United States Grand Prix: Sebastian flies in Texas!

The first corner of the race surprised me, because I expected drama. In fact, privately, I had predicted that Hamilton and Rosberg wouldn't get through the first hairpin, without making contact. Actually, the first few corners were extremely tidy, for everyone. Then all hell broke loose. Perez ran deep in to one of the corners, colliding with the back end of Kimi Raikonnen's Ferrari, and then spinning Adrian Sutil's Sauber around, spreading debris across the circuit. It was very unfortunate for Sutil, who had been so successful in Saturday's qualifying, and led to a lengthy safety car period. It was during this safety car period that Vettel and Red Bull made the decision that resulted in a decent turn around for the German reigning World Champion.

Vettel had been forced to start from the pit lane, due to the fact that he had needed an engine change. As the safety car came out, for the recovery of Sutil's Sauber, Vettel proceeded to make two pitstops, to cover both of his tyre stints, leaving him with an opportunity to go to the end of the race on virtually one set of tyres. Unfortunately, that feat wasn't quite possible, but the decision did give him the chance to have a run at a decent points paying position. On lap forty-nine he was forced to pit one final time, dropping him down to fourteenth, but he fought, with tenacity, back up to seventh place.

It is for this determination that Sebastian Vettel achieves Driver of the Day. He had a couple of opportunities to retire from the Grand Prix, as he reported his lack of pace and his struggle for grip, over the team radio. However, he continued to fight and it paid off in the end. There were some fantastic battles, at different stages of the race. At one point Button and Alonso were trading places, whilst Ricciardo managed to out-pace the two Williams drivers, despite the usual gulf in speed between the teams. Overall, however, the race didn't feature much incident.

The United States Grand Prix wasn't the most action-packed of the season, but it certainly made for an exciting spectacle. The result, at the front, was as predictable as always, with the two Mercedes drivers having very tidy races. That, in itself, was frustrating since we expected to see some action, some contact and maybe even a little foul play. However, Lewis and Nico were extremely civil and boringly responsible. Hopefully we'll see some fireworks in the penultimate race of the season, as both drivers close in on their last chance to take the title.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	1:40:04.785	2	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	56	+4.3 secs	1	18
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+25.5 secs	5	15
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	56	+26.9 secs	4	12
5	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	56	+30.9 secs	3	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	56	+95.2 secs	6	8
7	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	56	+95.7 secs	18	6
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	56	+100.68 secs	7	4
9	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	56	+103.86 secs	14	2
10	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	56	+107.87 secs	10	1
11	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	55	+1 Lap	16
12	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	55	+1 Lap	12
13	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	8
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	55	+1 Lap	15
15	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	55	+1 Lap	17
Ret	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	16	Engine	13
Ret	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1	Accident damage	11
Ret	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	0	Accident	9

Canadian Grand Prix: Nursing versus cursing, Rosberg brings it home.

The end of the Canadian Grand Prix was easily the most intense end to a race I have seen in a very long time. It was the sheer number of cars involved in the battling, in the second half of the race, that made it so intense. It was difficult to know who was going to achieve success by the chequered flag. The very last lap proved to be explosive, as feelings of excitement and anticipation turned immediately to panic and worry. Massa and Perez collided and both hurtled towards separate barriers, in to the first corner. The impact for both drivers was massive, the G-forces that Massa's car experienced instantly alerting the FIA, to send the medical team. I and my family, and I have no doubt spectators around the world, collectively breathed sighs of relief when, first we saw a marshall gesture with a thumbs up, as he reached Sergio's car, and a few moments later we saw Filipe moving around in the cockpit of his. The latest news, and hopefully the only news, is that both drivers are absolutely fine. However, at the time of writing this, both drivers had been taken to the medical centre, as a precautionary measure.

Now, where do we start with the rest of the race? Lately, it has become characteristic with Formula One, that there is a period of procession, where we sit back in our seats, awaiting and speculating what will happen towards the end. The Canadian Grand Prix was no different, since the action of the final few laps began developing around lap thirty-seven, almost precisely halfway through the race. Surprisingly, those developments began with both of the Mercedes cars. There will have been a wry smile, or perhaps even an excited yelp amongst neutral and non-Mercedes fans, as Hamilton and Rosberg both reported power issues and it became obvious that they were losing pace. Straight away, the commentators were buzzing as they calculated that the distant following pack would catch and pass the usually dominant "best friends", before the end.

By lap 53, and after Hamilton's retirement, that following pack consisted of Massa, who led for a few laps, before pitting and dropping back to seventh, behind his teammate, Bottas, and the Force India of Hulkenberg. Ahead of them were the two Red Bull's held up by the other Force India of Sergio Perez. It was confusing at the time! Massa dispatched Bottas and Hulkenberg pretty convincingly and was then on the hunt for the Red Bull's and potentially the race win. The pack got closer and closer, eventually reeling in the remaining Mercedes of Rosberg, until there were less than two seconds between first and fifth. As much as we were all rooting for him, Massa showed his apparent weakness, as he failed to capitalise on his blistering pace over the front runners. Ricciardo, on the other hand, succeeded in doing what Perez had struggled to do for a good twenty laps, as he got past the Mexican and then chased down and stole the race win from a labouring Nico Rosberg. It marks the Australian's first race win and Vettel's astonishing praise and congratulations represented the feelings of everyone...well, except Rosberg's fans.

I think the most interesting aspect of this race was the discovery, handling and eventual result of the issues that both of the Mercedes drivers experienced. This is the reason Rosberg receives The F1 Spectator's coveted accolade of Driver of the Day. I have a theory that is not based on fact, but is derived from observing both Hamilton and Rosberg during their careers. It appears, to me, that as both Hamilton and Rosberg discovered the problems their cars had developed, Hamilton began complaining and driving quite erratically; for example, hurtling past Nico in to the final chicane and running across the corner. As a result, I think it is feasible to conclude that Lewis took a damaged car and broke it. Nico Rosberg then took his damaged car and adapted his drive, to nurse the sick car home. It's one of the reasons I see Rosberg as the better driver of the two and the reason he is my Driver of the Day. All of that aside, it's great that their relationship is still visibly strained and that their ongoing battle will continue in to Austria.


Check out The F1 Spectator podcast or use the player in the top left hand corner of this page and listen to The F1 Spectator himself.

The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	70	1:39:12.830	6	25
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	70	+4.2 secs	1	18
3	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	70	+5.2 secs	3	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+11.7 secs	9	12
5	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	70	+12.8 secs	11	10
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	70	+14.8 secs	7	8
7	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	70	+23.5 secs	4	6
8	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	70	+28.0 secs	8	4
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	70	+29.2 secs	12	2
10	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	70	+53.6 secs	10	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	69	Accident	13
12	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	69	Accident	5
13	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	69	+1 Lap	16
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	64	+6 Lap	22
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	59	+11 Lap	14
Ret	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	57	+23 Laps	15
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	56	+24 Laps	2
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	23	+47 Laps	21
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	21	+49 Laps	17
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	7	+63 Laps	20
Ret	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	0	Accident	18
Ret	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	0	Accident	19

Hungary Grand Prix: Qualifying

The talking point in the run up to the Hungarian Grand Prix was the track surface temperature and a few nervous rumblings regarding the Pirelli tyres and the fear that we may have a repeat of the ludicrous events of Silverstone. Nothing materialised in the qualifying session but we will have to wait and see what happens in the race.

The first session was relatively predictable, with the exception of Di Resta's exit. Di Resta's poor fortunate, that saw him drop out in the first session, was a precursor to Force India's turn of luck this weekend. Sutil was knocked out at the end of the second session and the two Force India drivers will find it difficult to achieve much in the race from outside of the top ten. It was McLaren's Sergio Perez who threw up the surprise that bumped Sutil out of the top ten in the final seconds of Q2. He outpaced his teammate, Jenson Button, once again, as Button's woes deepen and the he continues to watch his contention for the title dwindle.

It was yet another Mercedes versus Red Bull fight, in the final session of qualifying. Sebastian Vettel's strategists made a smart move by saving a fresh set of option tyres, for one very quick lap, halfway through the session. Nobody was able to quite match Vettel's earlier time, as the chequered flag flew for each of them. That was of course until Lewis Hamilton put in his final quick lap. He pipped Sebastian to pole and despite Seb's best efforts he was unable to retake the top spot. It was an exciting end to the Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying, regardless of the familiar result. Will Mercedes race pace continue to improve in to Sunday's grand prix?

Qualifying result:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time	Laps
1.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	01:19.388	15
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	01:19.426	12
3.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	01:19.595	15
4.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	01:19.720	16
5.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	01:19.791	15
6.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus	01:19.851	17
7.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	01:19.929	15
8.	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	01:20.641	14
9.	Sergio Perez	McLaren	01:22.398	16
10.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	no time	13
11.	Adrian Sutil	Force India	01:20.569	17
12.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	01:20.580	13
13.	Jenson Button	McLaren	01:20.777	10
14.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	01:21.029	12
15.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	01:21.133	15
16.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	01:21.219	13

Monaco Grand Prix: Get in or go home, on the streets!

It was a case of do or die in Monaco this weekend, with lunatic plunges in to corners, specifically from some of the less experienced drivers in the field. There was very little respect shown to former world champions when it came to passing, as the likes of Perez and Sutil took the fight to seasoned racers like Button and Alonso. At times the race became quite processional, however despite this it was far from boring. It was extremely cagey for long periods, but kept you on the edge of your seat with the threat of exploding in to action, which it did, a number of times.

The big story of the race was the fantastic performance from Mercedes and, the race winner, Nico Rosberg. I have spoken about the very poor race pace of the Mercedes cars and also hinted at the fact that Nico and Lewis might have had the chance to hold the others behind them, around the tight streets of Monte Carlo. Far from that, they showed some very good pace, with Nico finishing the race a good distance ahead of the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton may have come in behind Rosberg, but for his poor luck during the first safety car period. He pitted with his team mate, on lap 30, after Massa had a massive smash on the first corner and the safety car was deployed. Nico Rosberg was able to leave the pits in to first place again, whilst Lewis Hamilton was released in to fourth, the two Mercedes cars split by the Red Bulls.

As to that drama at the front, things remained pretty much the same for the rest of the race. It was further back that things really got messy. It was back around fifth and then down the order that drivers were dicing and taking wild lunges at their rivals. Amazingly, one of the drivers in the limelight was Sergio Perez. I say amazingly because most of his crazy passing attempts were down in to the Nouvelle chicane, where a few years ago he had a huge crash in a Sauber. He had run ins with Button, Alonso and eventually came to grief when he went a step to far against Kimi Raikonnen and caused fatal damage to his own car.

Adrian Sutil flew the flag for Force India this weekend, taking similar risks to Perez, but ultimately being more successful. He managed to finish fifth and continues Force India's great season. Di Resta didn't fair too badly either, finishing in ninth place, just behind the battling pack that Sutil led over the line. Overall, it was a race of cagey and tightly strung processions, pock marked with short periods of high action and high risk. Plenty of incident, plenty of great racing and, thankfully, no rain; a thoroughly enjoyable Monaco Grand Prix.


Full Race result:

1.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	2:17:52.056
2.	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	+3.800
3.	Mark Webber	Red Bull	+6.300
4.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+13.800
5.	Adrian Sutil	Force India	+21.400
6.	Jenson Button	McLaren	+23.100
7.	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	+26.700
8.	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso	+27.200
9.	Paul di Resta	Force India	+27.600
10.	Kimi Räikkönen	Lotus	+36.500
11.	Nico Hülkenberg	Sauber	+42.500
12.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams	+42.600
13.	Esteban Gutiérrez	Sauber	+43.200
14.	Max Chilton	Marussia	+49.800
15.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham	+1:02.500
Did not finish
16.	Sergio Perez	McLaren	+6 Laps
17.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	+15 Laps
18.	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso	+17 Laps
19.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia	+20 Laps
20.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams	+34 Laps
21.	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	+50 Laps
22.	Charles Pic	Caterham	+71 Laps

 

 

Bahrain Qualifying: The Force of India!

Lewis Hamilton began the day with a five place grid penalty, after having to replace his gearbox as a result of a rear suspension failure. Lewis joined a number of drivers who found themselves looking at grid place penalties, which was destined to make Bahrain qualifying extremely confusing and quite frustrating.

The weekend in Bahrain was overshadowed, once again, by controversy. Bahrain and the Bahrain Grand Prix continue to be plagued by unrest, as citizens clash with the authorities and protests are held against the hosting of the event. Its a difficult situation in The Kingdom and opinions vary across the board. Rather innapropriately the FIA and FOM seem to be of the opinion that racing cars are as important as people's freedom and so the running of the Bahrain Grand Prix is always in the balance. The race organisers regularly make the wrong decision to go ahead with the race, amid the riots and protests, instead of shelving the stage until the problems in the area have been resolved.

In the first session of qualifying it was very much a two horse race, between Ferrari and Red Bull. Force India were once again in the mix and as the season progresses, their impressive form is becoming less and less of a surprise. There were very few surprises by the end of of Q1, but one or two surprises crept in during the second session. One of those surprises came in the shape of McLaren's difficulties, which were compounded by Jenson Button's apparent elation at only just making it in to the Q3 shootout. Perez in the second McLaren car wasn't so lucky as Jenson and qualified in twelfth, outside of the top ten. Force India continued to show good pace and both drivers made it in to the top ten shootout. Dare I say that Force India might be closer to contending the title than McLaren.

Many of the drivers left it till the final moments of Q3 to put in their fast laps. A few of them bailed out of their fast laps right at the end and it was Nico Rosberg who blew everyone away, showing that Mercedes definitely have the pace to challenge the Ferraris and the Red Bulls. Force India didn't quite live up to the expectations of hopeful neutrals, only achieving seventh and eighth. Unfortunately, this is where the confusion ensues, as the plethora of grid penalties means that the lineup will actually be very different to what we saw at the end of the session. For me, the most important thing is being able to gauge the pace of the teams. Force India look strong again, Mercedes look very strong and Ferrari and Red Bull are predictably competitive.