Brazilian Grand Prix: an historical and emotional weekend!

The final race of the 2013 season was historical and emotional, in many ways and for many people. Mark Webber managed to take second place, in this the final Formula One race of his career. Massa had an eventful race and for the last time in a Ferrari. And of course, Sebastian Vettel was bringing home his championship winning Red Bull, for his ninth win in a row and thirteenth of the season, both new records. The showmanship was on display from all three of them, as both Massa and Vettel did donuts on the start finish straight and Mark Webber did something even more memorable. Webber presented us with an unbelievable sight, as he took of his helmet on his in-lap and drove the last few hundred yards with the wind tousling his hair.

The race was an exciting one, but once again, left fans hoping for some rain and getting none. A little rain in the closing few laps would certainly have mixed things up a bit. It was an emotional race for the Marussia team, who took tenth place in the Championship and celebrated as if they had come first. Many people forget that there are battles going on all the way down through the field and, for Marussia, beating Caterham to the tenth spot was a huge achievement. McLaren achieved relative success as well, as Jenson Button took fourth place, McLaren's highest finish for the whole season. Another achievement, that was a little obscure but a massive achievement all the same, was Max Chilton becoming the first rookie driver to complete every race in an F1 season. All in all, it was a great race and a success for many.

Massa's last race for Ferrari was one of mixed positives and negatives. His race started fantastically and I think he had the best start of the entire season. He was ninth on the grid as the cars formed up and, as the red lights went out, he slipped past three cars and made it up to almost fifth. As he swept through the Senna S he had to slot in to sixth place, but the start looked absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, later in the race, he was penalised for crossing the white line of the pit entrance and had to succumb to a drive-through penalty. It all but ruined his chances of a good result, but it was clear, from his reaction after the chequered flag, that he wasn't too bothered.

The biggest incident of the race, which resulted in another drive-through penalty, this time for Lewis Hamilton, came on the forty-seventh lap. Valtteri Bottas had the opportunity to unlap himself against Hamilton and made the move on the second straight, using DRS. He swept to the inside line and Hamilton moved across to block him. As Bottas moved back on to the racing line, a practice that we have seen time and time again, in DRS situations, Hamilton moved back towards the racing line as well. He squeezed Bottas to the point that he had nowhere to go and they touched. Bottas had total delamination on his left rear tyre, spinning off the circuit, whilst Hamilton had to complete the lap on a flat tyre, before reaching the pits to have the tyre changed.

It was an unusual season, which, at least during the second half, wasn't as exciting as previous years. Vettel was utterly dominant for the second half and many have complained that the tedious days of Michael Schumacher's dominance have returned. However, none can argue that Sebastian Vettel hasn't deserved the success he has achieved. He has always done it with a smile on his face and the joy of youth in his attitude. It has been a pleasure to witness such a fantastic sportsman achieve so much so early in his career. That said, it will be fascinating to see what the changes of next year will do to the hierarchy and whether the young German will make it work to his advantage. It may be that the other youngsters will be able to take the fight to him, or maybe it'll be a season for the old hands like Button or Alonso. We can ponder these questions over the winter break, but until then, this is The F1 Spectator, signing off.

The Result:

	Driver	Car	Team	Grid	Fastest Lap	Race Time	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	1	Red Bull	1	1:15.624	1:32:36.300	25
2	Mark Webber	2	Red Bull	4	1:15.436	+00:10.452	18
3	Fernando Alonso	3	Ferrari	3	1:15.496	+00:18.913	15
4	Jenson Button	5	McLaren	14	1:16.450	+00:37.360	12
5	Nico Rosberg	9	Mercedes	2	1:16.442	+00:39.048	10
6	Sergio Perez	6	McLaren	19	1:16.246	+00:44.051	8
7	Felipe Massa	4	Ferrari	9	1:16.470	+00:49.110	6
8	Nico Hulkenberg	11	Sauber	10	1:16.802	+01:04.252	4
9	Lewis Hamilton	10	Mercedes	5	1:16.692	+01:12.903	2
10	Daniel Ricciardo	19	Toro Rosso	7	1:16.974	lapped	1
11	Paul Di Resta	14	Force India	12	1:16.855	lapped	0
12	Esteban Gutierrez	12	Sauber	17	1:16.528	lapped	0
13	Adrian Sutil	15	Force India	15	1:16.049	lapped	0
14	Heikki Kovalainen	7	Lotus	11	1:17.249	lapped	0
15	Jean-Eric Vergne	18	Toro Rosso	8	1:16.790	lapped	0
16	Pastor Maldonado	16	Williams	16	1:17.554	lapped	0
17	Jules Bianchi	22	Marussia	21	1:17.717	lapped	0
18	Giedo van der Garde	21	Caterham	20	1:17.590	lapped	0
19	Max Chilton	23	Marussia	22	1:17.281	lapped	0
20	Charles Pic	20	Caterham	18	1:18.434	retired, 58 laps	0
21	Valtteri Bottas	17	Williams	13	1:16.840	retired, 45 laps	0
22	Romain Grosjean	8	Lotus	6	1:20.898	retired, 2 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