussion this time last year as the plague of tarmac run-off had started to encroach upon the hallowed ground. But it was pointed out that the modifications had been made for other categories which use the circuit - mostly for bike races - rather than to annoy F1 fans. The Parabolica opens out through the exit as the speed builds back onto the main straight to start another lap.

The Form Guide

Due to being a little pre-occupied yesterday, the blog post was not quite completed on time - well it wasn't actually started until today. I know I am getting lapse in my irrelevant publication times. Anyway this delay does mean that all of the Friday practice sessions have been completed - and the results are rather obvious. Anyone with a Ferrari or Mercedes engine is well suited to a track which is almost entirely based on raw power rather than aerodynamic stability. The factory Mercedes squad are comfortably ahead - 0.7s in FP2, with all Mercedes powered cars in the top ten along with the two Ferraris. The Mercedes teams all seem to be split into team order - Force India are the quickest customer team, followed by Lotus and surprisingly Williams are the slowest of the cohort. I find the Williams decline rather puzzling, tracks like Spa and Monza were good for them in their recovery year, but since Silverstone it has all been a bit of a poor showing for the Grove based team. But practice pace doesn't necessarily correllate to qualifying and race pace, so it may just look worse than it is.

On the other hand, things look just as bad as they are for the Renault powered runners - 75% of the Renault powered cars have grid penalties along with both of the McLaren drivers (surprise, surprise). Daniel Ricciardo has been handed a 25 place grid penalty which normally sound very extreme, but after the McLaren drivers were handed a cumalative total of 105 grid place penalties... Ricciardo is in for a relatively easy day out. Even if it is from the back. So the back five places will be decided by penalty order rather than qualifying - considering none of the cars are likely to break into the top ten.

What it does mean is that Manor might start a little further forward than usual - but their older spec Ferrari engine won't have the power to keep them there. Neither do they have the overall chassis and aero development to race any of the contenders on pace. 

So on the surface of it, barring mechanical failures - qualifying for the Italian GP appears to be almost sewn into position... but there is one more little caveat. The weather may play a role on Saturday - some people are predicting a potentially damp track to start on or even a full wet session. But I've seen those predictions before and they came to naught. Just look at the Belgian GP, there was so much chatter about rain, rain that never materialised. So I'm not holding my breath but I am open to being pleasantly surprised. 

Round 11: Belgium 2015 - Race (Delayed)

Greetings Internet, 

Due to a post-rehearsal adventure through the closest thing that Northern England can muster to a monsoon - the time previously allocated to writing up the events of the weekend quickly vanished. Replaced with the highly unprecedented concept of socialisation. It does mean that I have a lot of motorport to catch up on - BTCC, Indycar and Aussie V8's to be retrieved from across the internet. But just when you had thought I had given up on you all... although the term 'all' may be a gross exaggeration of the number of people who were expecting any form of content to grace this corner of the internet. I have placed myself back in front of the computer, while a bunch of code is compiling in the background make the final contribution following the Belgian GP.

Yesterday various members of the media were predicting a destructive free for all off the line as these highly paid (or paying) racing drivers were doomed to fail when having to start the race all by themselves. Almost as if the world forgot that these drivers have being driving racing cars for quite some time now, and outside of F1 they will have had to handle the initial launch without a battalion of engineers and computer simulations to program the start settings for them. Yes an F1 car is markedly more complex than anything else lower down the racing hierarchy, but expecting a repeat of the 1998 levels of carnage was a little on the ridiculous side. In the end we were treated to a reasonably incident free race, the mayhem and carnage was left to the support categories who demolished several race cars over the weekend - and one barrier. But without further delay and meaningless rambling, one with the show...

The Race

After qualifying left us with a somewhat bizarre grid behind the inevitable front row Mercedes lockout - those theories of a manic start started to bubble to the surface. While the teams themselves predicted little change over what we've seen already this year. None of that really mattered to Nico Hulkenberg who was struck down with a sensor failure on the formation lap, the team asked him to pit before the start - before then instructing the German to drive to the grid. The problem they thought had resolved itself, had in reality remained. The result was an aborted start and an additional formation lap, while the Force India was wheeled into the pit-lane and into retirement. 

The Race - Take 2

So on the second attempt, Carlos Sainz was instructed to return to the pits with a separate mechanical difficulty, and so there were only 18 cars taking the actual start. I was having flashbacks to the end of last season when everyone was going bankrupt. As the lights went out, there was no crescendo of shredded carbon fibre and dislodged wheels did not rain down from the sky - it was a simple orderly start. Some cars did better than others, Rosberg lost several positions while Sergio Perez and Ricciardo gained some. Even then Nico claimed the poor start was due to an overheating clutch after the second formation lap rather than being thwarted by a complex start procedure. Everyone negotiated La Source without contact - with the minor exception that Will Stevens and Jenson may have brushed wheels. The fact that I am writing that sentence, kind of sums up how poorly McLaren's season has gone. Starting the 11th race of the season with 105 grid penalties between them is both a dire reflection on their progress and the ludicrous nature of the penalties system.

On the run up the Kemmel straight after Radillon, something unusual was unfolding - a Mercedes was under attack, from a Force India of all things. Hamilton had to defend to the inside after Perez sat in the slipstream, at the point of the timing line at the end of the first sector the Mexican had an overlap was leading the race. That only lasted a few seconds as Lewis claimed the line in Les Combes and Sergio didn't attempt to fight it out on the outside line. After that things did settle down a little bit, with Rosberg claiming one of his places back down the inside of Valtteri Bottas at the disastrous abomination that is the bus stop chicane. The threat of mayhem and devastation was further reduced when Pastor Maldonado's Lotus broke down as it entered the Kemmel Straight. Pastor limped the car back to the pits but it was game over for one of the Lotus cars. But as one car retired another one came back from the dead - Carlos Sainz's Toro Rosso was revived and put back into the race a couple of laps down. The mechanics at Force India were unable to do the same for Hulkenberg and he too was officially retired from the race. 

This opening phase of the race was mainly about drivers recovering from less than ideal starting positions - Raikkonen had to make up for the gearbox penalty and technical failure he encountered in qualifying. Grosjean and Mad Max Verstappen were also docked places due to technical infringements. So all three cars were out of position in comparison to where the raw speed of the car should be, Vettel and Kvyat could also be added to that list, but their poor grid positions were self inflicted. Of the cohort it was Raikkonen who had more to prove, to justify Ferrari's decision to renew his contract for the following season. Four laps into the race he'd made it up to 12th place by overtaking Fernando Alonso's McLaren. The Spaniard probably wishing he still had one of the red cars this season instead of jumping ship to a struggling McLaren-Honda partnership. Jenson in the second McLaren was having an even more dismal time - as his ERS was cutting out at certain points round the lap. Prompting him to ask whether the batteries were connected properly.

Back at the front Hamilton was having a very easy time of it - especially with Rosberg losing ground and currently sitting in 4th place. He was building a comfortable lead over Perez in second place as the first round of pitstops were approaching. Of the leading group it was Ricciardo who dove into the lane first, hoping to undercut Perez and take second place. Force India noticed the strategy and called Sergio in on the following lap, but the combination of a long lap and a faster stop by the Red Bull team leapfrogged Ricciardo ahead. This also gave Rosberg plenty of clear track to unleash some of the core pace of the Mercedes. Pace that would allow him to jump both Ricciardo and Perez before scampering off into a comfortable second place. Mercedes had to reverse their conventional pit priority to make it happen, but Hamilton wasn't really under threat from Nico such that it would become a problem. Further down the pit-lane at the Williams garage an odd mix up had occurred at Valtteri Bottas' stop. The Finn came into the pits to be fitted with a new set of soft tyres - and was only given three softs and one medium tyre. Perhaps Williams were experimenting with new interpretations of using both compounds during the race... at the same time. Bottas was sent back on track with his mismatched tyres, as the camera cut to a rather guilty looking mechanic in the team garage. The regulations don't allow for two different compounds in use at the same time, but it took the stewards a long time to figure out precisely what to do with the bizarre situation. Eventually they would finally deliver a verdict of a drive through penalty many laps later. During this time Valtteri would continue to run with the mis-matching tyres. 

With the opening round of pit stops out of the way, the racing could continue - although the wind conditions had rather made the DRS excessively effective. We'd seen Renault powered cars leaving Mercedes powered ones for dead once the DRS was opened on the Kemmel straight. Some of that was down to Red Bull running a specifically low downforce, high speed setup and Williams leaving a bit more wing on the car. But even so the speed differential meant that any DRS pass became an inevitability. So with that in mind, why would anyone look anywhere else to make a pass - turns out that Mad Max Verstappen doesn't follow those rules. As he closed in on Felipe 'Fred' Nasr's Sauber in the final sector, he decided not to wait until the Kemmel straight to make a pass. Instead he thought it was a great idea to drive round the outside of the Brazilian through Blanchimont... It was an overtake that redefined the threshold of being 'ballsy'. Especially considering that in the GP2 feature race, a driver tried the same thing and ended up in hospital. Max had the Toro Rosso all over the curbs on the exit and managed to complete the pass and didn't spin into the barrier. The race wasn't anywhere near finished by the mad teenager already booked a place in the bonus points scoring.

Now that the front of the race was now settled, it made more sense to pay some attention to the developing battles behind as several rivals were starting to line up for a chance to take the remaining podium place. Grosjean joined the party along with Perez, Ricciardo and Massa - with the two Ferraris not too far behind. But the battle was about to get a little less populated as several of the drivers were making their second stops. Ricciardo on the other hand was making one final stop - the only problem was that it was the Renault engine electronics which dictated the stoppage, on the side of the pit straight. Despite the car being in a reasonably accessible place, the decision was made to throw a virtual safety car. Just to make sure that the marshals could safely push it off the track and behind the barrier. This failure could have come at a better time, when relations between Renault and Red Bull have entered another rough patch, with the rumour that Red Bull having terminated the 2016 contract between themselves and the French manufacturer. The virtual safety car wasn't in effect for too long before racing resumed with the two Mercedes out front. Unsurprisingly Hamilton managed to find something to complain about - this time it was that Rosberg had closed in during the VSC, which can happen. As long as he wasn't adjudged to be speeding he was driving within the regulations. Therefore it meant that Lewis was more cross that he didn't maximise the VSC period and that Nico had used it more effectively. In the end it didn't exactly matter.

Several cars pitted under the VSC, and rearranged the order outside the top two - Sebastian Vettel cycled through to third on the benefit that he hadn't pitted when everyone else did. Ferrari appeared to be attempting a one-stop strategy. Perhaps this is what happens when you race on a similar piece of tarmac to the previous champion of one-stopping: the driver formerly known as One-Stop Perez. This years cars and tyres were going to find that sort of stint life difficult, but perhaps Ferrari knew something that no-one else did. Perhaps Ferrari were looking up at the clouds that were gathering around Malmedy and Rivage in the hope that some rain was on the cards. But the forecasts suggested that rain would arrive, only some time after the race had finished. I think that the thought of rain was nothing more than wishful thinking, because for long stretches of the race, it was a little on the bland side

Further back some comeback drives were starting to take shape - namely in the hands of the sole remaining Red Bull containing Daniil Kvyat and his terrifying death stare. The Russian rejoined from his stop in 10th place, and had a lot of ground to make up to score some significant points. But he had rejoined on a set of the softer tyres - and was setting fastest sectors as he tore towards the pack. Daniil's first victim was Valtteri Bottas, who was now on a matching set of tyres and had served his penalty. The Williams, despite having a superior engine was no match for the DRS attack from the Russian and Kvyat and his scary face eased past before Les Combes. This idea of putting on a set of quick tyres wasn't sinking into the Ferrari pitwall, even when Vettel commented over the team radio that they should think about a second stop... a suggestion which fell on deaf ears. Sebastian's position became under threat from more than just his tyre life when Grosjean started wearing down the deficit to the final podium place. Back to the Kvyat charge and he successfully picked off his next victim - Kimi Raikkonen once more using the combination of soft tyres and DRS to make light work of the Ferrari.

The majority of the positions away from the main two battles looked to be reasonably settled, so the focus remained firmly on Vettel holding off Grosjean and Kvyat's pursuit of a greater points haul. The first fight seemed to have stagnated with a gap of 0.8s between the Ferrari and the Lotus. While the second scrap also appeared to be stalling because Kvyat couldn't repeat the standard DRS pass on Massa because Felipe had DRS from the back of Perez's Force India. Because the Williams was running a higher downforce setup it was unable to make a move on Perez in the same way that Kvyat had been doing to several cars beforehand. Eventually Massa dropped away from Perez giving Daniil the perfect time to strike. Felipe still had DRS but Kvyat had enough speed to get alongside before Les Combes. In a feat of extremely late braking the Russian threw the car past Massa, almost sliding off and across the Les Combes infield. But Kvyat held the slide and claimed the position before chasing after Perez in the Force India. 

A little further back, Mad Max Verstappen was looking to add to his overtaking account with a move on Kimi Raikkonen at Les Combes. Even with the DRS advantage the attempt was a little on the optimistic side as he skated down the inside before sliding off the road and handing the place back. Grosjean on the other hand was taking a more patient approach to dealing with a Ferrari in front of him. But suddenly as Vettel rounded the kink at the start of the Kemmel straight his right rear tyre exploded - looks like staying out for that long was not such a good idea. As shards of Pirelli littered the circuit Romain was promoted into a safe third place, while further back Kvyat had taken 4th place from Perez, outlining the benefit of a newer set of tyres. But in the end staying out was Vettel's only shot at taking third, as a second stop would have put him in the same league as Kvyat, fighting for 4th place.

One can be forgiven for forgetting that the two Mercedes' were out front, only to be picked up by the camera as they completed another 1-2 underlining their domination and dispelling the idea of being threatened by Ferrari. The one remaining Lotus of Grosjean finished off the podium in a remarkable drive, several second further down the road we find Kvyat for Red Bull. Perez and Massa rounding out the top six - despite Felipe's best efforts of passing Perez, when the pair went either side of Vettel's ailing Ferrari. Raikkonen repelled the threat of further attacks from Mad Max Verstappen as the pair took 7th and 8th respectively. The points were rounded out be the mismatched tyres of Valtteri Bottas and the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson.

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners - Qualifying

While the qualifying report was sort of over-written by a gentle walk in the countryside and socialisation. It doesn't mean that those points become null and void, I just add them on as part of this post. 

• 10pts - Sergio Perez - A Force India, that far up the grid - a magnificent performance
• 8pts - Romain Grosjean - A similar story for the Lotus driver, qualified well, but was pushed back on the grid due to a penalty.
• 6pts - Daniel Ricciardo - The highest placed of the renault powered cars
• 5pts - Valtteri Bottas - Came out on top of the very fierce battle for the coveted 'best of the rest' 3rd place grid slot
• 4pts - Lewis Hamilton - Scores points for the crushing victory he crafted over Rosberg in the final part of qualifying.
• 3pts - Pastor Maldonado - Got the second of the Lotus team cars inside of the top ten.
• 2pts - Daniil Kvyat - Scores a pair of style points for holding a slide at the top of Radillon
• 1pt - Daniel De Jong - Survived a monumental accident in the first of the GP2 races when nudged off line on the entry to Blanchimont

The Bonus Points Championship Points Winners - Race day

Part two of the points reveal covers the events on the Sunday, which was also under the pleasing influence of social adventure... and rain, lots and lots of rain.

• 25pts - Romain Grosjean - Lotus' first podium since 2013, and on the day that the cars were supposedly impounded after a dispute with Charles Pic.
• 18pts - Daniil Kvyat - A brilliant late race charge passing many cars, including a particularly impressive move on Massa
• 15pts - Sergio Perez - A top five finish for Force India, and their highest result of the season
• 12pts - Mad Max Verstappen - Round the outside of Blanchimont... even if it was a little out of bounds, it is worth many points
• 10pts - Manor - Finished on the same lap as the McLarens... even if it is the longest track of the season, to be only 40s behind is impressive... or bad news for McLaren
• 8pts - Marcus Ericsson - Scores a point for Sauber in a car which has had next to no development work done on it since day one.
• 6pts - Daniel Ricciardo - Before running into retirement the Aussie saved a massive slide at the top of Radillion.
• 4pts - Lewis Hamilton - Another win and another set of points
• 2pts - Nico Rosberg - Will be awarded two points for the most devious, yet legal use of the virtual safety car to close in on Hamilton
• 1pt - Justin Wilson - Gets the final point in light of the injury that he sustained at Pocono, as we hope for a quick and complete recovery.

Looking ahead to Monza

So the season carries on from one high speed traditional circuit to an even faster one, a circuit which has the Honda and Renault engineers cowering in a dark corner of their factories. Unlike Spa, Monza doesn't have a sector leaning towards high speed cornering and aerodynamic grid. It has long straights and short corners in between. I foresee it being another relatively easy day at the office for Mercedes.

But in the intervening period there are several arguments brewing in the pit lane. Between Red Bull and Renault, between Vettel and Pirelli and ultimately within Williams concerning a slight issue with matching tyre compounds. Perhaps by the time we reach italy in a couple of weeks time, some things will be that bit more clear.

Round 11 - Belgium 2015 - Preview

Greetings Internet, 

After the four week mid season break I'm back - and I can almost hear the collective groans from across the digital universe echoing through the halls of cyberspace. We left for the summer break after the manic Hungarian GP with many questions and rumours circulating throughout the paddock - the majority of those involving the future of Kimi Raikkonen and his place within the Ferrari team. Suggestions floated round the pit lane that Valtteri Bottas was on course to replace the other Finn in the red overalls. But in the past few days that story has run it's course as Ferrari have announced that they will in fact retain Raikkonen's services for another season - as they were asked for £10m to buy out Bottas' contract by Williams. A sum of money they clearly didn't feel like paying - and Valtteri's 2015 campaign hasn't been as electrifying as the previous season and is more on par with Massa, a former Ferrari resident. 

The second piece of interesting news coming into the Belgian GP as this is going to be first race with the new start regulations in place. To some degree I find messing with the regulations half way through a season to be a little out of order, but the summer break was the ideal time to introduce a change. The new rules focus on the amount of electronic assistance involved in selecting clutch bite points and start procedures. Drivers will no longer be able to perform extensive bite point practice starts - the idea being that it places start procedure more in the hands of the drivers rather than the underlying software. This can only be a good thing, if done properly, because I can imagine that the top teams have already planned and strategised various loopholes to get around the regulations. For example in Hungary we saw the Mercedes drivers performing bite point checks when they pulled the cars into the parc-ferme area at the end of qualifying. The end result is that we are likely going to see a wider variety of starts on Sunday afternoon as there is a lot more variability in human judgement than in a bunch of computer code optimising the settings for the best launch down to turn one. Some, slightly more pessimistic critics have predicted a slightly destructive start, one akin to the race which saw Romain Grosjean banned for wiping out several cars in La Source. 

Of course the mention of La Source can only mean one thing - the annual pilgrimage to Spa for one of the most highly anticipated races. Home of so many championship highlights and turning points.

Spa-Francorchamps

Few venues in the 2015 calendar draw the appreciation of fans and competitors alike, the hallowed ribbon of tarmac winding through the Ardennes is legendary and rightly so. It has featured on the schedule for generations and is in the top echelon of circuits the F1 parade sets up cap. Circuits like Spa and Suzuka have managed to retain some a lot of what has made them great in the face of continuous pushes for wider run off areas and less gravel. Admittedly even the grandeur of Spa has been ever so slightly compromised by the addition of tarmac escape areas in Malmedy and Pouhon. But the worst crime of all was to modify the bus stop chicane - where the pressure for circuit development proved to be just that bit too strong...

The mystical journey that is the Spa-Francorchamps layout begins at La Source - where Grosjean decided to play bowling with the field in 2012. The tight hairpin is only a short distance from the start line, so the grid doesn't have enough time to space out before the concertina of the first corner. The exit of La Source points the cars down the GT start line - plummeting down to the base of the most famous corner of the entire year. The mountainous and imposing cliff that is Eau Rouge. Over the years Eau Rouge has demolished cars for getting slightly out of line including both BAR's in one qualifying session in 1999. These days with the traction and downforce the modern cars are blessed with, that challenge is not what it once was. In the build up to the weekend Raikkonen has stated that it might not be easily full throttle as it was a few years ago. Some of the cars towards the back of the grid with lower downforce levels may have to have a confidence lift or two mid corner.

Those who rise over the crest at Radillion with all four wheels attached are then fired down the long kemmel straight between the trees. Where the rainfall can hang in the foliage when the typical Spa weather comes out to play. At the end of the Kemmel straight lies one of the most prominent overtaking spots at Les Combes - it was also the home of the 'incident' where Rosberg refused to move over for Hamilton and contact was made - triggering Toto Wolff's angry face. Les Combes flows directly in to Malmedy and the curving descent through Rivage. Each corner is exactly where you feel it should be as the flowing middle sector picks up pace. Rivage flows into Bruxelles before another sharp descent towards Pouhon. While the challenge of Eau Rouge may have been watered down by car advancement - Pouhon hasn't, the tricky downhill double apex left-hander remains one of the corners that can catch people out. 

After Pouhon the track levels out on the run to the Fagnes chicane two medium speed sweeping turns unified to mark the approach to the end of the middle sector. The final part of the sector is Stavelot at the bottom of the track, it doesn't have any special characteristics but it just feels like it belongs there and that it matches the flow and rhythm of the circuit. After the second part of Stavelot the track winds back through the forest at full speed, exploiting every ounce of power on the blast back to the finish line. It is this dependence on raw power that may hamper McLaren and Renault powered teams this weekend. In the middle of this high speed sector is one of Spa's other infamous landmarks - Blanchimont - estimated to be the one corner on the entire international calendar with the highest entry speed. Despite the legacy of destruction that surrounds Blanchimont, including hospitalising Luciano Burti in 2001, it has fallen the same was as Eau Rouge. The unrelenting tide of rising downforce levels have made it easy flat - in the era of the dominant Red Bull cars, Vettel and Webber were able to drive through Blanchimont with the DRS open...

Then we come to the end of the lap, after miles of beautifully crafted race track to the disastrous eyesore that is the newer Bus Stop chicane. The bus stop has endured several modifications over the years, some of which were to accommodate changes to the pit lane entry and paddock area. But the older pre-2002 specification was always the best. It was simple, challenging and effective. What we have now is a cumbersome mass of hatred and despair, it is heresy to append such a malignant wasteland of tarmac and curbing to something as treasured as the Spa Francorchamps circuit. It is the equivalent of adding underbody neon lights and a gaudy spoiler to an E-Type Jag - but we have to live with it for the time being - until Bernie decides it is more fun to scrap Spa altogether for a rich middle-eastern oil state... Anyway the ruined chicane does mark the end of the lap so you can enjoy the rest of it once more.

The Form Guide

Well due to a reasonably tiring week involving covering 18 miles of countryside, meteor showers and lakeside hypothermia - my conventional schedule has been a little out of sync. Therefore this is being presented on Friday, rather than Thursday before any of the practice sessions have begun. But as we now have that data we can have a look at how things stand as of the conclusion of FP1.

On the whole nothing too much has changed - Mercedes still have an iron hold on the top two places, even if that didn't help them in Hungary. Manor are still languishing off the back of the field and Pastor Maldonado is in the wall, following an unfortunate line through Les Combes. However it is the set of cars in between which is more interesting, even through the times in FP1 are not really representative of true pace. Daniel Ricciardo was the Mercedes' closest challenger - which after his performance in Hungary doesn't seem too unusual, but we all (well probably just me) expected the Renault powered cars to be struggling to keep in tough with the Ferrari and Mercedes powered rivals. Yet all four of the Red Bull branded cars were inside the top ten - at the expense of supposedly faster cars.

Williams for example appear to be under-performing on where we expect them to be, as they had in Hungary - but on a power based circuit this is more of a surprise. Lotus are also quite far down the order, they do have an excuse - their reserve driver Jolyon Palmer was borrowing Grosjean's car, and Maldonado crashed his once more. Once those four cars get up to speed, the Toro Rosso's might find their grip on the top ten weaken slightly.

At the far reaches of the timesheet, we find McLaren - a second off the pace of the next car (barring Palmer, and Ericsson who's Sauber was short on power). They are only 1.3s clear of the Manors, which in a week where Honda were claiming significant upgrades to the power unit is quite the disappointment. One ray of hope for the team is that the they might have been using an older spec engine for FP1, and saving the newer one for FP2 - which might explain the deficit. Their nearest rivals have also received an engine upgrade as Ferrari have finally handed Sauber the newest version of their power unit. But the chassis has fallen so far behind in the development race, dreams of re-enacting that 5th place finish in Australia are a long, long way away. Sauber have said that upgrades are coming, but they might only be ready for Singapore.  

But relative pace and grid position could all come undone on the Sunday, especially with the new start procedures and the faint but promising threat of some of that special Ardenne weather. After two great races in Britain and Hungary, lets hope Belgium can bring home the hat-trick.