Super Seb makes it two in a row

Vettel took the title, Button claimed an emotional win and Hamilton clashed with Massa again. Here's my thoughts on that and more after a brilliant weekend of Formula 1 in Japan...

Supreme Seb seals title success at Suzuka: I had never been a huge fan of Sebastian Vettel until this year. Not that i disliked him, he always had my respect as a quick guy but he was never a favourite, someone i really willed on. When Robert Kubica came through the ranks at BMW i had my eye on him so i suppose the next man along which was Vettel was never going to capture my attention as much. I knew he was fast though and he soon showed it. Debut weekend in America and he scored a point and topped a practice session. Fast forward a year and at a drenched Monza he gets his first opportunity to win a race and takes it. However taking out Kubica at the start of 2009 didn't help my vibes towards him! But the next 2 seasons would see Vettel go from someone with raw speed into more of an all round package. He snatched the title at the death in 2010 but even then i thought the German had more room for improvement.

2011 has been sensational for Vettel. His brilliant qualifying laps, his racecraft and control of a Grand Prix, the coolness under pressure, the fabulous overtakes which some have wondered whether he could produce. It has been a world class display of sheer brilliance and a pleasure to watch unfold (Even if it means the championship not going to the wire) And off the track he's a funny, likeable guy who regularly makes you laugh. He's just annoyingly good! Of course the serious side of Vettel exists and his utter will to win and snap up every prize available is incredible. The appetite hasn't been quenched by 2 world titles and we are set for a few more years of great battles and rivalry between the likes of Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Button.

Button victory laids down marker for 2012: It was a glorious Sunday in Suzuka. The sun shining down, the choir singing the national anthem with such beauty on the grid and a race which was close throughout and went down to the wire. First point of contention was the start. I think Vettel pushed his luck with Button but the decision not to penalise him was the correct one. Button ends up in the pit exit and then the track tightens so i think technically the road closed up on him when it got to the point he was on the grass. Don't blame him for feeling aggrieved. The stewards reasoning was strange however as they made the point that Hamilton had taken a similar line to Vettel from the start. Don't see how that really plays an influence in what happens. Good that the FIA are giving reasons at least! Button eventually retook the lead, a pit time 8 tenths quicker than Vettel allowing the McLaren to get the 'overcut'.



Then we had a safety car after debris at Turn 7 (Webber/Schumacher collision) and Turn 16 (Hamilton/Massa) I thought this was a bit of an overreaction at the time because the pieces were small but i understand safety is paramount and the biggest gap on track at the time was 15 seconds between D'Ambrosio and Trulli so it would have been tight for a marshall to get out there. Just feels strange seeing a safety car for pieces of debris and only yellow flags when a burning Renault was exploding at the Budapest pit exit. Hamilton seem to not realise Massa was there in their collision. The stewards explanation on this was also odd taking into consideration that Massa was on trying to overtake on the left into a right hander. Hamilton may have been taking the normal line but you can't just do that when another car is already there! I'm always amazed how aware the drivers are of what's around and behind them being so low in the cars with small mirrors but Hamilton's recent incidents do make you wonder about his awareness around other cars, he has made some clumsy and unneeded moves. He is still a very quick driver and on his day the best and this slump of form will pass by and i feel he will bounce back.

Amongst the joy of Button and Vettel was another tremendous drive from Fernando Alonso. This guy is just relentless, getting everything out of what he has. I actually think Massa is driving better recently as well but it doesn't show up that well because of the form of the Spaniard. He wants a third title badly and will want to get it before Vettel does! Another driver showing good race pace is Michael Schumacher who came in 6th and led a lap of a Grand Prix for the first time since the same race 5 years ago. Another stat from Sunday was that the race had the most finishers on the lead lap in F1 history. 19 cars completed all 53 laps. Cheers to Sean Kelly (@virtualstatman on Twitter) for confirming that one!

Sauber duo impress on and off the track: After 2010 we knew that plenty of attention would be on Kamui Kobayashi and it certainly was as the crowds went wild for anything their home hero did. Unfortunately anti-stall kicked in at the start and a lack of fresh rubber saw him fall back in the closing stages. It was still a positive weekend after all he had done for his country in the wake of the tsunami disaster. Sergio Perez had a stunning race. Starting 17th and suffering from the flu, the Mexican found himself behind Jarno Trulli early on yet managed to come through and take a fantastic 8th, beating the Renault and Force India cars. I didn't know much about him before this season but he is really showing good speed and some feisty combat when wheel to wheel with other cars. He is being touted as a Ferrari driver for 2013 and it wouldn't surprise me to see him there (Sorry Massa fans!) Vitaly Petrov did well to get 9th after 2 stints on the prime tyre and Force India need something special to get 5th from them in the championship now. Another weekend with a crash for Bruno Senna who isn't really doing enough to keep that seat for next year in my opinion. Will the team look towards someone like Rubens Barrichello if Kubica can't return or perhaps stick in Romain Grosjean. We'll have to see how the muddled situation at Renault turns out.

A few words make all the difference: A story doing the rounds before the Japanese Grand Prix was Mark Webber saying he had given up hope of ever winning the world championship. Whilst it hasn't been the best season for the Australian, to see a driver currently in the best car in F1 declare he had no hope of being champion was a surprising one. However on Twitter and during interviews Webber dismissed the reports and said he had been misquoted. As i looked into this i got chatting to Cheryl Tay, the lady who conducted the interview with Webber. So what did he really say? Cheryl confirmed that the question put to Webber was "Have you ever thought of that (2010) as your last chance to be champion?" to which the Red Bull driver replied "yes of course, life goes on" So basically Webber feels that a great opportunity passed him by last season but he hasn't given up on 1 day becoming champion. Shows how easily things get misinterpreted in the media sometimes.

Korea DRS zone location revealed: F1 heads back to Yenogam for a 2nd year and it appears little has been done to the circuit since the 1st race where the track only got FIA approval 2 weeks before the Grand Prix. The pit entry, criticised by many, remains and the many buildings planned around the circuit still haven't come to be. The layout is a good one though with a really mixture of long straights and technical corners. I'm not happy with the DRS zone for this race which is between turns 2 and 3, the longest straight on the track at over 1km. Surely this will provide some action anyway and with DRS added may become too easy. We'll still lots of action, i just fear it will be diluted somewhat. There are shorter straights before and after the DRS zone so expect some battles to continue for a few corners. I like the DRS but there's room for improvement and perhaps the way it is implemented needs adjustment. Hopefully the FIA will assess it closely over the winter.

Lazenby to present F1 on Sky?: The BBC/Sky story has been pretty quiet recently. Mark Thompson said in a BBC radio interview last week that the highlights shows for the races the BBC don't show live will be 75 minutes. No confirmation yet on whether full ace replays will be available on any platform. We know that the BBC will show the British, Monaco and Brazilian races next year. Sky get to pick the next 3 races and then the choosing process alternates 1 pick at a time. The Daily Mail reported this week that Sky are still chasing Martin Brundle for their coverage and that Simon Lazenby could be the presenter. I don't have Sky so don't know much about Lazenby but he seems to be highly rated and worked with Sky's head of F1 on their Rugby coverage. Also interesting to see that the latest follows on his Twitter account are the Ferrari and Red Bull feeds...

What have you made of the 2011 season? Is Vettel now the best driver currently in F1? And who could be the next rising star to join the fight for victories? Let me know in the comments section

Image courtesy of http://www.mclaren.com

Sepang serves up exciting weekend

A 4 way showdown for Pole Position on Saturday was followed by an action packed race with 55 overtakes and 63 pitstops. Up front, Sebastian Vettel continued his brilliant form with a fourth consecutive grand prix win. There were loads of stories throughout the field...

Vettel wins and Webber recovers: Sebastian Vettel had to work harder for his win this weekend than in Melbourne. Qualifying saw him edge out Lewis Hamilton and despite a loss of his KERS during the race he won without too many problems. Mark Webber had a manic race. After a KERS issue in qualifying the team replaced parts of the system in Parc Ferme. However it failed before the race and coupled with a poor start left the Australian swamped. He fought back with a 4 stop strategy, 1 more than most drivers. The advantage of that was he could really attack on his shorter stints and made up the time loss of an extra stop - and more. A good fightback to 4th will left his spirits but in still has a team mate to deal with whose confidence is sky high.

Hamilton v Alonso: Lap 45 and 46 seen controversy - heightened by post race penalties - between Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. The McLaren driver was penalised for moving more than once on the pit straight. We've seen drivers in past seasons push this 'code' but this year it is a written rule. In a Ferrari pre-season video their sporting director seem well up on the new regulations and it wouldn't surprise me if he was the one who told the team to protest the move. That was key because it forced the stewards to analyse it and make a decision and by the rule book Hamilton did break a rule. I think his thinking in the move was confused. Alonso was close and he probably thought that he'd be under more pressure but because the Ferrari's DRS wasn't working he wasn't as quick on the straight. So Hamilton made unnecessary moves and then backtracked and it cost him. Alonso got a harsh penalty for what was a minor mistake. If you penalise him for that then you have to penalise a lot of other incidents e.g Webber hitting Hamilton Australia 2010, Vettel hitting Sutil Great Britain 2010 etc. Costly mistake because a podium was there for the taking.

Fortunes reversed for Renault pair: Lewis Hamilton said after a stunning start move in Malaysia in 2007 around the outside that he had studied the past starts at the track and decided to go that way. On Sunday he looked for the inside instead and on that outside route came Nick Heidfeld in the Renault. Some stunning racing between the pair continued to turn 4 but it was the German who would make it stick and finish the lap 2nd after starting 6th. He lost some ground during his first stop but kept his cool - apart from 1 brief off track moment - to come home 3rd. Vitaly Petrov wasn't far off the pace of his team mate but a few minor mistakes seen him slip back. When Hamilton pitted late on Petrov had him in his mirrors and he ran off the circuit after getting offline onto the numerous marbles. Probably in a panic to maintain 7th he kept his foot down but on the mounted grass he got a massive amount of air and snapped the steering wheel mounting as well as wrecking the suspension. A nasty and bizarre incident for the Russian.

Mixed day for the rookies: Another race, another point for Paul di Resta. He delivered a good, clean weekend. The Force India hasn't got the raw pace but the evolution of the car has at least ensured some reliability. He has benefited from a good grounding with those practice runs last year but he has come in and coped well in what have been busy races. Replacing Liuzzi with the Scot is proving to be a good decision. Sergio Perez had his race ended in very strange circumstances. A piece fell off Sebastien Buemi's car and struck the floor of the Sauber. This set off a fire extinguisher which in turn knocked off the electrics in the car. Pastor Maldonado had more mechanical issues, Williams had a poor weekend and the South Americian hasn't been able to show his worth yet. Another tough weekend for Jerome D'Ambrosio who will be awaiting Virgin's updates with eagerness.

Confused? I'm confused: In an ideal world we would want every race to be a great race with clear and good entertainment. The addition of DRS and the deliberate making of high wearing tyres have been done to improve the show. Of course you would rather not revert to these gadgets but in this day and age it is needed. Sunday was a fantastic race and to see some journalists who report on the sport spinning a negative story on it because of all the activity is quite strange and disappointing. I'm looking at this more on a UK perspective but the race on Sunday recorded the best figures for a race in Malaysia ever. My Dad stayed and watched the whole thing. A guy who works for him even watched some of the race and enjoyed it. It was a fantastic race and i will take one like that every day over one like Bahrain 2010. KERS, DRS, the removal of the double diffusers and the tyres all played their part. Don't forget track design. It is clear that this is a factor. Sepang's long straights followed by tight corners in Sector's 1 and 3 really contribute to the action. Other circuits take note.

A few other things to note from the past weekend as well as the one to come in Shanghai.

- Another difficult weekend for Ferrari but the Prancing Horse was closer to the pace during the race. Senior staff have flown back to Italy between these back to back races which tells you a lot about the concern that there is about the car. It's believed by Italian media that the team will see how the Chinese Grand Prix goes before deciding on what course of action they will take with the development with the car. Ferrari implemented big updates during 2010 so don't write them off yet.

- Sebastien Buemi received a stop/go penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He was clocked doing 120.6 km/h in the 100 km/h limited pitlane. He pressed the limiter coming in but felt it had not gone on. However it had and in pressing it again thinking he was putting it on he turned it off and subsequently broke the limit. Usually this gets a drive through penalty so maybe he got a harsher penalty for the excess of speed he had. You could argue a situation like Lewis Hamilton passing the safety car in Valencia last year could have been dealt with in a similar manner. Jaime Alguersuari reported understeer in his car and it was discovered afterwards that there was damage to the front nose.

- There was some surprise when Hamilton went onto prime tyres at his second stop and used that compound until the end of the race. This can probably be explained by Q2 where he flatspotted his right front tyre into turn 1. So that set of tyres may well have been deemed unusable for the race. This meant he only had the set he started on plus one other set, forcing him into doing half the race on primes. That qualifying lock up may well have proved quite costly. Another imprtant thing is the tyre drop off. Sauber ran longer in the first stint in expectation of rain but once the tyres went off they were 3-4 seconds slower a lap. Kamui Kobayashi did manage a 2 stop strategy so another example of Sauber keeping the tyres well on their car.

- The DRS zone in China will be just over 900 metres long and positioned on the 1.175 km back straight between turn 13 and 14. The detection zone for the 1 second gap will be at turn 12. Should see plenty of action down into the hairpin. There has been resurfacing carried out on parts of the track. Also a 4.5 metre debris fence at turn 14. This is probably a response to the incident with Sebastien Buemi in practice last year where a wheel from the Toro Rosso went into a spectator area. We've seen a lot of standing water gather at times in the final corner during wet races in the past at Shanghai and the organisers have changed the drainage on that part of the track.

- Some quotes have come out from the organisers at the Sakhir circuit in Bahrain which say they are still trying to get the race on at some point this year. There is even some talk that the King of Bahrain will be in the Shanghai paddock this weekend. Abu Dhabi is prepared to let Bahrain have their November 13th slot and then move the race at Yas Marina to December 4th. They'll be happy to do this as it means they get the season finale. A few weeks ago it seem unlikely in the extreme that a race would occur in Bahrain this year but the possibility remains open. At present the UK foreign office still advise against all but essential travel to the region

- The timetable for the Indian Grand Prix has been revealed:

Times are Local/UK

Fri 28 October
Practice 1 1000 - 1130/0530 - 0700
Practice 2 1400 - 1530/0930 - 1100
Sat 29 October
Practice 3 1100 - 1200/0630 - 0730
Qualifying 1400/0930
Sun 30 October
Race 1500/0930