F1 2011 review - Sebastian's perfect season

THE 2010 Formula One season has gone down as one of the most special seasons ever and it ended with the youngest ever world champion.  Just what would 2011 deliver?  The new season began with new regulations, such as the introduction of DRS which was brought in to make overtaking more possible in races.  KERS made a return after its 2009 failure and Italian tyre manufacturer Pirelli returned to the sport as the sole tyre supplier after a 20-year absence.  Uprisings in the Arab world forced the postponement and eventual cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix, so once again, the championship would begin in Melbourne.

     From the moment he arrived at the Australian Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel set a benchmark which no-one could live with.  He was untouchable at Albert Park, controlling qualifying and dominating the race to win the first event.  It was Red Bull’s first Australian victory and a sign of things to come.  McLaren arrived with a car that looked miles off the pace from their winter testing figures.  They were the surprise of the first race, as Lewis Hamilton produced a fighting performance to come home second, underlining the team’s hard work.  Team-mate Jenson Button had a fierce dice with Felipe Massa in the early stages of the race and got a drive-through penalty for cutting a corner and gaining an advantage on the Brazilian.  It left Button down in sixth by the finish.  Vitaly Petrov drove stunningly to register his first ever podium finish for Renault, a brilliant boost for the team deprived of Robert Kubica’s services this season after the Pole sustained serious injuries in a pre-season rally accident.  Both Sauber’s were disqualified for technical infringements which robbed Sergio Perez of points on his F1 debut, but it did allow Scottish rookie Paul di Resta to get a point in his first race.

Vettel started how it meant to go by winning the first two events

     In the heat of Malaysia, a Red Bull weakness was identified.  The tight packaging of their chassis meant they were struggling to keep KERS reliable.  However, this didn’t stop Vettel who was in a class of his own again, looking after his tyres and an intermittent KERS issue and claimed his fifth victory in the last six events altogether.  Button launched his championship assault with a brilliant second place and Kubica’s stand-in at Renault, Nick Heidfeld was an outstanding third, benefiting from a flying start that had him second into the first corner.  Talking of flying, his team-mate Petrov took to the air in a spectacular exit from the race with three laps remaining.  Old rivals Hamilton and Fernando Alonso clashed again, when the Ferrari misjudged an overtaking move.  For a separate weaving incident, a frustrated Hamilton was penalised and wound up eighth, with Alonso in sixth.

     After running out of fresh tyres in Sepang, Hamilton played the strategy game in China and it worked with a brilliant victory.  He overcame a major oil leak in the garage before the race and saved an extra set of tyres in qualifying to use them in a race that went down in the history books as one of the greatest ever.  Vettel beat Button to pole, but made a poor start and looked tense all afternoon, but showed his championship might with second place.  More KERS problems left Mark Webber in a dismal 18^th on the grid, but he put in a sensational fightback to claim the final place on the podium.  Button was a dejected fourth and produced one of the blunders of the season.  Having led the early stages, he made a terrible mistake and stopped at the wrong pit!  A comical moment, but Jenson would make up for it later in the season.  Felipe Massa’s inferior strategy left him down in sixth, but beating Alonso by 15 seconds made it a solid and sweet performance.  Another man who impressed in China was Nico Rosberg.  He led a significant chunk of the race, but faded badly to fifth by the end.  It was the closest Mercedes GP would get to finishing on the podium this season.

     Another tremendous Grand Prix followed three weeks later in Istanbul.  Pirelli’s tyre mileage left us with a four stop strategy for most of the top runners and overtaking galore with the effective DRS.  Despite crashing in wet practice on Friday and losing a day of race setup, Vettel was a comfortable winner on what turned out to be F1’s last trip to Turkey.  Webber ensured Red Bull had their first 1-2 of the season, coming out on top in a feisty scrap with Alonso, who claimed Ferrari’s first rostrum after a difficult start to the campaign.  A sticky wheel nut at a routine pitstop left Hamilton over 40 seconds adrift in fourth place and Button’s gamble on one less pitstop didn’t work and left him behind Rosberg in sixth.  While Rosberg was picking up points for Mercedes, Michael Schumacher’s weekend was a disaster.  Unnecessary contact with Petrov in the early laps and losing out in many midfield battles left him admitting to feeling ‘no joy’ following his 12^th place finish. 

 

Next stop on the Sebastian Vettel crusade was Barcelona, which surprised many with an exciting duel.  Despite being beaten to pole position by team-mate Mark Webber, Vettel showed his superiority on raceday.  However, he was made to work very hard for his 13^th career victory.  Fernando Alonso’s adoring Spanish public witnessed an incredible start as their hero catapulted from fourth on the grid into the lead.  Sadly, dreadful tyre wear left him ending a lapped fifth.  Vettel led from lap 19 onwards, but Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren was the faster package and hunted him down.  The German’s brilliant defensive driving was enough to take victory again and the team rightly praised his driving, rather than his ‘Crazy Frog’ impression.  Having made an awful start and dropping to tenth on lap one; Jenson Button produced two cracking moves on Alonso and Webber to complete the podium.  Michael Schumacher responded to his critics with a solid run to sixth, ahead of his team-mate Nico Rosberg whilst Nick Heidfeld came from last after a fire in practice to eighth.

Perez's rookie season was put on hold after this crash in Monaco

     Any driver will claim that winning in Monaco will be the highlight of the season and Vettel added Monte Carlo to his ever increasing trophy cabinet on a turbulent weekend in the principality.  The weekend started with a sickening shunt for Sergio Perez in qualifying.  The Mexican crashed out of the tunnel in Q3 and suffered a bruised thigh and concussion, keeping him out for two races.  In the race, Vettel, Alonso and Button produced a supreme afternoon of driver skill.  Sebastian survived a bad pitstop on lap 16 and stayed out on weaker tyres to hold off the Ferrari and McLaren.  Hamilton had a nightmare weekend, which included a qualifying demotion, then two more drive-through penalties in the race for controversial clashes with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado.  He attacked race stewards in an unsavoury post-race interview, beginning a dark period for the Brit.  Vitaly Petrov was admitted to hospital after being involved in a multiple crash with Adrian Sutil, Hamilton and Jaime Alguersuari late on which caused a race stoppage.  Fortunately, the Russian escaped serious injury.   

      If anyone thought F1 2011 had been crazy so far, then the drama of the Canadian Grand Prix exceeded everything.  Five safety cars, a two hour stoppage for a torrential downpour and an amazing finish which had avid fans jumping up and around at 10.15pm in the evening!  Vettel drove brilliantly again and led through most of the chaos, until around the last lap, he ran wide and handed Jenson Button a sensational victory.  Button stormed back from 21^st and last at half-distance, following collisions with team-mate Hamilton and Alonso, which ended both of their races.  For once, Vettel showed he was human and still could crack under pressure.  Webber recovered from his own contact with Hamilton to make it two Red Bulls on the podium, just ahead of Schumacher, who ran as high as second and produced the best drive of his comeback.  Further back, a hard-fought eighth place from a pitlane start saved Jaime Alguersuari from the sack at Toro Rosso.

     After that Canadian excitement, the European Grand Prix disappointed with the usual lack of action in Valencia.  Vettel bounced back from his Montreal slip-up to dominate in trademark fashion.  He took pole position and won at a canter, whilst Alonso beat Webber in a straight fight to take an excellent second for Ferrari.  Hamilton had a very quiet run to fourth, followed by Massa and Button.  All 24 cars that started in Valencia made it to the finish; only the third time in history this has happened, after the 1962 Dutch GP and the 2005 Italian GP.

Alonso was in top form at Silverstone, taking his only win of 2011

An incident-packed British Grand Prix at Silverstone saw our fourth different winner of the season.  Alonso benefited from a poor Red Bull pitstop and Vettel being held up behind Hamilton’s slower McLaren in the middle part of the race to take Ferrari’s first victory since Korea last year.  Webber claimed pole position on Saturday, but dropped behind Vettel at the start and was forced by team boss Christian Horner to “maintain the gap,” in the closing stages.  There were time when memories of Turkey 2010 came flooding back, but a 2-3 result kept Red Bull comfortably clear in the constructors championship.  The Brits had a largely miserable day.  Paul di Resta made contact with Sebastian Buemi and had a dismal pitstop to wreck his hopes of points after qualifying a brilliant sixth, whilst a loose wheel nut ended Button’s grand prix prematurely.  Hamilton stirred the motions with fourth, holding off Massa in an exciting final corner duel, despite fuel management issues.

     Next was a trip to the chilly Eiffel Mountains and the Nurburgring, where Lewis Hamilton put a great weekend together to qualify on the front row behind Mark Webber and win the race.  He jumped the Australian at the start and used great strategy and daring overtaking moves on both Webber and Fernando Alonso to take the spoils.  Alonso was second and Webber back in third.  An off-colour Sebastian Vettel spun early on and seemed unhappy on home soil all weekend.  Nevertheless, smart pit work from Red Bull saw him leapfrog Felipe Massa on the last lap to salvage fourth place.  Once again, Jenson Button was out of luck, forced to retire with hydraulic problems, handing Adrian Sutil a best finish of the season for Force India in sixth place.  The pressure was growing on Nick Heidfeld at Renault after a clash with Sebastian Buemi put him out of the race and his seat in severe jeopardy.

      A week later and the McLaren summer renaissance continued at an unseasonably damp Budapest.  In a race decided by getting on the right tyres at the right time, Button mastered everything again to win in Hungary for the second time in his career.  The race was Hamilton’s for the taking, as he led the majority of it.  However, he was left to rue a missed opportunity when he spun into the path of Paul di Resta, forcing his countryman off the road.  Lewis got a drive-through and pitted six times, but still finished fourth.  Second place for Vettel increased his championship lead, with near rivals, Alonso and Webber finishing behind him in third and fifth respectively.  Heidfeld’s Renault career ended spectacularly when his engine air bottle exploded on pitlane exit, leaving his car in flames.  Fans also felt fiery, when news came through of a new TV deal in Hungary which sees Sky Sports receiving live coverage of every race next season and the BBC settling for partial coverage of ten live events.

Hamilton's crash in Belgium summed up a messy championship

After the summer break, Formula One returned at the end of August to Belgium and the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit.  Despite safety cars and serious concerns over blistered tyres after qualifying, Red Bull took a 1-2 finish.  Vettel handled it all with his usual panache and Webber recovered from a shocking start which saw him ninth into La Source to finish a very strong second.  Hamilton’s faint championship hopes ended when he had a silly collision with Kamui Kobayashi, which speared the McLaren into the barriers.  Team-mate Button started 13^th after a tactical mix-up in qualifying and had to pit early after first corner contact, but produced a stirring fightback to third.  Alonso was hindered by Ferrari’s decision to use one less set of dry tyres and without the grip levels of his rivals, the submissive Spaniard had to settle for fourth.  On the 20^th anniversary of making his F1 debut, Michael Schumacher stormed through from last on the grid after a wheel hub failure in qualifying to record a fabulous fifth place, narrowly ahead of team-mate Rosberg.  Pastor Maldonado scored his first and only point of the season, whilst Bruno Senna qualified a superb seventh on his Renault debut, but blotted his copybook by running into Jaime Alguersuari at the start of the race.

     The final European race of the season was as ever, at Monza and Ferrari country.  Red Bull feared they wouldn’t be very strong, due to the power disadvantage of their Renault engine, but Vettel blew the opposition away.  He produced a meteoric lap to take pole position by half a second on Saturday and despite Alonso beating him off the startline, made a brave and decisive pass on the grass to record another fantastic victory.  Button overwhelmed Alonso later in the race for second place, but despite poor traction from his Ferrari, Fernando still managed to make the podium to give the Tifosi something to shout about.  Michael Schumacher pushed the boundaries in a vigorous defence from Lewis Hamilton for half the race, with Hamilton eventually coming out on top for fourth place.  Massa was a distant sixth after contact early on with Mark Webber; the Australian having a pathetic off into the barriers on his way back to the pits with front wing damage.  Vitantonio Liuzzi produced his nomination for accident of the season, by trying to move his HRT into the points from the back row into turn one!  His ambition backfired, torpedoing Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg out of the race at the first chicane.

     The flyaway finish began under the lights in Singapore, where Sebastian Vettel eased to another victory and within one point of the title.  Jenson Button came second, which was enough to take the fight to Suzuka, but third and fourth place results ended any mathematical hopes for Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso.  The weekend was dominated by two run-ins between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton, with a fuming Massa angrily confronting his rival in the interview pen after the race.  Paul di Resta was a notable sixth to achieve his best finish of his 2011 rookie year, whilst Michael Schumacher escaped injury after a nasty looking accident, when he went airborne over Sergio Perez.

Three wins for Button, including an emotional success in Japan

     Sure enough, as expected, Vettel sealed the world championship title at Suzuka, to become the youngest back-to-back champion in the history of the sport and only the ninth driver to achieve such a feat.  Button drove brilliantly once again to take victory, ahead of a hard charging Alonso, but third place was easily enough for Vettel in a gripping Grand Prix.  Once again, Hamilton and Massa made contact during the race, which saw a piece of McLaren bodywork deployed on the racing line and forcing the Safety Car out.  By their 2011 standards, the incident was relatively minor, but it was another flashpoint in a dismal season for both.  Michael Schumacher managed to split Hamilton and Massa at the chequered flag, whilst flu-ridden Perez drove well in his Sauber to eighth, as did Nico Rosberg from 23^rd on the grid to tenth.  However, Suzuka 2011 will be remembered for the place that wrapped up Sebastian Vettel’s glory season.

The German wasn’t finished yet though, as he cruised to his tenth victory of the season in Korea.  Combined with a third place finish for Webber, it sealed the constructor’s championship for Red Bull.  Hamilton blasted to pole, the first non Red Bull pole position of the season, but he was subdued all weekend as he finished second, his split from Nicole Scherzinger seemed to weigh on his mind throughout.  Button, Alonso and Massa completed the top six, leaving slim pickings for the rest.

      F1 made its inaugural visit to India and the sport gave the country the tradition in 2011 of a Sebastian Vettel pole position and a Sebastian Vettel victory.  He led every lap and was simply untouchable.  His 11^th triumph of the season put him within two races of equalling Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season.  Once again, it was Button and Alonso who completed the podium positions which provided a great circuit, but sadly, very poor racing.  Massa and Hamilton became attracted again with their sixth collision of the season.  The Brit’s front wing was damaged and he limped home in seventh.  Massa was blamed this time by the race stewards and awarded a drive-through penalty, but it didn’t matter in the end, as he abused his Ferrari over the plastering kerbing and broke his front suspension.  Mercedes equalled their best result of the season, with Schumacher leading Rosberg home to fifth, as he did at Spa earlier in the season.

      However, Vettel’s hopes of equalling Schumacher’s wins in a season record ended on the second corner in Abu Dhabi.  A sudden deflation on the left-rear tyre sent the champion spinning out of the race.  Hamilton took full advantage and returned to form to secure a brilliant win in a very controlled and measured drive.  As so often the case this season, Alonso outperformed his equipment to take second place for Ferrari and despite a KERS failure, Button made it two McLarens on the podium. 

      Red Bull may have finished off the podium in Abu Dhabi, but they showed their class in the finale at Sao Paulo.  Webber finally ended his barren run by taking a magnificent victory in Brazil, although he was aided by a faulty gearbox problem for his team-mate.  Button wrapped up second in the drivers championship with a podium finish, but Hamilton was out of luck, finishing his largely desperate season off with gearbox failure.  At least he ended his public feud with Massa after the race.  Fourth place for Alonso wasn’t enough to hold off Webber for third place in the driver’s championship final positions.

Vettel and Red Bull were the class of the field in 2011

So, after 19 races in 18 countries and five different winners from three teams, the end has arrived for F1 2011.  Sometimes in the sport, you just have to appreciate greatness and we must hail Sebastian’s perfect season!

DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP: Sebastian Vettel 392, Jenson Button 270, Mark Webber 258, Fernando Alonso 257, Lewis Hamilton 227, Felipe Massa 118, Nico Rosberg 89, Michael Schumacher 76, Adrian Sutil 42, Vitaly Petrov 37, Nick Heidfeld 34, Kamui Kobayashi 30, Paul di Resta 27, Jaime Alguersuari 26, Sebastian Buemi 15, Sergio Perez 14, Rubens Barrichello 4, Bruno Senna 2, Pastor Maldonado 1

CONSTRUCTORS CHAMPIONSHIP: Red Bull 650, McLaren 497, Ferrari 375, Mercedes GP 165, Renault 73, Force India 69, Sauber 44, Toro Rosso 41, Williams 5

2011 Brazilian Grand Prix - Webber ends barren run in style

SMILES: Webber finally has something to lookback on in 2011

AFTER 18 frustrating months playing second fiddle to his red-hot team-mate Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber finally tasted the champagne on the top step of the podium on Sunday.  The Australian won the 2011 finale in style in Sao Paulo, taking full advantage of a rare reliability issue that hobbled his team-mate.  From second on the grid, Webber was let through into the lead of the Brazilian Grand Prix on lap 29, as world champion Vettel had to battle on with a serious gearbox problem.  Nevertheless, he still finished second as Red Bull Racing put on a demonstration in a race that will quickly be forgotten by the avid F1 fan.

       On Saturday afternoon, Vettel broke another record with his usual pole position.  It was his 15^th of the campaign, eclipsing Nigel Mansell’s mark of 14 that he achieved in 1992.  From the moment the Red Bulls got into turn one first, the rest might have well parked their cars as they had no chance of getting on terms with the team that has had the best equipment, the best pit crew and the best strategies all season.  Vettel was first warned of his gearbox gremlin on lap 14 by his race engineer Rocky.  He was urged to short-shift in third and fourth and although he set some fastest laps to provoke some nerves within the team, Sebastian did what was asked.  Later, he said on the team radio; “I feel like Senna in 91,” which will go down as one of the sound bites of the season.  This was the famous reference to when the late Ayrton Senna won in 1991 with a major gearbox problem.  Webber caught his team leader and Vettel let him by into turn one in a piece of synchronised driving that is more likely to be seen by a couple of truck drivers on the M1.  It was an overtaking manoeuvre that would have struggled to get anyone excited.

       While the Red Bulls dominated at the front, the fans did witness an exciting dice between the other two standout drivers of the season, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.  The Ferrari looked to have the measure of the McLaren for much of the race, as Jenson struggled with a balance on the option tyres.  In fact, Fernando pulled off one of the best passes of the entire season, when he swept right around the outside of the Brit into turn six on lap ten.  52 laps later, Button had reeled him in again, as the Achilles heel of the Ferrari team came back to haunt them again.  Alonso couldn’t get decent consistency on the harder prime Pirelli tyre and Button outmanoeuvred him in turn four.  This decisive move meant Webber stole third place in the drivers’ championship from Alonso at the last event of the season.  

       Lewis Hamilton had a difficult race, as he was another driver to struggle with gearbox issues.  He had his from the tenth lap onwards, but unlike Vettel, his gave up the ghost whilst sixth on lap 48.  It completes a tough season for Hamilton, which sees him finish fifth in the championship and although he looked in good spirits, 2011 will largely be a season he’d like to forget.  At least he ended the feud with Felipe Massa that has ruined both of their seasons, by embracing his rival in parc ferme after the race; a gesture that was widely appreciated by Massa, Martin Whitmarsh and Stefano Domenicalli.  

DAMAGE: Senna and Schumacher harmed each other's races

     It was a race where there wasn’t a lot to shout about for the Brazilian fans.  Massa finished a lonely fifth, although he did pull off some donuts after the race to entertain everyone.  Potentially in his final race, Rubens Barrichello ended up in 14^th place for Williams after making a shocking start and dropping from 12^th to 20^th by the end of the first lap.  Bruno Senna qualified well, but was harshly penalised by the stewards for a clash with Michael Schumacher which wrecked both of their races early on.  The contact at turn one was unnecessary and pointless, but a racing incident.  Bruno damaged his front wing and Schumacher collected a left-rear puncture.  Both finished well out of the reckoning, in 17^th and 15^th places respectively. 

       The path was made clear for Webber to record the seventh victory of his career and his first since the Hungarian Grand Prix last July.  Vettel completed Red Bull’s fourth 1-2 of the season, followed by Button, Alonso and Massa.  Adrian Sutil put in his best drive of the campaign to record a fine sixth place for Force India, as he seeks a drive for next season.  His team-mate Paul di Resta completed a fine rookie season with eighth place and took Force India to within four points of snatching fifth in the constructor’s championship from the underachieving Renault team.  Nico Rosberg had his usual unobtrusive run to seventh place and the final points went to Kamur Kobayashi and Vitaly Petrov.  Kobayashi’s two points were crucial, as it kept Sauber ahead of Toro Rosso in the constructor’s championship by three points and could be worth an extra $5million to the team in prize money.

       So, that is it then.  The curtain has come down on a season which has produced five different winners, from three teams, in 19 races across the globe, taking place in 18 countries.  We have seen some vintage races, numerous overtakes, records tumble and ultimately, a team and driver at complete harmony with one another.  Red Bull have set the standard this season and raised the bar once again in Formula One.  McLaren and Ferrari have a lot of hard work to do in the winter to get on terms, otherwise come Melbourne next March; the team from Milton Keynes will be ready to crush everyone again.

      Enjoy the winter break!  

Sebastian Vettel - A legend in the making

# a special blog on the new double world champion replaced my regular Finishing Straight blog on the Korean Grand Prix.

THE word greatness is often used far too much in sport.  So too is the word, legend.  In the world of Formula One, you can only be considered a true great in the sport if you win the world championship twice.  Winning the title back-to-back is even harder to achieve, especially when you think of the current Formula One field.  The paddock may have been deprived of Robert Kubica this year by his pre-season rally accident, but this current crop of F1 drivers is probably the best in-depth we have had for over 30 years.  Multiple winners Rubens Barrichello, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa, combined with superb British champions Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button and former conquerors of Grand Prix racing, Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.  So, this makes Sebastian Vettel’s record-breaking achievements in 2011 all the more special.  He truly is a legend in the making.

       Vettel’s F1 career has been full of highs and he made a name for himself from day one in an F1 cockpit.  He set the fastest practice time in Turkey 2006; his first appearance on a Grand Prix weekend as a third driver for BMW Sauber.  When Kubica was ruled out of the 2007 US GP following his aeroplane-like crash in Canada, Vettel stood in for the Pole.  He became the youngest driver to score a world championship point, coming home eighth.  BMW were keen to hold on to this starring talent, but Sebastian was part of the Red Bull young drivers programme and he ended up in a Toro Rosso later in the season, replacing Scott Speed from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards.  A few races later, he starred in Japan, running a stunning third in the wet at Fuji Speedway before crashing into the back of Mark Webber’s Red Bull behind the Safety Car.  The youngster was devastated and had be consoled by his team for the embarrassing crash, but he bounced back in stunning style to record an outstanding fourth place finish just seven days later in Shanghai.

       Paired with Sebastian Bourdais for the 2008 season, Vettel struggled in the early races to repeat his form from the beginning of 2007.  Unbelievably, he was involved in three first lap accidents which took him out on the first lap in three of the first four races (Australia, Bahrain and Spain).  Once Toro Rosso produced a new car, he started to show his true class, in a car which frankly, would have been doing well to beat Honda and Williams.  Sebastian began a string of points scoring finishes from Hockenheim onwards, but it was Monza 2008 that really made him into a real star of the future.

      On a weekend where the championship challengers struggled in unseasonably wet conditions, Vettel came to the fore.  He delivered an impeccable performance on Saturday to become the youngest driver ever to earn a Formula One pole position.  24 hours later, he drove away from the faster McLaren of Heikki Kovalainen with consummate ease.  He won the race at a canter, to become the youngest driver to ever win a Grand Prix.  It was one of the finest drives I’d ever seen in Formula One and many in the Monza paddock that weekend had the same opinion.  Further point’s finishes in Singapore, Japan and Brazil earnt Sebastian eighth place in the championship final positions, whilst Toro Rosso ended up ahead of senior team, Red Bull in the constructors championship. 

     With David Coulthard going into retirement, Vettel was the perfect fit for the senior Red Bull squad, moving to the team for 2009.  In China, he overcame reliability problems in qualifying to take the team’s first pole position.  On raceday, foul weather conditions greeted the drivers and teams, but once again, Sebastian’s control at the front was total.  He showed his true class to record Red Bull’s first ever race victory.  It was a 1-2 for the team too, with Webber following his new team-mate home.  He also won from the front at Silverstone, Suzuka and Abu Dhabi to finish an excellent second in the drivers’ championship, only being knocked out of the championship running by a poor Q1 in Brazil which saw him drop out of contention.  He did make mistakes, such as colliding with Kubica in Australia and crashing at Monte Carlo, but the potential of this new German was really coming through.

      2010 started frustratingly for the Vettel/Red Bull partnership, thanks to reliability problems.  A broken exhaust saw Vettel limp home to fourth in Bahrain and a loose wheel nut sent him spinning out of the lead in Melbourne.  He won in Malaysia, but struggled with the Red Bull chassis and started to come under pressure in the team from team-mate Webber.  It triggered an extraordinary collision between the team-mates in Turkey.  He also drove into Jenson Button’s sidepod at Spa, labelled after that race by McLaren managing director Martin Whitmarsh as “the crash kid.”  However, he came back with fourth at Monza and crushing victories in Japan and Brazil to leave him with a chance of the championship going into the final event in Abu Dhabi.  It was a four-way title shootout and Sebastian drove like a champion all weekend.  He started on pole and won the race.  With an early Safety Car period allowing the likes of Nico Rosberg and Vitaly Petrov to leapfrog Fernando Alonso and Webber, it was enough for Sebastian Vettel to be crowned the 2010 FIA Formula One World Champion; the youngest in the 60 year history of the championship.

      This season, he has been in a class of his own.  The signs were ominous with dominant victories in the first two races in Australia and Malaysia.  A risky tyre strategy nearly paid off in Shanghai, but this time, he had to settle for second behind a hard-charging Hamilton.  After a heavy crash in Turkey practice which ruled him out of any dry running on Friday, he returned to Istanbul Park 24 hours later to take pole position by nearly half a second.  Race victory was a formality.  Vettel’s best two wins of the season came in Spain and Monaco, when his package was not the fastest on raceday.  In the latter, he held off the stiff challenges of Jenson Button and Alonso, having been on a worn set of Pirelli tyres for nearly 60 laps.  Canada brought a rare chink in the armour, running wide on the last lap to allow Button in for a gigantic victory.  He stormed to victory in Valencia and when he couldn’t win, Sebastian would consistently finish second, as he did at Silverstone and in Hungary.  In between this was a torrid home event at the Nurburgring, where he was second best to team-mate Webber all weekend and had to settle for fourth; the only event in 2011 when he hasn’t finished on the rostrum.  After a run of races without a win during the summer, he recovered to win at Spa, Monza and Singapore, again leading all three from the front.  A cautious third place at Suzuka by his own high standards was good enough to secure his second world championship and success last time out in Korea means he can still match Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in a season, set in 2004.

       In qualifying, he has the natural ability of Senna to set a lap when it is required.  He has shown he can overtake to win races like in Barcelona on Massa and Button and Alonso in Belgium.  When he gets infront, he seems to be able to coast to victory without any trouble.  With 100 per cent reliability and a sensational pitcrew around him, it’s no wonder why he has been the one to beat in 2011. 

      What Sebastian Vettel has achieved not just this season, but in his entire Formula One career is truly remarkable.  We shouldn’t be moaning at the domination of one driver at the front, we should be hailing and witnessing one of the true legends of this great sport show their genuine class.  The Vettel dynasty in Grand Prix racing has only just begun; it looks like Schumacher’s records could be beaten after all.

2011 Korean Grand Prix - Red Bull seal double success in Asia

DOMINANT: Vettel produced another flawless performance

RED Bull Racing secured the constructors championship in clinical fashion this morning at the Korean Grand Prix.  Newly crowned double champion Sebastian Vettel claimed his tenth victory of the season and Mark Webber’s third spot made sure that the Milton Keynes based team scored more points than their only rivals for this championship, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

     For the first time since the 2010 Brazilian Grand Prix, a Red Bull failed to qualify on pole position.  A rather subdued Lewis Hamilton produced a special lap to claim the top honours for McLaren.  However, Red Bull looked to be faster on raceday and from the moment Vettel charged into the lead on the fourth corner of the race, the outcome never really looked in doubt.  McLaren had looked seriously competitive again throughout the weekend, but both drivers lost out in a mad first lap.  Jenson Button was beaten up on the first circuit and got relegated from third on the grid to sixth at the end of it.  Button’s charge continued to be held back, when Mercedes GP managed to get Nico Rosberg briefly infront of the Brit in a pitstop race.

     In the early stages, Hamilton managed to hold onto Vettel, but the expected wear on the Pirelli tyres wasn’t as high as anticipated and once again, it was the Brit who wore out his tyres the most.  Not even a Safety Car period could halt Vettel’s charge after the first round of pitstops.  This was caused when Vitaly Petrov got into a fierce battle with Fernando Alonso down the longest straight in Formula One.  Both completely missed their braking point, but whilst Alonso realised trouble and took a wider route around the corner, Petrov clobbered straight into the back of the innocent Michael Schumacher.  Both cars were badly damaged and had to retire, with debris scattered across the circuit.  Petrov accepted responsibility for his misjudgement, but still incurs a five place grid penalty for the next race in India.

     As the race wore on, Webber became more of a factor in the reckoning.  He closed in on Hamilton and the pair had a couple of brilliant, clean dices.  Red Bull did miss a trick in pitting Webber at the same time as the McLaren, losing the opportunity to springboard Lewis via the ‘undercut.’  Although the leading cars were bunched together, no-one looked capable of pulling off an overtaking manoeuvre in frankly, a boring race that would have made anyone decide to go back to sleep for it’s early takeoff.  Fernando Alonso did produce the sound bite of the season, when he closed in on Button, but got a warning message about high fuel consumption.  He then said; “I give up, I give up.”  Perhaps it was a message of annoyance, having spent the first half of the race a forlorn figure, trapped behind the much slower Felipe Massa.

      Further back, Jaime Alguesuari passed Rosberg on the last lap to match his best ever career result of seventh place.  Sebastian Buemi brought his car home in ninth to secure some much-needed points for the Toro Rosso team, which sees them close up on Sauber in the championship.  Paul di Resta held off his team-mate Adrian Sutil to claim the final point for Force India.

     This season, it has belonged to one driver and one team.  Many congratulations to Red Bull Racing, the 2011 FIA Formula One Constructors Champions.

2011 Singapore Grand Prix - Only one more point needed for Vettel

TOAST: Only Jenson Button can stop Vettel's title charge now

THE dominant Sebastian Vettel now only needs one more point to wrap up the inevitable and retain his Formula One World Championship.  He took the flag in a fascinating Singapore Grand Prix to record his ninth success of a 2011 season in which he has crushed the opposition.  Only 2009 world champion Jenson Button can stop him now winning the title and if he does, then I will flush my head down the toilet seat!  Vettel only needs a single point at the next race, the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka in a fortnight to become only the eighth driver in history to win back-to-back world championships and the youngest of that crop.  When you think that only Juan Manuel Fangio, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Alberto Ascari, Ayrton Senna, Sir Jack Brabham and Mika Hakkinen have achieved this feat, it just underlines the fact that Vettel is one of the legends in the sport’s established and colourful history.

     Once again in Singapore all weekend, the Vettel/Red Bull combination was simply untouchable.  Although Button got to within 1.6secs at the end of the two hour event, Sebastian had the race under control once again.  On pole position by nearly half a second, he simply left the competition standing at the start and had a 25 second lead before a scary crash for Michael Schumacher brought out the Safety Car.  However, in the spectacular nightline scenery, he made a mockery of the restart and before Button could think about closing again, 12 seconds had disappeared in three laps!  Problems with backmarkers, especially with the duelling Williams of Pastor Maldonado and Rubens Barrichello wrecked any hopes of Button catching Vettel right up in the final laps.  It would have been an unlikely repeat of the Canadian Grand Prix, but the closing laps could have been even more gruelling than what they were.

      As Vettel had his traditional Sunday stroll, others toiled in the humid conditions.  Once again, Mark Webber made his customary slow start, baulking a flying Lewis Hamilton.  Webber dropped to fourth from the front row of the grid, as Button and Fernando Alonso took full advantage.  Hamilton fell to eighth and his afternoon was compromised even further by another run-in with his childish partner in crime, Felipe Massa.   

PUNCTURE: Another run-in with Hamilton ruined Massa's evening

     After their incidents in Monaco earlier in the season, it became clear that neither has learned their lesson from those events back in May.  The pair blamed each other for a near-miss in Saturday’s pole position qualifying shootout.  On Sunday, they had a collision at turn seven, that ruined their races.  Having just exited the pits from their first stops, Massa defended the inside line into the corner and was ran into the back by a rather clumsy turn-in attempt from Hamilton.  Massa collected a puncture and could only fight back to ninth by the finish.  Hamilton earnt his traditional drive-through penalty for causing a collision, but other smart overtaking, combined with good timing in the Safety Car phase meant he recovered to fifth.  Afterwards, Massa sarcastically congratulated Hamilton in the driver’s interview pen for the clash and it remains to be seen how far this bitter dispute goes between the 2008 title rivals.

     Whilst Hamilton was making headlines, Schumacher made a dramatic exit stage right on lap 29.  The seven-time world champion was involved in a feisty dice for position with team-mate Nico Rosberg and the Sauber of Sergio Perez.  The trouble began when Rosberg ran wide onto the marbles in the final corner on the previous lap, lost position to Perez and then aggressively claimed the place back with some force into the first bend.  Moments later, Schumacher tried to catch the rookie off-guard exiting turn seven, but misjudged Perez’s rightful braking distance and launched himself over the Mexican and straight into the barriers, narrowly missing Rosberg.  Luckily, Schumacher was unhurt, whilst both Rosberg and Perez went onto score points.

     Massa wasn’t the only Ferrari driver to have a tough day, as Alonso fought all day with tyres that simply didn’t like the set-up of his car.  His promising long race pace in Friday practice turned out to be a flash in the pan.  Twice, he got outmanoeuvred by Webber on the track, once after the Safety Car restart into the pathetic turn ten chicane.  Webber’s clever moves earnt him a deserved rostrum finish, behind Button.  Alonso had to settle for fourth, once again achieving the maximum his car was capable of on the day.  Vettel’s only minor scare was when Team Lotus released Heikki Kovalainen into his path during his final pitstop.  No damage was fortunately done, with Lotus expected to receive a fine for the incident.

     Scottish rookie sensation Paul di Resta had another outstanding event and ran as high as third briefly during the first round of pitstops.  Sixth place, two positions ahead of experienced team-mate Adrian Sutil confirms his standing as rookie of the year.  Rosberg held off Sutil, Massa and Perez in the final lap to finish seventh.  It was also a good day for Team Lotus, with Kovalainen finishing 16^th, notably outracing the Renault of Vitaly Petrov.  Once again, 15^th and 17^th place results sum up Renault need Robert Kubica back ASAP.  Their weekend was simply forgettable.

      However, Sebastian Vettel had another unforgettable weekend.  As he coasted across the line to take the delirium from his Red Bull mechanics, the fireworks exploded on the Marina Bay harbour, to complete another perfect day for the young German.  He now has two hands on the title and is aiming for more records in the final five races of the season.  Suzuka will end up seeing him crowned as youngest back-to-back world champion and knowing the way he has set his standards, he will go to Japan not for one point, but the maximum result and complete the mission in style.  

F1 classic races - Singapore

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  As Singapore has only held three races before and not all of them have been classics, here is a varied selection of events from events no longer on the F1 calendar, plus one from the Singapore Grand Prix.  The races come from between 1991 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1993 – Portugal

LAST: Title for Prost came in Portugal 1993, before retirement

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Ford), 2^nd: Alain Prost (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault)

THIS was the weekend which saw Alain Prost announce his retirement from Formula One at the end of the season, paving the way for Ayrton Senna to join Williams for 1994.  Senna would have a new team-mate for this race, with flying Finn Mika Hakkinen promoted into the McLaren race team.  Hakkinen sensationally outqualified Senna and was racing well, when he crashed heavily out of the final corner, fortunately without any injury.  By that stage, Senna had already disappeared with engine trouble.  Ferrari had their most competitive weekend of the season, with Jean Alesi leading the first stint and Gerhard Berger making a dramatic exit into the barriers from leaving the pitlane!  In the end, the race turned into a tactical battle between Prost and Michael Schumacher for victory.  Schumacher abandoned his plans for a second tyre stop and showed his gritty determination to win his first Grand Prix of a frustrating season.  However, second place was good enough for Prost to seal his fourth world championship.  

1995 – Pacific

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Benetton Renault), 2^nd: David Coulthard (Williams Renault), 3^rd: Damon Hill (Williams Renault)

THE TI Aida circuit in Japan was never a favourite with the drivers, but the 1995 event, moved to a late season date following the Kobe earthquake earlier in the year became the setting for the championship decider.  David Coulthard started on pole and dominated for the majority for the race, but defending champion Michael Schumacher fought back from a poor start to snatch second place from the Ferrari’s of Jean Alesi and Gerhard Berger.  He closed in on Coulthard and once again, the Benetton’s superior strategy came into force in overwhelming the Williams.  Schumacher won the race and wrapped up his second successive drivers title.  Damon Hill was a distant third and had to concede defeat to the class act of 1995.  Michael Schumacher did it his way!

1997 – Luxembourg

WINNER: Jacques Villeneuve (Williams Renault), 2^nd: Jean Alesi (Benetton Renault), 3^rd: Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Williams Renault)

LITTLE did we know it at the time, but this would turn out to be Jacques Villeneuve’s final ever win in Formula One.  It put him nine points clear of Michael Schumacher with two races remaining and it owed to a huge slice of luck.  Held at the Nurburgring, Mika Hakkinen had taken pole position for the first time in his career and drove into the distance, backed up by David Coulthard.  Then, in two nightmare laps for McLaren, Coulthard stopped with an engine failure on the pit straight.  Moments later, Hakkinen was pulling onto the grass with the same problem, which meant his elusive first victory would have to wait.  Villeneuve led home Jean Alesi, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Gerhard Berger to a Renault 1-2-3-4 Grand Slam.  Jacques cause was aided by Ralf Schumacher’s acrobatics at the first corner which took out his Jordan team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella and his own brother.  Michael was less than amused!

2001 – USA

WINNER: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes)

JUST two weeks after the terrorist attacks on America, Formula One put a smile on the faces of the US people again in the first major sporting event to be held in the country since that fateful September 11 day.  McLaren’s Mika Hakkinen recovered from a grid penalty to take an excellent win in the penultimate race of his career.  On a two-stop strategy, Rubens Barrichello pushed Hakkinen all the way, until a rare Ferrari engine failure with four laps to go robbed him of a brilliant podium.  Despite being outfoxed by Hakkinen and brilliantly passed by Juan Pablo Montoya, Michael Schumacher was second whilst Jordan’s Jarno Trulli won an FIA appeal against a technical disqualification a month later to get his fourth position back.  Both Williams BMW cars retired, with a dying engine ending Montoya’s hopes of back-to-back wins.  The 2001 US Grand Prix was also the final race commentated in F1 by the legendary Murray Walker, who hung up his mic for ITV in emotional fashion.  At least he left on a high from a wonderful event in the light of such tragedy.

2005 – San Marino

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3^rd: Alexander Wurz (McLaren Mercedes)

WHEN Kimi Raikkonen claimed pole position and starting cruising away in the opening laps, it looked like Imola 2005 was going to be a typical procession.  However, McLaren’s reliability jinx struck again, as driveshaft failure on the ninth circuit ruled Raikkonen out of proceedings.  Fernando Alonso took the lead and built a significant cushion over the rest of the chasing pack, led by BAR’s Jenson Button.  In the midfield was Michael Schumacher, following a mistake in qualifying which left him 13^th on the grid.  When others infront pitted, the Ferrari was unleashed and started lapping two seconds faster than anyone else on the track.  He passed Button easily and hunted down Alonso.  Overtaking was incredibly difficult on the Autodromo Enzo E Dino Ferrari track and try as he might; Schumacher couldn’t find a way past Alonso, down to the Spaniard’s amazing defensive driving.  Alonso held on to take a significant victory, his third in a row.  Jenson Button finished third, but BAR were caught cheating with fuel being used as ballast discovered after the race.  The team lost their Imola points a fortnight later and got banned for two races for the indiscretion.  UK viewers complained in their droves after ITV took an ill-judged commercial break with three laps to go of the race, right at the heat of the Alonso/Schumacher battle.  Many believe this was the death knell in their F1 coverage, which ended three years later.

2010 – Singapore

CLASH: The shunt with Webber last year wrecked Hamilton's hopes

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 2^nd: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull Racing Renault), 3^rd: Mark Webber (Red Bull Racing Renault)

LAST season, Fernando Alonso held off a charging Sebastian Vettel to take a brilliant victory on the night streets of Singapore.  Despite two Safety Car periods, the Spaniard held off Vettel all the way.  A minor brush with the barriers in qualifying cost Vettel the pole position and ultimately, the race.  Third place was enough for Mark Webber to retain his championship lead, whilst fourth spot kept Jenson Button in the race.  However, Lewis Hamilton’s title bid took a fatal blow, as he controversially clashed with Webber after a Safety Car period.  Despite minor contact, terminal damage was done to the McLaren and ended his race.  The most spectacular image of the season came when Heikki Kovalainen’s Lotus blew up and caught fire on the pit straight, with the brave Finn having to double up as a temporary fire marshal to extinguish the rapidly increasing flames.

2011 Italian Grand Prix - Another cruise and collect for Vettel

UNEXPECTED: RBR's season domination continued at Monza

SEBASTIAN Vettel can mathematically become the youngest ever back-to-back Formula 1 world champion in a fortnight in Singapore after another flawless performance.  The German won the Italian Grand Prix at Monza today by a canter.  It was his eighth win of the season and he could have pitted, had a cigar and a cup of coffee and still exited in the lead.  That’s how dominant he was.  Despite being beaten off the line by a flying Fernando Alonso, the shorter gear ratio gamble that Vettel’s side of the Red Bull garage made yesterday paid off handsomely.  He used grass to re-pass Alonso after a brief Safety Car period and led afterwards throughout the final European race of the season.

     Having stormed to pole position by half a second yesterday on what was supposed to be Red Bull’s weakest circuit; Vettel made an average getaway and had to fend off Lewis Hamilton on the rundown to the tight first chicane.  However, Alonso, coming from fourth on the grid repeated his stunning start in Barcelona to lead the cars into the first corner.  However, there was carnage behind the leaders.  HRT’s Daniel Ricciardo failed to get off the grid, whilst Jerome D’Ambrosio clutch broke yards into the start of the race.  Seconds later, the second Hispania of Vitantonio Liuzzi got onto the grass and spun into the middle of the pack.  His car collected the unfortunate victims; Vitaly Petrov and Nico Rosberg.  All three cars were eliminated, whilst Adrian Sutil, Kamur Kobayashi and Rubens Barrichello all picked up significant damage which ruined their afternoons.

CLASH: Webber clouts Massa, which ultimately ends his race

      Alonso led Vettel, Hamilton, Michael Schumacher and Felipe Massa behind the Safety Car, but the Ferrari was simply no match for the Red Bull accelerating out of the chicanes.  On lap four, Vettel made his move stick at the second chicane, despite a robust defence from Alonso and drove into the distance.  A lap later, Mark Webber, who had passed Jenson Button off the restart, attempted the same crushing manoeuvre on Massa.  He hit the high kerbs in the first chicane, clouted Massa and spun the Ferrari around.  With the front wing buried underneath his aerodynamic floor, the Red Bull didn’t even bother turning into Parabolica and Webber went straight to the scene of the accident.  It is the first time since Korea 2010 that one of the Red Bull’s has failed to finish a Grand Prix.

     The main dice on the track was between former champions Michael Schumacher and Hamilton.  Schumacher had pounced on a sleepy Hamilton at the Safety Car restart and the Mercedes GP’s useful speed on the straights, combined with some cautious Hamilton driving kept the Brit frustrated for most of the day.  There were times when Schumacher moved across the track to defend his position more than once, with one instance leaving Hamilton on the grass at Curva Grande.  Button took advantage of the scrapping duo and he passed both cars in quick succession before the first tyre stops, to set off after Alonso.

      Having been warned by the FIA for his defensive driving tactics, Schumacher eventually gave best to Hamilton shortly after the first pitstops.  Button had a near-miss in the pits, when Rubens Barrichello almost squeezed him into the pitwall whilst making his second stop.  This minor delay meant he failed to clear Alonso, but the Ferrari struggled on cold hard tyres and Button pounced on the exit of the first chicane with 13 laps to go to claim second place.  In the closing stages, Hamilton closed right in on Alonso, but ran out of time and opportunity to make a pass stick.

      Whilst all the action was happening behind him, Vettel had a lonely run towards another victory, which now leaves him 112 points ahead of nearest rival Alonso.  He looked emotional on the podium, three years after winning here in a Toro Rosso, largely because Red Bull was expected to struggle around this racetrack.  15 seconds behind and Button finished an excellent second to continue his recent rich vein of form, whilst Alonso picked up the maximum available again, with a podium finish.  With Hamilton and Schumacher next up, it was the first ever race in world championship history that saw five world champions finish in the top five positions.  Massa had to settle for sixth, whilst Jaime Alguesuari collected yet more points for Toro Rosso in seventh place.  With Sergio Perez being ruled out by transmission problems, Paul di Resta finished a creditable eighth for Force India, with Bruno Senna and Sebastian Buemi taking the final points on offer.  For Senna, these were his first ever world championship points since making his Grand Prix debut last season for Hispania.

     So, the European season concludes with yet another Sebastian Vettel dominant performance.  He has the title in the bag now, and it only needs conformation.  If things go his way, it could be settled in a fortnight’s time.  Let’s hope F1 2011 can go out with a bang in the final six flyaway events of the season, beginning with the fourth night race in Singapore in two weeks.    

2011 Belgian Grand Prix - Super Seb takes a step closer

TOP: Vettel was in impeccable form again at Spa

DESPITE concerns with blistering tyres, Sebastian Vettel took a giant step closer towards a successful defence of his world championship title today.  The young German won the Belgian Grand Prix at the daunting Spa-Francorchamps circuit to record his first win since success in Valencia over two months ago.  It was a drive full of control and confidence, on a day where his rivals made mistakes and failed to take opportunities of a rare Red Bull weakness.

     Formula One made a welcome return from its summer break with a dramatic qualifying session on a damp track.  Before the race had begun, the paddock was still talking about the incident at the end of Q2 yesterday between Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado, when the Williams driver seemed to make a deliberate attempt to take Hamilton out of qualifying altogether.  Dangerous it certainly was and Maldonado was given a five place grid penalty for his actions.  However, Red Bull had more pressing concerns, when tyre manufacturer Pirelli came to them at around 5pm yesterday, claiming that the super soft tyres their cars had qualified on were close to structural failure.  After rival teams rejected a request from the constructor leaders to change their tyres, the concern on the faces of Adrian Newey and Christian Horner could be evident before the start of the race.

     It got worse for Red Bull when Mark Webber made his customary shocking start.  Just like last year, the Australian’s anti-stall mode kicked in and he was swallowed up by the front pack.  Vettel led into the first corner, but was overhauled by the time the cars got to Les Combes by the fast-starting Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes.  Behind them, chaos ensured at one of the trickiest first corners in Grand Prix racing.  In his first start for nearly a year, Bruno Senna misjudged his braking capacity and smashed into Jaime Alguesuari’s Toro Rosso.  The contact rebounded Alguesuari into Fernando Alonso and whilst the senior Spaniard got away with the impact, his compatriot was out with broken front suspension.  Further back, Timo Glock’s ambition got the better of him, as he slid into the side of Paul di Resta’s Force India.  The resultant concertina saw di Resta take a bite out of Jenson Button’s rear wing, whilst the two Lotus cars of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen also got into an unfortunate tangle.  Button was lucky to escape injury as debris from Senna’s damaged front wing removed his right-hand mirror and lodged into his front wing.  After McLaren messed up his qualifying effort yesterday, it looked like he had another major fightback on his hands.

     Vettel drove back past Rosberg as soon as the DRS was activated, but soon pitted, as did his team-mate to get rid of the iffy tyres.  Button soon followed, though that was for the cosmetic repairs that he needed from the first corner skirmish.  Rosberg regained the lead, but was soon passed by the recovering Alonso and Lewis Hamilton.  On lap 8, Alonso and Webber showed their massive respect for one another, as the 35-year old Aussie produced great bravery to pass Alonso on the inside of the 185mph flat-out Eau Rouge kink.  This sort of stuff is why he has re-signed with Red Bull Racing for the 2012 season.  

MESSY: Hamilton's crash ended another disappointing day

     Five laps later, Hamilton’s dramatic weekend took a turn for the worse when he was pitched into the barriers by the Sauber of Kamur Kobayashi.  Hamilton had just passed Kobayashi and went to defend the Japanese driver from an immediate attack.  However, he moved across too soon before he was a car length infront of the Sauber.  The inevitable contact had Hamilton heading straight for the barriers.  He sounded rather dejected in interviews afterwards following another trying weekend which ended in grave disappointment.

     The safety car was deployed to clear away the wrecked McLaren and Vettel pitted for another stop, whilst Alonso and Webber elected to take track position, rather than pit.  Felipe Massa had moved upto fourth ahead of Rosberg, but was passed immediately on the restart by the fired up German.  Within two laps of the restart, Vettel was back infront and took command of the race from there.  Alonso looked good for second, but struggled for pace on the medium compound tyre and he was no match for Webber, who stormed past again with ten laps to go, far more comfortable on the same rubber.  Meanwhile, Button had produced an ultimate masterclass in how to overtake and with only three laps to go, passed Alonso with ease to take the final podium place.  Having been as low as 19^th, it was another great fightback.  However, no-one could stop Vettel, who cruised home to his first victory at Spa, on a circuit which was meant to be one of Red Bull’s weaker circuits in the final races.

    Behind Webber, Button and Alonso, Michael Schumacher produced one of his best races of the season to finish fifth.  It was a remarkable feat, having started last after a wheel fell off in the early stages of qualifying yesterday.  This is a special result on a special weekend for the great German, who was celebrating his 20^th anniversary of his F1 debut in a Jordan.  After a promising start, Rosberg had to settle for sixth, as he was hobbled by fuel consumption concerns like he was in China.  Adrian Sutil earnt some more strong points for Force India in seventh, whilst Massa could only manage eighth, as he had to make an extra unscheduled stop to replace a punctured tyre.  Vitaly Petrov and Maldonado completed the points scorers, with the latter scoring his first ever championship point and probably adding insult to injury on Hamilton’s dark mood following his hooligan antics 24 hours earlier.  After his delay, Senna had to settle for 13^th in his first drive for Renault, while di Resta narrowly missed out on points in 11^th. 

     With a 95 point lead, Sebastian Vettel has ended his summer drought and it is now not a question of if, but when he seals his second world championship.  He could take a massive step forward at Monza; the final European event of the season in a fortnight’s time.

F1 2011 - The half-term report

IT IS the halfway point in F1 2011, so it’s time for me to assess how some of the drivers have done in the first ten races;

Sebastian Vettel (1^st in the world championship, 216 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st on six occasions

This season, there can be no doubt that Sebastian Vettel tops the class.  Six victories, seven pole positions and over 70 per cent of laps led so far have shown that he has destroyed the opposition on a regular basis so far.  His win in Turkey, considering he missed all of Friday, due to a practice crash showed how awesome he is at the front of the field.  Sunday’s performance at the Nurburgring was below par, but everyone has a bad weekend during any Grand Prix season.  Sebastian probably needs to still shake off the tag of struggling to race in the pack, but great strategy, sensational one lap ability and a reliable car means it will take a miracle for him to be denied a second championship.

GRADE: A+ (An almost flawless campaign so far, he deserves to be where he is)

Lewis Hamilton (3^rd in the world championship, 134 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in China, Germany)

Lewis Hamilton has had an inconsistent season so far and for his talents, some of his results have been very disappointing.  Considering where McLaren looked in winter testing, third at halfway point is not bad, but Lewis wants more and at times, has overdriven the car.  Run-ins with Felipe Massa and Pastor Maldonado in Monaco; team-mate Jenson Button in Canada, it has either been silly mistakes or masterful drives in 2011 and nothing in-between.  His comments about the race stewards in Monaco didn’t go down very well either and his relationship with McLaren might be permanently damaged after ‘that’ meeting with Christian Horner in Canada.  Nevertheless, the victories in China and Germany showed us why we love Lewis; for his natural aggression and the ability to outperform the machinery he has at his disposal. 

GRADE: A- (Calm it down Lewis, you have shown what you are capable of)

Mark Webber (2^nd in the world championship, 139 points – BEST FINISH: 2^nd in Turkey)

Mark Webber is under pressure this season, especially as he is now definitely playing second fiddle in the Red Bull camp.  At times, he has shown his hard-charging determination and his fightback from 18^th on the grid to a podium finish in China is testimony to that.  He has consistently finished on the podium of late, but no wins in nearly a year tells its own story.  Sometimes, he can just disappear into thin air, as the races in Australia and Spain would highlight.  Considering he is in the best equipment, Mark should have won races by now, so although there is consistency, the extra edge is missing at the moment.  He knows he has it, but the question is, can he deliver it before the season’s end.

GRADE: B+ (Gradual improvements during the year – but needs to start winning soon)

 

Felipe Massa (6^th in the world championship, 62 points – BEST FINISH: 5^th in Malaysia)

Felipe Massa had a lacklustre start to the season, with a terrible opening weekend in Melbourne.  He only just made Q3 and finished an entire minute behind team-mate Fernando Alonso.  His performance in Turkey was erratic too, especially on a circuit where he has ruled before and the Spanish Grand Prix weekend was an unmitigated disaster.  However, he is a reliable foil for Fernando and on occasion, such as China and Canada, can outperform his ace team-mate.  The results haven’t quite been upto scratch, and that will need work in the second half of the season, especially as Fernando will need his help if he stands any remote chance of a shock comeback.

GRADE: B- (Shown flashes of the old Felipe, but not enough to prove he can win races again)

Vitaly Petrov (9^th in the world championship, 32 points – BEST FINISH: 3^rd in Australia)

The season couldn’t have started any better for Vitaly, as he secured a popular podium finish in the Australian Grand Prix.  Since then, he has struggled to deliver high-profile results, but that is down to the Renault’s lack of development rather than the driver failing to live upto standards.  Fifth in Canada and eighth in Turkey were days when Petrov made the most of a day when others struggled.  Valencia and Silverstone aside, he has threatened points on every weekend and with a better car and more support from a higher scoring team-mate, would achieve far more than his points tally suggests.

GRADE: B+ (A pleasant surprise so far – totally written off those critics he had last term)

Fernando Alonso (4^th in the world championship, 130 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in Britain)

Personally, I think Fernando is driving the best he has ever done in his career.  Time and again, he has dragged even more than what the Ferrari is capable of.  Not once has he shown his general frustrations this season, even after being lapped in Barcelona having led the first 20 laps of his home event.  His success at Silverstone was fully deserved and second place finishes in Monaco and at the Nurburgring show the fire is still well and truly burning brightly.  Alonso will win another title, especially now he is tied down long-term to Ferrari, but Vettel’s sheer pace means that the wait will have to go on a bit longer.

GRADE: A (With better machinery, he would have given Vettel a run all season)

Nick Heidfeld (8^th in the world championship, 34 points – BEST FINISH: 3^rd in Malaysia)

Things didn’t start well for Robert Kubica’s replacement, as major KERS problems left him down in 13^th in Australia.  It looked much better after a brilliant Malaysia weekend, which saw Nick in the top six, run second in the first stint and end up on the podium.  However, he has failed to deliver on that promise.  He has shown a real lack of pace in qualifying and it has really hurt race efforts.  Despite being a consistent point’s finisher, he hasn’t set the world alight.  With Kubica recovering well, plus the likes of Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean pushing hard, Nick might as well begin looking around for other motorsport employment next season.

GRADE: C+ (A lacklustre campaign from Mr. Reliable, must do better!)

Rubens Barrichello (16^th in the world championship, 4 points – BEST FINISH: 9^th in Monaco)

He has started over 300 races, but perhaps the time has come for Rubens Barrichello to hang up his helmet and make a gracious exit from the sport he still truly loves.  The 2011 Williams is not a good car and his frustrations at times this season have shown, especially as the car has been unreliable too.  It might not be his decision either, especially if Williams continue to require money from drivers for the seats.  Pastor Maldonado has embarrassed him in qualifying too frequently and although he bought home valuable points in Monaco and Canada, the spark seems to have gone. 

GRADE: D (Going out with a whimper, don’t make the same mistake as many others Rubens!)

Michael Schumacher (10^th in the world championship, 32 points – BEST FINISH: 4^th in Canada)

After a shambolic season opener in Melbourne, Michael has shown flashes of the man we love best.  His drive in Canada reminded us of the glory days and he was desperately unlucky not to get a rostrum.  Like the Williams, he has been severely limited by his machinery this season, but the scrapes he has had with Jaime Alguesuari in Melbourne, Vitaly Petrov in Turkey and Kamur Kobayashi at Silverstone suggest that his judgement is not the same as it was.  He needs more days like Montreal if he doesn’t want to get the label of the ‘worst comeback’ ever!

GRADE: C- (Willing to improve the car, must start beating Rosberg on a regular basis)

Kamur Kobayashi (11^th in the world championship, 27 points – BEST FINISH: 5^th in Monaco)

Kamur Kobayashi is the hottest and greatest racing driver to have ever come out of Japan.  His thrilling attitude towards overtaking has meant that there is never a dull moment when he is around.  Sauber have given him a much better chassis this season and Kamur is starting to produce a string of strong, consistent results.  His enthusiasm for the sport can’t be questioned, especially considering the tough times his country has faced following the devastating tsunami only weeks before the season’s beginning.  Only his qualifying needs to be worked on, but a shrewd team leader he is turning out to be.

GRADE: B- (Great season so far, with few errors of judgement)

Paul di Resta (17^th in the world championship, 2 points – BEST FINISH: 10^th in Australia)

The ability to beat your team-mate on a regular basis makes you a hot property and that certainly is what Paul di Resta is.  He has left Adrian Sutil trailing in his wake at Force India this season and only Valencia and Nurburgring was he significantly outpaced by the German.  However, Paul needs to cut down on the clumsy manoeuvres he is making in races.  He missed out on point’s opportunities in Monaco and Canada by attempting almost impossible overtakes.  With Mercedes chasing after his services long-term, Paul has earnt his right to stay in F1 for the long-term.

GRADE: C+ (Shows great potential, but needs to stay out of trouble more often) 

Jarno Trulli (19^th in the world championship, 0 points – BEST FINISH: 13^th in Australia and Monaco)

Jarno Trulli was dropped from the Team Lotus squad for last weekend’s race and is not hard to see why.  The Italian has been smashed by his team-mate Heikki Kovalainen and continues to complain about the lack of power steering available to his disposal.  Lotus has a new system for him this weekend, so there can now be no excuses.

GRADE: E (Time to move over for the younger generation)

Sebastian Buemi (15^th in the world championship, 8 points – BEST FINISH: 8^th in Australia)

Until Nurburgring, Sebastian Buemi had put in a very good showing in all the races this season.  The Toro Rosso has struggled again this season, but is more firmly in the midfield and four point’s finishes show that Buemi is no slouch in the car.  He has had the measure of Jaime Alguesuari for most of the season and can surely look forward to another season at Toro Rosso next year.

GRADE: C+ (Significant improvements on last year’s horror show)

Adrian Sutil (12^th in the world championship, 18 points – BEST FINISH: 6^th in Germany)

Having been outpaced for large periods this season by Paul di Resta, Adrian has to make massive improvements in the second half of the season.  He threw away points in Canada with some clumsy mistakes and when he has finished races, the team’s strategy has often cost him points.  Nevertheless, he did well to bag some useful points in both Monaco and last Sunday in Germany and although his stock has dropped, the quality on his day is still there.  Considering criminal charges for a nightclub incident in China hang over him, Adrian is doing well to get on with the job in hand.

GRADE: C- (More needed, especially on a Saturday afternoon)

Jenson Button (5^th in the world championship, 109 points – BEST FINISH: 1^st in Canada)

Bad luck has got in the way of Jenson Button in the last few races and that’s a shame, because he has a very good season so far.  Surprisingly, he hasn’t quite managed to get the best out of the new Pirelli tyres, but he won in such brilliant fashion in Canada against all the odds.  He should have won Monaco too and a flying second place in Malaysia proves just why Button is world champion quality.  Saturday’s have been a struggle though and it has just given him far too much to do on too many occasions.

GRADE: B+ (Outstanding on Sundays, too average on Saturdays)

Sergio Perez (14^th in the world championship, 8 points – BEST FINISH: 7^th in Britain)

Although his first campaign will sadly be remembered for the horrific qualifying crash in Monaco, Sergio Perez has proven that Mexico has Got Talent!  Perez’s ability to keep his Pirelli tyres durable has seriously impressed me.  He lost a stunning seventh place in Melbourne to a technical infringement, but has made up for it with strong points results in Spain and at Silverstone.  Sergio is the rookie of the year so far.

GRADE: B- (Able to handle the pressure of Grand Prix racing extremely well)

Vitantonio Liuzzi (20^th in the world championship, 0 points – BEST FINISH: 13^th in Canada)

Tonio has got on with it this season, considering he has a pig of a car to drive.  He has more than matched the Virgin cars this term and although his best years have gone, it’s good to see him outperforming his equipment.  It’s such a shame it took too long to deliver.

GRADE: C (A good effort in rubbish machinery)