Well that wasn’t really worth getting up early for was it?
Well it was interesting from a “who needs a seat for next year” kind of way. However, as a race, well did you think anyone other than Vettel was going to win? I think he looked as ragged as ever when he tried to overtake anyone, and resorted to the usual fall back and pass them all during the pit stop phase when the tracks clear routine. But I don’t think there was much doubt in the result. Especially when Webber was called in early for his last pit stop and “unfortunately” ended up behind Grosjean.
Even with a massive lead in the championship, Webber isn’t allowed to jeopardise Vettel’s chances of lifting that winners’ cup is he. You have to admire just how ruthless Redbull are prepared to be. Not even a sympathy win for Mark in Japan, no, they want it all done and dusted with a handful of races to go, give them some time to work on the 2014 car perhaps
It’s odd though, Webber spent longer behind Grosjean on better tyres than Vettel did, if the car is doing all the work for a supposed “lucky” driver like Vettel, why couldn’t Mark make it past if he’s such a better driver ? Webber took the fight to Grosjean, harried him into corner after corner and kept the pressure up until he could make that clean pass. In the process of course, he used the best of his soft tyres and lost any chance of talking the fight to Vettel.
He claimed after the event that he had been called in early for that last stop and with a couple of more laps under his belt he would have been able to pass the Lotus with ease.
Or you could surmise that Grosjean is no pushover and Webber is past his best days, but that might be a bit unkind .
So yeah, off to India next and Vettel just needs nine more points than Alonso to take the title.
Vettel first – Will defiantly have it all wrapped up in India.
Webber second – Pole axed by the team to make sure Vettel won. Got fastest lap though
Grosjean third – Was the only driver taking the fight to Redbull after Lewis got a bit too feisty off the line. He made a good go of it, made both Vettel and Webber work for their points and I don’t think Eric will be giving him a talking to after this race. Results like this are what secure funding for the following year.
Alonso – Still no pace, mathematically require snookers to win the championship now.
Raikkonen – Team Lotus just doesn’t care what he does now he’s off to Ferrari and he was always in the back foot after Fridays off in practice.
Hulkenberg – looks almost certain to be Lotus bound now ... but what about McLaren ? There are strong rumour he’s Woking bound and I think they could do a lot worse than take the Hulk on (sticking with Perez, for instance ) the revised tyres defiantly suit the Sauber don’t they.
Guiterrez - The tyres, and talent back on track. A feisty drive and more than enough to keep his seat for next year.
Rosberg – capped a disappointing race for Mercedes after Hamilton binned any chance of taking the title this year. Nico jumped the pit stop red light and got a perfectly justified drive through, then only just made it to the finish line with enough fuel for the FIA to test.
Button – Still tooling around, it looks like he’s done enough to keep his seat for 2014 now. The word is Perez will be given his marching orders at the end of the season, thus I was right all along and he is actually rubbish after all.
Massa – I don’t think he did enough to get a seat for next year. Maybe he’ll head into the sunset with webber to endurance racing and join up with Fisi in the Ferrari GT squad, and do some proper racing again.
And Max was last after his opposition, Van Der Garde and Bianchi, took each other out at the start of the race. Pic gave him a run for his money, but the plucky English lad pulled it out of the bag and collects the last place driver points for you all once again.
Whilst we are down this end of the grid I’d just like to mention Maria De Villota, who passed away on Friday morning. She was a test driver for Marussia, which had more to do with money and PR than any chance of taking part in an F1 race. But she had a chance to promote female drivers in the top rank of motorsport and she took it with both hands. However, during that chance, she was involved in a horrific accident last year that almost killed her, the back lift of a lorry had been left at just the right height to almost decapitate her and it was only luck that she survived with the loss of her right eye after lengthy surgery on serious head and facial injuries
She battled back with determination and supreme character, to write a book about her experience, which she was set to promote in the next few weeks. However, it appears she didn’t quite escape that crash. In a statement, the family said a forensic doctor told them she had died "as a consequence of the neurological injuries she suffered" in the incident.
A timely reminder, not that it was ever needed, that this is a dangerous sport, even for those that get to flirt briefly in the rarified atmosphere of Formula One
Right, off to India in a couple of weeks. Till then, stay safe.
Well it was interesting from a “who needs a seat for next year” kind of way. However, as a race, well did you think anyone other than Vettel was going to win? I think he looked as ragged as ever when he tried to overtake anyone, and resorted to the usual fall back and pass them all during the pit stop phase when the tracks clear routine. But I don’t think there was much doubt in the result. Especially when Webber was called in early for his last pit stop and “unfortunately” ended up behind Grosjean.
Even with a massive lead in the championship, Webber isn’t allowed to jeopardise Vettel’s chances of lifting that winners’ cup is he. You have to admire just how ruthless Redbull are prepared to be. Not even a sympathy win for Mark in Japan, no, they want it all done and dusted with a handful of races to go, give them some time to work on the 2014 car perhaps
It’s odd though, Webber spent longer behind Grosjean on better tyres than Vettel did, if the car is doing all the work for a supposed “lucky” driver like Vettel, why couldn’t Mark make it past if he’s such a better driver ? Webber took the fight to Grosjean, harried him into corner after corner and kept the pressure up until he could make that clean pass. In the process of course, he used the best of his soft tyres and lost any chance of talking the fight to Vettel.
He claimed after the event that he had been called in early for that last stop and with a couple of more laps under his belt he would have been able to pass the Lotus with ease.
Or you could surmise that Grosjean is no pushover and Webber is past his best days, but that might be a bit unkind .
So yeah, off to India next and Vettel just needs nine more points than Alonso to take the title.
Vettel first – Will defiantly have it all wrapped up in India.
Webber second – Pole axed by the team to make sure Vettel won. Got fastest lap though
Grosjean third – Was the only driver taking the fight to Redbull after Lewis got a bit too feisty off the line. He made a good go of it, made both Vettel and Webber work for their points and I don’t think Eric will be giving him a talking to after this race. Results like this are what secure funding for the following year.
Alonso – Still no pace, mathematically require snookers to win the championship now.
Raikkonen – Team Lotus just doesn’t care what he does now he’s off to Ferrari and he was always in the back foot after Fridays off in practice.
Hulkenberg – looks almost certain to be Lotus bound now ... but what about McLaren ? There are strong rumour he’s Woking bound and I think they could do a lot worse than take the Hulk on (sticking with Perez, for instance ) the revised tyres defiantly suit the Sauber don’t they.
Guiterrez - The tyres, and talent back on track. A feisty drive and more than enough to keep his seat for next year.
Rosberg – capped a disappointing race for Mercedes after Hamilton binned any chance of taking the title this year. Nico jumped the pit stop red light and got a perfectly justified drive through, then only just made it to the finish line with enough fuel for the FIA to test.
Button – Still tooling around, it looks like he’s done enough to keep his seat for 2014 now. The word is Perez will be given his marching orders at the end of the season, thus I was right all along and he is actually rubbish after all.
Massa – I don’t think he did enough to get a seat for next year. Maybe he’ll head into the sunset with webber to endurance racing and join up with Fisi in the Ferrari GT squad, and do some proper racing again.
And Max was last after his opposition, Van Der Garde and Bianchi, took each other out at the start of the race. Pic gave him a run for his money, but the plucky English lad pulled it out of the bag and collects the last place driver points for you all once again.
Whilst we are down this end of the grid I’d just like to mention Maria De Villota, who passed away on Friday morning. She was a test driver for Marussia, which had more to do with money and PR than any chance of taking part in an F1 race. But she had a chance to promote female drivers in the top rank of motorsport and she took it with both hands. However, during that chance, she was involved in a horrific accident last year that almost killed her, the back lift of a lorry had been left at just the right height to almost decapitate her and it was only luck that she survived with the loss of her right eye after lengthy surgery on serious head and facial injuries
She battled back with determination and supreme character, to write a book about her experience, which she was set to promote in the next few weeks. However, it appears she didn’t quite escape that crash. In a statement, the family said a forensic doctor told them she had died "as a consequence of the neurological injuries she suffered" in the incident.
A timely reminder, not that it was ever needed, that this is a dangerous sport, even for those that get to flirt briefly in the rarified atmosphere of Formula One
Right, off to India in a couple of weeks. Till then, stay safe.
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