The Buddh International Circuit near New Delhi in India
plays host to what could prove another pivotal round in this year’s title
encounter. The difference between India and some of the other Asian nations
that are relatively new to the F1 calendar – namely China, Korea and Bahrain –
is that there is something of a budding motorsport culture (helped no doubt by
a representative among the drivers in Narain Karthikeyan) to be found and thus
plenty of eager fans on hand to fill the grandstands. Combined with a track
layout that ranks among one of Hermann Tilke’s more acclaimed designs and India
could yet transpire to be a ‘must-have’ fixture on the F1 calendar.
The track itself is not dissimilar in character to Korea, in
that the opening section featuring two long straights and slow corners is juxtaposed
against a highly technical section of medium speed sweepers that demand solid
front downforce. The two DRS zones are to be found along the start/finish
straight and the lengthier back straight, which should make both the first
corner and the turn 4 hairpin prime passing places, whilst the hard and soft
compound Pirelli tyres will be on offer to the teams.
Despite my perhaps optimistic opening paragraph, Red Bull and
their number one driver have to be regarded as favourites to take honours this
weekend. It seems as if Vettel has finally been able to get the RB8 exactly to
his liking courtesy of the raft of updates applied during the Asian flyaways that
have made the Milton Keynes-built car the undoubted class of the field. Perhaps
the German’s stiffest opposition will once again come from in-house, with
teammate Mark Webber seemingly back on the sort of form that carried him to
victory at Silverstone all those months ago following his unexpected Korea pole
position.
Ferrari appeared to have at least the race pace to challenge
the Red Bulls at Korea, but their lacklustre qualifying form as of late has
served to all but rule out the Prancing Horse from challenging for wins. With a
gap of just six points between himself and Vettel, Fernando Alonso is still the
master of his own destiny to a certain extent. The team have reportedly now
overcome the wind-tunnel calibration gremlins that proved so detrimental to the
team’s early progress, although it remains to be seen whether that will
translate into any extra performance on-track this weekend.
In the sister car, Felipe Massa was able to follow up his
eye-catching run to second place at Suzuka with another potential
podium-clinching performance at Korea, the Brazilian dutifully crossing the
line in fourth place in the interests of his teammate’s title bid in spite of
looking to have the pace to challenge Webber ahead. With a one-year extension
to his contract in his pocket, Massa appears to have turned the proverbial
corner and could yet prove a useful ally in Alonso’s battle against Vettel.
Assessing the progress of McLaren during the last two races
has been difficult. For Lewis Hamilton, nothing seems to have gone his way
since gearbox failure denied him a likely victory at Singapore. A suspension
problem prevented the former champion from finishing any higher than fifth at
Suzuka, whilst an early rear roll-bar failure would consign Hamilton to just a
single point at Korea. Button meanwhile found himself engaged in a fruitless
chase of Kamui Kobayashi at Suzuka before being wiped out by the Japanese
driver on lap one a week later at Korea.
The evidence during qualifying and the early part of the
race at Korea however suggests that the McLaren is still very much at least a
podium contender, so expect Hamilton and Button to aim to be in the mix for the
fight for pole position. If Red Bull assert their superiority once again at India,
then a close battle between Woking and Maranello for best-of-the-rest honours could
be on the cards once again. That won’t be enough however to keep alive the
fading ember that is Hamilton’s title hopes.
Another driver still entertaining remote hopes of title
success is Lotus’s Kimi Raikkonen, who lies third in the title chase despite
his dearth of wins in 2012. Those hopes were largely riding on the new ‘Coanda
effect’ exhaust system that was implemented on the Finn’s car at Korea, which
was a qualified success even if it didn’t propel the E20 to the heights it
scaled earlier in the year. Romain Grosjean meanwhile was driving somewhat
within himself at Korea following his first lap misdemeanour with Webber a week
prior; the Frenchman will be hoping for a boost this weekend now his car is also
blessed with the new exhaust system.
The hard tyres on offer this weekend should play into the
hands of Sauber, who often perform well on the hardest compound, so another
giant-killing performance from Sergio Perez is by no means out the question.
Force India will be looking to keep up the form Nico Hulkenberg demonstrated at
Korea, whilst Toro Rosso could potentially make use of the long straights along
which their cars often excel to make it four points-scoring outings on the
trot. Mercedes and Williams on the other hand look to have work to do before
getting themselves firmly back in the hunt for points.
Qualifying Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Hamilton, 3. Webber, 4. Alonso, 5. Massa, 6.
Raikkonen, 7. Button, 8. Grosjean, 9. Hulkenberg, 10. Rosberg
Race Prediction
1. Vettel, 2. Hamilton, 3. Alonso, 4. Webber, 5. Raikkonen,
6. Perez, 7. Grosjean, 8. Hulkenberg, 9. Di Resta, 10. Ricciardo
It’s hard to see exactly what can stand in the way of a
fourth straight Vettel victory at India, with the possible exceptions of rain
and alternator failure. With neither of those looking likely, it will be up to
Hamilton to keep the reigning champion honest, with Alonso doing the best he
can with limited machinery to snatch another podium ahead of Webber and
Raikkonen. Perez will make decisive progress late in the race thanks to another
tyre management masterclass to take sixth, ahead of Grosjean, the two Force
Indias and Ricciardo. No sign of either Button or Massa – two tight hairpins
for the pack to negotiate on lap one will inevitably lead to some contact…
right?
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