Pre-Season Update 3: Official Car Release

Greetings Internet,

As per normal things have been a little bland and uninspiring, so that would be a decent cue to inject a little colour into the proceedings - an idea that will make a little more sense later on... But all of the teams now have released their cars, usually in the middle of some massively exuberant presentation, watched over by hundreds of posh VIP type folk and those in possession of some really expensive cameras. It is the sort of event that the Blog is certainly not welcome - as those people are several rungs further up the societal hierarchy - come to think about it, pretty much everyone is further up the societal hierarchy than I am. Which would explain why I'm sitting here on a sofa in the dark, by myself, and the sort of people who get invites are probably off doing something important and making a lot of money in the process. Not that I'm in any way resentful or cynical or anything like that...

Moving on then, since I released the images of the new 2013 car last time out, whenever that was - I lose track of things - some minor changes have been made to that livery, and other things have taken shape. All in preparation for the season starting in only a few weeks time. Now asked the internet for ideas, and thoughts on giving the new car a name - and a few ideas did come through on that, not a massive quantity, but more than one would be massively over-estimating the popularity of this part of the internet. As interesting as those ideas were, in the intervening time a small thought sprang forth one which took hold in a particularly intrigued part of my mind. One fuelled by recent events and encounters, one of great power - and one the serves to occupy an impossible void. Well, most folk who spend this much time in a dark forgotten corner of the internet are allowed to be a little mad, and it is this madness that has powered this latest idea... But that is another rant for another night, and another darkened room - probably one that contains one of those lounging sofas and an inquisitive individual with a clipboard and questionable glasses.

To redirect things away from another chaotic descent into insanity - again - the real reason why this post has been produced and that is my less than cinematic car release video. Last time were the initial images for the vehicle, but now we have the official video, where the car turns the first wheel of its lifetime - for some reason on a public road in the middle of Germany... in 1967. Because a little bit of time-travel never hurt anyone.

 So there you have it, and in that video were the selection of complimentary cars that will be part of the programme in 2013. Because it is so much easier to incarnate some friends, than to actually acquire them, something to do with being in this corner of the internet again... Plus of course collections of polygons and pixels attached to some questionable AI, is a lot easier to get along with than actual... or apparent... humans. Which is why I now have a myriad of cars here is the multi-chromatic spectrum of competition that will be helping to populate the track this year.

might be best to click on this to make it bigger

Of course that is only half of the story, because there is also a small set of cars designed to take the exploratory laps before each event. In extension to the main vehicle taking a starring role in the release video, I've introduced two co-stars to the proceedings. So not only have I created a small army of minions and supporting cast, there are three lead roles in this season's mad charade that is this part of the internet. Because after all if this part of the world is going to be as barren as is has been in the past two seasons -  I may as well trying and enjoy it a little bit more - and enjoyment is a rapidly dwindling concept to start off with.

As you can see, there was a significant lack of imagination that went into the liveries here, I merely reversed the colours on one, and lightened the shade on another. I must have been distracted at the time - perhaps Top Gear was on or something, anyway these three were the first to be developed as the main protagonists. This is what happens when that little voice is allowed to take over, it may help in some conditions but it is not good as painting cars, the concept is a lot more difficult than it seems. At least painting with the computer is a lot more geometry than skill - as demonstrated by the plethora of straight lines and basic shapes that have only ever covered the surfaces of any car in this blog.

So there you have it, the end of proceedings for today, which has been as per normal permeated with the little internal ramblings of a deranged mind. And this is mainly why this part of the internet exists, as a battering ram to pin the little voice back down where it cannot be heard - and F1 is miles better than the realm I get to have a go with. So until next time, this is farewell from me here at Blog HQ.

Pre-Season Update 2: The final car release

Greetings Internet,

Life here at blog HQ has been rather interesting over the past few weeks since the last outburst, I have been on stage once more - not on my local facility but on a much larger scale, in the world premier of 'Thief of Time' in Durham. Naturally of course making it past the auditioning stages was nothing short of miraculous, considering the calibre of the people I was under the lights with, it was only a small part. But it could be seen as the largest scale performance I shall be involved with, so from that perspective it seems a lot more impressive, and of course the rest of the cast truly were - the character of Myria being an exceptional highlight. But as the lights have gone down on that experience and the prospect of a mighty quantity of lines waiting in the wings, it is time to get on with things here in this corner of the internet while there is still time, and before my mind gets completely obliterated by the amount of words it may have to recall in May. A performance which there are plans to take it out into the world, in the first ever theatrical tour - what interesting times we live in at the moment.

So before I go off on another nostalgic rant about the fleeting times in front of an audience, something that I'd forgotten how it looked given the dwindling theatre populous - it is time to redirect things back to why this part of cyberspace exists, besides a space for me to rant to myself in complete isolation. For the second pre-season testing session of the year has started in the rather sunnier climes of Barcelona, whatever sun is anyway, seems a lot like an mythical concept in the northern reaches of this part of the world. Therefore I shall use this cue to cover the remaining points before having to put the site in order before things kick of in Australia.

credit to F1Fanatic.co,uk for the image

The first order of business is that the final car release of the 2013 season (well the penultimate release, but we'll get to that later) has been announced, the Williams FW35. From the initial pictures it would seem that the team have bought their car from IKEA and forgotten to add some of the parts in the box. Because there is a distinct lack of bodywork and anything of a mechanical nature at the rear of the car in front of the rear wing. It looks a little flimsy back there, and exposed to being hit by Frenchmen driving black and beige cars, however at least the front of the car looks a lot more substantial. Which considering that Maldonado will be driving this car this year, and will be the end of the car he'll be ramming people with. I'm not too sure whether it is the image and filtering, but the metallic, reflective colour looks rather decent, a little different to the plain matte finish of last season. I find this car a little questionable in terms of design, and piloted in one seat by a lunatic, and an unknown quantity in Valtteri Bottas in the other. But the mid-field battle is starting to look even more interesting, with the team of pure darkness - Sauber, Torro Rosso - who are armed with the sharpest nose ever, and Force India who are auditioning for Di Resta's friend for the season. Speaking of which...

Will Di Resta be lonely for much longer

After Marussia caught up to Caterham in the Jerez test, the loneliest place on the grid - aside from the cold and solitary darkness of blog HQ - is the Force India garage. Because still at this stage the Scot has no friends to sit in the other car on the other side of the stall, the list of candidates has fluctuated immensely under the pressure of media speculation throughout the winter. But now as the teams arrive in Spain at Catalunya the list would appear to have been shortened to two candidates who will be driving the car during the test. 

• Adrian Sutil - Sutil has been with the team since the Spyker days and has had moments of great speed and ability - but went missing from the world of F1 after he beat up some people in china, because apparently that is not the done thing to do in nightclubs - whatever they are anyway. He is now in the list for a return alongside...
• Jules Bianchi - A GP2 graduate and part of the Ferrari driver development program, and was released from testing duties with the red team in favour of Pedro De La Rosa. It was assumed the move was to pave a way for Bianchi to get the space in Force India to gain track experience with an mid-grid team. Because that is where all the fun is.

In weighing the two up, we have one driver with a proven record and was on course to take major points in Monaco 2008 if Raikkonen hadn't binned him from 4th at the chicane. Sutil is quick, but is prone to moments of madness, bouncing of all kinds of people in the opening race in Korea in 2010. Although the idea of putting him on the same grid as Maldonado and Grosjean does have a certain air of anticipation for some mayhem from time to time. While on the other hand we have an unknown quantity of Bianchi, who has been quick in the support categories, but the competition there is as financially biased as it is in the main game so making an assessment is not really possible in comparison to Sutil. Of the two I know who I'd want in the squad, and think it would make for a more dynamic mid-pack race.

I mentioned another car release

As some of you may know, the blog has it's own vehicle, for pottering around the tracks before the race, in a largely un-viewed illustration video. As it is the beginning of a new season it would be nice to unveil the new car for the year - the successor to the Minardi PS05 used throughout 2012 - with the odd exception where other cars stood in. This season I have stepped things up a little, actually finding something a little more competitive than a back row contender...

 This 2013 car is a 2009 Red Bull - so in theory it should be a lot faster than the others that the blog has been using so far, will that make a difference on the lap times and general driving ability that any preview videos will demonstrate. Well perhaps not, because It'll still end up in the barrier, shedding wheels in a myriad of different directions. This car - was one of the first cars that the German bloke decided to name, the launched RB5 chassis used in testing was given the name 'Kate'. So that gave me an idea, it would be nice to name the 2013 car something other than 'the blogmobile'  as that has lost the novelty factor - I have a couple of ideas, but I think I shall open it up to the floor to see if anyone has any better ones. There may even be bonus points in it for anyone who does come up with something interesting. So while that is decided, this is farewell from me here in the darkened corner that is Blog HQ.

Pre-Season Update: Car Releases Everywhere

Greetings Internet,

The first tests of the year are underway over in Spain - over the first two days McLaren and Lotus have been the fastest teams. But in all reality the times we are seeing are probably not going to mean a whole lot when things get started properly in Australia, those people who are running off to the betting shop and throwing all kinds of money on Button and Grosjean to walk to the title will never see their money ever again. What the opening weekend of pre-season testing does provide however is the first glance at what the teams have been developing over the winter, and perhaps some rough estimation of a general order. For example Marussia have been a constant two seconds off the back of the entire grid - so things do not look particularly promising. Especially considering that HRT have vanished, and the vague rumour of 'Scorpion GP' has faded into the mysticism from whence it came, Marussia have no-one to race back there. I can gradually hear the opening bars of Kim Jong Il's 'I'm so ronery' sweeping through the garage, precluding what could be a dire season.

Moving on from the gloomy isolated realm at the bottom of the grid, this latest post is aimed at going through the new models that have arrived for the first test of the season.

New Cars of 2013

Red Bull have gone purple, which is probably the biggest change on the car. Well if it isn't broken, there is nothing to fix, and Adrian Newey could make a coffee table a race winning entry. Flurries of internal rumours always cover the roles of Vettel and Webber and relative equality. Nothing seems too different on the surface, but it can be safely assumed that in the maze of corporate secrecy, there is something going on. Something that would probably lead to that German bloke winning again...

The 2012 Ferrari was an abomination, looked appalling and didn't drive any better. Yet somehow Alonso won races and Felipe took the bonus points championship. This chassis is a massive improvement, and looks impressive. Ferrari are borrowing Toyota's wind tunnel now rather than the reduced scale in house approach. Perhaps a little early to declare Fernando the 2013 champion...

Having lost Hamilton to another silver car, McLaren have imported One-Stop Perez as a replacement. Button on the other hand lead the first day of testing, so early indications that this is another rather quick car. If lewis has taken all the reliability gremlins to Germany with him then this car could be immediately on the pace with Ferrari and Red Bull, and interestingly some resurgent pace from Lotus.

We've already seen Lotus' 2013 evolution of the car - the E21, like McLaren it has shown some preliminary pace. Even before Kimi has been placed in the car. Again this is not much of a change from the last entry from the team, but the folk at Endstone have set themselves some high targets of finishing in the top three teams at the end of the season. The vagaries of the Jerez times suggest that this may be plausible.

This what the Mercedes is supposed to look like, but Hamilton has placed his in the barrier so it is now misshapen. As with so many of the other cars, the livery and design remains identical, with the remodelling of the nose for the vanity panel. Having seen their fancy DRS system not produce the advantage they hoped, focussing on the car as a whole might help. If Lewis can keep all the wheels on it this time.

This is the Force India with Paul Di Resta who presently has no friends, the team haven't given him one yet. A completely random name in the form of James Rossiter has been in the car in testing but there is apparently a long list lining up for the second seat. Including Sutil, Bianchi, and Kobayashi. The car itself has been quick in testing, not that anything can be deduced from that, but whoever has enough money will have a decent car to play with this season.

The people over at Sauber have run out of white paint and gone for a more sinister livery this year, as they have gone to the dark side. Which actually looks cool. Additionally Sauber have a unique nose solution creating a stepped vent in the slope, something in between the steps of 2012 and the vanity panel lots of people have taken. Perhaps they are onto something, harnessing the power of darkness into a car powered by pure evil. Firing Kobayashi was a bad move, but this goes some way in forgiving that action.

Torro Rosso have dubbed their new entry the STR8 - catering to a younger market with that. Also they've released the sharpest nosecone in all of history, hoping to impale the competition instead. Not sure why they've attached a blade to the front of the car, but maybe it'll work - not that the testing data corroborates that theory. Sticking with Ricciardo and Vergne STR have one of the more consistent line-ups, so if stabbing everyone fails, there is a change trying to apply pace, maybe a little bit.

Despite having the slowest car in testing by a large margin, Marussia have come up with a nice looking car. As it happens, one of the few teams to redesign the car significantly the early rewards have not been very successful at all. Piloted by a lot of money named Chilton, and the recently revealed Luis Razia from GP2 in the other car, doesn't look like changing that. Destined to a life alone at the back - yet still managing to have more friends than Di Resta at Force India.

The final release belongs to Caterham, who apparently forgot to make a car and left the old one outside. The colours have faded in the sun and no really changes have been taken into effect. Pic was announced last year, but before the first test it was confirmed that Kovalainen had been fired and replaced. Meaning that the entire back of the grid is to be filled with people who are predominantly there due to funding. It's disturbing yet inevitable, so don't expect too much of an improvement over the course of the year.


There is one omission from this list, which is Willams, who haven't released a 2013 car, and have been turning up to testing with the 2012 version painted to look like the planned new release. Which is to say there is virtually no difference, dominated in part by Maldonado's funding from Venezuela. One the whole only The Sauber Empire have made a marked change to the livery, as they slide into the dark side.

Other things. 

Last time there was some speculation that there would be a replacement 20th race, since New Jersey wasn't ready to host the race - the event of Hurricane Sandy has further dented that race. There was also issues surrounding the German GP, but that has now been settled to be held at the Nurburgring, where it was supposed to happen. The only other track news is that Sochi is on target to host the first ever Russian GP in 2014, brining the total up to 20 races - which does call into question which race is going to go missing if New Jersey is also going to be on the calendar as well. The finger of doubt is wavering towards Spain and Germany, and hopefully not Belgium - because Spa is awesome.

Work has started on designing the 2013 blogmobile livery, and that does mean that chassis has been chosen and draft liveries have been developed. There is a small section of the template which refuses to co-operate so I shall depart now and work on that, so until next time this is farewell from the blog.

2013 - Blog HQ Round-up

Greetings Internet,

Apparently it is another year, which means there is another season waiting gently in the wings for the curtain to open in Australia. So I suppose on that note this might be a good time to brush the dust away from this corner of the internet and re-open Blog HQ for 2013. There was a plan to release a series of posts over the off-season before now but I got distracted by video games and lines that needed learning - and some more of those have been added to the list. Is not written 'there is no time like the present' so on that note welcome to the first thing to grace the internet since the championship presentation post in the long forgotten past of 2012 - which oddly didn't end in the feared Apocalypse. So what am I doing here with a spontaneous release from my darkened corner - well the answer is simple, things are afoot on the grid, comings and goings and questionable decisions. There has been a tide turning in this transitioning period from one year to the next, where being able to drive a car at any decent speed has increasingly little to do with getting a spot on the grid. In fact, anywhere from the mid-field down being decent is almost detrimental to maintaining a career in the sport. Before preparations get underway for the year - painting up the new blogmobile and things, it is time for a general catch-up of goings on during the winter.

credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The first new car

One of the first signs that the development wheels are slowly starting to slide into motion is the release of the first 2013 competitor - last season we saw Caterham and McLaren opening the schedule of releases. However this season it is Lotus who open things with the E21 - which bears a lot a similarities to its predecessor. One of the few cars that made the questionable stepped nose design work, so we can expect it to be downhill from here when the other teams pull back the covers on their challengers. There is a slight change in the livery and some refinement of the shape but some consistency in the regulations has ensured that no radical designs have sprung forth, but there is time for that theory to be disproved.

Silly season driver markets

We left the 2012 season with a lot of people having their futures in doubt, and in many cases those doubts have been confirmed - Kamui Kobayashi, one of the blog favourites has been officially booted out. Replaced by a lot of money that happens to come in the shape of Mexican, Esteban Gutierrez, while Force India refugee Hulkenberg takes the other seat. At the front of the grid everything was sorted out long before the winter break, and Lotus sealed their line up after Grosjean avoided hitting anyone for once to win the race of champions. On the whole there are three seats remaining - or possibly five, but we'll get to that issue in a while.

Seats 1 and 2: Force India

As of yet Force India have yet to announce any of their drivers for the coming season, presently they have Paul Di Resta as a strong potential for one of those seats, but nothing is confirmed. Then there is the matter of a possible team-mate. Now that Ferrari have adopted former HRT driver De La Rosa, there is an hint that Ferrari development driver Jules Bianchi is being directed into the spare space. However there is the matter of Adrian Sutil as a possible name, along with the list of displaced drivers from the class of 2012.

Seat 2: Caterham

Having confirmed Charles Pic before the end of the season, there is one space still available, and a large list of people lining up to take the spot in the leading team in the bottom division. Strangely, none of the current drivers are at the top of the list, on account of their limited funding, Heikki wants a drive on merit alone - so he'll get thrown out for not being rich enough. Petrov is also rumoured to be down on funds so the Russian could be out too - which brings Giedo Van Der Garde into the frame, who ran Friday practice late in the year. The result of this can only serve to increase the amount of anger there is among the fans and media regarding 'pay drivers' defeating speed and ability.

Seat 3: Marussia

When we left Brazil it was assumed that this one was done and dusted, maintaining the experience of Glock and a new face of Max Chilton arriving with more money. The Briton has effectively bought his way all the way up the development ladder with a connection to AON insurance or whatever it is they do. His brother Tom has used the same funding to challenge for BTCC wins, but when he and his team couldn't get their way they buggered of to the world series to lose there. So there is not a lot of hope for Max other than being an obstacle at the back - amazing what money does.

Then the plot thickened recently when Timo Glock was removed from the team, another victim of the change in the way the series now operates. Glock now has a seat in DTM for BMW but no news as to who has bought the seat, there is an array of development drivers in the Manor squad but I can assume whoever has the biggest chequebook shall win the seat.

The resurrection of HRT?

I mentioned the potential for two more seats and those could be in the reanimated HRT team, falling into liqudation at the end of the season amputated them from the 2013 grid, or so we thought. News has emerged that there is interest in buying the team and making a return to the grid, under the title 'Scorpion F1'. This sort of story has been doing the rounds before and came to absolutely nothing, after the demise of the Prost GP team in 2001, similar rumours suggested that they would be reborn under the slighly cliché name of 'Phoenix F1'. I've no idea whether the name had anything to do with the Opel Team Phoenix who competed in DTM at the time - with little success. So I can't imagine that we will see 'Scorpion F1' in 2013 - or 2014 but it is a nice idea, and potential for an awesome livery.

Calendar Madness

 The 2013 schedule was initially released with 20 events planned to take place including a new street race in New Jersey, that particular venture was postponed until 2014 (but could go missing altogether) leaving us with 19. But Bernie wants 20 and opened the options up to the floor as who wants to join the calendar this season, the response was less than enthusiastic - the first candidate Istanbul doesn't have enough money to host the race. Then there was the idea of the Red Bull Ring  (formerly the A1 Ring) in Austria, but that was merely an idea with no backing and real momentum, a similar situation with Paul Ricard in France. Then things got a little interesting as a new name was linked to the vacant space on the schedule - Portimao in Portugal, an impressive track with lots of undulation but Portugal isn't really rolling in spare cash to host a race either. In the end it is likely that the space held by Valencia in 2012 will stay empty leaving us with 19 races. One interesting tangent is that the timing equipment from the abandoned port circuit has been stolen... we're not seeing that again.

But 19 races was recently cut back to 18 as problems once more involving money mean that the German GP may be under threat, the race alternates between the Nurburgring and Hockkenheim, and it is the former's turn this time. However the Nurburgring can't afford the race, and if Hockenheim can't pick up the tab then we probably won't have a German GP either. So having an impeccable record in recent seasons for creating world champions doesn't mean you get to keep your race. An indication that older traditional nations are under threat, when the likes of Russia, Mexico and Thailand plotting races in the near Future. Sochi has even been handed a provisional November 2014 date for the first Russian GP - shame that the only Russian driver is on the verge of being booted out

And that is all

So we come to and end of the opening post of the year, of what promises to be a turbulent season full of complaints at the increasing wave of funded drivers replacing current proven talents. There is an argument brewing and with tracks and drivers falling by the wayside - it can't end well for all concerned. But as more cars are released and more of those seats are filled, and the theoretical Scorpion F1 bid unfurls or fades into nothingness - the bigger picture will become clear. So until then this is farewell from Blog HQ.

The 2012 Championship unveiling ceremony

Greetings Internet,

At the end of the final racing weekend of the season where the Australian V8 supercars series drive around the confines of the Sydney Olympic park - see if the Australians can get something out of the facilities after the games, there is hope for London. Seeing the Olympic village converted into a temporary street track for something like a TOCA weekend or F3/GT event would be mightily impressive. Albeit a little unlikely considering we tend not to do street tracks in this country - nothing significant since the Birmingham Superprix in the late 80's. All that however is a slight tangent to where this post is actually heading. Now that the season has been completed and the last flag of the season fell in Brazil only a week ago, it is time to go through the final championship results announcing the winners and losers from what has been a very dynamic season, which in the real world was handed once more to that German bloke, but in the past few days even that was questioned.

Lets roll things back a couple of days, to the events of that final race, where Vettel was turned around on the opening lap by contact with Bruno Senna, that put him down at the back of the grid. During the initial comeback from 22nd up into the top ten in a matter of laps, there was a second crash, one that wasn't picked up by the TV cameras. That crash was that of Maldonado spinning at turn three, an incident that brought out yellow flags in that reason - these flags sparked a storm of internet debate as contradictory footage appeared to show Sebastian overtaking Vergne under those yellows. The dashboard lights indicated a yellow flag situation, while a green flag was being waved on the exit of the pit lane, which would have been after the site of the crashed Williams. So in the end it was deemed valid and Ferrari saw the tiniest glint of redemption fade.

The only other post season news is that Valtteri Bottas has been confirmed as the second Williams driver and will be replacing Bruno Senna, while keeping Maldonado on for his slightly chaotic speed, but more for his money. This adds Senna to the list of drivers looking for a drive next season, a list which is becoming very extensive, all of which will be excited by the fact that Grosjean hasn't been confirmed at Lotus alongside Raikkonen. So there is the prospect of one of the many drivers in the wings to claim a top line seat, there is also an unconfirmed space at Force India in replacement of Hulkenberg. Two seats that will likely not be available are the two at HRT as the likelihood of them being on the 2013 grid has been dramatically diminished as they have not submitted a formal entry to next season.

Now we are all caught up - onto the awards for 2012.

credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The 2012 championship winners

This is the second edition of the bonus points championship, where the inaugural title was claimed by Jenson Button this time last season, and coming into the final race the McLaren driver was just in the running to steal a double in the final race. This process would go a lot better with a swanky studio and a glamorous assistant, but instead I have a dark lonely corner and a car perched on the back the sofa digging claws into to my neck... hmm slightly far from ideal rather. Nevermind - here is the first announcement on the program this evening and it is the penalties series...

The official blog penalties championship

In this category the blog points out the drivers who have received a variety of penalties across the season, filtering out all the technical penalties that the FIA like to throw at people for gearbox and engine changes. If all those were left in then the table would look rather distorted by the end of the season and impact the results. Speaking of results it is time to go through the final standings - this is where a drumroll would happen and an assistant would wander on with a golden envelope, but not here.

• In third place: Michael Schumacher: In the final podium place on three driving penalties was  the outgoing multi-world title winning driver making a mark on at least one championship in the year of his second retirement, remaining just as much of a trouble maker as he was back in the Ferrari days.
• In second place: One-Stop Perez:  Having effectively left Sauber at the end of the season and now preparing for the hop across to McLaren but that journey hasn't been so smooth this year, and a few of those bumps just happened to be other cars. Showing a little bit more inexperienced when running slightly further forward at times and ultimately running into people earning second in the penalties series. 
• And the winner is: Pastor Maldonado: No massive surprises there, the Venezuelan has made some controversal moves over the course of the year, none more shameful than ramming Sergio Perez in Monaco practice before stuffing it in the barrier a few laps later. There has also been contact with Hamilton in Valencia and Di Resta in Hungary, all adding up to make the Williams driver the highest scoring driver in the blog penalties series for 2012.

The official blog penalty points championship

In addition to the penalties championships there is the infamous in house form of justice that is the penalty points championship, based on the base unit - the penalty point, a force which has been applied to several entities throughout the year. Arguably less penalty points have been awarded this year than in the opening season - but more people have been handed single point, however there is a winner and the results are as follows.

• In joint second place: Lewis Hamilton: In his final season at McLaren the 2008 champion was almost able to reclaim the title of being a double penalty point world champion - but Lewis has calmed down a lot this season. As a result hasn't figured as far up in the table in 2012.
• Also in second place: Romain Grosjean: Where the FIA didn't get the slightly calamitous Frenchman the blog certainly did, Romain virtually hit everyone at some point in the season. Even in the final weekend he hit De La Rosa in qualifying and ended the race buried in the tyre barrier. A sequence of accidents and incidents that have likely lead to his seat not being confirmed at this stage. 
• So the winner is: Michael Schumacher: This could almost considered as going out on a high, an 8th title comes in this penalty points series. A score based on several non-appearances in Q3 and running into the back of people, topped off with some aggressive defensive driving pushing people around - including almost forcing Button into another state in Austin. Well done Michael you've won something in 2012.

The official blog bonus points championship

This is the ultimate highlight of the season, the recognition of which should be considered far and above that of the FIA title - and this season's winner has been tweeted, as Jenson was last season. This has illicited the same response as Button's inaugural championship - complete bugger all, which as depressing as it is, is not at all surprising. Most of the people of the internet don't exactly recognise that this corner actually exists. But enough with that rant, it is time for the final results. 

• In joint second place: Jenson Button: With victories at the beginning and the end of the season, Jenson came close to taking a double bonus points title, coming from a long way behind in the final race to take a joint second step on the podium. Button's championship has been blighted by some missed opportunities and failing to get the hang of the tyres, both of which kept him off the top step this time in 2012.
• Also in second place: Kimi Raikkonen: In a very successful comeback career after spending some time away in rallying the Finn dominated the bonus points season, leading for almost the entire season but faded slightly towards the end. A challenge revitalised by a win in Abu Dhabi, but a middling finale only marked by an adventure up an escape road cost some vital points was a charge was threatening that points lead.
• And the winner is: Felipe Massa: After a frankly dull opening half of the season, Felipe made a remarkable comeback, to the point where he was out pacing and out-qualifying the other red car that was fighting for the actual title. A performance that was frowned upon by the team resulting in a penalty in the US to move him out of the way. Weathering that storm to finish on the podium in an emotional home race, for Felipe allowed him to steal the bonus points title away from Kimi in that final race. 

Some notable mentions

Not everyone can win the bonus points championship, or even end up on the famous podium - there were some other performances that earned many points, but not quite enough for a championship challenge.

• Nico Hulkenberg: In the final few races eclipsed his team-mate and almost claimed a dramatic win in Brazil. Scoring many points in the second half of the year, working up to 10th in the bonus standings. 
• Takuma Sato: For being the only driver in the entire history of the blog to claim an event win without even competing on the grid, a score that was awarded for coming so close to winning the famous indy 500 race. Takuma would have taken the race if a little impatience saw him crash when trying to pass Dario Franchitti on the final lap.
• Fernando Alonso: Based on the speed of that car in Australia, spinning into the gravel in qualifying Fernando should really not have been competing for the championship at the end of the year. Wrestling with a car which was off the pace of the leading teams, highlighting that a driver can have an effect in a weaker car. 
• McLaren: Have to have a mention for having the quickest car all year, but failed to maximise its potential, with a series of pit stop errors and mistakes in the opening half of the season, matched with some race ending mechanical dramas costing wins and at least 50 points for Hamilton in Singapore and Abu Dhabi ruined their hopes of a championship.

That is the end of the 2012 season, as the drivers head off for the Race of Champions event in a few weeks time which is the official end of year party for the majority of the field, where Vettel and Schumacher are going as team Germany. I can sense some more domination this year there as well, but as more updates filter through the internet and things the blog shall return with those and make sure that this little corner of the internet stays going through the winter. So until then, this is farewell from the blog.

The Grand Finale 2012 Review

Greetings Internet,

Before we start there is one initial point that needs to be made - That. Was. Awesome. We've had season deciding races in the past, some of those have been the finale event, but out of all those we've witnessed, that was the greatest. The world turned on their televisions this afternoon looking for some madness, looking for unpredictability  looking for something that turned a one sided championship challenge into a tight enthralling battle. We may all have been hoping for all of that to come true, but in the hours that preceded it - most of them at rehearsal - few would have bargained on the race turning into the immense dynamic event that it was. This finale had everything and more, safety car interventions, great racing and clumsy overtaking manoeuvres ending in contact and retirements. All of them brought to the fore by that one key ingredient, the ingredient we were hoping would set off some chaos, something that would convert a final race procession into a seething swirling sea of dynamism. In the end it wasn't enough to change the outcome of the title, but it was a lot of fun coming to that conclusion - even if we were robbed of the final two laps of the race.

That ingredient once more was rain, it made a fleeting visit in the opening phase of first qualifying but despite initial ideas that it might have stayed dry throughout the race, fortunately, that didn't happen. First it was dry, then it was wet, then it was dry again - and then it was both wet and dry before the rains set in for the final phase of the race, and of course we all finished in formation under the safety car in the rain. I have seen a lot of races from here in blog HQ, most of them before it was Blog HQ and over that time there have been few races where so much has been going on that you lose track completely of where all the cars are in the race - or how they got there. Even the TV director couldn't catch up with much of the racing. It does make me wonder how earth I am going to transform all of those events, passes and incidents into words and comprehensible paragraphs. So here goes...

Image credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

The Race

In all of the championship finales that the blog has seen the anticipation before this one was so much more intense than it was before the start of this race, a thick but undecided veil of cloud was waiting ominously over the top of Interlagos. But the forecasts suggested that it would clear leading to a dry race - a forecast that seemed unnerved by a thin mist moisture sweeping over the grid, as many nervous faces looked away from the radar screens and stared up into the sky. The track surface was merely mildly damp, nothing to force the teams to discard their slick tyres for the intermediates, with nothing to suggest that it would get any worse...oh how wrong they were to be.

On a greasy track both of the Red Bull cars were slow off the line allowing Felipe Massa to make a brilliant start to clear the entire second row and pass Button through the first corner. Alonso followed but his progress was halted by Mark Webber - but where was the German Bloke in this - he'd fallen behind both Ferraris and behind Hulkenberg's Force India. Being in the middle of the pack is a dangerous place especially when heading down towards the dampest corner of the lap, on cold tyres. A danger that was very narrowly avoided when Kimi Raikkonen directly behind Vettel locked up and come very, very close to wiping the German out of the race. The coast was far from clear, because he turned into turn four to find Bruno Senna was in the same place, Vettel was turned around by the Williams and span back into its path. Significant contact was made as Senna bounced off the Red Bull and into Perez's Sauber. Astoundingly Vettel was able to spin turn the car and keep going, despite taking some damage to the exhaust section of the car. Well done Newey, that is one tough car. Senna and Perez were out of the race with damage.

Having lost a place back to Button on the opening lap, Massa was now under pressure from Webber in the Red Bull - Mark got a strong run out of turn twelve and across the line but Felipe defended making Webber go the long way round. However as he had the Australian pinned to the outside Massa opened the door on the inside for Alonso to sweep past and take the pair of them - advantage Fernando, because at this stage by virtue of being on the podium provisionally, was the leader of the championship as Vettel was down the back of the field following the spin. Track conditions were getting slipperier and despite moving onto the podium Alonso was off the pace of the two McLarens out front. Meanwhile Hulkenberg is moving through the field, taking places away from both Webber and Massa to move up into fourth place. Fourth became third when track conditions got the better of the Ferrari driver running off at turn one handing the podium place to the Force India - advantage now passed back to Vettel.

Were things planning on settling down - not by a long shot, increased rainfall meant Alonso was still short of pace, building a long and angry train of cars behind him - with Felipe doing his best to distract Webber who was Fernando's immediate threat. Massa managed to pass the Red Bull to give Alonso some extra support as Grosjean, Kobayashi and Di Resta joined the train behind the two Ferraris, but the queue thinned out a little towards the end of the lap. While the camera focussed on the front of the train Romain Grosjean gets caught out by the damp and spins off planting the Lotus significantly in the tyre barrier on the exit of turn 11. Somewhere in the melee Maldonado had retired from the race, but god knows how or when because the camera work missed his departure. As TV replays tried to establish how Grosjean left the race, the footage cut back to see Webber pointing in the wrong direction in the first corner, a result of some contact from Kobayashi's Sauber. Both drivers were able to continue the race without any significant damage - a broken wing element on the Sauber but that was about it.

All this had resulted in a three car breakaway group out front with the two McLarens still fighting each other and Hulkenberg gaining as their battle continued. The lead pair swapped positions on the main straight, before Hamilton regained the place into the first corner, before Hamilton lost the position in the DRS zone before turn four. In the background Nico was coming ever closer to the front, and somehow Vettel was now inside the top ten despite being binned on the opening lap and falling down to the back of the grid. As for the rain, well it just kicked things up a notch - only a tiny one but enough to send some drivers to the pit lane looking for intermediate tyres. This lead to all kinds of drivers being out of position - a long way out of position as Heikki Kovalainen - the driver Caterham might be binning at the end of the season was 6th, with both Pic and Petrov also in the points. Button and Hulkenberg however stayed out front, on slicks because the rain was starting to ease off slightly and the surface was starting to dry out.

The main rivals found themselves fighting each other in the middle of the pack - Vettel passing Webber but this was only over 14th at this stage as the intermediates were still the most stable tyre, if not the fastest. Demonstrated by Hamilton as his inters were much quicker than the slicks on Massa's car, passing the Ferrari easily - as a result of falling further back Felipe brought his car in for intermediate rubber. Something that made the performances of the lead two more impressive being able to fight with each other on slicks miles ahead of everyone else - a fight that was won in Hulkenbergs favour when he passed Jenson to take the lead of the race before driving off to a comfortable advantage. Vettel was also on another recovery drive taking advantage of a mistake by Kobayashi in turn one to take the place from the Sauber. Those lower division cars in the midst of this battle were soon filtered out of the proceedings although Pic tried very hard to prevent Kamui coming past, pushing the Sauber onto the wet grass down the DRS straight. After all that has happened this race the next car in front of the German bloke was in fact Alonso's Ferrari as the pair ran 4th and 5th on the road.

If the race hadn't seen enough developments the camera cut to Nico Rosberg who had a badly shredded rear tyre, mere moments after Alonso calls his team informing them that there was a lot of debris on the circuit. Frankly I have no idea where half of it came from, some would have been the initial crash, some was Kamui's wing elements, the rest is anyone's guess the camera missed quite a lot. The bit Rosberg encountered was in turn five, and I can't remember anyone hitting each other then. As a result of this strange influx of carbon fibre shards lying around the track the safety car was deployed, much to the annoyance of Hulkenberg and Button who had a huge lead on account of staying on the track on slicks while everyone else pitted. It was also the first time in a long while when nothing happened in the race.

On the restart Hulkenberg was able to break away from the two McLarens behind, while Alonso was able to stay clear of his rival just one place behind. Vettel however was a little pre-occupied with the only remaining Sauber as Kobayashi passed the prospective world champion into turn one, oddly Webber was on the outside of his team-mate making it three wide into the first corner. The outside of the track was still a little too damp and ran wide and off the track. Kamui now set his sights on Alonso ahead. All drivers now lapping on slick tyres as the rainfall had now stopped, still leaving the painted lines and run-off areas extremely slippery. Further up ahead the McLarens swapped places once more seeing Hamilton pass Button into turn four in an effort to catch Hulkenberg ahead. Within two laps of passing Vettel, Kobayashi had now passed the Ferrari of Alonso in the DRS zone - passing two double world champions after the restart is a notable achievement. Although Fernando only spend half a lap behind the Sauber re-taking the place on the main straight.

Massa was the next driver on a charge, catching up to Vettel, aiming to place another car between the German bloke and his team-mate, the problem Sebastien had was not quick enough in straight line to keep other cars at bay. Massa used the DRS to get alongside the Red Bull before sweeping round the outside in turn three. Felipe then caught and passed Kobayashi's Sauber in much the same manner driving round the outside to take the place away. A feat Vettel was unable to replicate, lacking the speed to maximise the power of the DRS and remained unable to pass Kamui. As out front Hulkenberg continues to lead, pulling away from the cars behind him, things were less stable and consistent at the lower end of the points. Raikkonen was on a comeback after narrowly avoiding an accident on lap one, and then putting on the intermediate tyres a little too early and ruining the compound, to find himself in a battle with Schumacher in turn one. Kimi was forced to the outside of the Mercedes in turn one, but was able to hold the line through the Senna S only millimetres apart.

The track had developed a clear dry line passing the advantage at the front to Hamilon in the battle for the lead, but is also tempted drivers to use more of the track - this resulting in drivers touching the white painted lines and having problems. First up was Vitaly Petrov who was leading the final division and up for taking 10th in constructors for Caterham, sliding off in turn 8 losing that position. Next up was Mark Webber at Juncao, touching the line on braking and executing a elegant drift round the corner. The most pivotal error belongs to the leader Hulkenberg who performed an identical spin to Petrov and conceded the lead to Hamliton's McLaren.

This would have been a decent cue for things to settle down - for people to go and put the kettle on for the mid-race beverage, but it was the weather that decided to intervene this time gently starting to increase the amount of rainfall. At first everyone shrugged it off as the transition was quite gradual to begin with, Rosberg was the first to pit for the intermediate tyres anticipating a much greater amount of precipitation, Vettel was having difficulties communicating with the team so when he pulled in for a stop, no-one had any tyres ready. This time loss was compensated by Alonso staying out as the rain started to actually become rain rather than misting droplets, almost putting the car in the wall in the infamous rivers of turn three. Instead executing an epic save to keep him in the race. Raikkonen however was off an a mini adventure of his own, after going off in the final corner he took to an escape road behind the barriers. Kimi drove around on an old part of the track only to find the route back to the racing surface was blocked... We'll get back to that adventure later...

Because Hulkenberg had found pace in the wet, a lot more pace than Hamliton out front catching up to the McLaren and sensing an opportunity to take the lead through traffic. As Lewis was passing a Marussia, Nico went down the inside of both of them also when trying to avoid Kovalainen in the Caterham at the same time, on the damper inside line the Force India got sideways sliding into the side of Hamilton's McLaren tearing front suspension off and ending his race. Hulkenberg on the other side was able to rejoin the race, before being handed a drive through penalty for some apparent season. It was a spin that happened to involve another car, but never mind. This put Alonso up into a net second and then put him very close to taking the championship away from Vettel, who was in the minimum place needed to win. Taking that seventh place position from Kamui Kobayashi through turn five, edging the Sauber out onto the run-off in the process, after he Japanese driver didn't feel like giving up, fortunately the rain wasn't bad enough to fire the car into the nearest barrier.

Laps were running out and the rainfall was continually increasing, something that was hurting the pace of Schumacher dropping him back towards Vettel increasing his chances of making another position, a move that was made easier by the fact that Schumacher is friends with the German bloke. So he made the overtake very easy indeed, and Vettel was up into 6th place, making the championship that bit more secure. The only thing that could derail that would be Alonso taking the lead, but Button was 20s clear of anyone out front, with less than ten laps left a he was quite safe. Back to Raikkonen and he had managed to break free from the maze of escape roads behind turn 12, spin turning the car and coming back the way he came rejoining in 11th place. Completing more miles than any other driver in the race by this point. Just behind the Finn the bottom division battle was intensifying as Charles Pic was under-pressure from Petrov for 12th - the Russian used Alonso lapping the battle for the cover he needed to take the place from the Marussia. Slighly ironic when it was Vitaly who prevented Alonso taking the championship in 2010, for roles and fortunes to be reverse as the Spaniard helped Caterham claim their mini championship win.

Could we get through the final few laps without contact or any other kind of madness - well in short no - it all started with Kamui having a go at Schumacher for 7th place, the Sauber looked up the inside on the DRS straight. Of course the wing system has been disabled due to the increased amount of rain at this stage due to the conditions, it was the rain that prevented Kobayashi holding a tighter inside line and therefore slid gently into the Mercedes. Bouncing gracefully of Schumacher's sidepod the Sauber span round, but no damage was done. The final act of the race belonged to Paul Di Resta, who encountered difficulties up the climb towards the line, aquaplaning mid-corner and crashing heavily into the new safer barrier installed on the exit. Wondered when it would see some use this weekend, and it does seem to work as Di Resta only seemed disoriented by the hit. As a result the safety car was deployed again, but this was the penultimate lap meaning the race and the season would finish under the safety car. The race by the same man who opened the scoring back in Australia, mastering the difficult conditions and cementing his new role as number one at McLaren. Behind Button Alonso finished second, the best he could have got out of the car, but was it enough for the title. Felipe completed the podium for Ferrari in his home race.

Despite being span early on, and a powerslide through the penultimate corner, Mark Webber claimed fourth position, in 5th place Hulkenberg recovered from a crash and a penalty. But 6th place was enough to Vettel to take a third consecutive championship, after a first lap accident and pitting before the team had tyres ready for him. On his final race of a second retirement in Brazil - the first one Raikkonen has actually attended - Michael Schumacher claimed some points the first for Mercedes for a long while as well. In a race of lots of madness, Vergne managed to sneak through under the radar to take 8th place for Toro Rosso, recovering from a late spin Kobayashi stayed in the top ten in 9th for two points. The final point of the season goes to our Interlagos adventurer Kimi Raikkonen on his return from mapping the uncharted territory behind turn 12.

The bonus points championship points winners

At the conclusion of the final race of the season it is time to unveil the last set of scores in defining who gets the immense honour of being crowned the second ever blog HQ bonus points champion. Here are the final results.

• 25pts - Nico Hulkenberg - A brilliant race in the Force India, would have won if it wasn't for the contact with Hamliton, regret firing him yet Williams...
• 18pts - Jenson Button - Staying out on slicks in the beginning took balls and another great performance in difficult conditions
• 15pts -Vitaly Petrov - Scoring Caterham's best ever finish in 11th and earning the team 10th in the constructrors championship
• 12pts - Felipe Massa - A brilliant start and some brilliant overtakes to the outside of people
• 10pts - Kamui Kobayashi - Passing two double world champions in a space of a few laps deserves a mention
• 8pts - Fernando Alonso - Get everything out of the car, helped by accidents, but made save of the day in turn three on the slicks
• 6pts - Sebastien Vettel - Doing enough to win the championship despite being turned around and damaged on the opening lap 
• 4pts - Adrian Newey - The is a mighty strong car you've built there, how it survived that hit is very impressive
• 2pts - Kimi Raikkonen - Has to have a couple of points for avoiding Vettel on lap one, and then his random adventure at the back of the track
• 1pt - Mark Webber - Gets a point for that epic drift through Juncao.

I also want to give the following bonus points out in addition to a driver scores

• 10pts - Rain - Thanks for that race, your contribution was exceptional today
• 10pts - BBC - For doing a much better job than sky all year
• 10pts - Brazil - For being the greatest race of the season, up there with Canada 2011

The penalties championship

The last penalty of the season was handed to Nico Hulkenberg for that contact with Hamilton where a drive through penalty was issued.

The penalties 

As this was the final race of the season I think I can let the various little driving infringements slide, because after all conditions were challenging - but of course everyone is not safe for there will be a penalty for the stewards for Nico's penalty because it was a racing incident and throwing penalties at people is not very nice frankly.

Looking forward to 2013

If this season is anything to go by the next one is going to be immense, we have driver changes some of which are exiting with Perez at Sauber, and Hamliton down at Mercedes - while others are less impressive including Gutierrez being funded into the middle of the Sauber team. Regulatory stability should allow the cars to be much closer and more competitive, so the battle at the front could be very exciting indeed. Aside from that no-one knows what is waiting for us on the other side of the off-season. But in respect to the season we have just had the pleasure of witnessing - and in the words of the BBC at the completion of a mesmerising final race - "Don't be sad that it has ended, smile because it happened". For now this is farewell from the blog until the bonus points are totalled up and the 2012 champion is revealed

The Grand Finale: Brazil Pre-race

Greetings Internet,

The first half of grand finale has now been completed under what was an increasingly brightening sky, there was the faint hint that qualifying was going to be reflection of the rain interrupted madness of 2010. A session which saw Hulkenberg take pole - to which Williams rewarded the achievement by firing him... friendly. It is such matters that are at the forefront of discussions before we get into the content of the session earlier on today. Two more driver movements have been decided before the start of the weekend, both of which have some fairly disturbing implications for the line-up going into 2013. First up we have a change at the back of the grid, where Charles Pic has been collected by Caterham on what is dubbed a multi-year deal. This works out well for Pic because Marussia have a habit of binning Timo's team-mates after the first year, once they've extracted the maximum sponsor money out of them. However this only leaves one more seat at Caterham, and the team have one decision to make - pick the best driver, or one who pays to be here - a decision which looks bad for Kovalainen because having money is much more important than actual ability.

Then there is the other driver change slightly further forward - where once more being able to drive the car appears not to be a requisite for being on the grid. Because Sauber have binned Kobayashi, to be replaced with GP2 driver Esteban Gutierrez who looks barely old enough to own a car never mind race one on an F1 grid. His backing comes from the same source as One-Stop Perez which is enough money to overthrow Kamui's position, and there is a lack of possible other seats for the Japanese racer to go to in the coming season. I have so say I am disappointed on both counts, the same thing got Hulkenberg fired seasons ago - it is a reflection on the dammed state of the global economy it's managed to ruin pretty much everything crippling all life as we know it into an endless stream of emptiness. That is tolerable, but messing with the sport, not cool people, not cool.

All that aside there was a very important session sitting underneath the layers of political selections, and the imminent threat of interesting conditions. Where everyone was focussed on the two drivers duelling for the championship.

credit to F1Fanatic.co.uk

Qualifying

Half an hour before the session was due to begin, the skies deposited a thin layer of rain on the track, and raised several theories about how much more was going to fall before and during the proceedings. It was a shower that seemed to raise hopes a little in the Ferrari garage as their dry running pace was a significantly down on his major rival. But the shower was only brief and the majority of the track had dried out before the first cars were due to venture out.

It was a disorganised queue of the newer cars at the bottom end of the pit lane headed by Heikki, probably wanting to get away from his team before they fire him for not being rich enough. All six of the lower cars tried to leave the garage all at the same time - to the point where Pic almost thought about passing an HRT down the exit road. The battle continued onto the track, where Glock passed Kovalainen on the inside of Juncao corner, but ran wide almost bumping the Caterham off track in the process. Heikki cut back to the inside of the Marussia onto the main straight. Everyone else decided not bother going out onto the track waiting for the rest of the field to clear a drier line, but there was a lot oversteering moments on the single wet corner of the lap.

After a while the main runners took to the track looking to defeat an the early pace by Maldonado and Kobayashi, it was clear that McLaren had the pace over the most of the competition not too far ahead of Red Bull. As the track dried up the times started to tumble rapidly shaving seconds off the top time, but then there was a little bit of incident, which wasn't too far away from being a massive incident. As Grosjean tried to find space which didn't exist on the inside of Pedro De La Rosa's HRT. Contact was made and Romain lost his front wing in the process, fortunately the wing didn't go under the front wheels and fire the Lotus into the wall. Grosjean lost time replacing the wing, and therefore didn't have enough time to get back up to speed. The lap he set at the end of the session was beaten by Ricciardo knocking him into the relegation zone with the new teams while Hamliton ended the session on top.

Into the second session and the track was now dry enough across the entire lap for the slick tyres and lap times were much closer to the dry times posted in the final practice session. In an initial change of fortune the Ferrari drivers were at the top of the times at the start of the session, but there was no time on the board from the Red Bulls or the McLaren drivers so that would explain why Ferrari were able to take an initial lead. Hulkenberg was able to split the two Ferraris, and this time he would be able to qualify the car without being fired - even though he is moving across to Sauber. All of the remaining drivers had set a time apart from the top two teams - but they had just left the garage to start an outlap.

Almost as soon as Hamilton took to the track he decimated Alonso's leading time, finding close to a full second over the Ferrari, Vettel was then able to go a couple of tenths faster after drafting Massa on the main straight. Not sure that will go down well in the Ferrari camp, considering the team would give Massa penalty even if his breathing inconvenienced Alonso. In the remaining minutes of the session the Ferraris started to fall towards the end of the top ten as Raikkonen, Maldonado and Rosberg were able to break into the top ten. Massa too found himself out of the final part of qualifying, but a last lap rescued his position to the expense of Paul Di Resta in the second Force India.

Ten minutes and ten drivers remained for the final part of qualifying including both of the championship contenders at opposite ends of the roster - at this stage things were looking rather good for Vettel to walk away on Sunday with another championship. But there was one session to go, although the rainfall for the day had stopped leaving a dry playing field to define the grid for tomorrow. A session that was started by the only remaining Mercedes in the competition - Nico Rosberg, setting a comparatively slow time - a time that was pulverised by Hamilton to the tune of nine seconds, illustrating how limited Nico's opening effort was. Alonso was only able to come within 6 tenths of the McLaren to line up second on his first run. This 6 tenth gap was first exploited by Button, followed soon by Massa and Webber. As for Vettel his first effort saw him run wide and only manage 6th behind the Ferrari, as everyone regrouped for the second run.

In the gap when the track was empty, Hulkenberg used the space to move up into fourth before the others came back out again. It was Webber who was the first to readjust the order setting the new fastest time in the Red Bull, in a time that weathered the storm both Alonso and his team-mate Vettel. A strong time from Maldonado saw Fernando lose another place - but at the top it was Hamilton once more edging ahead of the Australian only leaving button to complete his lap. Jenson was going rather quickly but when the McLaren crossed the line he was half a tenth slower then the other silver machine resulting in a McLaren 1-2, and a pole for Lewis in his final race for the team. Red Bull claim the second row with Webber the quicker of the pair. Massa out-qualified Alonso to score 5th, which probably annoyed every fibre of the Ferrari pit wall. Maldonado and Hulkenberg were next on grid before we finally get to the second Ferrari entry. At the bottom of the top ten we have Raikkonen and Rosberg.

The Bonus Points championship points winners

With the main championship approaching its conclusion it is time to unveil the penultimate entry in the bonus points championship where there are far more drivers in contention -  including both of the central rivals out in the real world, whatever the real world is anymore. Here are the winners from Qualifying.

• 10pts - Nico Hulkenberg - Two years after being fired by Williams for taking pole and not being rich enough coming back to be on the same row as his highly financially backed replacement
• 8pts - Mark Webber - 
• 6pts - Vitaly Petrov - For out qualifying Heikki, although the team have thoroughly demoralised the Finn in their team decisions
• 5pts - Felipe Massa - For out qualifying Alonso, which is a rebellious move, fight the system Felipe and win bonus points for doing so
• 4pts - Lewis Hamliton - So much speed this weekend, makes you wonder why leave it but going quickly at the moment
• 3pts - Jenson Button - Almost taking pole from his team-mate in another stong session
• 2pts - Timo Glock/Kovalainen - Have to have bonus points for their sideways duel in the wet final sector of the lap, 
• 1pt - Pastor Maldonado - Has to have point for a ballsy pass on De La Rosa round the outside near the wall in the final corner. 

The Penalties championship

Despite the very close call between the Lotus and HRT in Q1 no penalties were handed out to them, we only have one penalty to add to the charts following qualifying. That penalty goes to Pastor Maldonado who ignored the light telling him to visit the weighbridge. As a result he earned himself a 10 place grid penalty, on the surface this seems harsh, but is a consequence of receiving three warnings in a season for various other offences this year, so cumulatively this is the result.

The Penalty points championship

This table however does get some additional entrants following the opening phase of this weekend, and are as follows.

• Romain Grosjean - trying to fit the car in that space was madness, and the result of the contact could have been very destructive indeed and dangerous.
• Sauber - for binning Kamui for a financially backed youth
• Catherham - for seemingly neglecting Heikki - the best driver their struggling team has on the verge of being thrown out of the series altogether.

Looking to tomorrow

Every post session interview referenced one thing - rain - the forecast has been fluctuating across the day, from presenting a dry session to an 80% chance of heavy rains, so the outcome of the race will likely be defined by the weather. In the dry we can assume that the McLarens - barring mechanical failures - to vanish off into the distance tailed by the Red Bulls. Alonso will fight past the Force India of Hulkenberg, and be gifted the next place by Massa who will be on orders not to occupy the same straight as the Spaniard. Once released will charge after the cars in front for a final battle to the line, but the championship will once more be handed across to that German bloke.

Should the rain fall however absolutely anything can happen, we've had wet Brazillan GP's where one third of the podium finished the race in hospital and the victory took a week to figure out - eventually becoming the last win for Jordan. Titles have been won and lost in the rain in Interlagos all within 200m of the finish line. A wet race is a mire of unpredictability and potential for safety cars is massively increased, in the aforementioned race the safety car was called on several occasions to cover several accidents and incidents - so the grand finale of F1 2012 could be a very exciting adventurous event, well worth looking forward to. Something to see the season out on a high, so the blog hopes for rain because I would like a mad, mad race to end the year. So until tomorrow this is farewell from the blog.