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

United States Qualifying: So many let downs...

Formula One shot itself in the foot, once again, before the weekend even got underway. The first big news was that the underdogs, albeit very popular teams, Marussia and Caterham would not be taking part in Texas. Very simply put, the inequality in Formula One has pushed two of the teams out of the Championship, leaving only eighteen cars on the grid. Also, it's difficult to take a sport seriously, that, through regulations and imposed penalties, allows its reigning World Champion to be forced to start the race from the pit lane, before the qualifying session has even got underway. The mind boggles!

The biggest news of the session, in my opinion, was Sutil's fantastic performance for the struggling Sauber team. The team have had an absolutely dire season, but this was a small piece of success, which was received with clear enthusiasm and elation. It was only tenth place, but the achievement of actually making it in to the top ten shootout will be a great boost for the team.

The rest of the session was just as tedious as most of the other qualifying sessions. Pole and second place were taken by the usual suspects, although interestingly Nico Rosberg is taking the fight to Lewis Hamilton, by bagging the top spot. The promising thing about the race is that the gloves are off again, at Mercedes. The team have taken the Constructor's Championship, so all that is left is for Lewis and Nico to smash in to each other, block each other and hinder each other. I really don't know who I want to win the Driver's Championship. Hamilton is a Brit, is fair and honest, but he regularly comes across as quite soft and a moaner, which is irritating. Rosberg, on the other hand, is cerebral and smart, with an infectious personality, but he is undoubtedly a cheat. It's a difficult choice, but maybe after this weekend I can make a decision.

The Grid:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.303	1:36.290	1:36.067	20
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:37.196	1:37.287	1:36.443	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.249	1:37.499	1:36.906	19
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:37.877	1:37.347	1:37.205	20
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.814	1:37.873	1:37.244	17
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.349	1:38.010	1:37.610	16
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.574	1:38.024	1:37.655	17
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.557	1:38.047	1:37.706	16
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:38.669	1:38.263	1:37.804	22
10	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.855	1:38.378	1:38.810	15
11	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:38.608	1:38.467		16
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.200	1:38.554		16
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.931	1:38.598		16
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:38.936	1:38.699		17
15	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:39.250			10
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:39.555			10
17	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:39.621			3
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:39.679			8

Singaporean Qualifying: Gaps closing as night falls...

On the floodlit streets of Singapore, the usual hierarchy threatened to be disposed of, as teams who have shown weakness and lack of pace, through the first half of the season, delivered fantastic performances. As we approached the final top ten shootout, things appeared to settle down, but Q1 was certainly dramatic. The Ferrari's looked very strong, whilst Gutierrez, in the Sauber, spent a short time in second place and Force India's Hulkenberg held pole for a time. Whether it was simply a case of tyre differences or the track gradually rubbering in, the first session of qualifying was uncharacteristically exciting.

Both Q2 and Q3 were as predictable as ever, but the third session threatened to throw everything in to disarray. Both Hamilton and Rosberg deserve credit for pulling out all the stops in the closing minutes of the top ten shootout, because both of them had struggled throughout the weekend. It was revealed that Mercedes had new brakes, coming to Singapore, and in fairness that was glaringly obvious. Rosberg over shot one of the corners, after a lock up in the first few moments of Q1, which was uncharacteristic for Nico, at least at that stage of a qualifying session. Lewis also locked up a few times, the rear end of his race car looking very loose.

Ferrari might might show some good pace during the race, because with Raikonnen's engine problem, right near the end of Q3, we may have been robbed of a challenge to Mercedes, who eventually locked out the front row. It certainly feels like the chasers are closing in on the Silver Arrows, even though they won't be able to make a dent in their Championship lead, this late on. One promising aspect of qualifying, was the impression that the cars were all struggling for grip, around the twenty-four turns of the Singaporean street circuit. With it's treacherously placed walls, the race promises some costly mistakes, with so few stages of the season remaining and the competition hotting up.

The Grid:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:46.921	1:46.287	1:45.681	17
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:47.244	1:45.825	1:45.688	19
3	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:47.488	1:46.493	1:45.854	12
4	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:47.476	1:46.586	1:45.902	15
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:46.889	1:46.328	1:45.907	16
6	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:47.615	1:46.472	1:46.000	20
7	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:46.685	1:46.359	1:46.170	14
8	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:47.196	1:46.622	1:46.187	18
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:47.976	1:46.700	1:46.250	18
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:47.656	1:46.926	1:47.362	21
11	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:47.161	1:46.943		12
12	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:47.407	1:46.989		14
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:47.370	1:47.308		13
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:47.970	1:47.333		9
15	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:48.143	1:47.575		13
16	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:47.862	1:47.812		14
17	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:48.324			6
18	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:49.063			8
19	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:49.440			7
20	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	1:50.405			8
21	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	1:50.473			7
22	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	1:52.287			5