The F1 Christmas Selection Box

As the off season continues, here's some videos and pictures to hopefully amuse you through the winter break. Thanks to anyone who suggested or contributed content. Enjoy!

Suzuka: Step by Step

Having recovered from the all nighter which seen qualifying and the race take place on the same day, it's time to look back at what was a dramatic Japanese Grand Prix...

Crash, Bang, Wallop: It was chaos before turn 1 as the fast starting Vitaly Petrov swiped the front of the slow moving Nico Hulkenberg, putting both drivers out of the race. The Russian also landed himself a 5 place grid drop for the Korean Grand Prix, which was confirmed as going ahead yesterday. These errors keep coming from Petrov and he really needs to get some solid performances in to cement his 2011 seat. Team mate Robert Kubica was making noises about having an experienced driver beside him at the weekend. However it could yet be finances which helps the rookie keep his seat.

Meanwhile there was significant damage for Felipe Massa and Vitantonio Liuzzi as the Ferrari went across the grass and into the side of the Force India. The Brazilian has a contract for 2011 and Liuzzi claims to be secure but rumours still swirl about both men. I've been told by a Force India employee that Adrian Sutil is almost certain to stay with the team, though i would think he'd fancy the Renault seat if it comes free. However if true and with Paul di Resta expected to get a chance it would push the Italian out of the team. My gut feeling on Massa is that Ferrari won't move him out and that unless the Brazilian was to walk away, which i think is unlikely, he will be there in 2011. Fernando Alonso knows that Massa could yet be a foil to him in his own title aspirations.

Kubica unlucky but lucky: Robert Kubica threw himself into the mix of the championship challengers by qualifying on the second row and then moving up to second place at the start and looking good for a podium. Behind the safety car that was deployed for the lap 1 incidents he began to slow and then had his right rear tyre fly off, leading to his retirement. Having looked so good for a positive result which would have helped Renault closed the gap to Mercedes in the battle for 4th in the championship. However it was revealed afterwards that the French team had an issue with the wheel gun on the grid and that none of the Polish driver's tyres were fitted properly. So perhaps they will be thankful that there was a safety car or else it could have been an even more scary incident.

Mercedes have improved showing: It was a better weekend for Mercedes, though it only ended with 8 points after Nico Rosberg suffered a wheel failure late on through the Esses. He had a poor start and pitted behind the safety car. Meanwhile Schumacher made a good pass on Rubens Barrichello but when he was pitted he was going quicker than his team mate but emerged behind him and despite his best efforts he couldn't past. Mercedes have admitted that was an error on their part. Either they were concerned about other cars around them or wanted to ensure that Rosberg, who is close to Massa and Kubica in the championship, would score the extra points.

McLaren see margin grow: McLaren were unable to take the fight to Red Bull this weekend. Lewis Hamilton had a Friday crash and then McLaren took a chance on using his gearbox from Singapore but within three practice laps it had a problem so he got a five place grid penalty. He then lost third gear during the race so had to yield to Jenson Button and finished fifth. Button went for the hard tyre for Q3. I think it was worth the risk because McLaren did not have the raw pace and a safety car at a certain moments may have played into his hands. Both men are now more than a race win behind Webber. I think they needed a wet qualifying or race to act as a leveller and though Hamilton was catching Alonso before his gearbox issue its going to take some turnaround for the number 1 to remain on a McLaren next season.

Lotus increase grip on vital 10th position: It was a good day for Lotus Racing as they secured their best ever finish with Heikki Kovalainen 12th. He was followed home by Jarno Trulli in 13th. This means that Hispania and Virgin will need a top 11 finish to jump them and this will likely take a race of high attrition to acheive. Virgin had a poor day, Lucas di Grassi crashing before the race in spectacular fashion whilst Timo Glock was stuck behind Sakon Yamamoto for many laps. Lotus also have attention on 2011. It looks likely that Trulli and Kovalainen will be retained. The team will use the 2009 Red Bull gearbox and hydraulic system and an engine deal with Renault should be announced soon. This should help them take the fight to the likes of Toro Rosso and Sauber and ensure a much more competitive car.

Kobayashi thrills Japan and the world: There was a lot of hype around Kamui Kobayashi ahead of his home grand prix. Many feel he could be the star driver that Japan has been waiting for. On Friday he had looked ragged but i was hopeful he would score points and please his fans. The race would turn into an incredible drive, netting him a 7th place finish. He overtook several cars into the turn 10 hairpin, braking much later than his rivals yet managing to make every attempt stick. I know they talk about local knowledge around the figure of eight circuit but this really was astonishing! His first overtake on Jaime Alguersuari was a late lunge which he turned into an overtake with a bit of contact but the other moves were all clean. Even when he made a second move on the Spaniard, Alguersuari defended but still Kobayashi passed on the outside. The Toro Rosso driver was silly in turning into the Sauber several times, damaging his front wing and blowing the chance of a points finish.

How did the home hero pull off so many unexpected moves though? Part of this can be explained by strategy. Kobayashi had started on the hard tyre and then pitted late for the soft tyre. So he was able to attack late in the race. Also the characteristics of his car played a role. The Sauber has the longest wheelbase on the grid so the car is good through medium to high speed corners. This allowed Kobayashi to stay close to cars in front through the Degner corners preceding the hairpin. The Sauber is also kind to its tyres so usually performs better in races than in qualifying. Panasonic used to sponsor Toyota and are reported to be in discussions with Peter Sauber.

Red Bull win with something to spare: Qualifying and the first corner decide the Red Bull battle really and whilst Mark Webber was not far off, it was Sebastian Vettel who made it two out of two in Suzuka. The pair cruised it, even backing off when they caught up Button during the race who had yet to pit. There was still a bit of mind games between the duo when Webber pushed hard on the last lap to clock fastest lap and deny his German team mate a hattrick for the weekend. The Australian will know he may have to beat him on track at some stage. Three more Vettel victories and the championship is the German's. Fernando Alonso rolled in third which was the maximum possible, he will hope to challenge more in the remaining rounds

So the teams now head for South Korea which was confirmed on Tuesday. The pit straight isn't that long but turn 1 is tight and is followed by a massive straight, over a kilometre long so expect plenty of action down it. Sector 2 is a lot of medium speed corners and the final sector more twisty so it could be somewhere which plays to each teams strengths in certain parts. Rain is certainly a possibility in the region as well. Three races to go and still five can win it but McLaren surely need a strong result or the gap will be too much to claw back.

Ferrari under fire in switch furore

It was a grand prix that had one main talking point. Felipe Massa slowing out of turn 4 and allowing team mate Fernando Alonso to take the lead and ultimately the victory. It was a move that ignited a lot of anger amongst fans who felt that they had been robbed of a true battle for the race. Team orders have been banned in Formula 1 since 2002 when Rubens Barrichello was ordered to let Michael Schumacher through for the win which he did metres from the finishing line. Ferrari had to do this swap. Alonso title chances remain feasible whilst Massa is well out of the picture. In a sense his poor season, including no points before yesterday since Turkey, cost him the chance to take the victory.

It was a shame for the Brazilian, one year to the day since the life threatening incident in Budapest, that he could not have taken a victory which would have been such a happy moment for him and for F1 in general. He was a dejected figure behind and he now faces the prospect of being a support act to the Spaniard for this season and perhaps for the next two seasons. We have seen instances of drivers swapping in recent seasons. Heikki Kovalainen let Lewis Hamilton through by braking early into hairpins at Magny-Cours and Hockenheim in 2008 which certainly came across better. Massa himself benefited when Kimi Raikkonen lifted for him in Shanghai in the same season. This did not cause much uproar however as the Finnish driver had no chance of winning the title and Massa was locked in a close battle with Lewis Hamilton for the championship.



Ferrari did what was best for their interests but it was the way it was done which didn't help their cause. Of course with radio transmissions now open it can lead to more revealing conversations. Massa came out of the hairpin and basically didn't accelerate and Alonso was able to sail by. The Brazilian made sure that the switch was as clear as possible. Had Alonso passed him under braking into a corner it would have made it look like a realistic overtake.

Now we don't hear all the radio transmissions so the complete picture is not clear and perhaps we will hear more snippets from FOM later this week but lets analyse what was heard

First of all, we had Alonso on the radio soon after he had briefly passed Massa before he lost the position. He said 'This is ridiculous' Clearly he felt he was the faster driver and should be allowed to take the lead.

Soon after, Massa had pulled out a 3 second gap. Rob Smedley came on the radio and had a strong message for his driver 'You have to give this everything, concentrate, keep this going and you can win' This suggests that Smedley felt that the only way Massa could win the race was if he pulled out a big gap to his team mate or else he would have to give way

Alonso began to close in and then came the message which seem to decide the race. Smedley came back on the radio and said slowly and clearly to Massa 'Fernando is faster than you. Can you confirm that you understood that message' There was no reply broadcast.

Two laps later and the move came. Soon after Smedley told Massa 'Ok mate, good lad, just stick with him now. Sorry' This wasn't Smedley's decision, it probably was Stefano Domenicali or Chris Dyer who made the call but the Englishman had to be the messenger and i'm sure that wasn't easy.

This is different to what occurred in Austria in a couple of ways. Firstly, 2002 was legal and 2010 wasn't. However, 2010 was a move that Ferrari had to do but 2002 wasn't. We weren't halfway through the season, Schumacher had a big lead and Barrichello was actually one of his main competitors. Once the Brazilian had to concede the win it was clear that competition at the front would be very minimal for that season. Perhaps now team orders will have to be allowed. It was brought in after the circumstances of the Schumacher years where he always had the number one status. Let us be thankful for some of the good inter team battles that have been witnessed this season.



The World Motorsport Council will meet to decide whether Ferrari should face further punishment and remember this is where McLaren nearly got expelled from the 2007 season so don't rule out heavy sanctions. I don't expect any worse than loss of team points or a suspended sentence. We'll not know to August at the earliest. Amongst the furore, Ferrari showed strong speed all the way through the weekend and Alonso is now in the championship battle and unlike his four other rivals, he is the only man in his team gunning for the title.

Webber takes win but friction remains

It was another enertaining Sunday afternoon in the 2010 F1 season as Mark Webber struck back from his Valencia flip and component controversy of yesterday to take a 3rd win of the season. He passed Sebastian Vettel off the line as both he and Fernando Alonso had poor starts, surprisingly so as they were starting on the clean side of the grid. Lewis Hmailton repeated his 2008 launch and going into Copse had the slightest bit of contact with Vettel. The German was fighting to get back at Webber but the Australian made sure he wasn't coming through and Vettel took to the run off area. He started to fight his car and the puncture sent him flying off the road into Becketts. Meanwhile Felipe Massa was getting rather over zealous with Fernando Alonso as he hit him and then stuck him onto the grass coming onto the Hangar straight. Massa had a puncture and limped back to the pits. Jenson Button made places through the lap and jumped to 8th.

Webber was pulling away bit by bit from Hamilton while another quick starter, Robert Kubica, was holding the field up. Another surprise though was the tyres. Usually it is a case of pitting and getting a quick lap in but perhaps with the slower pace the tyres were retaining performance. Nico Rosberg and Button were especially able to stay out and make progress. Ferrari's day then got worse as Alonso made a move on Kubica into Vale. Alonso took to the run off and cut the corner but maintained position. Both drivers pleaded their respective cases on the radio and Charlie Whiting ordered Alonso to let Kubica back through. However the Polish driver had a differential problem so was slowing towards retirement. Instead of losing the position and a few seconds, Alonso had a drive through penalty. The negative effect of this was compounded when the safety car was deployed soon after.

Adrian Sutil tagged the back of Pedro de la Rosa down the main straight in attempting to overtake. The Sauber lost pieces there and down Hangar straight. This threw Vettel a lifeline. It appeared he was driving conservatively early on. Perhaps the thinking was that they weren't going to score and should save the car for a situation like this. On the resumption of racing he was on the attack and made several moves, including on Massa, Nico Hulkenberg, Michael Schumacher and eventually on Adrian Sutil by barging past his fellow countryman which left the Force India driver unimpressed.

A miserable and pointless weekend for Ferrari was completed by a spin for Massa and a puncture for Alonso from contact with Vitantonio Liuzzi. I felt Massa was a bit wild on the opening lap. I think Alonso was unlucky the way the penalty situation played out. By staying ahead of Kubica, he took a calculated risk that he would get away with the overtake. He should have let the Renault back in front as he only got passed by cuting the corner. In a way this shows the pressure that the Spaniard is under and perhaps his decision making was affected by this. We seen something similiar in the French grand prix 2 years ago when Hamilton after a DNF and starting near the back performed a similiar move on Vettel and ended up losing out more than if he had yielded earlier.

Webber had a great turn of pace as the fuel levels dropped and he cruised home to take victory. The post race antics were perhaps more interesting as he told Christian Horner that he hadn't done 'bad for a number 2 driver'. He then said afterwards in the press conference that he wouldn't have signed his contract extension if he knew that a situation like yesterday had occurred and wants talks with the management tomorrow. The media love this kind of thing and making the most of it but Red Bull brought it on themselves with the front wing decision.

So we move onto a double header in 2 weeks and i'm really looking forward to Germany, a track which is really well designed and usually produces plenty of overtaking and action so it should produce more good racing. The Silverstone layout produced more action than i thought it would, particularly Brooklands which i thought would be too quick but the long straight really helped so that was good. Red Bull have their internal issues, McLaren need the new package working quickly and Ferrari need to produce their best. Can Alonso show the spirit and fight of 2006? Roll on 2 weeks