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 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.

2011 Chinese Grand Prix - Hamilton wins Shanghai stunner

BOWED: Hamilton accepts the plaudits after a great drive

A BETTER strategy and dynamic passing saw Lewis Hamilton triumph yesterday in the Chinese Grand Prix.  The McLaren driver pounced with fresher tyres to pass Sebastian Vettel with four laps to go, to earn his first win since last August’s Belgian Grand Prix at Spa.  Vettel maintained his championship lead with a strong second, whilst Mark Webber put in the drive of his life to earn a podium finish from 18^th on the grid.  With stunning drives from the likes of Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa too, Shanghai 2011 will go down as one of the all-time classics in F1 history.

     On Saturday afternoon, Vettel was 0.7seconds quicker than his closest opposition and it looked like he would probably walk it on raceday too.  Those hopes were quickly dashed by a sluggish start, which saw the champion outfoxed by the McLaren’s of Jenson Button and Hamilton.  Hamilton was even lucky to start the race, after an overflow of fuel flooded the engine and left some frenzied attention from the mechanics in the moments to the start.  Whilst the first stint was fairly uneventful, except for a wheel parting company from Jaime Alguesuari’s Toro Rosso, the race strategy and degradation of the Pirelli tyres turned this race into an absolute belter.

     The chaos began on lap 15 when Button and Vettel pitted together for their first pitstops.  Unbelievably, Jenson lost total concentration of his bearings and attempted to stop in the Red Bull pits!  It was a comical moment and Vettel was gifted the lead by this faux-pas.  That didn’t last long, as Mercedes had pitted earlier than anyone else, and bought both Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher right into contention.  Rosberg led and it soon became clear that managing tyres and a mixture of strategies would leave the outcome totally unpredictable.  Rosberg, Button and Hamilton would be three stopping, whilst Vettel and the flying Massa decided on a two stop race.

      In the end, the three stop route was by far the best choice.  Hamilton made a brave pass on his team-mate, which required a lot of corporation from Button into the first corner.  He then easily passed Rosberg, who was struggling to keep his fuel consumption under control.  Massa put in a brave attempt to hold off Hamilton, but the Ferrari’s lack of aerodynamic force meant the Brazilian was a sitting duck for Lewis.  He quickly caught Vettel and despite Vettel’s best efforts, the Brit used his KERS hybrid energy storage to pull alongside and pass the German into the fast-sweeping turn five and six on lap 52. 

CHARGE: Mark Webber attacks Michael Schumacher

     As Massa faded and Rosberg couldn’t keep up with his car issues, Webber suddenly came into the equation.  A nightmare engineering call by Ciaran Pilbeam had left the Aussie high and dry in Q1 on Saturday and his race looked over early on, when he struggled to overhaul the likes of Sergio Perez and Rubens Barrichello.  However, Webber did have three new sets of the softer, preferred tyre and after getting the initial prime tyre out of the way in his first stint, absolutely flew through the field.  With two laps to go, he overhauled Button to complete a sensational comeback and get a richly deserved podium.  Had the race been a few laps longer, Webber might even have won it.

     Button wasn’t quick enough when it counted and alongside his pitlane blunder, fourth place was the best he deserved.  Rosberg was very disappointed to finish fifth, considering he led a great chunk of the race.  It was also the last race for his engineer Jock Clear.  Clear, who was world championship engineer for Jacques Villeneuve in 1997 is moving into a backseat factory role after this event.  Massa performed well to come home sixth and probably deserved more, if he was on the right strategy.  Fernando Alonso was slow all afternoon and came home a very distant seventh, with a mysterious moment when his DRS was activated outside the overtaking zone his main highlight.  Alonso just about held off Schumacher, whilst the final points went to Renault’s Vitaly Petrov and Kamur Kobayashi in his Sauber.  Scotland’s Paul di Resta qualified a stunning eighth, but dropped back to 11^th, having struggled with tyres too.  Finally, a worthy mention for Team Lotus, who look set to break into the midfield scrap.  Jarno Trulli set a faster race lap than Alonso and Heikki Kovalainen finished a very creditable 16^th, outracing both Perez and Williams rookie Pastor Maldonado.

     File the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix into the archive of classic all-time Grand Prix events.  For Lewis Hamilton, it was the drive of his life and I think we all need three weeks before the Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul to breathe again after this epic.  Thank you Pirelli for giving us such a new dynamic to this sport we love.  

F1 2010 driver reviews (Part 1)

NINETEEN hard-fought races and every driver have their own story to tell.  Here is my opinion of all the drivers from 2010 and how they did. . .

1.        Sebastian Vettel                                  (Red Bull Racing)

HIGH POINT:                   Winning the world championship in style, with victory in Abu Dhabi

LOW POINT:                    Cracking under pressure and crashing into an innocent Jenson Button at Spa

SEBASTIAN Vettel has become the youngest champion in F1 history, and he deserves the world championship.  His record on Saturday was outstanding, with ten pole positions.  His dominant drives to victory in Malaysia, Europe and Japan were highly impressive, as once again, Vettel showed that once he got away at the front; no-one could stop him.  Sure, he had some bad luck along the way, with a brake failure in Melbourne and the crushing engine blow-up that finished his Korean Grand Prix prematurely.  Glaring errors in Istanbul and Spa cost more points, but his meticulous drives in the last five races, with a close second to Fernando Alonso in Singapore and three wins earned him the ultimate prize.  Congratulations to Germany’s youngest new find.

2.       Lewis Hamilton                                    (McLaren Mercedes)

HIGH POINT:                   Managing his tyres the best to record another victory in Canada

LOW POINT:                   A costly move on Felipe Massa during the first lap of the Italian Grand Prix that left him with no points

IT has been a rollercoaster year for Lewis Hamilton, but once more, his driving quality has shone through, in a car that simply wasn’t world championship material.  Hamilton’s aggression and patience earned him three fantastic victories in Istanbul Park, Montreal and in slippery conditions at Spa.  However, he shall lookback at some costly errors from team and driver which lost him the chance of the second world championship.  A poor strategy left him high and dry in Melbourne, whilst a late tyre failure robbed Lewis of a deserved second place in the closing stages of the Spanish Grand Prix.  However, it was two fumigating DNF’s in Singapore (coming off worse in a clash with Webber) and in Monza (his fault for trying a move on Massa that never was to work.  Lewis will feel this is a title that slipped away.

3. Fernando Alonso                                 (Ferrari)

HIGH POINT:                   A masterful weekend to win on his first Monza race as a Ferrari driver

LOW POINT:                    Smashing the car into the wall during practice, that cost him a chance of winning the Monaco Grand Prix

FERNANDO Alonso will be delighted with his season’s efforts, but too many mistakes early on in the season, plus a dodgy Ferrari strategy in the final race of the season ruined the Spaniard’s chances of a third world championship in 2010.  Alonso made a dream start to his Ferrari career with victory in the season opener in Bahrain.  Strong podium results in Spain and Canada were punctured by a blatant jump start in Shanghai, a practice crash in Monaco, spinning on the first corner in Melbourne and another accident at Spa.  He won controversially in Hockenheim, due to the help of Felipe Massa, and his victories in Singapore, Monza and Korea towards the end of the campaign showed that Alonso can still deliver under pressure.  However, like Hamilton – he      will realise that it could well have been glory.

4.        Mark Webber                                        (Red Bull Racing)

HIGH POINT:                   Dominant weekend in Monaco to win F1’s jewel in the crown

LOW POINT:                    Running wide and the smash in Korea that ultimately cost him his championship chance

DIFFICULT was the only word to describe Mark Webber’s start to the season.  A scrappy home race in Melbourne was followed by leaving the door wide open into the first corner of the Malaysian Grand Prix that allowed Vettel to win.  Flawless displays followed in Spain and Monaco, and then another win was lost by the controversial clash with Vettel in Turkey.  His 196mph flip over Heikki Kovalainen in Valencia will always be remembered for a lucky escape, and then he won against the odds at Silverstone – on a weekend when it seemed like the whole team was against him.  Another win in Budapest followed, but a lack of pace in the final third of the season, along with the unfortunate error he made in Korea was to undo his bid.  A campaign that promised so much, yet ultimately – delivered so little.

5.        Jenson Button                                       (McLaren Mercedes)

HIGH POINT:                   A masterful decision to switch onto slicks that ultimately won him the Australian Grand Prix

LOW POINT:                    Surprising lack of pace in Korea that ultimately derailed his championship bid

JENSON Button has produced a very solid first season at McLaren, and even though he lost his crown as champion, he was a contender all the way until the penultimate race of the season.  Masterful and well-judged calls on strategy won Jenson two early season events in mixed conditions.  The way he won in Melbourne and in Shanghai reminded everyone of why he took the title.  His gamble on a high downforce set-up almost won him the Italian Grand Prix too, only to be denied by an inspired Alonso.  Ultimately, it was moments such as Vettel smashing into him in Spa, a lack of pace in Korea and a cooked engine in Monaco that derailed his title bid, along with a lack of pace on Saturdays.  However, Jenson has answered all his doubters this season and proven why he has been a world champion.

6.        Robert Kubica                                       (Renault)

HIGH POINT:                   Chasing the Red Bulls home to an outstanding third place in Monaco

LOW POINT:                    Outpaced and outperformed by his rookie team-mate Vitaly Petrov at Budapest

RENAULT loves him and he loves them and Robert Kubica put in a number of stellar drives in a car that never had race-winning potential in 2010, despite marked improvements on the previous year’s efforts.  There were three podiums for Kubica this season, with his best drives coming in Monaco (qualified 2^nd) and finished third and a third place finish on a power circuit at Spa, one that that the Renault team weren’t expecting.  Robert’s best result came in Melbourne, where he held off stiff challenges from the Ferrari’s to come home a delighted second.  Suzuka could have yielded a strong result but for a loose wheel after another stunning Q3 performance.  Hungary was his weak weekend, outperformed by Petrov and crashed in the pits with Adrian Sutil.  Give Kubica a car next season and he will be right up there.

7.        Nico Rosberg                  (Mercedes GP)

HIGH POINT:                   A fantastic performance in China that saw him leading the early stages and finish with a deserved podium

LOW POINT:                    Back-to-back retirements in the Far East (Japan and Korea) through no fault of his own

NICO Rosberg was always going to be under scrutiny this campaign, especially being paired alongside a seven-time world champion.  Ultimately, he delivered and left Michael Schumacher looking very ordinary that it was no surprise when he was beating him mid-season on a regular basis.  Early season podiums in Malaysia and China left Rosberg up in second place in the championship after the four flyaway events, but the return to Europe was a struggle, with a new chassis not adjusted to his likely.  Another fighting third place followed at Silverstone and Nico was desperately unlucky not to at least pick up a podium in Korea, when he was taken out by the spinning Mark Webber.  His stock has risen this season to high proportions, so it will be interesting to see what he can do in a better car next season.

8.        Felipe Massa                                          (Ferrari)

HIGH POINT:                   An excellent return to Grand Prix racing bought him a second place result in the Bahrain season opener

LOW POINT:                    Failing to get into Q3 at Suzuka, and then wiping himself out in the first corner fracas

FELIPE Massa has had a frustrating and very disappointing season.  Psychically, doubts still remain over his fitness following the near-fatal crash he had in qualifying for last year’s Hungarian GP.  After three races, Massa led the championship – with podiums in Bahrain and Australia and a solid seventh place from 21^st on the grid in Sepang.  Afterwards, his season went downhill with some bad errors of judgement, such as hitting his team-mate at the start of the British Grand Prix and driving across the grass at Suzuka, wiping out Vitantonio Liuzzi in the process.  Rostrums did follow late season at Monza and in South Korea, but he will not be looking back at 2010 very fondly.  In fact, his season will always be tarnished for the controversial switch in German, which cost Felipe a deserved victory.

9.        Adrian Sutil                     (Force India Mercedes)

HIGH POINT:                   Brilliant fifth place finish at the Belgian Grand Prix

LOW POINT:                   Smashing into cars left, right and centre in Korea

HAVING been an accident waiting to happen in 2009, Adrian Sutil emerged as a matured man in 2010, scoring points in nine races and putting in some notably strong drives.  Sutil’s best moments came early season, where he qualified fourth in Malaysia and finished fifth, holding off Lewis Hamilton.  He did well to finish seventh in Barcelona, under pressure from Robert Kubica all day and pulled off a super pass on the old master, Michael Schumacher on his way to eighth at Silverstone.  Spa was his best weekend, qualifying eighth, and finishing fifth, passing Schumacher and harassing Massa’s much stronger Ferrari all day.  In Korea, he returned to his old self, crashing into several cars and not reporting brake issues.  However, his maturity has impressed me and now; I think Adrian is ready for the big time.

10.     Kamur Kobayashi                                 (BMW Sauber Ferrari)

HIGH POINT:                   Making the most of the Safety Car strategy and pulled off a cheeky pass on Alonso in Valencia

LOW POINT:                   A messy Singapore Grand Prix, crashing into Schumacher and Bruno Senna in the race

KAMUR Kobayashi is one of the most exciting drivers to watch in Formula One, and he simply doesn’t give a damn about the reputations of the best.  Japan’s finest had a nightmare start to the season, lucky to walkaway from a big first lap shunt in Australia and basically, looking like a miniature figure of the man who starred for Toyota at the backend of last season.  Valencia was his turning point, making the most of an advanced strategy to run third for most of the race, and then pull off cheeky passes on Alonso and Buemi in the last two laps.  After that, Kobayashi didn’t lookback, with sixth at Silverstone his best finish, a notable ninth in Budapest from the back row of the grid and a stunning seventh in his homeland, after pulling off five fantastic passes.  Kobayashi has proven in 2010 that Japan has talent in F1.

11.     Rubens Barrichello                            (Williams Cosworth)

HIGH POINT:                   Finishing a strong fifth at Silverstone and beating The Stig around the Top Gear racetrack!

LOW POINT:                    His 300^th GP event at Spa, which didn’t even last a lap

STICKING around next year for a 19^th season, Rubens Barrichello’s versatility has given Williams a solid foundation to build on.  There were testing times early on in the championship, including shock Q1 elimination in Spain and running behind Bruno Senna’s slow Hispania for the first ten laps of the Turkish Grand Prix.  However, from Valencia, when new updates came on the car, Barrichello looked a far happier driver, winding up 4^th in Valencia, followed up by fifth at Silverstone and later in the season, sixth place in Singapore.  His on-track clashes with Michael Schumacher also stood out, mainly when Schumi tried to put him into the pitwall in Hungary.  Spa was a major disappointment, smashing into Alonso on lap one of GP 300.  He will be back for more in 2011.

12.     Michael Schumacher                       `                       (Mercedes GP)

HIGH POINT:                   Spirited drive in Korea to wind up fourth in very challenging conditions

LOW POINT:                    Shocking drive in Singapore – quite possibly the worst ever in his great career

THE comeback was a failure, one of the most spectacular flops of 2010 and Michael Schumacher will know that deep down, even if he refuses to admit it.  Not even a single podium for the first time in his F1 career since 1991 left him trailing behind his team-mate Nico Rosberg.  Three fourth place results in Barcelona, Istanbul and Korea were the stand-outs, as was a strong sixth on one of his favourite circuits, Suzuka.  Schumacher’s moments of madness though will stand out sadly though, especially the dangerous chop on Barrichello in Hungary on far worse tyres.  His attempts to shove Robert Kubica and Felipe Massa into concrete walls in Canada can’t be forgotten, nor can his diabolical event in Singapore, when he drove like a granny.  2011 will be a make or break season for the former great.

2010 Korean Grand Prix - Alonso Gifted Sensational Victory

FERNANDO Alonso took a giant leap towards a third world championship, with a priceless win at the Korean Grand Prix.  The Ferrari driver was gifted victory at the Yeongam circuit, when Sebastian Vettel was forced to retire with a blown engine, with just eight laps to go.  In a sensational grand prix, that was heavily delayed and finished in darkness, both Mark Webber and Jenson Button also failed to score, while second place breathes new life into Lewis Hamilton’s faltering championship bid.

After a dry first couple of days at the inaugural event, raceday was dominated by grey clouds and constant rain.  After a ten minute delay to the start, FIA race director Charlie Whiting set the cars off behind the Safety Car.  Three laps later, the standing water was so much on the recent new surface that the race was suspended and held up for 55 minutes.  Another Safety Car restart and 17 frustrating laps later, the proper racing begun and Vettel, who had started on pole position took complete command of the race.

Whilst Vettel was faultless, his team-mate wasn’t.  Webber made a rare error on Lap 19, and ran wide onto some Astroturf, spinning into the concrete wall.  The Australian was powerless to prevent his Red Bull bouncing across the road and collected the innocent Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes.  Mud and debris flew onto the track, as both cars pirouetted into the barriers and out of the event.  A Safety Car came out to clear up this mess, and Button’s race was also to be severely compromised by a poorly timed pitstop, and being unable to keep heat in his intermediate tyres.  He was left floating on the water, and a late race spin consigned the defending world champion to a disappointing 12^th place finish, and being 43 points behind the championship lead, with 50 left to play for, realistically finishes off his championship prospects.

Although Alonso and Hamilton kept Vettel honest, the German always had some extra pace in his back pocket.  Sadly, with just eight laps remaining, his car sounded sick and Alonso zoomed past the ailing Red Bull into turn one.  Moments later, Vettel’s engine blew up in spectacular fashion, which also leaves his chances of winning a maiden championship look very remote.  Alonso reeled off the remaining seven laps to secure his fourth win in seven races, and give him the lead in the world championship for the first time since Australia.  

Like Button, Hamilton struggled with grip from his intermediate tyres all day, but drove round the issues fantastically to finish second and rekindle his championship hopes.  Hamilton did jump Alonso in the pitstops, when the Ferrari was delayed by a loose wheel nut, but ran wide at turn one on a mid-race Safety Car restart and allowed Alonso back through.  That Safety Car came out after Sebastian Buemi sideswiped Timo Glock in the braking zone for turn three.

Felipe Massa scored some priceless points for Ferrari’s constructors’ championship cause, with a podium finish, and Michael Schumacher carried his Suzuka form into Korea to finish an excellent fourth, his best result of the season.  Rubens Barrichello looked set for fifth, but his tyres were worn down so much in the closing stages that he was gobbled up by the quiet Robert Kubica and Vitantonio Liuzzi’s Force India.  Barrichello wound up seventh, with a late pitstop dropping Nico Hulkenberg to 10^th.  Kubica picked up some solid points again and Liuzzi’s drive could be a career-saving one, especially on a day where Adrian Sutil hit almost everything, and eventually made a clumsy lunge on Kamur Kobayashi to break his front suspension and retire with seven laps remaining.  Kobayashi survived this attack to claim eighth, with Nick Heidfeld backing up his team-mate, winding up ninth.

Alonso now has an eleven point lead in the world championship, with Webber and Hamilton all within a race win of the new championship leader.  Two races remain, and another stunning grand prix that left everyone breathless, you wonder what will happen next in Brazil, the scene of Button’s world championship clincher last year.

2010 Turkish Grand Prix - Turkish Delight For McLaren As The Bull Dismantle

A satisfied Lewis Hamilton cashed in on an early Bank Holiday present from Milton Keynes, as he led team-mate Jenson Button home to a McLaren Mercedes 1-2 at today’s Turkish Grand Prix.  The two British drivers took full advantage of Red Bull’s latest and most essential cock-up, to establish a lead in the constructor’s championship.

As in Barcelona and Monte Carlo, Red Bull Racing looked to have the race in the bag, when on Lap 41, their drivers entered suicide mode, is dismantling fashion.  Leading from pole, Australian Mark Webber was leading throughout, but was coming under intense pressure from his team-mate, Sebastian Vettel, with Hamilton and Button keeping an ominous watching brief throughout.  In a brief rain shower, Webber appeared to miss a gear on the backstraight, approaching Turn 12, allowing Vettel alongside and the chance to take the lead.  What happened next was quite unbelievable, as Vettel turned right, caught Webber and the pair collided down the escape road.  Damage to the rear of Vettel’s car, left the German spinning into retirement, whilst Mark was forced in for front wing repairs, gamely battling onto a podium finish, and an extension of his championship lead.  However, team boss Christian Horner must be thinking, what he does now, with the relationship between his two drivers surely well and truly destroyed beyond repair.

So, as in Australia and China, McLaren benefited from Red Bull’s mistakes, with a fair racing battle themselves soon after the ‘Bull’ nightmare.  Button outbraked Hamilton into Turn 12 with ten laps to go and gained the lead.  Hamilton quickly dived back underneath the world champion, slid up the inside into Turn 1, and despite a brushing of tyres, won back his hard-fought advantage, which he kept to the chequered flag.  Although the team had to save critical fuel levels in the closing stages, Hamilton held on to claim his first win since Singapore in September 2009, and pushes him up to 3^rd in the championship standings. 

Michael Schumacher’s rehabilitation in 2010 continued, with a strong run to 4^th place in his Mercedes, equalling his best result of the season.  Though he never looked like challenging the podium runners, Michael’s pace throughout was consistent, and he beat Nico Rosberg again, as the seven-time world champion starts to earn the upper hand in the team.  Rosberg was 5^th, despite tyre concerns, holding off a long race challenge from Robert Kubica, who continued his strong run of points finishes, 6^th in the Renault.

It may have been their 800^th Formula One event this weekend, but it was a miserable party for Ferrari.  Having started a dismal 12^th on the grid, Fernando Alonso could only manage 8^th, in a car that looked evil to drive all event.  He needed a forceful move on Renault rookie Vitaly Petrov to even get him 8^th spot, which left the Russian with a puncture and a cruel drop out of the points, after a fine weekend.  Former three-time winner at the Istanbul Park, Felipe Massa could only muster 7^th place and the Scuderia must be praying for a massive change in fortunes from their new development package in Canada and Valencia, or they face being written out of the championship battle before halfway.  There were more points for the consistent Adrian Sutil, with 9^th and Japan’s finest; Kamur Kobayashi earned Sauber’s first point of a depressing season so far, winding up 10^th.  Team-mate Pedro de la Rosa finished directly behind Kobayashi, marking the team’s first double-car finish of the campaign.

The first golden rule of Grand Prix racing is not to run into your team-mate.  Today, Red Bull cracked under the pressure, and forgot this rule, leaving them red-faced and McLaren celebrating an unexpected bonus as F1 heads back to Montreal in a fortnight’s time, after a one-year sabbatical.  What will happen next in this season of twists and turns remains to be seen….

2010 Chinese Grand Prix - Cool Jenson Leads Home British 1-2 In Shanghai Gloom

World champion Jenson Button produced another cool, calm and collected performance to win this morning’s Chinese Grand Prix at a damp and wet Shanghai track.  Button, starting from 5^th made another inspired call like the one which brought him victory in Australia three weeks ago to stay out on dry tyres during an early rain shower, which saw most of the race favourites caught out by the conditions. 

The results excelled again and after overhauling early race leader Nico Rosberg on Lap 21, Jenson bought his car home safely, leading home team-mate Lewis Hamilton to McLaren’s first 1-2 since the 2007 Italian Grand Prix and the first British 1-2 in F1 for over a decade, when Eddie Irvine beat David Coulthard in Austria in 1999.  Hamilton was one of those who pitted early for the intermediate tyres, which turned into the wrong decision.  Nevertheless, he produced another storming drive, full of stunning overtaking once more and his second place was fully deserved.  However, he has been reprimanded by the stewards again for dangerous driving in the pits with Sebastian Vettel.  Following his weaving tactics on rookie Vitaly Petrov in Malaysia a fortnight ago, Lewis certainly will need to curb his aggression in future, as it could hook him into immense trouble later in the season.

Once again, Red Bull Racing failed to deliver on their promise as Vettel and Mark Webber has difficult races to 6^th and 8^th places, having sewed up the front row in qualifying.  Vettel was also reprimanded by the stewards in that incident with Hamilton, whilst Webber was the victim of some poor pitstops by the Milton Keynes based team, which put them firmly on the back foot.  Despite being unable to hold off Button and Hamilton, Rosberg produced another consistent drive to a podium finish, on a track when he had managed no better than 11^th before this year.  Once more, he firmly had the measure of Michael Schumacher, who struggled all day with a vehicle full of understeer, which at times looked like it was heading for the erupting volcano in Iceland.  Despite having vain battles with Hamilton and Vettel, the seven-time world champion could only manage a solitary point for his hard efforts.

Ferrari had another troublesome weekend, with Fernando Alonso blatantly jumping the start and making five pitstops in total.  Despite all this drama, he still came home a solid 4^th, keeping him right in early championship contention.  Felipe Massa had a lacklustre weekend, and could only manage 9^th, losing his world championship lead to Button in the process.  Once more, Renault showed their consistency and their determination to put behind a horrific 2009 season with a double-points finish.  Staying out in the early shower paid dividends for Robert Kubica, who finished a strong 5^th.  Russian Petrov survived a mid-race spin to come home 7^th, for his first F1 points. 

Lotus were the strongest of the new teams again, with Heikki Kovalainen finishing ahead of Nico Hulkenberg’s Williams, having ran as high as 6^th in the chaotic early stages.  Spare a thought for Adrian Sutil, Jaime Alguesuari and Rubens Barrichello, who all were involved in the thick of the action throughout, but all left Shanghai with no points to show for their efforts.  Also, for Alguesuari’s Toro Rosso team-mate Sebastian Buemi, who after surviving a 200mph crash on Friday when both his front wheels flew off spectacularly, was t-boned out of the Grand Prix on the first lap by an out-of-control Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Four races gone in 2010 and Button carries a ten point lead over Rosberg, whilst Hamilton and Alonso are tied for third spot.  In the constructors, McLaren have overtaken Ferrari to consequently lead both championships.  The flyaway start is over and the teams can pack up and head back to Europe, with the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona being three weeks away.  However, with the volcano eruption showing no signs of diminishing in Iceland, when that will be is another matter.  I don’t think Jenson Button could care about that at the moment, as his consistency and tactical gambles have paid major dividends for him, he leads the championship again.    

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix - The Conclusions

In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.  Onto round three, as the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix is examined more in-depth.  Following the classic of a race that Melbourne provided us, Sepang bought the unpredictability from the weather and a jumbled-up grid which meant Sunday’s racing was not going to be dire at all.  So, this is the round-up of the weekend three of 2010 as Formula 1 tackled the energy zapping heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur.

Red Bull Racing: Finally Get The Job Done, Are They Back On Track?

Well it took a while, but finally Red Bull Racing managed to produce the goods on a Sunday afternoon.  On Saturday, it was Mark Webber’s day, as he took the brave risk to put on intermediate tyres on a wet track and he reaped the rewards.  Sebastian Vettel opted to play cautious and wound up off the front row of the grid for the first time since Brazil last season.  However, Vettel produced a dominant drive on Sunday, leading from the first corner, practically from start-to-finish.  Webber will be annoyed with himself for leaving the door wide open at the first corner and Sebastian was never going to say no to such an invitation.  It soon turned into a demonstration battle, as Red Bull highlighted at last the speed and reliability combined together.  The question is have they got back on track, quite possibly so.  They are back in the race, no doubt about us.

Wet Weather Qualifying – Ferrari & McLaren Show Their Idiocy!

When it rains in Malaysia, it pours in biblical proportions and it made complete chumps of some of the best engineers in the business.  Whilst the midfield and rear-end teams put in a banker lap in the early stages, Ferrari and McLaren waited in their garages, convinced that their high-spec technology would pay off and they could go out later in the session when the rain stopped.  Big mistake, as humans could have called it better over technology.  Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were left high and dry in the pits and out of first qualifying, whilst Melbourne winner Jenson Button scraped into Q2, but aquaplaned off the track into the kitty litter, leaving him down in 17^th.  On race day, the two main teams did their best, but it was only really Hamilton who showed his overtaking capabilities.  From 20^th, he forced his way through to 6^th, where he got stuck behind Adrian Sutil and that was that.  Button was hindered by an early tyre stop, which left his prime tyres shot to pieces by the end.  Massa was very tentative, but 7^th place did inherit him the championship lead, whilst Alonso’s gearbox broke on the formation lap, had a sticky downchange to cope with throughout, then his engine exploded two laps from home.  For Ferrari and McLaren, this was a weekend to forget.  Elementary errors gave Red Bull an open goal, which they successfully converted.

The Malaysian Weather – Always Expect the Unexpected

Whenever the F1 teams turn up in Sepang, they must expect the rain, which can turn a race on its forehead quite literally.  It made qualifying one of the best spectacles seen for many a year, and soon, the question on everyone’s lips was when, not if it would rain on Sunday.  Once again, the weather gods played chicken with us, and in the end, we ended up with a bone-dry race, despite all the earlier forecasters.  This was a weekend where everyone had to expect the unexpected.

Sauber – Winter Testing Must Seem a Distant Memory

BMW handed over the reins last November, and now will be thinking, ‘Phew! We definitely made the right call.’  Winter testing must seem like a distant memory for the Sauber team, when they were one of the consistent pacesetters around.  Now, they have a lack of speed, lack of direction, no sponsors and almost zilch reliability.  For an experienced team to have an engine blow up on the way to the dummy grid is inexcusable, not what Pedro de la Rosa would have had in mind for an early bath.  Team-mate Kamur Kobayashi’s engine didn’t last much longer, only nine laps before he had to park his car too.  These are testing times ahead for the Swiss team, if they don’t buck their ideas up, it could well be a long, trying season.  Technical director Willy Rampf is retiring from the sport after the Chinese Grand Prix, and he is probably wanted that exit to come sooner rather than later.

Nico Rosberg – Quietly Getting the Results

F1 2010 might be all about the likes of Vettel, Alonso, Button, Hamilton and co, but Nico Rosberg is quietly going about his business with minimum fuss, which will be delighting Mercedes team Principal Ross Brawn and the senior German board members.  Rosberg had another strong weekend in Kuala Lumpur, registering his first ever front row in qualifying, then producing a lonely, solid drive to 3^rd spot, the team’s first podium finish.  His consistency sees himself just four points off the top of the drivers’ championship.  Not bad for someone who has hardly been mentioned of so far in 2010.

Alguesuari and Hulkenberg Get Their Just Rewards

Many congratulations to Jaime Alguesuari and Nico Hulkenberg, who both registered their first F1 points, finishes in Malaysia.  Toro Rosso’s Alguesuari was very aggressive and his new found form truly worked, with top class overtakes on Hulkenberg and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov.  He deserved his two points and outpaced his most highly-rated team-mate Sebastian Buemi.  For once, Toro Rosso’s faith may well just pay off.  Hulkenberg, a winner in Sepang before in A1GP was a Saturday star, poaching his Williams through to fifth on the grid.  On Sunday, the lack of race pace with the Williams was well-documented, but Hulkenberg kept his head down, beat Rubens Barrichello and benefited from Alonso’s late DNF to register a noteworthy point.  Just rewards for the pair of them.

The Failing of Michael Schumacher – It Is Not Going To Plan!

When Michael Schumacher ended up deciding to return to Formula 1, I don’t think even he could have imagined to be struggling this bad.  Once again, he was outperformed all weekend by Rosberg and in qualifying, conditions which would be really suited to his likeability, he struggled to break the top ten, then burnt out his rear tyres in Q3 and ended up being the weakest of the five Germans in the final shootout.  Despite an excellent start, Schumacher was falling into the clutches of the scrapping Hulkenberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi when a wheel nut came loose, forcing his premature departure from the race.  Nine points from three races, the comeback is not going to plan and the pressure therefore in increasing on Michael the Great to deliver.

Lotus Racing – A Sweet & Sour Home Weekend

It was Lotus home weekend, with the high-profile Malaysian sponsorship, but it turned into a sweet and sour weekend.  Heikki Kovalainen took full advantage of Ferrari and McLaren’s idiocy to make Q2, so winding up 15^th was like a celebration to Lotus.  Sadly, he made a dogs dinner of the start, spent much of the race stuck behind Lucas di Grassi, then made a horlicks of an overtaking pass on the Brazilian, picked up a puncture, then retired with a hydraulic problem.  Team-mate Jarno Trulli received a clobbering from his former team-mate Timo Glock early on, then limped on to the finish, also with hydraulic problems.  This was Lotus worst weekend so far, but there is no need to panic yet, as still look the crème of the crop out of the new teams.

Virgin See the Chequered Flag – It’s A Miracle!

Miraculously, despite not having a big enough fuel tank, Virgin Racing saw the chequered flag for the first time, in the hands of Lucas di Grassi.  Despite ending up with fumes before the end, di Grassi did enough to bring his car home in 14^th place, giving the team a much-needed boost after a trying start.  Timo Glock has yet to see the chequered flag this season, like Petrov and Kobayashi.  He hit Trulli early on with an over-ambitious overtaking attempt and ended in the gravel.  Nevertheless, this is very encouraging for Virgin.  Also of note, both Hispania cars of Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna made the finish, so the new teams are now all beginning to pull their act together.

Reintroducing KERS – The pros and cons

Finally, the members of FOTA held a meeting to thrash out early proposals in how to ‘spice up the racing.’  FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh insists that it’s too early to draw conclusions, but reintroducing KERS was a major debating point.  KERS (Kinetic Energy System Recovery) was introduced in 2009, but only McLaren and Ferrari made their systems work to any substantial use.  BMW and Renault abandoned their development early on and the other teams saw no use to it.  I can’t honestly see what pros there would be in reintroducing KERS, except for the environmental issue.  It was one of the biggest expensive mistakes that Formula 1 made, so going back there would be considered as totally crazy.