Australian Grand Prix: A few cylinders short of a V6!

It was the story of the cylinder failures this weekend in Melbourne. Most of the retirements were down to engine problems, which was widely anticipated, with the introduction of the new 1.6 litre, V6 grumblers. The absence of noise took away a lot of the excitement, especially at the start. The lights went out, the cars started moving and the noise was a murmur. For some of us it was squeaky bum time as some of the drivers flew from one side of the track to another, narrowly missing each other as they crossed paths. Regardless of the wild lunges, everything was going swimmingly towards the first corner, until Kobayashi's Caterham decided to keep hurtling at 100mph in to the braking area. He slammed in to Filipe Massa, who was looking forward to his first race out of the shadow of Fernando Alonso, ending both of their weekends in one fell swoop.

After the start, which saw Sebastian Vettel tumbling down the order, the first couple of engines gave up the ghost. Those engines happened to belong to the reigning world champion, Vettel, and the bookies favourite for the title challenge, Lewis Hamilton. Vettel was having a torrid time anyway, receiving a dose of what his team mate last year had grown so accustomed to, crawling away from his grid box, like an old gramophone being wound up. Predictably, Seb was reported as being ever so professionally frustrated, as he berated the team down the (now crystal clear, in the relative silence) team radio. Hamilton was similarly frustrated, but both drivers graciously glossed over the fact that their team mates were doing very well and running comfortably in first and second. Whilst it was great being able to hear the team radios better with the quieter engines, I couldn't help thinking an opportunity was missed, when Alonso's race engineer didn't ask him "can you hear the drums now, Fernando?"

It's difficult to pick out any but McLaren as stand out teams with pace. They will be breathing a huge sigh of relief, since this time last year they were just embarking on one of their most unsuccessful seasons of all time. By the chequered flag McLaren were the only team who looked unwaveringly good. Other teams that faired well were Force India, a team championed by myself in previous blog posts. They were constantly featured during the Grand Prix and regularly overtaking or gaining on somebody rapidly. Williams also looked good and Bottas is my 'driver of the race', despite the over eagerness, that lead to him clipping a wall and damaging his right rear tyre. He would almost certainly have been guaranteed a podium finish if it hadn't been for that incident.

Everybody seemed genuinely elated to be on the podium, which is a refreshing sight. It makes a change from seeing a dejected Alonso on the third step or a fuming Webber climbing on to the second step after passing the victory to an undeserving Vettel. Australian fans were treated to finally seeing a fellow countryman on the podium. A quote from the past floated back in to my mind, as I watched Daniel Ricciardo holding up his second place trophy; "Not bad for a Number Two driver!" I half expected to glimpse, during Ricciardo's second pit stop, the eyes of Sebastian Vettel through the visor of the crew member at his right rear, a Dick Dastardly smirk playing across his lips as he pushed a drawing pin in to the tyre.

With the first Grand Prix of 2014 over, I would conclude that 1) I hate the new engine sounds, 2) the engine failures are frustrating, because it was something that had been almost completely eradicated from the sport, and 3) the nose cones look utterly ridiculous. The racing last season was exciting and Formula One didn't need to pander to the Environmentalists with troublesome hybrid engines. In my humble opinion, the FIA should have stuck to the mantra "if it ain't broke, don't fix it!"


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The Result:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	57	1:32:58.710	3	25
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	57	+24.5 secs	2	18
3	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+26.7 secs	4	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	57	+30.0 secs	10	12
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	57	+35.2 secs	5	10
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	57	+47.6 secs	15	8
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	57	+50.7 secs	7	6
8	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	57	+57.6 secs	11	4
9	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	57	+60.4 secs	6	2
10	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	57	+63.5 secs	8	1
11	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	57	+85.9 secs	16
12	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	13
13	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	56	+1 Lap	20
14	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	55	+2 Laps	17
Ret	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	49	+8 Laps	18
Ret	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	43	+14 Laps	22
Ret	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	29	+28 Laps	21
Ret	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	27	+30 Laps	19
Ret	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	3	+54 Laps	12
Ret	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	2	Engine	1
Ret	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	0	Accident	9
Ret	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	0	Accident	14

Australian Qualifying: V6, turbo charged, hybrid engines? Like farting in to a paper bag, underwater!

Let's make one thing clear, straight away. The cars sound horrendous. As the first qualifying session of the season got underway, and the first few cars left the pit lane and entered the circuit, I thought my TV was broken. I reached for the remote and turned the volume up... and up and up. Suddenly my ear drums were almost blown out by David Coulthard's voice belting out of the speakers. I've heard chavs driving Vauxhall Novas that are louder and more powerful. Oh, but the hybrid technology! Clean and green F1 cars! We can't forget how eco-friendly the sport has become! (we'll just brush the 3,000,000 Watts and 1,500 lights at the Singapore night race under the metaphorical carpet).

As for the anteater noses, well its as if the race regulators challenge each other, season after season, to create a regulation that will make the cars look utterly ridiculous. I can see them now, sitting in their living rooms snickering and scoffing as they watch the ugly beasts murmuring around the circuit. In all honesty though, despite sounding like old men, quietly grumbling about the youth of today and the price of parking, the cars are still incredibly fast. It takes a little concentration to convince your mind that the low growl doesn't correspond with the speed, but when that realisation dawns, its clear that the combination of reduced downforce, massive speed and finely balanced hybrid power distribution, will make the racing electrifying.

The qualifying in Australia didn't throw up the kind of excitement we were all anticipating. It's fair to say we were expecting engine blowouts from the Renault powered teams and drivers spinning off left, right and centre. However, it was a shock to see the reigning World Champion failing to make it in to the top ten shootout. I have to admit, and many will agree whole-heartedly, that it was relatively satisfying to see Sebastian Vettel waving his hand in frustration, after completing his final fast lap, off the pace and out of the session.

The Mercedes team is looking strong in qualifying again and pretty much pick up where they left off. It's surprising really, seeing as Lewis Hamilton is now weighed down by more bling than Mr T. It was extremely refreshing to see youngsters like Kvyat and Magnussen showing the old hands how its done. The biggest success story of the qualies though, was Daniel Ricciardo's fantastic performance, which put his teammate to shame. It was unfortunate that he was unable to treat his home crowd to a pole position, but the front row is a highly acceptable qualifying spot. I hope this Aussie manages to take the handbrake off and put his foot down better than his predecessor.

The Grid:

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:31.699	1:42.890	1:44.231	22
2	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:30.775	1:42.295	1:44.548	20
3	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:32.564	1:42.264	1:44.595	21
4	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:30.949	1:43.247	1:45.745	19
5	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:31.388	1:42.805	1:45.819	21
6	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:33.488	1:43.849	1:45.864	21
7	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:33.893	1:43.658	1:46.030	20
8	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:33.777	1:44.331	1:47.368	20
9	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.228	1:44.242	1:48.079	21
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:31.601	1:43.852	1:48.147	19
11	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:31.396	1:44.437		13
12	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:32.439	1:44.494		13
13	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:31.931	1:44.668		13
14	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:33.673	1:45.655		12
15	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham-Renault	1:34.274	1:45.867		13
16	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:34.141	1:47.293		13
17	4	Max Chilton	Marussia-Ferrari	1:34.293			5
18	17	Jules Bianchi	Marussia-Ferrari	1:34.794			5
19	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:35.117			7
20	9	Marcus Ericsson	Caterham-Renault	1:35.157			5
21	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:36.993			6
22	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	No time			3

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