Wednesday 24 April 2013

Bahrain GP – The Race

Vettel back on top
Vettel back on top (did he ever leave?)

If you like plenty of wheel to wheel action in your F1 racing, then Bahrain would definitely have floated your boat. Strategy of course played a part but perhaps less so than in China where we saw a lot of drivers just driving ‘their own race’ and instead of fighting tooth and nail for position. Bahrain was a whole different ball game. After all the controversy surrounding team orders (and my big gripe of the season so far – that F1 teams have become way too conservative with how they marshal their drivers), it was enormously refreshing to see drivers (including team-mates – who knew?) scrapping to the (almost) death with each other. It was a bit like having a whole bunch of Nigel Mansells (what would be the collective noun for a group of Nigel Mansells!) out there driving around like lunatics for 90 minutes. Or maybe I have overdosed on Mario Kart.


Health warning: Mansell mania
Health warning: this picture contains a lot of Mansells

As I was home alone ALL weekend with the 2 year old and the 5 year old, all hope of watching the build-up was rapidly extinguished. I’m guessing it probably consisted of Simon Lazenby trying and tragically failing to fit in with the F1 set, Damon and Johnny chirping away about the good old days, a track guide, some faux-hilarious stunt with Natalie Pinkham and a couple of F1 drivers and about 75 Christian Horner interviews ad infinitum.

And so straight to #MartinsGridwalk which kicked off with a nice barbed remark from Martin about putting a request to the French embassy to talk to Romain Grosjean. Er don’t bother Martin, he’s hardly the Stephen Fry of drivers. Our first Random Celebrity at a Race was Nick Mason. Being a member of Pink Floyd, he was naturally posh and loaded but at least a bona fide petrolhead. Lets just give thanks that we were spared another Avram Grant interview.


Nick living the rock star fast car dream. What a cliché hey!
Nick living the rock star fast car dream. #cliche
Then a quick chat with Mikey Muscles (is it compulsory for all race engineers to have bonkers names?) and Jenson Button. Alas no nipple tweaking today as Jenson was in serious mode. He said he was just going to do his own thing and see where he ended up. Well its fair to say Jenson’s race didn’t quite adhere to that plan. <Looks hard at Sergio Perez>

Not sure if the Crown Prince of Bahrain qualifies as a Random Celebrity at a Race. Probably not with it being his country and all that. He came across as quite a knowledgeable chap although lets side step those #awkward political issues rumbling in the background. He was hoping for a good race from Kimi. Weren’t we all.

Ross Brawn was in full philosopher mode saying we were all about to enter into the ‘land of the unknown’ and it would be tough for Mercedes to win though the wind might cause some welcome instability and blow some cars in front off the track. Or words to that effect. Rivalling Ross quite closely on the Socratic front was Stefano Domenicali who solemnly told Martin that winning was easy to say and difficult to do. Indeed.


Thinks to self: what would Confucius do?
Thinks to self: what would Confucius do?

Finally Martin had a word with Niki Lauda inadvertently breaking up the Austrian mafia meeting between himself and Helmut Marko. I’m starting to think The Sound of Music was the best PR job ever for Austria with singing nuns and mountains and cherubic children leaping around. Niki Lauda and Helmut Marko are deeply sinister figures in the F1 paddock. Quite some achievement when you think who else floats about the F1 scene.


So sorry for this inclusion. Don't know what came over me!
Airbrushed Austria
]
And now for something a bit different. Its not that I didn’t enjoy the race but I had to watch it over 8 hours with massive disruptions AND the proverbial has been hitting the fan big time this week in Power Towers (I won’t bore you but the English conveyancing system totally SUCKS) AND it is already Wednesday so the Bahrain GP is a rapidly, fading memory in people’s minds. So I’m just going to rattle through the main talking points of the race!

The good news is if we are staying put in Power Towers, then I might just have to book a weekend away in Monza in early September to ease the pain. I *may* have done some preliminary research into weekends in Monza while Mr Eau Rouge was away in Geneva. Ahem.

So Bahrain. What happened?

The Race Winner: The Force is Strong 

images

Sebastian Vettel who has now moved across to the Dark Side – certainly according to F1 Racing based on its cover which the 5 year old thinks is the GREATEST THING EVER though I seem to remember making the same point in my Malaysia blog – won the Bahrain Grand Prix. Actually he didn’t only win the race but he utterly dominated from start to finish after passing Alonso and then the race leader, Rosberg, on lap 3. As Sebastian said with typical modesty “it was a faultless, seamless race from start to finish”. I have a horrible sense of foreboding as to how this season might go but it must be a million times worse to be in Mark Webber’s shoes.

The Podium Line-Up: A Title Challenger and a Rebirth

The two Lotus drivers completed the podium line-up – Kimi in 2nd place (impressively from 8th on the grid) and Grosjean in 3rd. And quirkily it was exactly the same podium in exactly the same order as last year’s race. Shall we just call the 2014 race now and have done with it and then actually just add a far more interesting circuit to the calendar. Kimi bucked the perceived three stop wisdom by executing a two stop strategy to perfection. Not many drivers do passive-aggressive as well as Kimi on the track! His key move came when he passed Di Resta (who was also implementing a two stop strategy) on lap 34. Kimi is now 10 points off Vettel in the Championship but definitely within touching distance. Unless Ferrari get their act together pretty damn fast, it looks like the only man who might be able to stop Vettel will be Kimi. Coincidentally, Bahrain was Kimi’s 21st consecutive points finish. And guess who hold the all-time record at 24?


You guessed it. The all-time consecutive points scorer in F1.
You guessed it. The all-time consecutive points scorer in F1,

Grosjean seemed like a driver reborn this weekend and showed great pace after his first stop. He managed to pass Di Resta in the closing stages to snatch the final podium place (and deny Di Resta his first career podium). I have also come to the conclusion that I’d find it easier to understand Eric Bouillier if he spoke French (instead of his ‘Allo ‘Allo English) on the pit wall. I loved his interchanges with Crofty though but has anyone else noticed that Crofty pretty much always responds with ‘great’ or ‘excellent’ when chatting to team bosses during the race.

Team principal: “Well naturally we’re bitterly disappointed that [insert name of driver] hit a passing beaver and crashed on the final corner just as he was on the verge of his first ever race win…”

Crofty: “Brilliant, great, thanks for that.”


Finally a welcome return to form for Romain Grosjean
Finally a welcome return to form for Grosjean.

The Highest Placed British Driver 

Now I’ll admit I’ve been a bit critical of Paul Di Resta but <grits teeth> he drove extremely well to equal the best finish of his career in 4th. He was on course for his first career podium until Grosjean overtook him with 5 laps to go. It remains to be seen whether he is the New David Coulthard or has some real talent worthy of a top drive. Certainly he rates himself highly but talk is cheap and won’t alone entice Luca di Montezemolo to open the Prancing Horse cheque-book. His team-mate, Adrian Sutil fared less well after colliding with Massa on the opening lap and failed to score any points. I fear Melbourne may turn out to be the high point of Sutil’s season?

Ferrari: Nightmare in Bahrain 


30 point lead. Man I'm good.
30 point lead. Man I'm good.

Having passed Rosberg to move into 2nd place, alas poor Fernando Alonso’s victory chances crashed and burned after he developed a problem with his DRS activator which became stuck open. He had to come into the pits twice early on in the race and eventually the only option was for his mechanics to close his DRS (to avoid Alonso literally taking off from the track during the race). But in good news for racing purists, this meant that Alonso was unexpectedly thrown into the middle pack and we got to see some brilliant racing from him, notably a fantastic battle between him and Perez towards the end of the race.

Poor old Massa didn’t have much more luck sustaining a broken front wing early on and two right rear punctures during the race. And ominously, Vettel already leads Alonso by 30 points in the championship. I’m guessing that tensions will be starting to rise at Maranello. The next few races are Crunch Time.

The Vettel and Webber sponsored Vicious Team-Mate Battle of the Day


Jenson and Sergio clearly missed the multi 21 brief as well!
Jenson and Sergio clearly missed the Multi 21 brief.

And talking of titanic battles, they didn’t come much dirtier and fiercer than the one at McLaren between Button and Perez. It was straight out of the Nigel Mansell School of Aggressive Driving – cars touching, banging wheels at high speed etc. From around the middle of the race, they were having a phenomenal scrap for position and huge kudos to McLaren for not pressing the Red Bull and Mercedes Panic Button and imposing unnecessary team orders. It was quite strange to hear Button for once sounding so agitated over the radio and freaking out that Perez was moving across on him and should be calmed down. Truth of the matter, Jenson, is that Perez was simply just faster than you. Perez finished 6th  (after taking Webber on the final lap) and Button in 10th place so clearly the rocket that Martin Whitmarsh inserted had the desired effect on Sergio! After those scintillating performances early on last season back in the history of forever, it was great to see Sergio getting his mojo back. Holding off a driver with supreme racecraft like Alonso is no mean feat! It felt like he was racing with confidence again and as if he had nothing to lose. More please.

Silver Arrows: Can’t take the heat

And what of our pole-sitter? It was fair to say no one expected Nico would cruise to victory but it was equally fair to say that we expected him to be loosely in contention for a podium place. But it all went so terribly wrong. Within the first few laps, he had to watch all the front runners pass him but like a bloodied and half-beaten boxer he never gave up the fight for position (particularly with Button and Perez). But finishing 9th after clinching pole must be a crushing disappointment. It’s a funny old car the Mercedes. Not as obviously crud as last year’s but nonetheless very mercurial and off the pace on race day. I’ve known cars to be brilliantly fast (and claim poles) and then be hopelessly unreliable in races (the Lotuses and Ferrari’s of old spring to mind). But its very strange to have a fast car over one lap which then can’t stay on the pace for a few laps. The Mercedes clearly chows tyres (Rosberg was forced to do 4 stops in Bahrain – compare and contrast with 2 stops for Kimi and Di Resta) and likes cold weather (so quick tenner on Silverstone then if its another mudbath!).

Hamilton had a reversal of fortunes from qualifying and climbed through the field to take 5th. After an atrocious first lap, he struggled in the early stages but came alive in the second half of the race where he engaged in thrillingly close combat with Webber before managing to pass him on the final lap.


Mixed fortunes (again) for the Mercedes drivers
Mixed fortunes again for Mercedes.

So here are the results from the Bahrain Grand Prix of 2013:
  1. Vettel

  2. Raikkonen

  3. Grosjean – And it is to Grosjean that I give my Driver of the Day. He came into the race under a lot of pressure from fans and the media that I think had really affected his confidence. He started 11th and showed real maturity to finish on the podium through some brilliant clean on-track racing.

  4. Di Resta

  5. Hamilton

  6. Perez

  7. Webber

  8. Alonso

  9. Rosberg

  10. Button
And now F1’s coming home. The season-defining European leg of the season begins at the next race in Barcelona on 12 May. It was at last year’s race where Maldonado claimed a sensational victory for Williams. Twelve months sure is a long time in Formula 1. Will Alonso get his season back on track at his home Grand Prix or will Vettel grind everyone into submission as he did in Bahrain? Or will Kimi put in another cool as you like performance to close the gap in the title race?


Keeping Sebastian firmly in his sights
Keeping Seb firmly in his sights?

Four races down and all to play for.

Saturday 20 April 2013

Bahrain GP - Qualifying

The fastest man in Bahrain!
The fastest man in Bahrain

Is it that time already? Although I’ve been abandoned by Mr Eau Rouge (who is toiling away at a conference and not at all sunning himself on the shores of Lake Geneva), I’m going to attempt to live blog this thing*. I mean what could possibly go wrong, home at alone at the mercy of two small children. So lets do it.

*Obviously live-blogging was one thing and getting a full 10 minutes to finesse my stream of consciousness blog post and whack in a few photos was a step too far with two feral children on the loose. But I really typed as I watched so I’m going to call it a live blog all the same. Bear with me!

Welcome to Bahrain! Obviously I’ll skip through the build-up to qualifying proper though its been merrily playing to itself for the last hour – but hey its something to catch up on later when the kids are in bed and I’m sitting down to my saddo evening dinner for one.

So round 4 of the F1 season takes us to the Sakhir Circuit – and in previous years the race has been won 4 times from pole position (not that this race tends to be a borefest…much). Anyone could snatch pole – Red Bull, Ferrari, Kimi Raikkonen for Lotus (obviously they have totally discounted Grosjean!).


The Sakhir Circuit (yup the most interesting picture I could find)
The Sakhir Circuit (best picture I could find!)

So far this weekend, Force India is looking faster than McLaren (ouch) and Alonso had a clumsy spin this morning. The panoramic overhead shots don’t do the Bahrain track any favours – what a desolate, arid, depressing place with literally just two people sitting in the grandstands. Can’t we just lose quietly lose this race and reinstate one of the old great tracks onto the calendar. I have a reasonably long list if Bernie is interested.

Gutierrez, then Webber and then Hamilton will have their penalties applied in order. Time for a quick update on the rebuild job on Lewis Hamilton’s car (what…what…what rebuild??!!) after his big blow out in final practice. A new gearbox has been fitted (ah hence the penalty) – and it turns out he had a tyre delamination but not a suspension failure. Still a quick change of underpants was probably required.

Oooops didn’t realise that Q1 has got underway – but we all know how these things work. Sweet F.A. for around 10 minutes then a frantic burst of activity. But shock horror, 3 whole cars (Vergne, Hulkenberg and Gutierrez) have actually set a time with 12 minutes to go. Martin suggested putting a camera in Ricciardo’s crash helmet to see if he smiles all the time while on track. Er ok. Its pretty fair to say Daniel Ricciardo is universally loved. But then I remember everyone eulogizing similarly about Vettel back in the Toro Rosso days and the early Red Bull days before he crossed over to the Dark Side.

A slightly freaked Giedo van der Garde just radioed in to say he could feel something moving around in his cockpit. Brundle (he of the Old School ‘just sellotape your car up and get back on track’) didn’t sound very sympathetic saying you can get all sorts like screwdrivers etc left in cars.


Giedo van der Garde having a mildly eventful qualifying (what was in the cockpit...did we ever discover?!)
Giedo van der Garde had a mildly eventful qualifying (did we ever discover what was in the cockpit?)

Then an incandescent Paul Di Resta radioed into his team to s**t all over them for not giving him enough information…“its really not good enough”. I’m sorry but I’ve got to put it out there. I really can’t bear Paul Di Resta. Does he ever stop whinging and ranting for a single race? Get a grip of yourself man, you’re hardly A List in the world of F1. He will probably now get pole just to spite me.

Ah Gerhard Berger is here! We like Gerhard a lot. My favourite Berger story ever is the time he threw Ayrton Senna’s new carbon fibre briefcase out of a helicopter to prove it wasn’t indestructible. Crazeeeee days man. But we digress and oh yes, Q1 is still going on.


Ayrton and Gerhard
Ayrton and Gerhard

Meanwhile 3 minutes to do and its Alonso, Rosberg, Grosjean, Di Resta (boo), Massa and Kimi at the top end. And Hamilton STILL hasn’t set a time – he had a problem in the middle of his lap and it looks like he backed out of his lap. OH BUT HANG ON needless panic averted as Lewis goes 5th. I think the commentary team need to get a grip along with Di Resta.

And in the Dropzone of Doom are (17) Maldonado (apparently a Williams car has fallen at Q1 every single qualifying of this year) (18) Gutierrez (19) Pic (20) Bianchi (21) Van Der Garde and (22) Chilton. Williams really have gone backwards this year. As a longtime Williams fan (despite the cruel and brutal treatment of Damon Hill…I’m still relatively bitter) its desperately sad to see.

Ah talking of which, I’ve now been joined on the sofa by the 5 year old as the Sky team discuss the fall-out of Q1. “Oh”, he says, “there’s Damon Hill…did he drive when you were young?”. Was I still young then? Anyway, swiftly moving on.


A very freshfaced Damon Hill (I was definitely young at this point in time!)
A very freshfaced Damon Hill

So time for Q2 and thoughts are turning to the actual pole time – the feeling is it will be the low 1.32s or the late 1.31s. And apparently its not sand at the side of the track, its Beige Painted Concrete. And that, ladies and gentlemen, tells you all you need to know about Sakhir.

With a few minutes to go, Rosberg does a truly stonking lap to go fastest by 0.5 seconds which even merits a flicker of approval on the inscrutable face of Ross Brawn. And Webber manages to insert himself between Rosberg and Alonso – I really would love Mark to have a good qualifying though the poor old sod still has a grid penalty to come.

With a minute to go, Sutil, Button and Kimi are back out on flying laps. Where will they end up? All perilously hovering close to/in the dropzone so this lap will be crucial. Sutil goes 7th, Button goes 9th and Kimi goes 4th shoving Grosjean out of the top ten.

So dumped out of Q2 are the following: (11) Grosjean (12) Perez (13) Ricciardo (14) Hulkenberg (15) Bottas (16) Vergne. Of those six, Grosjean and Hulkenberg are a real surprise. Perez should be but isn’t if you know what I mean. All a bit puzzling what’s going on with Grosjean this season. But after all the flak he got last year, I wonder if he’s driving within himself. Loved Damon’s comment in post-Q2 analysis about him getting unhelpful advice from Alain Prost. Its safe to say Prost isn’t without an opinion on most things.

Ah a word from Eric Bouillier (who has the thickest French accent I’ve EVER heard – think the resistance woman from ‘Allo ‘Allo ‘listen very carefully, I shall say zis only once’ and you’re there). A couple of titbits of news hot off the press. Pirelli have signed a 5 year deal and Bahrain might be a night race next year. Hmmmm. I am not a fan of night races, certainly based on the mind-numbing tedium of most Singapore races.


I shall say 'zis only once
I shall say zis only once

And Q3 gets underway pretty quickly for once with Nico setting a blisteringly fast time of 1.32.543 (0.8 seconds faster than Di Resta) and Hamilton on his first run can’t quite match his team-mate’s time. And nor can Alonso who slots into 2nd place just ahead of Lewis. So top 4 (and indeed the only 4 cars to venture out) are Nico, Alonso, Hamilton and Di Resta. All the rest presumably are saving their tyres/playing the long game/sending tweets/punching their team-mate etc.

Then BIG excitement, Ferrari have come out on the hard tyre. That’s a bit different. And we have TEN cars on track. Prepare to have your brains fried for the last 1 minute of qualifying. <reaches for valium>

And we are following Mark Webber as he makes various mistakes and lock-ups which brings sighs of despair from Martin Brundle. Webber anyway manages to go 4th and Di Resta can’t match that on his next flying lap. Kimi meanwhile has only gone 7th…what?!? <sobs into my third black coffee of the day> Here comes Nico with Vettel in hot pursuit. And Nico STAYS on pole with an even faster time, Vettel goes 2nd and it all comes down to Alonso but he has made a mistake and peels off into the pits. Alonso stays 3rd. Button alone of the top ten fails to set a time and comes into the pits.

So we have a second Mercedes pole in a row. And it’s the first back-to-back pole for Mercedes since Moss and Fangio in 1955 (note to David Coulthard – that’ll be JUAN MANUEL FANGIO, the FIVE time F1 world champion).


Moss and Fangio
Moss and Fangio, Mercedes team-mates

Well assorted Sky F1 presenters and commentary team, you didn’t call that one remotely right for pole. You load of doofuses. The top ten tomorrow looks like this*
  1. Rosberg

  2. Vettel

  3. Alonso

  4. Hamilton *but with 5 place penalty

  5. Webber *but with 3 place penalty

  6. Massa – will start on the hard tyre

  7. Di Resta

  8. Sutil

  9. Raikkonen

  10. Button – didn’t set a time so could start on hard tyre (I so bet he will)

Well that was a turn up for the books. Will Nico’s luck change on race day tomorrow? Will we have our 4th different winner in 4 races? That’s me done and I’m outta here until tomorrow!

Wednesday 17 April 2013

Chinese GP - The Race

Chinese GP of 2013 - you either loved it or hated it
Chinese GP 2013 - you either loved it or hated it


In the world of Formula 1 you often get races that are universally hailed as thrilling (or epic to use the 5 year old’s terminology) or on occasions races that are interminably dull. But it is very rare that a particular race is considered by some to be exciting and by others to be a borefest. The Chinese GP of 2013 is one of those marmite races. It seems like people either loved it or hated it. So what was the deal in Shanghai? What went right and what went wrong?


Well cards on the table time. I actually really enjoyed that race and believe me I don’t often think that about races in China (see ‘interminably dull’ comment above). Yes admittedly my brain was fried by the ridiculous number of pitstops and we wouldn’t want to make the tyres any bigger an issue otherwise F1 could end up being a succession of pitstops with a bit of racing thrown in. But this weekend in China, we saw some tremendous racing, lots of incidents, crashes, a flying wheel and two cars fighting to the death for a podium spot at the finish line.



Tyres - too much of a good thing?
Tyres - too much of a good thing?


After the cringeworthy qualifying coverage on the Beeb, I re-defected to Sky. As the 2 year old considerately had adopted Chinese time, I was able to immerse myself in the full, unexpurgated build up. But as time is money and I have precious little of both, I’ll rapidly fast-forward to #MartinsGridWalk as is customary.


Martin told us there was ‘tremendous excitement’ down on the grid and the atmosphere was electric. Either he talks a good talk (which of course he does) or he really was supersonically excited. It appeared looking at the stands that huge swathes of Chinese F1 fans had adopted Kimi Raikkonen as one of their own. Always been a bit sceptical about the natural appetite of China for F1 but credit where its due. Kimi is a real old school racer and not the obvious choice (say compared to the metronomical win machine that is Vettel). Damnit, maybe Bernie was onto something after all taking the magic of F1 to new audiences (though I suspect the incidental benefit of China and India having the largest populations in the world might have just crossed his mind and that of his accountant).



Kimi-mania!
Kimi-mania!


First up an interview with Vettel (a rarity on the grid since he became super arrogant successful and focused on winning races). Clearly His People have a strategy for convincing the F1 populace at large that Seb is an all-round nice guy again. Presumably another Top Gear appearance is in the offing. Seb told us it was a long race and a lot can happen and could Martin ask the drivers in front to pit early. The old jokester! The lovely Tanja Bauer from SKY Deutschland hoved into view to piggy-back off the interview. There is no better double-act in F1 than Martin and Tanja. In my mind they are the F1 equivalent of Tim and Dawn from The Office.



The fragrant Tanja!
The fragrant Tanja


Showing he wasn’t adverse to doing the same (but with less smouldering chemistry), Martin inserted himself into an interview with David Coulthard and Ricciardo who had of course qualified in a brilliant 7th spot.  There were then a couple of failed attempts to interview Grosjean (he only now talks to Canal+ before races) and Rosberg (prior booking with German TV). So as a last resort, Brundle sauntered over to Bernie who lets face it would be much better value than most drivers and their predictable, bland soundbites. Bernie said he didn’t have a clue who would win (Bernie should have checked out my qualifying blog!) and in response to Martin’s comments on the somewhat lacklustre qualifiying (big hand for Brundle for asking the difficult question there) Bernie said he would be looking to tweak qualifying. Good.




Avram - not a very good football manager but friend of some of The Most Powerful People on Earth!
Avram - not a very good football manager but friend to some of the Most Powerful People on Earth
Then we had our first Random Celebrity at a Race of the season and it was the lesser spotted Avram Grant. It was his first time at a Grand Prix and it was impressive but different to football. Thanks Avram. And mercifully we were done with the Gridwalk.


Just time for Crofty to make a thoroughly odd reference to Chaucer and it was time for the start and Go Go Go at the Chinese Grand Prix! And it was a very clean start for everyone. Both Ferrari’s leapfrogged Kimi, and Nico Rosberg squeezed past Grosjean. We were barely into the 2nd lap before Sutil nearly put his team-mate, Di Resta, off the track (that’ll be an interesting team debrief later) and it was time for the first pitstop of the race – the honour coming to Mark Webber who had started from the back of the grid.


Even in the early stages of the race, Lewis Hamilton was struggling to hang onto his lead and could not fend off the faster cars of Alonso and Massa. Vettel meanwhile was working his way through the field having passed Vettel and Hulkenberg. The Mercedes tyres situation was so dire that the team actually stacked them in the pits to give them new sets of tyres ASAP.



Mercedes pitstop - first of many...
Mercedes pitstop - first of many...


Gutierrez decided to accelerate his Sauber into the back of Sutil who had to bring his car and broken rear wing (ouch) into the pits where the brakes promptly caught fire. Its been pretty much downhill for poor Adrian Sutil since the dizzying heights of leading the Australian GP. Gutierrez has since been rightly penalised with a 5 place grid penalty for Bahrain.



Sutil was on fire. Not in a good way.
Sutil on fire. Not in a good way.


Time for our first round of pitstops (ie. for everyone except the already-pitted Mercedes cars and those on the medium compounds, Button and the Hulk) by laps 7 and 8. The main change afterwards was that Kimi was now running ahead of Massa. By lap 14, the race leader was Hulkenberg who had yet to pit. As Marty B said the Hulk has formed a habit of leading different Grand Prix in different cars. I wonder whether Martin Whitmarsh wakes up screaming in the dead of night remembering he could have signed Hulkenberg but instead went for Perez.



Hulkenberg embellishing the old CV nicely once again
The Hulk embellishing the old CV nicely once again.


Vettel was inconveniently stuck behind the Hulk for a few laps and got the ‘box box’ call (we all know its a very unsubtle code for ‘pit’ so why don’t they just say ‘pit’) so Sauber hauled in the Hulk as well. Red Bull executed one of their lightning fast stops and Vettel rejoined ahead of the Hulk but in a POTENTIAL FLASHPOINT INCIDENT Vettel was right behind Mark Webber.


Alas for all those (me for one) hoping to see a right old ding-dong between the two Red Bull team-mates, Webber got all tangled up with Jean-Eric Vergne before anyone could say ‘multi 21’ and had to take his damaged car into the pits. So that spoilt all our fun.



"Oh strewth, its not Seb"
"Oh strewth, its not Seb"


Then Kimi had a coming together with Perez which politely could be described as a rather over-ambitious overtaking move on the outside and bluntly could be summed up as Kimi crashing into the back of an admittedly slowish Perez. Anyhow we had another Angry Kimi moment. All this outpouring of emotion (by Kimi standards) would make anyone think that Kimi himself might have half an eye on a title challenge this season. Kimi lost the end of the nose of his car but didn’t seem bothered and nor did the Oracle that is Martin Brundle (the husband was having a minor nervous breakdown but I tend to trust Martin more!) so a podium finish was potentially still on the cards.



Kimi showing us all that repairing damaged cars is for wimps
Kimi showing us all that repairing cars is for wimps.


Poor Webber’s weekend went from pretty rubbish to An Abject Total Disaster. As he was coasting around the track, he was told to abort the race and then his wheel went flying off, bouncing across the track into the path of amongst others, Sebastian Vettel. Insert witty Twitter caption pictures here (actually I can't be bothered!). Could anything else go wrong for Mark? Yes of course it could. We heard that the stewards were investigating his incident with Vergne – the upshot of which is a 3 place grid penalty for Mark Webber going into Bahrain.



Yes, its Mark's car losing a wheel.
Yes its Mark's car losing a wheel


By lap 18, Button (Tyre Preserver Extraordinaire) was leading the race with Alonso breathing down his neck. Massa and Rosberg pitted again on lap 20 and then while Alonso scorched past Button one lap later, we had a Do Not Adjust Your Sets Moment as Rosberg pitted again. Two pitstops in two laps is not good. And sure enough Nico was forced to retire from the race with suspension problems. Its safe to say he is getting ALL of Schumacher’s terrible luck from last season. I would say his luck has to change but then I remember the rest of Schumacher’s final season.



Button - give him a set of tyres and he'll look after them as if they were his own children
Button - give him a set of tyres and he'll look after them as if they were his own children


Finally on lap 24, Button pitted (along with Alonso) and he rejoined the track just ahead of his former team-mate Lewis Hamilton. And at the all-important halfway point of the race (according to Bernie, this was when we would start to have an inkling of who would finish where) the front order was shaking out thus: 1. Alonso 2. Vettel 3. Hulkenberg 4. Hamilton and 5. Button (the front two and the last two having literally just swapped positions on track).


On lap 30, the Hulk pitted and Hamilton was catching Vettel until he (Seb) pitted two laps later. The next laps saw pitstops from Kimi, Massa and the Hulk (again – for reasons I forget) and Hamilton. By lap 40, the pack was slightly shuffled at the front although Alonso was still leading the race, followed by 2. Vettel 3. Button 4. Kimi 5. Ricciardo and 6. Hamilton


We were told that 6 cars were being investigated for illegal use of DRS along with the 2 other cars that were already being investigated for illegal use of DRS. That’s pretty much everyone except for Lewis Hamilton as a friend on Twitter pointed out to me (but I’m not biting!). On lap 42, Alonso finally pitted and rejoined behind Vettel but not for long as he rapidly dispatched him on the following lap. A couple of laps later, Kimi took Button and he was absolutely flying in the proverbial Finn sense of the word. Button bravely held off Hamilton for a few laps but simply could not keep the much faster Mercedes behind him for long. On lap 50, Button had to come into the pits again and re-emerged in 6th place. Not on paper a stellar position but considering the abject mediocrity of the McLaren this season, Button was having an impressive race.



Clipboard time
Clipboard time


Lap 52 saw Vettel come into the pits and he slotted back into 4th place and was absolutely flying. Despite the on-track hazards of Caterham’s and Marussia’s (I like to think of them as Mario Kart style banana skins), he was rapidly hauling in Lewis to set up a thrilling battle to the finish. And it was a grandstand finish as Hamilton just crossed the line a mere 0.2 seconds ahead of Vettel.


So here are the results from the Chinese Grand Prix 2013:
  1. Alonso – A brilliant strategic victory from Alonso and Ferrari.

  2. Raikkonen – A great return to form after Melbourne.

  3. Hamilton – Two podiums in two races. WAY better than Mercedes/Lewis could have hoped.

  4. Vettel – From 9th on the grid, anyone else would be reasonably happy with that result. But this is Seb.

  5. Button – Enormously impressive drive to justify the 2 stop gamble. Not many other drivers could have done the same.

  6. Massa – Not a drive to grab the headlines. But hey someone had to be 6th.


The Ferrari family celebrating a great team effort
The Ferrari family celebrating a great team effort.

With barely time to draw breath, we’re off to Bahrain and predictably a bunch of MPs have called for the race to be cancelled due to unrest in the Gulf state (although for 99% of the last year, we’ve heard squat diddly about Bahrain!). And of even greater interest than the news that NO soft tyres will be used in Bahrain this coming weekend are the rather touching images of Alonso and Webber’s bromantic dinner à deux in Dubai.



So cute
The latest F1 bromance?


I’m being abandoned this weekend by the husband and will be at the mercy of small children. Not sure if that makes it easier or harder to blog as I might be a Woman on the Edge but at least there is a Grand Prix to save me!

Thursday 11 April 2013

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today…

Ayrton Senna at Donington 1993 - arguably his finest race win
Senna at Donington 1993 - arguably the finest win of his career


Trying to decide on Senna’s finest drive is no easy task. Although his F1 career was tragically cut short it is nonetheless littered with truly sublime performances. But in my very humble opinion, the European Grand Prix of 1993 (held at Donington Park) showcased Senna’s prodigious talent at its very best.


The start of the 1993 season saw a whole host of driver line-up changes. Williams had recruited Senna’s arch nemesis, Alain Prost, the previous year for the upcoming season but had neglected to inform their incumbent star driver, Nigel Mansell, of that fact. Our Nigel promptly got the hump (as was his wont) and packed his bags for Indy Cars. And perhaps slightly to his own surprise, Damon Hill found himself partnering the 3 time world champion in the best car on the grid by a country mile.



Tazio Nuvolari on his way to victory at Donington Park in 1938
Tazio Nuvolari on his way to victory at Donington Park in 1938


Donington Park was hosting its first Grand Prix since the legendary Tazio Nuvolari’s win 55 years earlier in the state-sponsored Auto Union car (that would be the...er...Nazi Germany state - amazing to think less than 12 months later the world would be at war). And true to form the Great British Weather was absolutely abysmal for what was only the 3rd race of the season. Honours in the first two races had gone to Prost in Kyalami (I would dearly love to see this track restored to the F1 calendar) and Senna in his home race at Interlagos. I don’t think they did a #MartinsGridwalk in those days not least because Martin Brundle was still plying his trade in a Ligier and back in those simple days no one knew what the hashtag button was for.



Martin Brundle getting to grips with the circuit
Martin Brundle getting to grips with the circuit


There was no blogging then just good old fashioned sports reports buried in the back of newspapers or motorsport magazines. But if there had been a blog (and if ever a race deserved a blog it was this one!) it might have looked a little like this.


The two Williams cars had secured a front row lock out in qualifying and the top end of the grid comprised Prost, Hill, Schumacher, Senna, Wendlinger and Andretti. The race started in damp conditions and on wets so there were no kamikaze antics right at the start. Schumacher’s blocking tactics on Senna led to Wendlinger unexpectedly leaping into 3rd spot. And then it was time for the Senna masterclass to begin. As they say, it was Show Time.



As they started...
As they started...


Ayrton Senna started scything through the field with almost robotic brilliance. First he passed Michael Schumacher on the 3rd corner, then he audaciously took Karl Wendlinger on the outside of the Craner Curves. Then he passed Damon Hill for P2 at Coppice. Until finally all that remained in his sights (as surely he was destined to be) was Alain Prost. At the Melbourne Hairpin, Senna seized the lead of the race from Prost. In the space of a single lap he had moved from 5th to 1st solely through a sequence of sublime overtaking manoeuvres.



Senna making his move on Prost to take the lead
Senna making his move on Prost


Meanwhile, Schumacher in the Benetton had squeezed past Wendlinger who then fell into the clutches of Andretti (the Grosjean of his day, or the Di Cesaris of his day if you’re as old as the husband). The inevitable result was that Andretti crashed into Wendlinger bringing both their races to an early conclusion. Meanwhile, new team-mates Prost and Hill were scrapping pretty hard for position while trading a succession of fastest laps.



Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger


Suddenly the track began to dry and everyone rushed into the pits for slicks. JJ Lehto driving for the brand new Sauber team was in 5th place before he retired with handling problems on lap 14. A few laps later, Berger had to park his Ferrari in the pits with suspension problems. And already at this early stage of the race, Senna had begun metronomically lapping backmarkers.


Just to liven things up again, it started raining and the majority of drivers pitted for wets. Schumacher stayed out but the gamble didn’t come off as he spun out of the race on lap 23 (Mark Blundell quickly followed suit in his Ligier). The two Williams drivers pitted for wets right away as Senna tore round the track like a man possessed extracting every last nanosecond of track time out of his slicks.



images



As the track began to dry out, Senna’s lead started evaporating. Everyone pitted once more. A lightning quick Williams pitstop and a McLaren pit disaster (some things never change hey) conspired to shuffle the leading pack. After all the pitstops, the leading six were 1. Prost, 2. Senna, 3. Hill, 4. Barrichello, 5. Warwick and 6. Herbert (holy maloney – three Brits in the top six must have sent the Beeb off the Murray Walker Giddometer back in the day).


And then the rain began to fall again and this time Senna gambled on staying out on slicks while the two Williams cars pitted for wets. Senna started opening up a commanding lead by brilliantly managing his car. On slicks! In the rain! He even managed to set the fastest lap of the race so far on a track that was still wet. Only Johnny Herbert (nice guy Johnny, who’d have thought it) proved troublesome to lap and Senna indicated his annoyance in a fairly direct fashion as he went by. After ten-ish laps of watching the race slowly slip through their fingers, both Williams chucked in the towel and came into the pits for yet another change of tyres. Prost then stalled in the pits (I may have cheered at the time, but only very quietly as Mr Eau Rouge Snr was a big Prost fan…never got it myself personally) and when Prost rejoined he was down to 4th place and a lap behind. Game over.



Johnny Herbert driving for the beleaguered Team Lotus in 1993
Johnny Herbert driving for the beleaguered Team Lotus in 1993


In only the 3rd race of his F1 career, Rubens Barrichello racing for Jordan was having a blinder but in this maddest of races he was lapped by Senna while running in 2nd place – and as Senna went by he gave his fellow countryman a friendly little wave. Senna was now the ONLY person on the lead lap. Incredibly, he had lapped everyone else on track. Poor Rubens eventually had to pit twice more before then retiring with fuel pressure problems. But this race showed that Senna wasn’t the only Brazilian in F1 who relished wet weather conditions. It was a long time coming but when Rubens won his first Grand Prix at Hockenheim in 2000 quite spectacularly coming from 18th on the grid to take victory, it was tellingly in wet weather conditions.



Rubens Barrichello leading the chasing pack
Rubens Barrichello leading the chasing pack


As the race drew to a conclusion, Damon Hill was starting to reel in Senna but only in the sense that he managed to unlap himself! Eventually Senna won by 1 minute 23.199 seconds ahead of Hill (lets just take a moment to marvel at that winning margin) who in turn was 35 seconds ahead of Prost, followed by Herbert, Patrese and Barbazza (I’d so completely forgotten about him I had to wikipedia him - despite the creditable 6th place in Donington, Minardi dumped him later in the season after 8 races!).


It was arguably Senna’s finest hour – to drive on slicks under wet conditions for most of the race and totally outclass a hugely talented F1 field was truly magnificent. Here is Murray Walker sharing his memories of this legendary race.


Sky Sports F1 will be screening a 30 minute highlight show of the race at Donington tonight at 7pm. If you’ve never seen this race you must must must watch it. And even if you’ve seen it before, just sit back and relive the master at work all over again.



A race that has passed into legend
A race that has passed into legend