Red Bull do it gangnam style!!

The opening lap of the Korean Grand Prix was more reminiscent of a Karting or GP2 race, with the front runners dicing for position and some of them even finding themselves four abreast as they stormed down to the second corner. The Red Bulls appeared to have the race sewn up from the very start, irrespective of the fact that Webber, was denied the lead, from pole, by his young German teammate. Possibly, for the first time all year, a team is standing out above the rest and, with Adrian Newey as chief designer, it's not surprising that Red Bull Racing are that team. And, as a matter of fact, there was quite a distinctive change in appearance of the Red Bull's nose cone and one must assume that Newey has been contantly updating other more obscure elements of his racecar.

The DRS zone, once again, provided a source of great excitement. The passing down the second straight was sometimes easy, sometimes difficult, but always unpredictable. At times, even teammates such as the two Williams drivers, plunged in to turn two and almost collided or pushed one another off the circuit. When Lewis Hamilton and Grosjean got intimate down the DRS straight, Hulkenberg made a fantastically opportunistic move around the outside of both drivers at the third corner. The race was packed with these kind of opportunistic and rash moves, but without many casualties. One high profile DNF was jenson Button, taken out by Kamui Kobayashi, in an incident that was totally unavoidable for Button and so a great disappointment to the neutral fan.

Red Bull could be considered the likely World Champions this season and are almost certainly the team to beat, but lets hope Ferrari can bring the fight back to them and make it a closely fought end to a thrilling season.

Kamui does it for Japan!!

Well the story of the day had to be Kamui Kobayashi, who became only the third Japanese driver to ever stand on a Formula One podium. He drove a fantastic race, from third on the grid, to hold third right to the chequered flag. The crowd went crazy, chanting "Kamui! Kamui! Kamui!", as the three podium finishers received their trophies and it felt as though Kobayashi had been the victor as opposed to the young German World Champion.

The Japanese Grand Prix winner, Sebastien Vettel, is really taking the fight to Alonso, chopping Fernando's Championship lead down to only four points. It appears to be coming down to a two horse race, as we approach the conclusion of the season, and with Alonso trying to defend his Championship lead in a slower car and only completing two out of the last four races, it's looking more and more like Vettel might make it three titles in a row.

Grosjean took the controversy headline in Japan. It's an awkward situation when a driver simply appears to be out of his league. Another first lap incident and another one that's been caused solely by Romain Grosjean and, almost the worst thing about it, the incident wasn't malicious. If Romain was causing these collisions with intent, then action could be taken against him and we could all say that he needs to change his attitude. However, it's not an easy task to actually improve your driving skills at the absolute peak of motorsport. It's very difficult to know what to hope for with Grosjean; that he gets banned from the sport? that he gets dropped from the team? but I guess the most favourable outcome would be that he can improve and overcome this period.

The incidents and accidents are ramping up, people making rash moves and irresponsible decisions, as we close in on the final race of this topsy turvy season. With only five races to go, every single point is extremely valuable.

Bring on the carnage!

The prediction I made in my last blog appears to be right, so far, as the Singapore Grand Prix delivered no end of thrills, spills and incidents. There were lost or damaged wings, punctures and wall slams aplenty, at a circuit renowned for its lack of passing opportunities. Also, a rare thing occurred this weekend, when the driver who took to the lead in the opening laps failed to go and take the victory. Its important to point out that it was due to a gearbox failure that Hamilton was forced to drop out, leaving Sebastien Vettel to take the race win, but Vettel was pressuring Lewis and there was a good chance he could have challenged for the victory anyway. The win promotes Vettel to second in the Championship and poses the question, could Sebastien conjure a repeat of the 2010 season, when he came from behind in the Championship to take the title.

There were quite a few instances of rash passing attempts and, especially on the first couple of corners, people leaving the track. Despite this, fortunately the FIA decided not to take action and destroy an otherwise thrilling race. As I pointed out in my last blog, the stakes are getting higher and higher, and as a result drivers are trying to snatch up every point they can. Filipe Massa took a plunge around the outside of Bruno Senna and almost got squeezed in to the barrier, only just making pass stick despite getting a scary tank slapper on. Hulkenberg made an opportunistic move on Kobayashi, after Mark Webber had passed Kamui, and ended up making contact with the Japanese driver. Hulkenberg punctured his tyre and Kobayashi lost part of his front wing, but it was just another display of drivers pushing their luck a little too far in pursuit of as many points as possible.

It was refreshing to see Michael Schumacher eating a little humble pie, after ploughing in to the back of Jean-Eric Vergne's Toro Rosso. Neither driver was hurt, but it was obvious that the incident had been entirely Michael's fault and that Vergne hadn't stood a chance of avoiding the collision, so it was nice to see them putting their arms around each other and instantly quashing any suggestion of controversy regarding the coming together.

As a result of the early races in the season, the Championship is extremely close and every result changes the standings quite dramatically. However, disregarding his bad luck in Spa, Alonso appears to be the most consistent driver and is skillfully holding on to his lead.