United States Grand Prix: where were the Stetsons?!

Sebastian Vettel is on top of the world, his dominance is unrivalled and his achievements are already historic. He broke yet another record today to become the first driver to win eight grands prix consecutively. The emotion was clear, up on the podium, and before that through Seb's team radio. There was an outpouring of praise and love from Vettel, broken up with sobs and tears. Sebastian looks utterly invincible as the season approaches its conclusion.

Mark Webber, on the other hand, had another frustrating race, in this his penultimate grand prix. He had yet another terrible start, finding himself slipping back behind Romain Grosjean and then Lewis Hamilton. He was later able to get past Hamilton but was unable to overtake Grosjean and gain the second step of the podium. The frustration was clear for all to see, in his face and his mannerisms. A combination of not making the most of qualifying, not being able to make more of his second position on the grid, and the fact that his season isn't proving to be a fairy tale send off, is obviously taking its toll on the Aussie.

The vast majority of the race was as dull as dishwater. There were very few passes and very little incident, the only real excitement coming on the first lap. Adrian Sutil was unaware of Pastor Maldonado moving up on his left hand side and moved over in to his path. As he clipped Pastor's front wheel he was spun around and was powerless to stop his Force India car from being wrecked against the barrier. The incident resulted in a safety car, but once the race got back underway all action went out of it. The DRS zones were relatively ineffective and drivers didn't seem to want to commit to anything risky or daring, at least not until the final few laps.

Any action there was, occurred in the middle of the pack and mainly between the Ferrari's and McLaren's. The final laps threatened to be extremely exciting, but it was all a bit of an anti-climax. In the final couple of laps Mark Webber lost touch with Romain Grosjean as the tyres on his Red Bull car went off, whilst Alonso passed Hulkenberg with a fantastic move, but Hulkenberg was unable to fight back again.

The biggest controversy of the weekend was the absence of Stetsons. I was looking forward to seeing those hats on the podium and without them the American Grand Prix was lacking. Hopefully next year we will see the return of the Stetson!

Race result:

1	Sebastian Vettel	1	Red Bull	1	1:39.856	1:39:17.148	25
2	Romain Grosjean	8	Lotus	3	1:40.445	+00:06.284	18
3	Mark Webber	2	Red Bull	2	1:40.591	+00:08.396	15
4	Lewis Hamilton	10	Mercedes	5	1:40.818	+00:27.358	12
5	Fernando Alonso	3	Ferrari	6	1:41.186	+00:29.592	10
6	Nico Hulkenberg	11	Sauber	4	1:40.952	+00:30.400	8
7	Sergio Perez	6	McLaren	7	1:41.830	+00:46.692	6
8	Valtteri Bottas	17	Williams	9	1:40.492	+00:54.509	4
9	Nico Rosberg	9	Mercedes	12	1:41.133	+00:59.141	2
10	Jenson Button	5	McLaren	15	1:41.285	+01:17.278	1
11	Daniel Ricciardo	19	Toro Rosso	10	1:42.119	+01:21.004	0
12	Jean-Eric Vergne	18	Toro Rosso	14	1:41.320	+01:24.574	0
13	Felipe Massa	4	Ferrari	13	1:41.209	+01:26.914	0
14	Esteban Gutierrez	12	Sauber	20	1:41.401	+01:31.707	0
15	Heikki Kovalainen	7	Lotus	8	1:41.028	+01:35.063	0
16	Paul Di Resta	14	Force India	11	1:41.148	+01:36.853	0
17	Pastor Maldonado	16	Williams	17	1:43.058	lapped	0
18	Jules Bianchi	22	Marussia	19	1:43.419	lapped	0
19	Giedo van der Garde	21	Caterham	18	1:43.933	lapped	0
20	Charles Pic	20	Caterham	22	1:43.968	lapped	0
21	Max Chilton	23	Marussia	21	1:43.775	lapped	0
22	Adrian Sutil	15	Force India	16	No time	retired, 0 laps	0

Abu Dhabi Grand Prix: More doughnuts in Abu Dhabi...

Sebastian Vettel was at it again, both doing doughnuts and winning. He was utterly dominant in this his seventh consecutive victory, matching the record set by Micheal Schumacher. Even teammate, often at loggerheads with the young German, Mark Webber, was full of shining praise, admitting that Sebastian is 'on another planet'. It is becoming more and more difficult for the critics and general haters of Vettel to dispute his awesome ability. Mark Webber also pointed out that his closest rival was able to out pace everyone whilst, at the same time, preserving his tyres.

Mark Webber sympathisers, which is pretty much everyone that watches Formula One, will have
been disappointed to see him fall at the first hurdle again. After achieving a great pole position, he had one of his characteristic sluggish starts, resulting in him dropping back to third. He dug his heels in and managed to salvage second, which was clearly a result that he was happy with, since he copied Seb in doing doughnuts. It might be fair to claim that Webber has all but wound down in this his final season in Formula One and so is able to provide us with an honest opinion of Vettel's performance, unclouded by rivalry or competitiveness.

Two teams, that have been waning in recent grands prix, were looking strong again today. Ferrari, and specifically Massa, looked very strong, and on a couple of occasions were involved in some very exciting mid field battles. The Force India team, that I have supported from the start of the season, were also looking competitive and achieved good results. Alonso had an especially hairy moment, when he came out of the pits right next to Jean Eric-Vergne. Fernando had to drive off the track, almost damaging his car and causing an accident. The incident was investigated and no action was taken. I think that it is clear that Alonso was reckless and dangerous, and should have received some sort of reprimand. When leaving the pit lane, drivers are meant to yield to opponents on the track, if there is any risk of collision, and it is clear that this incident was far from safe.

Kimi Raikonnen was quite unlucky. After being put to the back of the grid he made contact with one of the usual back-of-the-field runners and damaged his car terminally. In much the same way as top football teams find it difficult to play against a minnow, top drivers find it hard to compete and avoid trouble around the back of the grid. Sometimes driving a Formula One car at that kind of level is very different to driving one right at the front. I'm so glad that what I suggested in my last blog is true; despite the World Championship being done and dusted, the racing in the middle of the pack is still superb.

The result:

	Driver	Car	Team	Grid	Fastest Lap	Race Time	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	1	Red Bull	2	1:43.893	1:38:06.106	25
2	Mark Webber	2	Red Bull	1	1:44.364	+00:30.829	18
3	Nico Rosberg	9	Mercedes	3	1:44.458	+00:33.650	15
4	Romain Grosjean	8	Lotus	6	1:44.301	+00:34.802	12
5	Fernando Alonso	3	Ferrari	10	1:43.434	+01:07.181	10
6	Paul Di Resta	14	Force India	11	1:45.786	+01:18.174	8
7	Lewis Hamilton	10	Mercedes	4	1:45.463	+01:19.267	6
8	Felipe Massa	4	Ferrari	7	1:45.447	+01:22.886	4
9	Sergio Perez	6	McLaren	8	1:45.435	+01:31.198	2
10	Adrian Sutil	15	Force India	17	1:45.609	+01:33.257	1
11	Pastor Maldonado	16	Williams	14	1:45.530	+01:35.989	0
12	Jenson Button	5	McLaren	12	1:46.336	+01:43.767	0
13	Esteban Gutierrez	12	Sauber	16	1:45.974	+01:44.295	0
14	Nico Hulkenberg	11	Sauber	5	1:45.570	lapped	0
15	Valtteri Bottas	17	Williams	15	1:44.351	lapped	0
16	Daniel Ricciardo	19	Toro Rosso	9	1:46.042	lapped	0
17	Jean-Eric Vergne	18	Toro Rosso	13	1:44.517	lapped	0
18	Giedo van der Garde	21	Caterham	18	1:46.592	lapped	0
19	Charles Pic	20	Caterham	19	1:46.432	lapped	0
20	Jules Bianchi	22	Marussia	21	1:47.619	lapped	0
21	Max Chilton	23	Marussia	20	1:47.707	lapped	0
22	Kimi Raikkonen	7	Lotus	22	No time	retired, 0 laps	0

Indian Grand Prix: A Champion is crowned!

The almighty young German has done it and becomes the youngest Formula One driver to win four World Championships and, perhaps even more impressively, back to back. He did it in style, his race engineers selecting an unconventional and, for all appearances, very risky strategy. At the end of only two laps, Seb was in to change his tyres from the quick-to-degrade soft tyre, to the far longer lasting hard tyre. It put him back in seventeenth place, with a large proportion of the field to pass. He managed it and ended up first, with only his teammate to challenge him. That challenge immediately evaporated, when Mark Webber's Red Bull was damaged to the extent that he was forced to stop.

Vettel made his championship win all the more special by adding a touch of the historic and emotional showmanship that we all love in Formula One. He has been fined €25,000 for his exuberant antics on the start/finish straight, but let us be grateful that we spectate on Formula One at a time when drivers are willing to incur some discipline for the sake of creating iconic footage and memories. Sebastian doing donuts, waving to the crowd and bowing down to his superior machine, will resonate for years to come.

Now, let me try and resolve some of the debate regarding whether Sebastian Vettel is one of the greats. I've heard people, TV pundits and the like, discussing whether greatness comes with merit and achievement or moments and instances of supreme performance. Also, whether the car does the winning, or the driver. When considering these questions, the same two names pop up, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher. Senna, despite achieving relatively few accolades, did things that were unconventional, memorable and at times downright scary. He was the man who, before pit lane speed limits were introduced, shot through the pits at racing speed, at Donington Raceway, to gain a handful of places. On another occasion, during qualifying for the French Grand Prix, he threw his racecar in to the wall on the start/finish straight, just so that he could exit the corner and cross the line a split second faster than everyone else. Alternatively, Michael Schumacher has achieved what almost everybody would agree is greatness, by winning seven world titles, five of which were consecutive.

The point is, do we have to pick one definition? Why can we not place them all under the same umbrella of 'Great'? As for the question of the car or the driver, it has always been the same throughout the history of Formula One. Some doubt Vettel's quality, claiming that he is in the fastest car. Interestingly, Schumacher was in a vastly superior racecar when he dominated for five years. That was clear, because his teammates, Rubens Barrichello and Eddie Irvine, were both ahead of the rest of the field, albeit still in Michael's shadow. In contrast, Sebastian Vettel's teammate, Mark Webber, regularly finishes outside of the top three, so its fair to say that he isn't getting anywhere near the superiority out of the car that Seb is. In my view Sebastian Vettel is one of the best there has ever been and it will only be a matter of time until that is the common consensus.

The Indian Grand Prix was chaotic, mainly as a result of the very poor soft tyre, which scattered the strategies all over the place. It meant that, by around lap ten, the only people that could have predicted the outcome were the strategists. There were some good fights in the final few laps, although none involved the four time world champion. He was well out in front and cruising to victory. The remaining races are sure to feature even more nail biting action. But the top prize has been claimed and has gone to a worthy winner.