Singapore saw Sebastien Vettel win. Fernando Alonso would now be looking over his shoulder and digging deep to keep his lead in the Championship Alive. The 15th Round of the Formula 1 season was held at Suzuka Japan. Lewis Hamilton's retirement in Singapore left him 4th in the Standings 50 points behind the leader, his title chances now seemingly over.

The Japanese Grand Prix would however produce a result which would bring ecstasy to one driver and angst and frustration for another. Lets see how it all unfolded!

 

FREE PRACTICE :

 

Every car used the option tyres during the second part of qualifying. Di Resta complained over his pit-to-car radio after he had to weave in and out of Webber and Grosjean on a flying lap approaching the final chicane. Felipe Massa, Paul Di Resta, Michael Schumacher, Pastor Maldonado, Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Jean-Eric Vergne failed to make it into Q3. Schumacher's penalty from Singapore demoted him to 23rd from 13th. Vergne after serving his penalty for Impeding started the race from 19th. Thus Senna, Kovalainen and Glock started 2 places further up on the grid in 16th, 17th and 18th respectively, and behind Vergne, de la Rosa, Pic and Petrov moved up 1 place on the grid to start from 20th, 21st and 22nd respectively in front of Schumacher and Karthikeyan.

 

Q3 began with a lack of action on track. However, the McLarens, Red Bulls and Lotuses all chose to do two separate flying lap efforts. Vettel and Webber had set the 1st and 2nd fastest times on the first timed runs. Button was 3rd, followed by Grosjean and Raikkonen and Hamilton's McLaren. During the 2nd timed run, Kimi Raikkonen ran wide at Spoon curve, and whilst returning onto the track, spun and stopped at the edge of the track. Yellow flags were brought out, and Perez was the only driver in front of Raikkonen who did not have to slow down.

Vettel and Webber were both on faster laps than their previous ones, but were unable improve their times because of the yellow flags. They maintained their grid slots, though, as the team took their 1st front row lock-out of the season!!

Vettel claimed his 4th successive pole at the Suzuka circuit, maintaining his 100% record. This was his 34th pole postion. He moved into third in the all-time list for pole positions, behind Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna. Vettel had held Fernando Alonso up during his flying lap, but he was given a reprimand. An Important Let-off.

Button marginally improved his time, remaining in 3rd place but would eventually become 8th on the grid due to a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change.

Kamui Kobayashi took an impressive 4th place for Sauber, but immediately after he set the time it was suggested that he had not slowed down in the yellow flag area.He had gone green in that sector on the Timing Screen. However he was allowed to keep the place on the grounds he had not used KERS or DRS as normal. Button's gearbox penalty promoted him to 3rd on the grid. This was the best Qualifying position for a Japanese Driver in his Home Race.

Grosjean, Perez, Raikkonen, Alonso, Hamilton, Hulkenberg completed the Top 10. Hamilton moaned about the setup change which robbed him of a better Qualifying position. Hulkenberg's Gearbox change demoted him to 15th on the grid.

The components were now becoming limited for many teams and everyone would have to be careful about the stipulated number of components over a season.

 

 

 

RACE :

 

Every driver except Jean-Eric Vergne, Charles Pic and Michael Schumacher started the race on the softer compound 'option' tyres.

At the end of the safety car period, and the beginning of lap 3, Vettel sprinted away from Kobayashi, quickly establishing a 3 second lead and building on it. Sergio Perez attempted to overtake Raikkonen for 5th place at Turn 1, but was forced wide and slotted in behind 6th place Hamilton. He managed to overtake Hamilton at the hairpin after a few laps of closing him down, locking his tyres and creeping around the apex. He then began to move back towards the 5th placed Lotus of Raikkonen.

Heikki Kovalainen had surprised everyone when he was at running in 11th position. The incidents of the First Lap were investigated and Romain Grosjean was handed a ten-second stop-go penalty for the collision he caused. He ended up at the back when his Penalty was served. Michael Schumacher meanwhile had climbed his way from 23th to 14th, despite the German losing telemetry to the team.

Vettel and Massa were the drivers showing good pace when Button became the first driver to make a scheduled pit-stop in the race on lap 13. Raikkonen and Hulkenberg pitted on lap 14 from 5th and 8th positions repsectively, having to make their way past Vergne and Kovalainen after their pit stops.

Kobayashi pitted on lap 16 to promote Felipe Massa to 2nd place, but kept Button behind him as both were temporarily held up by drivers yet to stop. Vettel and Massa pitted on lap 20 and maintained their positions. Massa had leap-frogged both Kobayashi and Button with a quick stop and the Brazilian was clearly having a fantastic resurgence. Perez attempted the same move he had overtaken Hamilton with the previous time at the hairpin on lap 20, but this time Hamilton moved to the inside line and Perez carried too much speed into the corner, sliding round and getting stuck in the gravel trap.

On lap 22, Senna was given a drive through penalty for his contact with Rosberg at the start of the race. By this point, Mark Webber had worked his way back up to 9th place, but had to pit a few laps later.

Hamilton and Kobayashi pitted on lap 31, one lap after Raikkonen, who Hamilton was competing with now for 5th spot. He overtook him at Turn 1 on the following lap. Kimi tried overtaking Lewis on the outside and both left enough racing space for each other. Both Veterans showed how racing should be done

Button, Massa and Vettel piited on laps 35, 36 and 38 respectively, and all retained their positions in 4th, 2nd and 1st, with Kobayashi in 3rd. Michael Schumacher opted for a different tyre strategy and was the only driver on the softer tyres when he pitted on lap 37. He spent much of the remainder of the race behind the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo, fighting for 10th place, but never eventually gaining it due to some impressive defending.

Button spent the final stint of the race closing to within one second of Kobayashi, but never managing to overtake the Sauber driver.

Sebastian Vettel took the 24th victory of his career and became the 1st driver to take consecutive victories in the 2012 season.

Felipe Massa ended the longest streak a Ferrari driver had ever had without a podium by finishing 2nd, taking his first since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix. Kobayashi became the 3rd Japanese driver to score a Formula One podium, in front of his home crowd, with his best result of 3rd place. The McLarens of Button and Hamilton finished in 4th and 5th places, followed by Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Maldonado, Webber and Ricciardo who completed the top 10. Romain Grosjean retired on the final lap due to a gearbox problem. It was a smart decision by Lotus F1 as the reitrement allowed them to change components for the next race.

As a consequence of his victory and Alonso's retirement, Vettel closed the gap between himself and championship leader Alonso to just 4 points. In an interview after the race, Mark Webber desribed Romain Grosjean as a "first-lap nutcase" with regard to the collision Grosjean caused between them at the race start.

Alonso also questioned Kimi's refusal to lift the throttle, something he feels would have avoided the incident. However Alonso must remember that every driver is here to race. No one will yield positions easily. Ferrari are renowned for influencing decisions and Alonso thought something would be ruled in his favour. However I don't see the reason for his discontent. Fernando was the one who moved across the track, he was the one who tried to block Kimi's run into the First Turn. Kimi has every right to defend and take a position and Fernando must realise that every driver isn't going to capitulate easily.

Mark Webber was frustrated by the shunt he suffered at the start due to Grosjean. He also indicated that the One Race-Ban wasn't enough for Romain. I am sure Grosjean would emerge stronger from this incident and mature as a driver. I pray that we wouldn't see another incident caused due to him.

The Japanese crowd deserve credit for the atmosphere. The Stand were shouting " KAMUI KAMUI !! " for Kamui on the podium.

The Result has thrown this Title race WIDE OPEN! Vettel has the momentum, Alonso has to muster all his resources to keep his lead.

We now turn our attention to Korea and who would have thought that Vettel would be a Contender this season!! Red Bull Racing have turned it around since Singapore!!!

We have reached a very interesting stage in the season. Its that time of the year when Whispers are heard in the Paddock, Rumour Mills are running Overtime and Speculations abound.

 

Some Drivers stay with the Existing Team. Some have the liberty to choose their Drives next season while some wait expectantly for Developments and are chosen based on performances.

 

This Season has sprung big surprises and the "Driver Merry-Go-Round" has been no different.

 

 

The Biggest News over the past couple of days has been Lewis Hamilton's Move to Mercedes AMG Petronas.

 

The Move will have great influence on both this season and the next.

 

McLaren Mercedes have already made a decision and signed Sergio Perez as Lewis' Replacement for the next 3 years. Sergio Perez has had a commendable season producing some outstanding drives with Sauber Ferrari F1 this season.

 

The Movements of these two drivers has added more spice to the Driver Lineups of next season.

 

   

Let us study the signifance of these decisions :

 

The Lewis Hamilton Situation :

 

Hamilton's relationship goes a long way with McLaren and his move away to Mercedes hasn't been received well within the British Media.

In December 1995, at the age of ten, Lewis approached McLaren team principal Ron Dennis at the Autosport Awards ceremony and told him, "I want to race for you one day ... I want to race for McLaren." Less than three years later McLaren and Mercedes-Benz signed him to their Young Driver Support Programme.

The Team comprised of the British Supercar Maker McLaren and German Automaking Giant Mercedes-Benz.

Both worked as a deadly duo to bring great success to the 2nd longest serving team in Formula 1. Lewis entered Formula 1 in 2007 when Kimi Raikkonen left McLaren Mercedes for Scuderia Ferrari. Lewis went on to become the Champion in 2008.

2009 brought a Rapid Change of Events. Brawn GP a debutant team headed by Ross Brawn won the Drivers Championship with Jenson Button and the Constructors Championship.

Mercedes parted ways with McLaren to only become an Engine Supplier to the team till 2015. The 40 % Buy-back by McLaren was completed in 2011.

McLaren lost a good amount of funding from Mercedes but their experience in Formula 1 helped them stay in contention every season. 2010 was a closely contested one while 2011 was just sheer domination by Vettel. Lewis had a season to forget with incidents that questioned his presence in Formula 1. ( 2011 ) 

The team has suffered from the perennial problem of Reliability. They have always had the pace and quality to challenge but reliability issues have always hampered the team's title charge.

 

 

Mercedes went on to aquire Brawn GP and the team was re-christened "Mercedes GP Petronas F1 " ( This year changed to "Mercedes AMG Petronas F1" ) in 2010 with Micahel Schumacher and Nico Rosberg heading the Title Charge.  

Mercedes comprised of an all-German team while McLaren acquired the services of Jenson Button to become the all-English team.

Michael Schumacher joined Mercedes AMG Petronas in 2010 after returning from Retirement but has struggled since. One Pole Position ( taken away due to a gearbox penalty ) and One Podium is all he has been able to achieve up until now.

The team on a whole has enjoyed limited success and were rewarded with their First Victory when Nico Rosberg won in Shanghai this year. Reliability Problems, Driver Errors have dogged their campaigns.

 

 

On Paper Lewis' move seems like a step-back. What influenced such a decision?

  

 

McLaren were quite slow in approaching Lewis for a new deal. They underestimated the prowess of their earlier ally and their lack of urgency cost them.  

Lewis suffered a big setback recently when his Gearbox failed in Singapore while leading the race. Lewis' victory in Monza ( the previous race ) was accepted coldly by Ron Dennis and he was hounded all weekend with questions of Lewis' Contract talks. He stated it was Martin Whitmarsh's responsibility to do what he had to do.

Lewis thanked the team on the radio after his Monza Victory. He sounded quite emotional and it seemed this result might want him to extend his contract with the team. The Retirement at Singapore completely changed the scenario.

McLaren seemed to offer a pay-cut only to improve their contract later to make him the highest paid driver on the grid if he accepted it. He would have earned 25 Million Pounds with all bonuses if he stayed for 5 years.

Lewis has signed a three-year deal, believed to be worth approximately £45m over its duration at Mercedes.

Lewis' Management XIX Entertainment have a strong track record when it comes to delivering lucrative contracts and this is a sweet deal for Lewis.

 

According to me, its a big victory for Mercedes AMG Petronas.

 

They have acquired the services of a driver who knows how to win Championships, they have the necessary funding and their interests are very much at being successful in Formula 1. They are also developing their 2014 Engine as that season will feature a completely new Engine Spec.

 

Lewis will have his Friend and former Karting Team-Mate Nico Rosberg as co-driver and it would be interesting to see the partnership they form from next season.

 

 

McLaren Mercedes have played smart by acquiring the services of Sergio Perez. The Mexican is backed by the World's richest man Carlos Slim and the Woking Based team will have Big Sponsorships from next year. Perez is young and talented and at the age of 22 definitely seems Championship Material.  

The Mexican will earn about £3million a year, a fraction of the annual retainer of £15m which could have climbed to £25m with bonuses and extras for titles if Hamilton had signed for another five years - Wise Saving for the Team.

 

 

McLaren seem to emerge stronger than Lewis from this situation. Lewis will have to earn the top-spot at Mercedes and no longer enjoy the "Special treatment", something he might rue later.

 

   

How does it affect the other Drivers??

 

Felipe Massa should heave a sigh of Relief. The greatest contender for his seat in Scuderia Ferrari has gone to McLaren Mercedes. Perez who was monitored by Ferrari all season and shortlisted to replace Massa for next season has given Massa a new lease of life. Massa seems to be the only driver who would complement the guile and ability of Alonso, so for me he should stay put.

 

Michael Schumacher's indecision for next season cost him his seat at Mercedes AMG Petronas. It remains to be seen if Hamilton's appointment will signal Schumacher's second - and permanent - retirement from the sport. Ross Brawn has hinted at giving Schumacher a role next season but the German seems to be more interested in Racing rather than take a passive role with the team. Scuderia Toro Rosso, Williams F1 and Sauber Ferrari F1 have vacancies and the next few weeks should give us a clear picture.

 

Bruno Senna has some tense weeks ahead of him. His season has been mediocre and his perfromances have been eclipsed by team-mate Pastor Maldonado. Senna has to produce results in the next 2 races to strengthen his chances of a drive next season. Valtteri Bottas, the team's test-driver is shortlisted as his replacement and the chances of seeing 3 Finns on the Grid Next Season seem bright.

  

Lotus F1 Team seem to have the same driver line-up next season but Kimi Raikkonen's Fantastic return to Formula 1 has caused some bigger teams to have a look at him again. Ferrari, his ex-employers and the team with whom he won the Drivers Championship in 2007 seem to be interested but having Alonso and Raikkonen in one team would be too hot to handle for the Italians.

 

Raikkonen is happy at Lotus and the team is continuously improving the car to help him with his title-bid this year. HE SHOULD STAY PUT according to me.

 

   

Red Bull Racing will see no driver movement until next year as they have confirmed the extension of Webber's contract for another year.

 

 

This Season isn't done yet and we have a lot of racing left. The Next Season promises to be a more exciting one though!!

 

Bring it on!!

 

 

 

MONZA, ITALY - The Mecca for Ferrari Fans. The Land of the Tifosi. Great Motorsporting History!

Formula 1 arrived here with the title race wide open. The Fastest Race on the Calender promised to deliver a great weekend and it definitely did.

The Italian Grand Prix was the Last European Race of the Calender and the last 7 races are all "Fly - Aways".

Two DRS Zones ( same as 2011 ) ensured that a lot of overtaking would feature in the race! However DRS was shortened this year . The first DRS zone, located on the straight between the second Lesmo corner and the Variante Ascari, was shortened by 50 meters, while the DRS zone on the front straight was shortened by 5 meters.

Ferrari Powered and Mercedes Powered cars would have an advantage against the Renault Powered Engines ( Better Horsepower ).

Teams have to run the lowest downforce setup and Straight line speed is what counts over clean aerodynamics.

 

PENALTIES :

Another Race dominated by Penalties Galore!

Lotus F1 driver Romain Grosjean received a one-race ban for his involvement in the first-lap incident at the Belgian Grand Prix He was replaced by the team's test and reserve driver, Jerome d'Ambrosio

Pastor Maldonado received a ten-place grid penalty for jumping the start of the Belgian Grand Prix and causing an avoidable accident with Timo Glock.

Paul di Resta was also demoted five places for an unscheduled gearbox change on Saturday morning, his second gearbox penalty of the season.

 

FREE PRACTICE :

Ma Qinghua became the first Chinese driver to take part in a Grand Prix weekend when he drove Narain Karthikeyan's HRT in the first free practice session on Friday morning. Valtteri Bottas drove Bruno Senna's Williams F1 in the same session, while Jules Bianchi took Paul di Resta's place at Force India.

Mercedes AMG driver Michael Schumacher was fastest in the first practice session, Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg completing the top 3. Jerome d'Ambrosio finished the session 15th. Pastor Maldonado and Fernando Alonso suffered technical problems and Stopped on the Circuit.

Lewis Hamilton was the fastest driver in the second session, edging out Button and Alonso. Alonso had another disrupted session with a series of technical problems surrounding the gearbox and brakes that limited his time on the circuit. Schumacher went off-track and finished the session in 10th. He was highly-critical of the speed bumps placed around the Variante della Roggia chicane, claiming they were a safety hazard that could result in serious injury if a driver hit them at speed.

Hamilton was once again fastest in the third session, just one thousandth of a second ahead of Alonso. Paul di Resta finished the session third, while Sebastian Vettel suffered a loss of power on his final lap and pulled over at the Roggia chicane. The Red Bull RB8 was consistently one of the slowest cars through the speed trap. This circuit was the one where the Red Bulls would be the weakest.

 

QUALIFYING :

Nico Hulkenberg failed to set a lap time when his car stopped on the circuit during the first qualifying period. As he was unable to get the car restarted, he was not allowed to take any further part in qualifying. His entry to the race depended on a special dispensation from race stewards, which was subsequently granted. Q1 saw no other surprises.

Q2 saw the exit of Webber, Maldonado, Perez, Senna, Ricciardo and D'Ambrosio. Maldonado was demoted to 22nd after serving his Penalty.

Q3 dealt a big blow to Ferrari's hopes of a victory at their Home Race. Alonso who had topped both Q1 and Q2 headed out with Massa and Failed to set a competitive time in the First Run. The last run left him languising in P10!! It was later revealed that the Anti-Roll Bar had broken on Alonso's Car. This explained the lack of pace.

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button made it a McLaren Mercedes 1-2. Massa qualified 3rd. Paul Di Resta was 4th but was demoted to 9th for a gearbox change. Schumacher, Vettel, Rosberg, Raikkonen, Kobayashi, Alonso completed the top 10.

 

RACE :

Everybody got a clean start into the First Turn. Massa jumped Button and almost overtook Hamilton into the First Corner. Button tried to retake the position after 2nd chicane but failed.

It was a brilliant start from Fernando Alonso who jumped upto 7th from 10th.

Hamilton built his lead over Massa while Vettel took the help of DRS to shoot past Schumacher into the First turn ( Lap 4 ). Rosberg and Senna banged wheels with the latter going over bumps. Alonso was now challenging Schumacher for 5th position. Senna went off-track again on Lap 8 while challenging Di Resta and lost a position to Webber in the process.

Lap 9 saw the First Retirement. The rear end of Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso suddenly stepped out on him as he was braking for Turn One. The car spun around, bumped across the kerbs and sleeping policemen with a heavy impact on landing.

Paul Di Resta was now going backwards ( Lap 11 ) as he complained of tyre degradation. Schumacher too came under intense pressure from Raikkonen. 

Schumacher pitted on Lap 16 and it was clear that he was on a Two Stop Strategy. Button closed in on Massa and passed him on Lap 19, the latter complaining of Telemetry Issues.

Massa pitted on Lap 20 but got stuck behind Ricciardo on his exit.

Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso pitted together on lap 21 from 4th and 5th respectively. A brilliant stop for Ferrari made him rejoin almost side-by-side with the Red Bull driver. They both exited the pit-lane just behind Felipe Massa who was trapped behind the slower Toro Rosso.

Felipe Massa finally overtook the Toro Rosso of Daniel Ricciardo to give himself some breathing space on Lap 22. Vettel almost hit the back of the Toro Rosso as it suffered from lack of Traction out of the Corner.

Jenson Button pitted on Lap 23. The Team struggled with one of the wheel-nuts and he was delayed. However the Quick in-laps ensured that he rejoined the track just ahead of Massa.

Hamilton pitted on lap 24 and Sergio Perez who had started the race in 12th on Hard Tyres was now leading the Race!

Kimi Raikkonen made a move on Nico Hulkenberg's Force India in the first corner for eighth place. ( Lap 25 )

Meanwhile Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel battled it out. Alonso tried a move down the outside at Turn One. Vettel then squeezed the championship leader onto the grass at the first Lesmo corner.  The Spaniard got off the gas and eased back on track. He was quite frustrated on the Radio.

Lap 28 saw Hamilton retake the lead from Perez, the Mexican still to pit for medium Tyres ( Options ).

Alonso finally succeeded and passed Vettel on Lap 29. The incident earlier between the two was under investigation by the Stewards.

Lap 31 turned out to be the most interesting lap. Perez made his only stop and emerged 8th. Vettel was given a Drive-Through Penalty for pushing Alonso onto the grass. Then it all changed for one of the McLaren Mercedes.

Jenson Button lost Fuel-pressure in his car and retired on Lap 33! His Car simply came to a stop as he lost drive. A Potential 1-2 lost. Kimi Raikkonen and Sergio Perez battled and the Finn had to dig deep to hold his place. However the latter muscled his way past on Lap 36. Massa Received the following Radio Message on Lap 37 : "Think about how you're going to manage the tyres. Think about how you're going to manage the tyres, Felipe. Fernando is behind."

Hockenheim 2010 anyone??

Schumacher was down to 11th after his 2nd pitstop. Alonso passed Massa who hardly put up a fight after being told that his team-mate was 0.9 seconds behind ( Lap 40 ). A lap later Vettel went past his team-mate Webber into 6th position and was closing in on Kimi Raikkonen.

On Lap 43 Mark Webber was informed that Sebastian Vettel had a car problem which might stop him suddenly. Meanwhile, Sergio Perez was taking chunks out of the Felipe Massa's lead.

Perez overtook Massa on the backstraight just before Parabolica on Lap 44. This move might just change the driver lineup for Ferrari next year. Massa drove brilliantly but Perez seemed simply better. Perez was now closing in on Alonso and passed him without fuss using DRS around the outside at Ascari. ( Lap 46 ).

Lap 48 saw another big retirement. Sebastien Vettel was asked to stop his car immediately and retire from the race. Radio Message : "Stop the car, we must save the engine."

Perez was slowly closing in on Hamilton but catching him would be difficult considering the remaining number of laps. Mark Webber suffered a big spin on lap 50 as he came out of Ascari hit the kerbs and lost the backend. However a couple of laps later he was cruising to the pits into retirement after suffering massive flatspots. The Red Bulls had scored NO Points!!!

Lewis Hamilton had done a flawless race losing his lead only for his Pitstop. The Victory also revived his championship hopes.

Sergio Perez produced a Fine Drive to finish 2nd after having started 12th!! Fernando Alonso gave the Tifosi something to cheer by finishing 3rd.

Massa, Raikkonen, Schumacher ( who was charging up the field ), Rosberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi, Senna completed the Top 10.

 

 

Alonso now had a 37 point lead ( 179 points ) over Lewis Hamilton ( 142 Points ) and KIMI RAIKKONEN's Consistent performances helped him to jump up into 3rd at 141 points.

 

  

VETTEL - ALONSO INCIDENT :

Alonso had closed in on Vettel and tried a move on the outside of the First Lesmo Corner. Vettel held the racing line trying to get the best traction out of the Corner. Vettel would have seen Alonso right behind him in his mirrors and left racing space. However that racing space dwindled as Alonso finally out of tarmac was pushed onto grass. 

According to me it was a Simple Racing Incident and Alonso's Rant is unjustified. Rather he should have taken it in his stride. Ferrari is known to influence decisions and the Stewards' decision here is Questionable. 

 

MASSA - ALONSO Situation :

"Fernando is faster than you" - Hockenheim 2010. Fernando was the driver challenging for the Championship and Ferrari deemed it fit to use such a transmission to change the result of the race to favour Alonso's Title Bid.

This Race the Transmission was slightly different but the end result same.

"Think about how you're going to manage the tyres. Think about how you're going to manage the tyres, Felipe. Fernando is behind."

Massa has been talked about a lot this season. Experts have felt that he has lost his drive and is a mere shadow of himself after his accident in Hungary in 2009.

However if Fernando claims to be the driver he is, I would prefer seeing Real Racing between the two rather than an easy capitulation by Massa caused by Ferrari's Coded Transmissions. Someone else might not accept this the way Massa does. Alonso is a great driver and is the best driver on the grid this year according to me. He just has to live up to his reputation.

 

With the European Races over, its now time to head to the "Monaco of the East", The Only Night Race on the Calender - The Singapore Grand Prix.

 

I shall be at the event. I hope you join me too!!  

Formula 1 returned after the Summer Break. The Venue? - Spa Francorchamps at Belgium.

One of the fastest circuits on the calender and also known for its inclement weather, Spa produces some of the most thrilling races of the season.

A lot happened this year too, both on and off-track. Michael Schumacher celebrated his 300th Grand Prix Start! The Veteran really loves Formula 1. The Red Bull Duo of Webber and Vettel knew they had to score big to curtail Alonso's lead upfront.

 

FREE PRACTICE :

The Practice session was spoilt by Torrential Rain. Rain in both the sessions minimised running for the teams. Lotus F1 were unable to test their improved version of DRS that they call the 'Device'.

Kamui Kobayashi was fastest in the First practice while Marussia's Charles Pic was the fastest in Second Practice. Massa suffered a scare in FP1 when his car grounded to a halt as he was about to enter the pits at the end of the installation lap.

The Final Free Practice on Saturday gave teams some much needed Track time. Fernando Alonso topped the Final Practice.

 

QUALIFYING :

Mark Webber and Nico Rosberg were on the backfoot after being penalised 5 places for a Gearbox change.

Q1 saw the Elimination of Nico Rosberg, the German being demoted from 18th to 23rd due to the penalty.

Q2 brought in more shocks as Vettel, Hulkenberg, Schumacher, Massa failed to make the cut. Red Bull expected Vettel to be the lead driver but the German's poor qualifying seemed to have dashed their hopes.

Q3 was exciting as teams tried to outdo each other. However it was Jenson Button who dominated Qualifying topping the time sheets in Q2 and Q3.

Button was joined by Kobayashi!! Maldonado and Raikkonen completed Row 2. Perez and Alonso were P5 and P6. Webber, Hamilton, Grosjean, Di Resta completed the top 10.

Webber's gearbox change demoted him from P7 to P12.  Pastor Maldonado received a three-place grid penalty for impeding Nico Hulkenberg in Q1 ( P3 to P6 ).

 

 

RACE :

Kobayashi had smoke coming from his Brakes after the cars lined up for the start. What followed though was shocking. The Five Lights went out and Maldonado seemed to have made a jump-start. Button and Raikkonen were clear into La Source but right behind them unfolded a carnage that was as bad as the Spa in 1998. Grosjean's Lotus went over Hamilton's and Alonso's. Perez lost his rear wing the accident and Kobayashi suffered heavy damage. The sheer amount of Debris meant that the Safety Car had to be summoned. Alonso was too shaken by the accident and the Medical team took their time attending him. The incident meant that the Red Bull Duo of Vettel and Webber had a golden chance of reducing Alonso's lead in the Championship.

The Force Indias catapulted to 3rd and 4th after the incident.

The Race restarted on Lap 5 and Button had a clean getaway. Raikkonen was passed by Hulkenberg on Kemmel Straight. Pastor Maldonado drove into retirement without a Front Wing at Les Combes. Michael Schumacher had moved upto 5th from 13th on the grid and passed Paul Di Resta for 4th Position on Lap 6.

Vettel moved up the order passing Massa and Webber. Schumacher powered past Raikkonen at the top of the hill around the outside at Les Combes. ( Lap 10 ). Kimi Raikkonen complained to the team about the lack of grip.

Raikkonen and Webber pitted on Lap 11 switching to hard tyres. Raikkonen then passed Rosberg and jumped Hulkenberg after the latter's pitstop.

Another Incident happened on Lap 16. Caterham F1 performed an unsafe release of Heikki Kovalainen in the pit lane and he hit the back of the HRT that was pulling into pit box just in front.

Hulkenberg, Ricciardo & Webber passed Rosberg on Lap 17 as the German's One Pit Stop Strategy seemed to be failing him.

Sebastien Vettel was closing in on his compatriot Schumacher and tried to pass him at the Bus Stop chichane at the outside ( Lap 20 ) However at that same instant Schumacher dived into the pits and miraculously there wasn't any contact between the two drivers.  

Button also pitted on Lap 20 and the team performed the pit stop in a blistering 2.6 seconds! Vettel pitted on lap 22 and emerged 6th just ahead of Ricciardo and more importantly Schumacher who had got stuck behind the Toro Rosso.

Button was slowly building his lead at the front while Vettel and Schumacher started moving back up the grid.

Hulkenberg, Massa, Webber made their final pitstops on Lap 27 and Kimi Raikkonen a lap later. Another incident occured as Red Bull released Webber from the box just before Massa entered his.

The positions on lap 30 : Jenson Button, Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Hulkenberg, Mark Webber, Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo.

Raikkonen was now piling pressure on Schumacher and almost made the move stick passing the German on the outside of the Bus Stop Chichane but Schumacher with the help of DRS reclaimed 3rd place going into Les Combes.

Michael Schumacher locked up out of La Source which compromised his exit. ( Lap 34 )  As a result, Kimi Raikkonen was all over the back of the Mercedes as they approached Eau Rouge. Unprepared to wait any longer, the Flying Finn overtook him on the outside at Eau Rouge. A very brave overtake!!

Schumacher Struggled to hold onto 4th as Hulkenberg was now all over him. He finally passed him for good when Schumacher switched to "Plan B" and pitted.  Massa on newer tyres passed Webber and was up into 5th place on Lap 37.

A lot was happening at the back of the field too as the Marussia Drivers battled for 15th place and the HRT and Caterham F1 of Pedro de la Rosa and Heikki Kovalainen went head to head.

Senna running in 8th on worn out tyres came under intense pressure from  Jean-Eric Vergne and Ricciardo and pitted on lap 41.

The top 10 at the Chequered Flag : Button, Vettel, Raikkonen, Hulkenberg, Massa, Webber, Schumacher, Vergne, Ricciardo, Di Resta.

A great revival for Button who went through a considerable slump after his victory at the opening race in Australia. Sahara Force India F1 had a great day with both the drivers in good point scoring positions.

However the biggest beneficiaries were Vettel, Webber and Raikkonen who cut down on Alonso's lead at the front.

Incidents between Webber and Massa and the Caterham and HRT concerning Unsafe release from the Pits were Investigated after the race. No action taken. The incident concerning Schumacher and Vettel on lap 20 didn't affect the results either.

However Maldonado received a Double Penalty. A 5 place demotion at Monza for jumping at the start and another 5 place penalty for the collision with Timo Glock on lap 5. The collision was avoidable according to race stewards and this explains Maldonado's retirement of Lap 5. Maldonado later stated that his fingers slipped off the clutch causing the Jump-Start.

The Biggest News was concerning the First Lap Carnage. Romain Grosjean was fined 50,000 euros & was given a one-race ban at the Italian Grand Prix for his role in the crash at the start.

 

 

The Incident at La Source :

Grosjean made a better start than Hamilton alongside him and cut sharply across the track, squeezing the McLaren driver up against the white line. Contact was inevitable, and as Hamilton lost control of his car the McLaren pushed the Lotus into the cars ahead which were slowing for the first corner. The Lotus cut across the front of Alonso's car, passing close to his helmet. Hamilton's car hit the side of Kamui Kobayashi's, and the other Sauber of Sergio Perez was knocked into Maldonado. Only Kobayashi and Maldonado emerged from the crash, Kobayashi with a substantial hole in the side of his car. Kobayashi who had started on the front row for Sauber, pitted after the accident and resumed in last place.

This clearly was Grosjean's Mistake.

I remember what Sir Jackie Stewart talked about in the paddock at Silvertsone! He stated that young drivers in F1 are too impatient. They don't realise that they can wait for one corner and attack the car in front at the next. They dont think strategies or about pacing themselves. They want to push all the time. This is one reason that Veterans of the Sport lead the Championship and the rest are languishing in positions they shouldn't be in.

Maldonado is ending up in the bad books more often than not. When he isn't dashing others, he impedes, does jump starts and all other sorts of things he shouldn't be doing at this level. Grosjean is too impatient, rather he seems restless. He is a great driver but he needs to realise that you cannot do everything in one lap. Most of his retirements have resulted from sheer haste. He needs to learn from Kimi. Its extremely important to give racing room to your opponent. Today's move was too immature. Hamilton would not have backed out. La Source just didnt have enough room for the cars and the drivers just missed the braking point to make matters worse. Hope Eric Boullier helps Romain to channelise his abilities for good.

Thankfully No one was Injured!

Some Stills captured of the Crash :

 

Looking ahead to MONZA :

Looking on to Monza, Ferrari would definitely want to mount a counter attack. The Renault Powered Red Bull and Lotus Cars were struggling in Straight Line speed at Spa. Lotus F1 really need to test the Device at Monza to give Kimi Raikkonen a chance to win. The races that follow are also high speed circuits, so this should be of utmost importance. High Downforce setups don't compromise the Straight line speed for the McLaren Mercedes too much but it isn't the same for the Renault Powered Cars.

Lets Hope for the best!! Time to greet the TIFOSI!!

Silverstone is a very prestigious race on the F1 Race Calender. There have been many a great battles fought on this Former WW2 Airstrip and this year promised another great battle.

Silverstone is also a HOME RACE for many teams -

1) Red Bull Racing ( Based in Milton Keynes although they are Austrian ),

2) McLaren Mercedes ( Woking ),

3) Lotus F1 Team ( Enstone, Oxfordshire ),

4) Sahara Force India ( A kilometre from Silverstone ) &

5) Williams F1 Team ( Grove, Oxfordshire )

 

This is a Home Race for 3 Drivers - Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton, Paul Di Resta.

This was also a race where I was a guest with the LOTUS F1 TEAM!!

 

A List of all winners of the Silverstone Grand Prix :  

 

Silverstone is famous for its inclement weather and this year was no different.

Friday Practice Sessions,Saturday Free Practice and Qualifying were marred by torrential rain. However the Race turned out to be a dry one.

  

Friday Free Practices :

The teams were due to test an "experimental" hard tyre compound developed by Pirelli during the first free practice, with a view to introducing it as a racing tyre later in the season;however, wet conditions made this impossible. Romain Grosjean was the fastest driver in the First Session, ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Lewis Hamilton. Fernando Alonso and the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Jules Bianchi elected not to set lap times.

The Second Session was similarly washed out and saw limited running as teams tried to preserve their wet- and intermediate-compound tyres. Hamilton was fastest, leading Kamui Kobayashi and Michael Schumacher as Grosjean elected not to set a time. Bruno Senna brought out a red flag that resulted in a ten-minute stop to the session when he hit a patch of standing water at Becketts, spinning and crashing heavily into the barriers. Fernando Alonso also encountered trouble, spinning and hitting the wall late in the session, but the Ferrari driver was able to return to the pits.

 

Friday Practice 1 Images : 

 

Friday Practice 2 Images :  

  

Saturday Free Practice :

This Session was dry, but the threat of rain was always there. It saw plenty of activity as the teams pushed hard to make up for lost time running in the wet on Friday. Charles Pic stopped on the circuit after twenty minutes, forcing the temporary suspension of the session while his car was removed. Pic later returned to the circuit, but the car stopped again and this time car was removed by marshalls without forcing the session to be stopped. Alonso ended the session fastest overall. 

Saturday Free Practice Images : 

 

 Qualifying :

Qualifying started in wet conditions, and with the threat of more rain on the way. The Circuit conditions were rapidly changing and everyone went about doing their qualifying laps. The Biggest Shock of Q3 was the Elimination of Jenson Button! He was on a lap that would have propelled him out of the drop zone but Timo Glock spun on the last sector. Yellow flags were deployed and Button suffered disappointment.  Both the Caterhams, HRTs, Virgins bowed out. Charles Pic couldn't qualify within the 107 % time of the fastest man of Q1 - Sebastien Vettel.

The intensity of rain increased in Q2. The session was red-flagged with just over 6 minutes remaining. Sergio Perez was at the top of the time sheets then. The session was stopped for an hour and a half as the FIA hoped for conditons safe to drive.

The Teams, the Mechanics, The Drivers & The Crowds did a fantastic job of keeping themselves entertained during the break. NICO ROSBERG was clearly the star of this show!!

The session re-opened and all drivers had time to put in flying laps however Tyre Choice was of utmost importance. Perec chose the intermediate compound rather than wets. It was the wrong decision and ended the session last. However he started 15th after the Penalties were applied.  Those Eliminated were : Paul Di Resta, Kamui Kobayashi ( 12th but demoted to 17th after penalty ), Nico Rosberg, Daniel Ricciardo, Bruno Senna, Jean-Éric Vergne ( 16th but demoted to the back after penalty ).

Romain Grosjean made it through to Q3, but spun at the end of the period at the Vale chicane, and took no further part in the session.

Q3 featured the Ferraris, Red Bulls, Lotuses ( Although Grosjean couldn't set a time ), Michael Schumacher's Merecedes, Lewis Hamilton in the McLaren, Pastor Maldonado in the Williams F1 & Nico Hulkenberg for Force India. It seemed to be a Ferrari 1-2 but Mark Webber and Sebastien Vettel seemed too have wrestled back control.  Massa was unable to improve his lap time and finished 5th, while Schumacher pushed Webber off pole. Webber reclaimed it with his next lap, but lost it to Alonso's last lap of the Session. Kimi Raikkonen was 6th, Pastor Maldonado 7th, Lewis Hamilton 8th. Hulkenberg qualified 9th but a gear-box change pushed the German down to 14th.

 

Qualifying Images : 

 

RACE :

An engine failure on Vitaly Petrov's Caterham on his way round to the grid meant he had to return to the pits and retire the car before the race had even begun. When the race started, polesitter Fernando Alonso maintained his lead into the first corner. Webber and Schumacher followed him round in their same positions, but Vettel lost places to Massa and Raikkonen, only to regain his position against the latter. Paul di Resta, who started 10th, suffered a puncture as a result of his right rear tyre coming in contact with Romain Grosjean's front wing at the start of the Wellington straight. Di Resta pitted but the damage incurred caused him to spin and retire. Romain Grosjean had to pit too for a front wing change and ended up in 22nd ( back of the pack ).

Pastor Maldonado didn't do his reputation any good as he rammed into Perez retiring the latter. He was penalised 10000 euros!

However the Frenchman set about setting a series of fastest laps and quickly started clawing his way back through the field. Hamilton suffered from a poor start, lost positions to Bruno Senna and was stuck in the middle of the the pack until the first round of pit-stops.

Button suffered a similar fate as he was stuck behind slower cars and had to pit at odd-times during the race. 

Alonso was slowly opening a gap at the front and was able to come out in P2 after his pit-stop on lap 15. Lap 19 saw Alonso retake the Lead from Hamilton who was losing pace on his worn-out tyres. The latter finally pitted on lap 21 and Webber moved back into P2. The gap at the front was constant at around 5 seconds but everything changed after the second round of pit-stops.

Kamui Kobayashi had a horible pit-stop as he ran over 4 mechanics and was penalised post-race for the incident. ( 25000 euros )

Webber switched to the softs and managed to come out in P4 ( ahead of team-mate Vettel ). Alonso pitted too and switched to softs. Parity was restored after the top 5 finished their round of pit stops. The order was : Alonso, Webber, Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen.

This however wasn't gonna remain the same.

Alonso couldn't find the pace which he enjoyed while driving on the hard compound tyres. Webber was reeling Alonso in taking chunks out of his lead every lap. Romain Grosjean ( Out of sync with others on pit stops ) performed exceptionally well as he muscled himself upto 6th. Kimi Raikkonen had found performance in his Lotus and set a series of fastest laps. He was within a touching distance of 4th positon now.

7 laps were left of the race and Alonso was now under severe pressure from Webber. The Australian finally made the move and took the Lead! Raikkonen put Massa under a lot of pressure but the Brazilian held on to 4th position.

The final order was : Webber, Alonso, Vettel, Massa, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Schumacher, Hamilton, Senna, Button ( Top 10 )

As a consequence of the race, Webber narrowed Alonso's lead in the drivers' standings to 13 points. Webber himself was 16 points ahead of Vettel. Vettel moved ahead of Lewis Hamilton into 3rd in the standings on 100 points. Red Bull extended their lead in the constructors' standings to 64 points. Ferrrari moved up from 4th place to 2nd whilst McLaren did the reverse and Lotus stayed in 3rd position. All three teams stayed within 3 points of each other.

Massa held on to 4th from a charging Raikkonen. Definitely a confidence boost for him.

KIMI RAIKKONEN set the fastest lap of the Race.

This was also the first time that an F1 Great got to interview the Podium Finishers in front of the public - The honour went to the most popular SIR JACKIE STEWART!!

It was a day to forget for the McLaren duo. Lotus had a good day but not the best day as a lack of good quaifying postion hampered their race result.

Hockenheim - THE NEXT DESTINATION!

 

Finally a SPECIAL THANK YOU to www.exclusivegp.com for this experience!! Friends you now know who to contact for those Exclusive F1 Experiences!!

 

 

Photo Credit : Santosh Verma Photography www.aneyeforindia.com

Red Bull gives you wings!! Most of us never believed this when the commercial came on air. Well Red Bull Racing went all the way to prove this to us in the 2011 season.

2010 was a very competitive season with Red Bull, Ferrari & Mclaren Mercedes fighting for top honours till the end of the season. However the Bulls prevailed and Sebastien Vettel was crowned the youngest Formula 1 champion!

2011 witnessed a number of changes -

a) Return of the 107 % Qualifying Rule. The Qualifying is divided into 3 sessions; this rule was applicable for Q1.  Under this arrangement, any driver who fails to set a time within 107% of the fastest lap in Q1 may not be permitted to take part in the race i.e. if the fastest Q1 time is 1 min 40 sec, the slowest driver has to be quicker than 1 min 47sec. A driver could however race if he suffered Mechanical Failures prior / during Q1 and was within the 107 % limit in Practice - at Marshall's Discretion.

b) The Biggest change in Formula 1 - Pirelli replacing Bridgestone as the Sole Tyre Supplier to the teams. Pirelli had reentered the sport after 20 years, the last season being 1991. Pirelli introduced 3 tyre compounds for dry races - Super - Soft ( Red Banded ), Soft ( Yellow Banded ) and the Hard ( White Banded ), the Hard Compound rarely used. Pirelli designed a higher wearing tyre leading to 3 stops for many races. Many incidents of Blistering were reported most notably in the Belgian Grand Prix.

c) KERS made a return. Kinetic Energy Recovery System was introduced in 2009, a 35 kg addition to the car's kerb weight. The Principle was simple : The Loss of Power due to braking into a corner would be transmitted via the brakes to a storage battery and this would be returned at the touch of a button causing quicker acceleration and better top speeds on starights. The KERS Battery would be refreshed at the end of each lap. 2011 rules allowed only 20kgs to be added. Most teams used KERS although Red Bull suffered many malfunctions with KERS. Other teams also had mixed results but when it worked flawlessly KERS was Fantastic for the cars.

d) The F Duct system devised by McLaren and Copied by others was banned but DRS was introduced. DRS - Drag Reduction System negates the Downforce flowing over the rear wing. This can be achieved by opening the rear wing and offering the driver an additional 15km/hr. DRS could be used freely during Free Practice and Qualifiying but the use was restricted in racing. Wet Track conditions prohibited the use of DRS. DRS could be enabled only after 2 laps of race completion. The chasing driver needs to be within one second in the Detection zone before he attempts an overtaking move. DRS zones were marked on track and DRS did a fine job of spicing things up in races.

e) Team Orders were Banned. "Fernando is faster than you". 2010 Hockenheim GP was the bone of contention. Rob Smedly, Felippe Massa's Race Engineer gave him this message and a couple of turns later he conceded the race lead to his teammate. Mark Webber was also asked to stop pressurizing his teammate Sebastien Vettel and this didn't go down well with the Australian.

 

2011 Season kicked off with Victory for Sebastien Vettel. The sheer pace of the Team from Milton Keyes amazed everyone. It looked ominous for Ferrari and Mclaren Mercedes - the true contenders to Red Bull's crown. The expertise of Christian Horner, Adrian Newey was proving fruitful to the team as Vettel Notched up Pole Positions in Qualifying and converting them to Victories. The gap was increasing and the others were struggling to play catchup. A victory for Alonso, Hamilton and Button didn't do much to dent Vettel's hopes for a second title as the German always ensured that he finished on the podium in every race.

Sebastien's consistency coupled with the Red Bull's sheer pace and Reliability help them open a considerable gap in the first part of the season. KERS malfunctioned more than once but the Aerodynamic Experience of Adrian Newey made the Red Bulls literally untouchable. Nine Races into the season and Vettel's lowest finishing position was 2nd !! Germany was the only race in which he finished 4th and the Tyre Burst at Abu Dhabi was his only retirement of the season. The German broke Nigel Mansell's Record of 15 poles at the season ending Brazilian GP but failed to beat Compatriot Michael Schumacher's record of 14 victories from pole. This however was nothing short of special from the German. He won his 2nd title at the Japanese Grand Prix to become the youngest Double World Champion.

Webber played a good wingman to Vettel's title charge although he was unlucky not to get a car as capable as his team mate's. His resurgence in the second half of the season helped him claim 3rd position in the Championship Standings.

Lewis Hamilton had a very troublesome season though. His antics on track didn't gain him many admirers. His duels with Massa were incident packed affecting both in the championship and causing a lot of friction between the two who were once good pals. Lewis' driving style was being questioned as more incidents plagued his races, most notably the one with Team mate Jenson Button in Canada. The Contact between the two wrecked Lewis' race and compromised Button's pretty badly though the latter went on to win thanks to the temporary suspension of the race due to rain. The Formula 1 Drivers Association had planned to discuss Lewis' driving tactics before the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, the details of which are unknown.

 Jenson Button performed commendably and overshadowed Lewis' performances. Although both the McLaren Drivers won 3 races apiece, Button's consistency helped him finish 43 points ahead of his team-mate. The Canadian Grand Prix was Special for the Brit as he went on to win the race from the back of the grid - thanks to a rare error by Vettel on the last lap. 2nd place in the championship was all that Button could achieve this season even though McLaren had caught up with Red Bull in the 2nd half of the season.

Ferrari had another dismal season. Fernando Alonso had only the solo victory at Great Britain to show for his efforts. A few podiums helped him finish 4th in the standings, 1 point behind Mark Webber. Felippe Massa didn't manage a single podium in the entire season!! The man who finished 2nd on 2008 a mere shadow of himself. His position in the team could also be in jeopardy if the Brazilian fails to perform in 2012. Steve Slater, the Famous TV Commentator for ESPN Star Sports made a very important point post the Brazilian GP - " If Felippe Massa had scored another 80-90 points, Ferrari would have displaced McLaren Mercedes for the Second Spot in the Constructors."

Mercedes GP were the best amongst the rest as Nico Rosberg finished ahead of the 7 time World Championship winning team-mate Michael Schumacher. The German Duo performed well for the Factory Mercedes and won the 4th position in the Constructors quite comfortably.

The others only became "Also rans" sometimes ending up on the podium - such was the dominance of the Redbulls, The Mclarens & The Ferraris.

However the TOP STEP ALWAYS belonged to ONE MAN - SEBASTIEN VETTEL

 

In Brief :

After a closely contested season in 2010, 2011 was the advent of a new period in Formula 1, be it rule changes, tyre changes, Team Revamps and novel ways of Overtaking. The entire season was dominated by Red Bull who were rightly Crowned with the Drivers and the Constructors' Championships. The Others have a lot of catch up to do.

Some stills from the FIA awards held in Gurgaon which became a hot destination after the inaugural Indian Grand Prix

 Photo Credits : www.zeenews.india.com