Indian Grand Prix 2011 - Round-up

Before we get into details of the events of the inaugural Indian grand Prix, I'd like to apologise for my belated posting - a host of technical difficulties with my computer have been the cause of the delay.

Now that's out of the way, let's talk about the race. Once more, Sebastian Vettel was simply untouchable as he began the race from pole, led every lap and set the fastest lap on the way to an eleventh victory of the season. Once he had negotiated the first sequence of bends without any real challenge from behind, the new world champion was in control throughout despite never being much more than five seconds ahead of runner-up Jenson Button at any stage during the race.

Button had nabbed the position at the start from fourth on the grid after taking advantage of Fernando Alonso running wide at the first corner and the power of his Mercedes engine, which propelled him past Mark Webber down the back straight on the opening lap. The Australian did keep Button honest during the first stint, but the Brit thereafter ran a rather lonely race in second position. 

Webber himself lost third position to Alonso after switching to the slower hard compound tyres two laps sooner than his Spanish adversary, and again couldn't find an opportunity to overtake despite hanging on to the coat-tails of the double champion for some time. All-in-all, it was another disappointing race for the Australian after starting on the front row of the grid, all the more so as he lost further ground in the battle for the runner-up spot in the championship.

He didn't lose as much ground as the besieged Lewis Hamilton however. The McLaren driver had already suffered from a three-place grid penalty in qualifying for ignoring yellow flags in practice which left him fifth on the grid before the start of what transpired to be another miserable outing for the 2008 champion. Felipe Massa was able to pass him early on in the race, and after he caught back up to the Brazilian during the second stint, he made yet more contact with his new arch-rival.

Hamilton had a superior exit out the slow right-hand turn 4, and drew alongside Massa on the approach to the following double-apex left-hander. Massa however stuck resolutely to the racing line and the pair collided, damaging Hamilton's front wing and sending Massa into the tarmac run-off. This time though, the stewards ruled that Massa was at fault, and it was he rather than Hamilton who was awarded a drive-through penalty.

This proved to be moot when Massa eventually wrecked his suspension with some over-exuberant kerb-hopping as he had done during the final session of qualifying the previous day, but Hamilton's pace was particularly lacklustre after he pitted to repair the damage. He slipped behind the two Mercedes drivers of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, as well as the impressive Jaime Alguersauri for Toro Rosso briefly, but never made even a slight impression on the battling silver cars ahead. He eventually trailed home in seventh.

Schumacher emulated Alonso's tactic of staying on the softer rubber for longer to great effect to leapfrog teammate Rosberg and take a well-deserved fifth place finish, with Alguersauri strengthening his bid to remain at Toro Rosso in 2012 with a solid eighth place behind Hamilton (though it should be noted that Sebastien Buemi was also on course to score points before succumbing to engine failure). Adrian Sutil finished ninth for Force India, whilst the top ten was rounded out by the young Mexican Sergio Perez, who  made good use of an alternative strategy to turn a lowly twentieth place on the grid into another hard-earned championship point for Sauber.

The other Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi however was eliminated in a collision at the first corner with Timo Glock, whom he hit after running wide in avoidance of Rubens Barrichello, who in turn had lost his front wing in contact with the sister Williams of Pastor Maldonado. Jarno Trulli was also spun around and given a puncture by returnee Narain Karthikeyan a few corners later, but besides this incident, the Hispania driver drove well to take a creditable seventeeth place in front his adoring home fans.

And home fans there were - the attendance at the all-new Buddh International Circuit far exceeded that of fellow relatively new eastern fixtures China, Turkey and Korea. Unlike the three aforementioned, having two Indian drivers in F1 (Karun Chandhok participated in Friday practice for Lotus but wasn't to race) and an Indian team ensured plenty of interest among the locals. With other new venues having failed to generate any real interest in F1 in themselves, Bernie should take note and ensure that any other prospective newcomers to the F1 calendar have a population sufficiently enthused by the sport to pay to fill the seats in the grandstands.

Apologies once more for the lateness of this post, but be sure to check back next week for a run-down of the hottest talents likely to emerge in F1 in the near future, as well as full coverage of the final two races of the 2011 season at Brazil and Abu Dhabi after that.

Rules are Rules

The 2011 Formula One season has in the eyes of most proven the most exciting in recent memory. Responsible, of course, have been a series of rule changes designed with the express purpose of spicing up the show – principally KERS, DRS and the less durable Pirelli tyres. So, just how effective have each of the changes been, and what more can be done in the way of refining the regulations to further improve the action?

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System)

For me, this has been the least effective of the three major rule changes. Introduced back in 2009, the much-vaunted system was utilised only by Ferrari and McLaren for the whole season (with BMW and Renault having abandoned and re-adopting it at various points throughout the year), and a damn lot of good it did them as Brawn and Red Bull’s non-KERS cars did the vast majority of that year’s winning. A gentleman’s agreement saw the device temporarily placed on the scrapheap in 2010, but after this lapsed at the end of the year the device has become de rigeur for the leading teams – only the Lotus, Virgin and Hispania cars are not equipped with it. However, this writer is not a fan of KERS. Right from the system’s inception there had been the problem of battling drivers using it in the same places, rendering the meagre 60bhp boost it provides moot, but the fact it tends to be used almost exclusively at the start and in the DRS zones mean that problem is compounded. To get around this, two changes should be made: firstly, the boost should be upped to 120bhp to provide slightly more kick, and secondly, as per IndyCar, its use should be restricted to a pre-defined amount of occasions for the whole race. This would transform KERS into a far more tactical weapon, for using all your boosts early on would make you vulnerable later in the race and vice versa.

DRS (Drag Reduction System)

DRS has transpired to be something of a divisive issue among F1 fans; a good analogy would be to compare it to fake breasts. Whilst some men see breast size as the most important thing, regardless of whether or not they’re natural, others would be put off by fake breasts and would thus be happy to settle for a less sizeable but authentic pair. The same applies for DRS. Some F1 fans just want to see as much overtaking as possible, regardless of how it is precipitated, whilst others feel that DRS devalues overtaking by simply making it too easy. The latter opinion is the one I generally hold, but DRS certainly isn’t totally without merit. For one thing, it means that faster cars are no longer trapped in traffic, meaning the result often reflects the performance hierarchy of car/driver combinations more closely. However, therein lay further problems. This factor removes an element of unpredictability in races – in nine of sixteen races, the top five in the championship (Vettel, Button, Alonso, Webber and Hamilton) have occupied the top five race positions if retirements are discounted. Not only that, but the art of overtaking itself is lessened: perhaps then DRS is part of the reason that Hamilton, widely regarded as the best overtaker in the business, has had a difficult season as that particular skill of his is made less of an asset. If DRS therefore becomes a tool to level the playing-field, what does that achieve? F1 isn’t supposed to be about a level playing-field; else every team would use the same chassis as is the case in just about every other single-seater championship on the planet. Thus, for all of the passing it has given us this year, I would personally still get shot of DRS if the decision was down to me.

Pirelli Tyres

This is the change that, as far as I’m concerned, has had the greatest impact on the quality of the racing in 2011. The new, faster-wearing Pirelli tyres create a plethora of strategic options, with multiple pit-stops now the norm rather than the exception. As much overtaking as DRS has given us, ultimately nearly all of this year’s races have largely come down to pit strategy and tyre management. The choice of compounds adds another element to proceedings, though I would question the logic of obliging the drivers to run both tyre compounds during the race. After all, the faster the tyre compound, the quicker it wears, so the various risk-reward ratios of the different compounds already provide enough intrigue to keep things exciting – instead of all the leaders coming in to make the mandatory switch to hard tyres a dozen or so laps from the chequered flag, drivers could instead opt to take the risk of trying to eke out their tyres to the end without having to make an extra stop. Also, to ensure that all ten cars take to the track during Q3 on Saturdays, an extra set of options (which would then be taken away at the end of the session) could be given to each driver with which they could go all-out for the best possible grid slot. This would of course mean that the top ten can start the race on whatever tyres they like, but this would only add to the strategic possibilities.

What else?

One area that I believe could be improved upon is the points system. There certainly isn’t much wrong with it (besides messing up the all-time points statistics), but I think three or so points for pole position wouldn’t go amiss. Until last year, before refuelling was banned, I’d also be tempted to award points for fastest laps, but the fact that fuel loads diminish over the course of a race would now make such a reward unworkable. Another idea would perhaps be to resurrect the Jim Clark and Colin Chapman Cups. In 1987, these gave the normally-aspirated drivers and teams respectively something to shoot for in a season dominated by turbo-powered cars. Twenty-five years on, it’s the perennial bottom three teams of Lotus, Virgin and Hispania that could benefit from some form of private contest. Finally, I would like to see the top ten teams each nominating two races at which they would have to run a third car for a young driver to give them valuable race experience; further sponsorship opportunities could also be derived from running the third car in an alternate livery. With so many up-and-coming drivers vying for so few slots on the grid, it would be a perfect way of ascertaining which among them have real potential. 

Korean Grand Prix 2011 - Race Report

Sebastian Vettel took his tenth win of the season with another assured performance at the Korean Grand Prix. The new champion was able to pass pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton on the very first lap of the race, and from that point onwards enjoyed a relatively untroubled run to the chequered flag; Mark Webber’s third place also helped to seal the constructors’ title for Red Bull.

For the first time this season, something other than a Red Bull took pole position – Hamilton’s pace was just too much for Vettel on Saturday, and the Anglo-Austrian team’s streak which dated back to last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was finally broken. Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button was third fastest, ahead of Webber and the two Ferraris – Felipe Massa again out-qualifying Fernando Alonso.

At the start of the race, the top six all made solid getaways and maintained their positions into the first corner, but it was after the first run down the calendar’s longest straight that the real fun and games began. Hamilton immediately went on the defensive to defend first place from Vettel, holding the German at bay through turn 3, but it was a different story as the pair entered turn 4. Vettel was able to move to the inside of Hamilton along the preceding straight and it was a simple case of out-braking his adversary in order to assume the lead.

Massa meanwhile found excellent traction on the exit of the first corner and gained two places from Button and Webber under braking into turn 3. Webber emulated the feat into turn 4 as he managed to re-pass Massa as well as Button, who ran wide before losing a further place to Alonso later in the lap. Up front, Vettel and Hamilton were already beginning to escape third-placed Webber, with the two Ferraris running in the immediate wake of the Australian.

Whilst Massa’s pace looked respectable early on, it appeared to fade quickly as Webber put some distance between himself and the Brazilian. Soon after, a queue began to form behind the Ferrari consisting of Alonso, Button and the Mercedes of Nico Rosberg, the latter pair taking an early first pit-stop on lap 13 in order to try to ‘undercut’ Massa and catch up the leading trio. Massa stopped a lap later, but predictably re-joined behind Button and Rosberg, whilst Alonso on the other hand remained behind Massa after stopping a lap later than him.

Back at the front, Hamilton stopped on lap 16, one lap earlier than Vettel ahead, but this would not be sufficient to bridge the gap. However, he received a lifeline in the form of a Safety Car period, provoked on this occasion by a clash between the second Mercedes of Michael Schumacher and Vitaly Petrov’s Renault at turn 3. Petrov was busy trying to pass Alonso down the straight after the Russian made up ground by way of an early first pit-stop, but both drivers left their braking far too late.

Whilst Alonso, who was on the outside, simply took a trip through the tarmac run-off area, Petrov clobbered the back of Schumacher with considerable force on the inside of the corner. With no rear wing and a de-laminated right-rear tyre, Schumacher was out on the spot, whilst Petrov would also have to retire after returning to the pits for a new front wing only to discover he had broken the Renault’s steering in the impact. The order behind the safety car was thus Vettel from Hamilton, Webber, Button, Rosberg, Massa and Alonso.

As the race restarted on lap 21, Vettel held on to the lead and began to ease away from Hamilton, whose McLaren in race trim was not the match for the Red Bull that it was during qualifying. As he began to fall into the clutches of Webber behind, Rosberg was responsible for holding up the Ferraris of Massa and Alonso. His defence of fifth place lasted until lap 27, when he allowed both of the scarlet cars by as he locked up a brake and ran wide at turn 3. Alonso however was still frustratingly behind slowed by his teammate Massa, and Ferrari on this occasion had no intention of pulling the latter to one side.

He was finally released when Massa made his pit-stop on lap 34, at which point he began to demonstrate the Ferrari’s true potential by setting a string of fastest laps. By the time the double-champion made his stop three laps later, he was well ahead of Massa and began to close on fourth-placed Button at a rate of over half a second per lap. The two Red Bulls and McLarens by now had also made their second and final stops of the afternoon, Hamilton and Webber going on to engage in some thrilling wheel-to-wheel combat as the former desperately bid to hold on to second place.

Once both men had made their stops on lap 33 however, Webber was unable to find a way past the McLaren until the first corner of lap 49. This move had the unfortunate effect however of allowing Hamilton to benefit from DRS, and the Brit was able to thunder back past into second place with ease. The other McLaren of Button was also seemingly under threat, as Alonso had cut the deficit to the Brit from around six seconds at the time of their pit-stops to just one with five laps to go. For all this speed though, the effect it had on his tyres rendered him unable to mount a serious assault on fourth place.

By this stage, Vettel had managed to build an advantage of ten seconds which he would maintain all the way to the finish line to claim his twentieth career victory, enough to equal Mika Hakkinen in the all-time rankings. Hamilton hung on to second, his first visit to the podium since his victory at the Nurburgring back in July, though his lack of pace relative to Vettel was later put down to an unspecified problem that led to a loss of front downforce for the McLaren. He therefore did well to finish ahead of Webber, who took third ahead of Button and a despondent Alonso – the time spent behind Massa in the first half of the race left the Spaniard wondering what might have been.

Jaime Alguersuari made full use of his Toro Rosso’s excellent speed trap figures to take a strong seventh place, getting the better of Rosberg during the dying stages of the race as he slowed down to conserve fuel. Sebastien Buemi rounded out a good day for Toro Rosso with ninth, ahead of Paul Di Resta who took the final point in tenth, beating Force India teammate Adrian Sutil who finished one place behind. Twelfth-placed Rubens Barrichello was the only Williams driver to finish after Pastor Maldonado retired due to clutch problems, while Bruno Senna took thirteenth in the sole remaining Renault.

Heikki Kovalainen put in arguably his Lotus team’s most convincing performance of the year so far with fourteenth, beating both Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez to the line in a miserable outing for the Swiss outfit. Jarno Trulli finished in seventeenth ahead of Timo Glock for Virgin, Daniel Ricciardo for Hispania, and their respective teammates Jerome D'Ambrosio and Vitantonio Liuzzi.

Vettel’s latest victory just goes to show that he is no mood to go into cruise mode having already secured the title. He can match Schumacher’s record of thirteen wins in a season if he takes the top step of the podium at each of the last three rounds at India, Abu Dhabi and Brazil, and it’s achieving precisely that sort of feat that motivates the young German. The rest shall simply have to up their games if they are to prevent Vettel from doing just that.

Korean Grand Prix 2011 - Qualifying Report

Lewis Hamilton finally broke the Red Bull team’s stranglehold on pole position during qualifying for the Korean Grand Prix. An excellent lap from the Brit put him two tenths of a second out of the reach of new champion Sebastian Vettel, who had to settle for second, whilst Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Jenson Button lines up third.

Q1

With Pirelli having brought its soft and super-soft compounds to the Korean International Circuit, convention would usually dictate that everyone but the bottom three teams would at least begin the session on the soft tyres. Red Bull instead opted to send both Vettel and Mark Webber out on super-softs in order to preserve a set of softs for the race, yet curiously both were off the pace – the time of 1’39.1 that they both set was three tenths slower than Button’s first effort on softs and a full eight tenths slower than that of Hamilton. The Red Bull pair were also outpaced by Ferrari, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa splitting the two McLarens as well, whilst even Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes was faster than the Milton Keynes-built cars. Hamilton proceeded to slash a further eight tenths off his best time to post an impressive 1’37.5, consolidating his grip on P1, though Button was able to find similar gains to re-claim second from Alonso. Vitaly Petrov for Renault was able to slot himself third with a 1’38.4 on the super-softs, though he was the only midfield runner to get himself among the top teams once on super-softs. Williams established themselves as the slowest midfield team on this occasion; as such the battle to avoid elimination was fought between Rubens Barrichello and Pastor Maldonado. Once again, Barrichello found himself out-paced by his far less experienced teammate, and as such lines up a lowly eighteenth place ahead of the usual six stragglers. It should be noted however that an unspecified car problem prevented Daniel Ricciardo from setting a lap time.

Eliminated – Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Timo Glock (Virgin), Jerome D’Ambrosio (Virgin), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania), Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania)

Q2

Once more, Hamilton was the first of the pole challengers to take to the track, and opened the session with a 1’36.5 on the super-soft compound. Again Button’s pace was found wanting in comparison to his teammate’s to the tune of eight tenths, though the same was the case for both Red Bull drivers who could do no more than match Button’s time. Alonso was a further tenth behind, which to begin with left him fifth, but this became sixth after the other Ferrari of Massa made a dramatic improvement on his time to equal Button and the Red Bulls. Whilst being a full 1.4 seconds of Hamilton’s pace, Rosberg’s performance would be enough to see him through to Q3, but on the other hand the sister Mercedes of Michael Schumacher was allegedly experiencing vibration problems which hindered his attempts to make the top ten. A 1’38.4 from the seven-time champion would not be enough as he slipped from ninth to twelfth as the session ended. Petrov was able to secure one of the three remaining slots in Q3, whilst the other two went to the Force India drivers of Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta, leaving Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersauri eliminated and in eleventh place on the grid.

Eliminated – Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Bruno Senna (Renault), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Sergio Perez (Sauber)

Q3

Unlike last time out at Suzuka, not only was Q3 a veritable pole-position showdown, but it featured all but one of the ten remaining cars (only Adrian Sutil remaining in the pits throughout). Hamilton was on top during the first ‘half’ of the session, his 1’36.1 enough to beat Vettel’s time by a tenth. Webber was three tenths slower than his teammate but a tenth quicker than Button, who in turn enjoyed a margin of four tenths back to the Ferrari of Alonso; Massa, Rosberg and Petrov rounded out the top eight with both Force Indias at this stage showing no signs of leaving the pits. After a short interlude, the second half of the session got underway. Webber was first on the road but abandoned his flying lap, while Hamilton improved on his already-rapid time by a further three tenths. Massa climbed to fifth after his second lap ahead of Alonso, who along with Di Resta and Petrov abandoned his lap. Button was able to briefly overcome both Red Bulls with a 1’36.1, but Vettel improved his earlier time sufficiently to put himself back on the front row by a tenth. Alas, it wouldn’t be enough to deny Hamilton, who took his first pole position since last year’s Canadian Grand Prix.

Top Ten – Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Jenson Button (McLaren), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Vitaly Petrov (Renault), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Adrian Sutil (Force India)

My Prediction

Such was Hamilton’s form in qualifying trim that, barring another poor mistake from the former champion, he will be difficult to topple come tomorrow’s race:

1. Hamilton, 2. Button, 3. Vettel, 4. Alonso, 5. Webber, 6. Rosberg, 7. Petrov, 8. Schumacher, 9. Sutil, 10. Alguersauri

Tyre wear will mean Button will make it a McLaren one-two; Alonso will surpass Webber for fourth for the same reason. The hapless Massa is overdue a retirement, whilst Schumacher will make up several places from his starting position to bring home good points behind Petrov. Di Resta’s inexperience will finally get the better of him after a string of good results, allowing Alguersauri to haul himself into the points behind the other Force India of Sutil.

Limited dry running throughout the weekend however has made this one of the harder races to predict. Make sure you check back here tomorrow for a full lowdown of events from what promises to be another gripping grand prix.

Japanese Grand Prix 2011 - Race Report

Sebastian Vettel finally wrapped up the 2011 Formula One title after finishing in third position in today’s Japanese Grand Prix. Jenson Button did all he could to delay Vettel’s coronation by taking his third win of the year in fine style, but the German simply did all that was required to become the sport’s newest youngest-ever double world champion, which was merely to finish in the top ten. Fernando Alonso took another podium finish with second and looked like threatening Button in the closing stages, but the Brit was able to hang on to take victory.

Vettel was able to maintain his Red Bull team’s faultless qualifying record by the slimmest of margins on Saturday, with the McLarens of Button and Lewis Hamilton next up. The latter only had to chance set one lap time after he missed his chance to begin another before the session time expired, somewhat compromising his grid position. Hamilton was joined on the second row by Ferrari’s Felipe Massa, while the second Italian car of Alonso lined up fifth from Mark Webber in the second Red Bull.

As the race began, Vettel’s getaway was inferior to that of Button, who began to saunter up the inside of the Red Bull. To stem the Brit’s advance, Vettel sliced decisively to the right, forcing Button to lift the throttle and lose a position to Hamilton in the process. Button later complained of Vettel’s start-line tactics to his team on the radio, but the stewards opted to take no further action. Massa, Alonso and Webber all held their positions in the meantime, but local driver Kamui Kobayashi squandered his best-ever grid position of seventh as he bogged down badly at the start – to the dismay of thousands of Japanese fans, he ended the first lap in twelfth. 

As per usual, Vettel began to make headway at the front of the pack, but on this occasion his closest pursuer Hamilton was able to maintain the gap at around two-and-a-half seconds. Button was around the same distance again behind in third, with the Ferrari pair of Massa and Alonso in close formation slightly further down the road. On the first corner of lap 6, Alonso made a rather straightforward pass on his teammate to move into fourth, immediately putting distance between himself and Massa and closing the gap to Button ahead.

Button was however engaging in some gap-closing of his own as the sister McLaren of Hamilton began to suffer considerably from tyre wear. The 2009 champion didn’t take long to take away second place from his predecessor at the Spoon Curve on lap 8, though it became apparent that Hamilton was also the victim of a slow puncture. He didn’t lose too much time as he pitted at the end of the lap for a fresh set of soft tyres, but he eventually rejoined behind Alonso after the Spaniard made his first stop two laps later. Vettel and Button meanwhile held on to their positions after pitting for new soft tyres on laps 9 and 10 respectively.

Not long after pitting however was it that Vettel’s tyres also began to wear at a faster rate than had been hoped for. Button was therefore able to close to within a second of the leader within ten laps, whilst Alonso made use of his younger tyres to get away from Hamilton and consolidate third. In fact, Hamilton soon found himself being chased down by the other Ferrari of Massa, whose later first stop meant his tyres were in far better shape than Hamilton’s. The duel reached its climax as Massa attempted a move around the outside of the Casio Triangle on lap 21; light contact ensued and the Brazilian lost a small piece of bodywork in the process. Not willing to prolong the battle, Hamilton made for the pit-lane immediately after.

He was not the first man to have made his second stop though as Button had made his a lap earlier and Vettel a lap before that. In fact, such were Vettel’s tyre troubles that Button emerged from the pit-lane ahead of him and assumed the lead of the race once the other front-runners had all been back to the pits. The gap between Button and Vettel remained around the one second-mark until the Safety Car was scrambled  on lap 25 to allow the marshals to remove the piece of debris caused by the Hamilton-Massa incident as well as another that arose from a minor clash between Webber and the yet-to-stop Mercedes of Michael Schumacher.

Things got underway once more on lap 28, with Button backing the pack up considerably before making good his escape from the rest of the field. Vettel in fact was losing ground to Alonso in third, and ultimately fell behind after the duo switched to medium tyres for their third and final pit-stops of the race: again, in spite of pitting earlier than his rival, Vettel surprisingly lacked the sheer pace to stave off the challenge to his position. He did catch back up to Alonso thereafter, making several attempts to re-capture second place at the first corner with the help of DRS, but some robust defending from Alonso meant that these attempts were to no avail.

Vettel would thus have to be content with third, but up ahead it appeared Alonso was anything but content with second place. He began to catch race leader Button at a rate of around a second per lap, much as the Brit had done to Vettel last time out at Singapore. Also like Singapore though, it transpired that the race leader had enough in hand to keep the pretender at bay, and Button clinched a finely-judged and well-deserved third win of the season. Alonso still drove excellently to take second place for Ferrari, whilst third was more than enough for Vettel to be crowned champion in 2011.

The second Red Bull of Webber trailed across the line in a lonely fourth position, some fifteen seconds ahead of Hamilton whose pace was inexplicably lacklustre after his second stop. Schumacher’s long middle stint, which saw him briefly lead the way at one stage, allowed him to finish in sixth ahead of Massa who once again was outclassed by Alonso despite having qualifying ahead of him. Sergio Perez drove a remarkable race in the face of flu and a lowly grid position of seventeenth – a combination of making one less pit-stop and the Safety Car allowed him to take a brilliant eighth place for Sauber.

Vitaly Petrov went some way to putting his Renault team’s disastrous showing at Singapore in the past with ninth place, while Nico Rosberg stole the final point after a spirited charge on an alternate strategy from the back row of the grid. The strategies of the Force India pairing of Adrian Sutil and Paul Di Resta were severely hampered by the Safety Car, meaning they only finished eleventh and twelvth ahead of the second Sauber of Kobayashi who disappointingly never recovered from his poor start. Pastor Maldonado had an unremarkable run to fourteenth for Williams ahead of Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersauri and Renault’s Bruno Senna.

The other Williams driver of Rubens Barrichello did little to help his case for staying on at Williams next year by finishing down in seventeenth, ahead of the Lotus pairing of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli. Next were the Virgins of Timo Glock and Jerome D’Ambrosio, followed by the Hispanias of Daniel Ricciardo and Vitantonio Liuzzi. Sebastien Buemi was the only retirement of the event thanks to his front-right wheel parting company with the rest of his Toro Rosso shortly after his first pit-stop – not the first time such a gaffe has been made by the pit-crew of the Faenza-based team this year.

Now Vettel has confirmed what we just about knew arguably as far back as July, we can focus purely on enjoying the final four races of the season. For much of the race, the top six drivers were all covered by a window of less than ten seconds, indicating the performance parity of the three leading teams in race trim. Button, Alonso and Vettel are all on top form, whilst their respective teammates all still have a point to prove before the year is out: that should mean we’re in for some more thrilling races in 2011 yet. Let battle commence.

Japanese Grand Prix 2011 - Qualifying Report

Sebastian Vettel charged to yet another pole position as he bids to become Formula One’s youngest ever double champion at the Japanese Grand Prix. The Red Bull driver was able to out-do closest rival Jenson Button by nine thousandths of a second in the final reckoning, while his McLaren teammate Lewis Hamilton begins third after denying himself the chance to improve his time at the end of the final qualifying session.

Q1

Vettel began the opening session of the afternoon as he meant to go on by topping the times with a 1’33.1 on the harder medium compound tyres; the other Red Bull of Mark Webber was able to match this initially. Jenson Button kept up his strong form in practice as he beat the Milton-Keynes built cars by a tenth, though Fernando Alonso knocked the Brit off his perch with a surprise visit to P1 for Ferrari on a 1’32.8. Hamilton began the session off the pace of his teammate, his second time being only good enough for fifth place after the first was marred by an error at the challenging Spoon Curve. He did however later improve to second position, beating Button by a tenth but still a small margin away from erstwhile teammate Alonso. The usual hierarchy of teams was disturbed when the midfield contenders began to set times on the softer tyre, the speed advantage it offers clearly demonstrated by fastest times first by former Japanese F3 champion Adrian Sutil for Force India and then by home hero Kamui Kobayashi for Sauber. The bottom seven were never in doubt however as a hydraulic issue prevented Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg from leaving the pits; Vitantonio Liuzzi was also unable to set a time due to engine maladies. The pair will start from the back row of the grid.

Eliminated – Heikki Kovalainen (Lotus), Jarno Trulli (Lotus), Jerome D’Ambrosio (Virgin), Timo Glock (Virgin), Daniel Ricciardo (Hispania), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes), Vitantonio Liuzzi (Hispania)

Q2

Once more it was Vettel who laid down the benchmark, which on soft compound tyres was a 1’31.4. After failed attempts by Button and Webber to dislodge the German from P1, Hamilton successfully shaved three tenths off the time to head the standings. Ferrari were decidedly slower relative to the competition on the softer rubber, Alonso and Felipe Massa only managing fifth and sixth places, suggesting a Red Bull-McLaren shootout for ultimate honours. With Michael Schumacher seventh fastest and the other Mercedes of Rosberg out of the running, three extra Q3 spots were up for grabs among the rest of the pack: Kobayashi took eighth place as the clock neared zero, with Sutil slotting in behind in ninth. The two Renault drivers Vitaly Petrov and Bruno Senna were then able to bounce back from their dismal Singpore showing by taking eighth and ninth places, bumping Kobayashi down to tenth and Sutil eleventh ahead of teammate Paul Di Resta. Once again the Toro Rossos and Williams cars never looked particularly like challenging for a place in the top ten, whilst Sergio Perez became the second victim of the day of hydraulic problems which consigned the Mexican to seventeenth on the grid.

Eliminated – Adrian Sutil (Force India), Paul Di Resta (Force India), Pastor Maldonado (Williams), Rubens Barrichello (Williams), Sebastien Buemi (Toro Rosso), Jaime Alguersauri (Toro Rosso), Sergio Perez (Sauber)

Q3

As was the case to a certain degree last time out at Singapore, Q3 proved farcical in more ways than one. Such was the desperation to preserve tyres for the race that no less than four of the top ten set no time, the culprits being Schumacher, Senna, Petrov and Kobayashi, though the latter was promoted to seventh on the grid on virtue of having started (although not having completed) a flying lap. To be fair to Schumacher, he did attempt to start a flying lap, but he failed to cross the starting line to commence it before the session time expired. The reason was that he and Webber were both behind Hamilton in the queue of cars as they left the pits, but the McLaren driver’s leisurely out lap gave both Webber and Schumacher no choice but to try and pass Hamilton at the Casio Triangle to avoid running out of time – Webber dived up the inside of Hamilton and was the only one of the trio able to start another flying lap. Hamilton was thus forced to rely on his earlier time of 1’30.6, which incidentally was the fastest at the time it was set, though it was narrowly beaten first by Vettel, who took his twenty-seventh career pole, and then by Button who consequently secured a place on the front row. Massa will line up alongside Hamilton in fourth place ahead of Alonso and Webber, both of whom were lacklustre in the final showdown.

Top Ten – Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), Jenson Button (McLaren), Lewis Hamilton (McLaren), Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), Mark Webber (Red Bull), Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber), Michael Schumacher (Mercedes), Bruno Senna (Renault), Vitaly Petrov (Renault)

My Prediction

Call me Mr. Unadventurous, but I just can’t realistically foresee anything that would stop Vettel from taking a commanding tenth win of the season:

1. Vettel, 2. Button, 3. Hamilton, 4. Alonso, 5. Schumacher, 6. Kobayashi, 7. Rosberg, 8. Senna, 9. Petrov, 10. Sutil

Hamilton will take a more circumspect approach after his Singapore woes, meaning he will cruise home to third behind Button. Fourth will be the maximum for Ferrari and Alonso, although Massa will end up being shunted by a frustrated Webber, leaving both parties point-less. Schumacher will take a solid fifth place at one of his strongest tracks ahead of Kobayashi who will please the home crowds with his best result since Monaco. Rosberg will make a veritable charge through the field on an alternative strategy to take seventh, beating the two Renaults of Senna and Petrov, while Sutil will put his Suzuka knowledge to good use to secure the final point.

Suzuka has had the unique privilege of crowning many world champions in the past, and few would bet against it crowning another in the form of Vettel tomorrow. Whether that may be the case or not, be sure to check back here to read all about everything that happens at a potentially historic Japanese Grand Prix. 

F1 2011: Sans Mr. Vettel

With five races remaining in this year's Formula One season, Sebastian Vettel needs to score one more point in order to successfully defend his championship crown. That being all but certain to happen, not to mention Jenson Button also having to win each of the remaining five rounds to be able to foil Vettel, the spotlight will inevitably turn towards the battle for second place between Button, Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton. But, what if Vettel was, say, mysteriously omitted from the championship table he so deservedly heads?

All of a sudden, we would have a thrilling four-way battle for honours on our hands. If one was to simply retrospectively discount Vettel from the results of the fourteen Grand Prix we have enjoyed so far this year, Button and Webber would be in a joint championship lead, Alonso would be just two points behind in third, while Hamilton would be far from out of the running being a further nineteen points adrift in fourth. What a tantalising prospect such a scenario would be as the season reached its climax...

1. J Button            McLaren      224

= M Webber         Red Bull      224

3. F Alonso           Ferrari         222

4. L Hamilton        McLaren      203

5. F Massa            Ferrari         107

6. N Rosberg        Mercedes     82      etc.

Button would not only be co-leader of the championship, but also the man with the most wins so far in 2011. His second places at Sepang, Monza and Singapore, combined with his actual wins at Canada and Hungary, would give him a total of five victories, including three out of the last four races. His McLaren teammate Hamilton would have one less win to his name, haven taken victory at the curtain-raiser at Melbourne in addition to China, Catalunya and the Nurburgring. 

Alonso would be third in the winning stakes with triumphs at Monaco, Valencia and Silverstone, whilst just the remaining two rounds at Turkey and Spa would've been won by Webber - a rather illuminating indictment perhaps as to the gulf in performance that has emerged between the Australian and his teammate during this year. Others to benefit significantly from Vettel's absence would be Renault drivers current and former Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld, whose early third places would both have become second places; Michael Schumacher's performance in Canada would also have warranted the German's first visit to the podium in five years.

Felipe Massa meanwhile would still be languishing almost a hundred points behind Hamilton in fifth place in the standings, with Nico Rosberg just twenty-five points in arrears of the Brazilian in sixth. Schumacher, Petrov and Heidfeld would all occupy the next three slots, with Adrian Sutil, Kamui Kobayashi and Paul Di Resta rounding out the top dozen, the lattermost leading closest rival Sergio Perez in the Rookie stakes by fourteen points.

There have of course been other, equally fearsome displays of dominance throughout F1 history, so let’s take a look at how some particularly one-sided seasons may have looked when the champion is excluded from the results...

2004 sans Michael Schumacher:

1. R Barrichello     Ferrari         136

2. J Button            BAR            106

3. F Alonso           Renault        71

4. JP Montoya      Williams       67

5. J Trulli               Renault        56

6. K Raikkonen    McLaren      52

2004 was the pinnacle of Ferrari-Schumacher domination – the German driver clinched world title number seven after securing a record thirteen wins of a possible eighteen. Remove Schumacher from the equation, and Ferrari’s peerless speed and bullet-proof reliability would still have resulted in Rubens Barrichello taking a relatively comfortable title from BAR’s Jenson Button, albeit with a rather paltry nine wins. Button would have had his first win two years sooner than he did in reality at the San Marino Grand Prix before adding a second success at Hockenheim. The Brit would have thus finished second in the championship ahead of Alonso (1 win), Juan Pablo Montoya (2 wins), Jarno Trulli (1 win) and Kimi Raikkonen (2 wins).  

1992 sans Nigel Mansell:

1. R Patrese           Williams      84

2. M Schumacher   Benetton     67

3. A Senna             McLaren     61

4. G Berger            McLaren     59

5. M Brundle          Benetton     48

6. J Alesi                Ferrari        22

After several near misses, 1992 was the year where things finally went Mansell’s way. The Williams was by far the best package on the grid, a fact reflected by the team’s second driver Riccardo Patrese being on top in a protracted Mansell-free 1992 season. He would have taken seven wins on to way to championship glory; Schumacher would have taken two during his first full season of F1, the first of which would have been at Catalunya rather than Spa-Francorchamps. Ayrton Senna would have only managed third in the standings despite having taken twice as many wins as Schumacher, just two points clear of McLaren teammate Gerhard Berger who would have had three wins to his name.

1975 sans Niki Lauda:

1. E Fittipaldi        McLaren      53

2. C Reutemann    Brabham      46

3. J Hunt               Hesketh       42

4. J Mass              McLaren      32

5. C Regazzoni      Ferrari         31

6. C Pace             Brabham      27

Unlike the case for 2004 and 1992, the exclusion of title winner Lauda in 1975 would not have resulted in Ferrari teammate Clay Regazzoni being crowned champion. Instead, Brazil’s Emerson Fittipaldi would have secured his third title by a close margin from Argentine Carlos Reutemann. Interestingly, Lauda’s five wins of a possible fourteen would have been shared rather equitably: Fittipaldi would receive two to add to his existing pair, whilst Reutemann, James Hunt and Jody Scheckter would take one of the remaining three apiece. There is also an obvious beneficiary in the championship standings as the points are re-distributed in the form of Jochen Mass, who would gain three places in the standings to take fourth, surpassing Regazzoni, Carlos Pace and Scheckter.

1963 sans Jim Clark:

1. G Hill                BRM           40

2. R Ginther          BRM           37

3. D Gurney          Brabham     29

4. J Surtees            Ferrari        27

5. B McLaren        Cooper       23

6. J Brabham         Brabham     20

Without the Jim Clark hegemony of 1963, Graham Hill would have successfully defended the title that he took the previous year for BRM. This however was only made possible by the quirky points system of the time which stipulated that only a driver’s best six results over the course of the season counted for the championship (Clark in reality scored the theoretical maximum of 54). This meant that American driver Richie Ginther had to drop seven points, gifting the title to teammate Hill. Another American, Dan Gurney, would have also gained a place in the standings at the expense of Briton John Surtees. Bruce McLaren, who three years later would go on to found a rather successful team of his own, meanwhile claimed fifth place in the standings ahead of Jack Brabham, who had already become a driver-owner in 1962.

Next time out is the Japanese Grand Prix, so make sure you check back in a week's time to read about all the action as well as to discover whether Sebastian Vettel will be crowned world champion for the second time in succession.