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.

Japanese Grand Prix: Webber pushes to the max!

The end of the Japanese Grand Prix was a bit of an anti-climax, in the closing few laps, simply because neutral fans were denied a fight between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. The redeeming factor in preventing Webber from snatching the win back from Vettel, was a fellow by the name of Romain Grosjean. Grosjean showed a level of maturity and competency that we have not really seen from him before. On the podium he choked up a little, when interviewed by Eddie Jordan, and it was a fascinating display of how much success means to the young man. The old hand, Mark Webber, was a little disappointing and disappointed, in equal measure. Yelling at the TV screen, did very little to help Webber pass Grosjean at his first and most ideal opportunity, a pass that would almost certainly have seen him then racing with Vettel.

Vettel appears to simply get better and better. As the race began, he found himself squeezed and hampered by both Grosjean and Hamilton and was lucky to come out of it in third place. Hamilton was less fortunate, as he clipped his right rear tyre on Vettel's front wing and was victim to an instant puncture. The puncture all but ended his race and when he detected further damage he was forced to retire his Mercedes. Vettel played a game that many would have felt he was incapable of, protecting his tyres and saving his engine. He has become renowned for his habit of pushing hard when the team is telling him to ease off. However, in a race that quickly became a two stopper for the German, he had to preserve the car and did it perfectly.

Once again, the racing in the middle of the field was intense. Race cars chopping and dicing for positions, with tyres bouncing off each other on the exits of corners. DRS didn't seem to have too much impact on the race and it allowed some of the real quality to shine through. Nico Hulkenberg had yet another fantastic race, whilst the two McLaren drivers found themselves well down the order again. With only four races to go, despite Seb looking certain for the title now, its fair to say that the racing, further back down the order, will just get more exciting.

The Result:

	Driver	Car	Team	Grid	Fastest Lap	Race Time	Points
1	Sebastian Vettel	1	Red Bull	2	1:35.317	1:26:49.301	25
2	Mark Webber	2	Red Bull	1	1:34.587	+00:07.129	18
3	Romain Grosjean	8	Lotus	4	1:35.991	+00:09.910	15
4	Fernando Alonso	3	Ferrari	8	1:35.877	+00:45.605	12
5	Kimi Raikkonen	7	Lotus	9	1:35.516	+00:47.325	10
6	Nico Hulkenberg	11	Sauber	7	1:36.482	+00:51.615	8
7	Esteban Gutierrez	12	Sauber	14	1:36.499	+01:11.630	6
8	Nico Rosberg	9	Mercedes	6	1:34.650	+01:12.023	4
9	Jenson Button	5	McLaren	10	1:35.549	+01:20.821	2
10	Felipe Massa	4	Ferrari	5	1:37.001	+01:29.263	1
11	Paul Di Resta	14	Force India	12	1:37.407	+01:38.572	0
12	Jean-Eric Vergne	18	Toro Rosso	17	1:35.895	lapped	0
13	Daniel Ricciardo	19	Toro Rosso	16	1:35.020	lapped	0
14	Adrian Sutil	15	Force India	22	1:37.367	lapped	0
15	Sergio Perez	6	McLaren	11	1:35.845	lapped	0
16	Pastor Maldonado	16	Williams	15	1:37.423	lapped	0
17	Valtteri Bottas	17	Williams	13	1:37.856	lapped	0
18	Charles Pic	20	Caterham	20	1:37.489	lapped	0
19	Max Chilton	23	Marussia	18	1:38.713	lapped	0
20	Lewis Hamilton	10	Mercedes	3	1:41.202	retired, 7 laps	0
21	Giedo van der Garde	21	Caterham	19	No time	retired, 0 laps	0
22	Jules Bianchi	22	Marussia	21	No time	retired, 0 laps	0

Korean Grand Prix: Sparks flying in Korea...

The Korean Grand Prix started with a bang as cars ran wheel to wheel, four and sometimes five abreast. There was contact in to the second corner, as Filipe Massa locked up on the approach and lost the back end of his Ferrari. He appeared to clip his team mate, Fernando Alonso, but fortunately both drivers were able to continue and the race progressed with a complete field.

The racing was some of the best we've seen all season, with cars sometimes jostling for four or five positions at the same time and on the same piece of track. One of those notable instances came near the end of the Grand Prix, when Maldonado, Hamilton, Alonso, Rosberg and Guttierez were jostling for the fourth spot. At one point it was extremely difficult to follow who was in what position and you found yourself gasping and yelping at the TV.

It was Sebastien Vettel's weekend once again, as he cruised to yet another victory and made it possible for him to take the World Championship next weekend in Japan. That result requires a couple of technicalities, mainly revolving around Fernando Alonso's performance, however it is appearing more and more likely that he will become World Champion for the fourth time.

Alternately, Vettel's team mate, running in his final season in Formula One, was having a torrid time. Right at the beginning of the race, it looked as though Mark Webber's strategy was going to put him in good stead for the end of the race. It quickly became apparent that this wasn't going to be the case and shortly after the first safety car period, he was T-boned, as Di Resta found himself in a spin in to the second corner. The impact against the side of pod of Webber's car ruptured an oil or fuel line and the car dramatically burst in to flames. He casually abandoned his car and so commenced the second safety car period, ludicrously led by an AWOL Fire Marshall car.

As trackside marshalls tried to extinguish the flaming Red Bull car, the camera cut to the second straight and, notably, the second DRS zone. In the foreground a Fire Marshall jeep was cruising toward Webber's stricken car, whilst in the background the train of race cars was streaming around the first corner and heading on to the same high speed straight. It was a surreal sight and the drivers did well to understand the situation and slow down together.

It was a great race, packed with incident and, although not great for Perez and McLaren fans, who witnessed their man suffer a massive tyre delamination incident, or Nico Rosberg fans who saw their driver lose his nose, spraying sparks everywhere, it was a wonderful spectacle for the neutral viewer. Despite things being a bit of a foregone conclusion, right at the top of the standings, it is important to recognise that the drivers are desperately fighting for every position in the championship, making every race extremely exciting.

The Result:

Pos	#	Driver	Car	Laps	Gap	Difference	Reason
1	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	55
2	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Lotus-Renault	55	4.224	4.224
3	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	55	4.927	0.703
4	11	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber-Ferrari	55	24.114	19.187
5	10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	55	25.255	1.141
6	3	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	55	26.189	0.934
7	9	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	55	26.698	0.509
8	5	Jenson Button	McLaren	55	32.262	5.564
9	4	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	55	34.390	2.128
10	6	Sergio Perez	McLaren	55	35.155	0.765
11	12	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	55	35.990	0.835
12	17	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Renault	55	47.049	11.059
13	16	Pastor Maldonado	Williams-Renault	55	50.013	2.964
14	20	Charles Pic	Caterham-Renault	55	63.578	13.565
15	21	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham-Renault	55	64.501	0.923
16	22	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Cosworth	55	67.970	3.469
17	23	Max Chilton	Marussia-Cosworth	55	72.898	4.928
18	18	Jean-Eric Vergne	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	53	2 laps	2 laps
19	19	Daniel Ricciardo	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	52	3 laps	1 lap
20	15	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	50	5 laps	2 laps
Not classified
	2	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	36	19 laps	14 laps	Accident
	14	Paul di Resta	Force India-Mercedes	24	31 laps	12 laps	Accident