More Drama at Red
Bull
Webber had a disaster of a weekend – definitely not what he
would have wanted after what happened in China. A problem with his fuel levels in
qualifying pushed him to the back of the grid and the events in the race that
seemed to add up until his wheel fell off and caused him to retire. On the
other hand, Vettel had a strong race, opting for a different strategy to make
up for the lack of pace compared to the podium finishers and saw him come home
in fourth. This sparked a wave of conspiracy theories against Red bull that Webber
was being targeted because of his comments about the team orders incident. It
seems never ending for a moment and still detracting from some of the great
racing we have been seeing in the season so far.
The Strong Finishes
There have been some good results in this race, and
throughout the season I haven’t covered. Jules Bianchi of the Marussia team has
done a great job, leading the way of the back runners in positions and pace so
far. I was unsure that bringing Adrian Sutil back to Force India was the best
move instead of picking someone new but the team have done well with him so far
and it’s hard to imagine Bianchi not getting a drive at a bigger team next year
from his performances. Daniel Ricciardo had a fantastic race for Toro Rosso,
qualifying and finishing in seventh place. The team has had a bit of a mixed season
so far with retirements and lower finishes but Ricciardo has really improved
recently and if Webber does leave Red Bull at the end of the year, he stands a
chance of being in contention for that drive if he continues as he has been
doing.
Mixed McLaren Results
While McLaren’s upgrades helped a little, it did not give
them as much performance as they hoped but Jenson Button had a strong race,
finishing in fifth. That result is about as good as they could have hoped for
this time out, adopting a similar strategy to Vettel but with one stop less to
accommodate their lack of pace. It is a good result and if they can keep
improving quickly, we’ll hopefully see them winning races later in the year.
Sergio Perez really hasn’t been showing the skills that got him the drive so
far. He hasn’t matched up to what we have seen him do in the past and it’s
starting to be easy to forget he is even there. If he doesn’t step up soon, his
own drive could be under threat.
Ferrari, Lotus and
Mercedes
Three different race winners out of three different races,
and three different constructors on the podium this time around. Kimi
Raikkonnen’s pace in the lotus came out of nowhere in qualifying and it is
clear to see why he is a world champion. He knows how to deliver when he needs
to and unfortunately, much like at McLaren, his teammate Romain Grosjean is
doing nothing much at the moment. He is keeping out of incidents but there is
no pace and no good drives right now to impress us. That has to be worrying for
Lotus. Mercedes have had a great start to the season and Lewis Hamilton
claiming his first pole position for the team is a fantastic achievement. There
is still work to be done to catch up to the other teams in terms of race pace
but I never thought they’d be this strong and it is clear that Hamilton’s
decision to move there was a good one (so far). I was always sceptical of the
reason behind why he moved but I’m glad to see it working out for him and the
Lewis Hamilton of old has returned and is delivering some great racing. He’s a
brilliant driver to watch and is definitely still hungry for more, which is
great.
Fernando Alonso had a fantastic race, and he needed that
after not finishing last time around. It seemed that he was in control from the
moment he had that great start and it was inevitable he would pass Hamilton
early on. There were no glitches or problems for Ferrari this time and it was
another show of world class driving from the two-time world champion. Felipe
Massa had a good, if a bit quiet, race. It was a good finish but almost a big
disappointing given his form recently; I was hoping to see him up there pushing
for the lead with Alonso. Hopefully in Bahrain we’ll get to see that.
Overtaking and Tyres in the Modern F1
There’s been a lot of talk, sparked by how quickly the soft
tyres lasted in the race this time, about the nature of F1 and if this is
destroying the sport. I honestly don’t understand this. The rules change to
help with costs, to keep teams thinking and producing innovations that can be
passed down and overall, challenge the drivers in e3very way possible. It’s not
all about driving as fast as you can at all times, but also about how you drive;
adapting to the track, the weather, the tyres and even the car. Some do this
better than others and those are the ones that win often. Alonso is a great
example of this. I’m not the oldest F1 fan around but refuelling in pit stops
caused cars to run varying strategies at different fuel loads to accommodate
the car and track in order to win. The tyres do a similar job and in time, the
teams will figure them out, meaning they need to be changed a bit more. It
helps keep things interesting.
The DRS helps overtaking in a sport where overtaking is very
difficult. It helps the drivers as much as it helps us, unless you want a field
of about eight drivers who can actually overtake on their own. It even makes
overtaking a bit safe because the pass can be completed without hitting each
other in most cases. That’s got to be a good thing, surely? It’s only my
opinion but if it keeps the racing interesting and dynamic, then I’ll give
anything a shot. In the end, this is how it is right now, and it will change
again in the future. Enjoy the racing that is available to us instead of
picking holes in it. Managing tyres and cars has always been a factor since I
can remember it and to help with sustainability and reliability, it will be for
a long time to come.
Summary
This was actually the best of the three races this year. The
high tyre degradation gave us split strategies with some exciting racing
through the start and the end of the race. The crossover in the middle was also
exciting. There was a lot more strategy than wheel to wheel racing for the most
part but still plenty to enjoy. Bahrain is the next race and should also be
interesting on the tyres, so we should get another exciting race next time
around!
Results
1 – F. Alonso (Ferrari)
2 – K. Raikkonen (Lotus)
3 – L. Hamilton (Mercedes)
4 – S. Vettel (Red Bull)
5 – J. Button (McLaren)
6 – F. Massa (Ferarri)
7 – D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
8 – P. Di Resta (Force India)
9 – R. Grosjean (Lotus)
10 – N. Hulkenberg (Sauber)
11 – S. Perez (McLaren)
12 – J. E. Vergne (Toro Rosso)
13 – V. Bottas (Williams)
14 – P. Maldonado (Williams)
15 – J. Bianchi (Maurssia)
16 – C. Pic (Caterham)
17 – M. Chilton (Marussia)
18 – G. van der Garde (Caterham)
19 – N. Rosberg (Mercedes) – Did Not Finish
20 – M. Webber (Red Bull) – Did Not Finish
21 – A. Sutil (Force India) – Did Not Finish
22 – E. Gutierrez (Sauber) – Did Not Finish
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