I love the track at Austin; it looks like it will be
exciting every time. Unfortunately, it didn’t live up this time, partly due to
Sebastian Vettel’s continued domination, and partly due to the conservative
tyre choices. Let’s face it, Pirelli cannot catch a break – they either pick
too durable tyres or too weak tyres but the problem they face is the compounds
are just wrong this year. This is something that really needs to change next
year or they will continue to fail in their given target: create unpredictable
races with more pit stops.
Grosjean’s form continues
I’ve said this a few times, but Romain Grosjean is getting
better! Compared the incidents he had last year, the man racing now is
completely different – I could almost be convinced it was his twin brother.
Everything he’s doing is working, and if Lotus can keep up with Red Bull,
Mercedes (and you could argue Ferrari and hopefully McLaren again next year),
you’d have to say he has a chance at being in that championship hunt.
It’s a welcome back to the grid for Heikki Kovalainen as
well. Not the best result in the race, but overall his weekend was good, and if
he can keep it up next week, is there a chance he’ll actually get a race seat
again? I hope so.
Mixed fortune for Williams
It’s obvious, now more than ever, that Pastor Maldonado and
Williams are not on good terms. Signs have been there for a while but this
weekend it came to boil when the drive publically said he thought the team
might have altered his car. That’s crazy, right? Why would they do that when
they NEED points? He has options, mostly due to his funding as I don’t think he’s
a fantastic driver. Yes, he has a win, and I’ll give him that but compared to
Sergio Perez, Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and others, I don’t rate him.
Valterri Bottas, on the other hand, had a fantastic weekend
and got a points finish for the team. It was a great drive and result from the
rookie and proves he’s got talent. Whether he can turn that talent into
something exceptional, we’ll have to wait and see.
Taking the good with the bad
The whole weekend was full of mixed fortunes for many teams
other than Williams and Lotus. McLaren had a bit of a strange one with Jenson
Button finishing just inside the points after a penalty and Perez in seventh –
it’s ironic since he’s been let go. Ferrari as well, with Massa also outside
the points compared to Alonso’s result, despite being injured. Mercedes got a
decent result from Lewis Hamilton which cemented their place in the
Constructors Championship ahead of the final race as well, but Nico Rosberg could
only manage ninth.
Force India didn’t have a great one with a retirement for Adrian
Sutil and Paul Di Resta missing out on points. It’s hard to see the Scot not
only keeping his drive but even staying in the sport. It’s a shame, because he’s
got talent (and I’m being patriotic) but as it stands his past comments and
unlucky results and problems may well have killed his F1 career this year.
Hopefully not, but I doubt he’ll be with Force India next year either way.
Summary
Not an amazing race but another record for Vettel. The final
race could be a bit more interesting, especially if we get rain again, as can
very possibly happen in Brazil. I can’t believe it’s the final race next week,
but I’m looking forward to new rules and regulations, the confusion, trials and
joys it will bring. Until next week!
Results
1 – S. Vettel (Red Bull)
2 – R. Grosjean (Lotus)
3 – M. Webber (Red Bull)
4 – L. Hamilton (Mercedes)
5 – F. Alonso (Ferrari)
6 – N. Hulkenberg (Sauber)
7 – S. Perez (McLaren)
8 – V. Bottas (Williams)
9 – N. Rosberg (Mercedes)
10 – J. Button (McLaren)
11 – D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)
12 – J. E. Vergne (Toro Rosso)
13 – F. Massa (Ferrari)
14 – E. Gutierrez (Sauber)
15 – H. Kovalainen (Lotus)
16 – P. Di Resta (Force India)
17 – P. Maldonado (Williams)
18 – J. Bianchi (Marussia)
19 – G. van der Garde (Caterham)
20 – C. Pic (Caterham)
21 – M. Chilton (Maurssia)
22 – A. Sutil (Force India) – DNF
No comments:
Post a Comment