End of an Era in Brazil, 2013

The threat of rain kept drivers, engineers and audiences around the world waiting for an upset that Brazil can often throw into the mix. Unfortunately, it was only the threat we got. Sebastian Vettel got his record, and Mark Webber came away with a good result to end the season with another Red Bull one-two finish. Not only that, it is the end of Webber’s F1 career, Massa’s time at Ferrari and the era of the V8 engines. While there was more tension than usual in this race, it still wasn’t the most exciting of the year.

Tribute to a legend

Some will agree and others won’t, but Webber is, in my opinion, a true legend of the sport. His number of podiums and wins may not be as high as Vettel’s, and he may not have a world championship but compared to almost every driver on the grid today – and in the years that he has been racing in F1, there is no more honest and respectful driver out there. There are always bad days and incidents but his honesty on pretty much everything will be sorely missed. I’ll be keeping an eye on how he goes in endurance racing from next year and wishing him all the best!

We saw another rare chink in Vettel’s luck today. It wasn’t enough to keep him off the top step of the podium but a late call for a pit stop had him sitting there a bit too long – but didn’t affect Webber too much. On the first lap, there was the hope that Nico Rosberg could give Vettel more of a challenge but now, we’ll have to wait for next year for a serious challenger.

Racing incidents

The Lewis Hamilton & Valtteri Bottas incident was very curious. It must have been a tough decision for the stewards, but it came back quite quickly. Lewis was moving back from his original position but there was space on the other side – not much, but some – and it wasn’t like he was forcing the Williams driver off the track. Again, it was harsh but as Bottas ended up worse off, and Lewis was the one making the direction change, it had to be his responsibility in the end, I guess. I’m still not convinced though.

I felt very sorry for Felipe Massa. The decision to give him a drive-through penalty was harsh, and it did spoil what was turning out to be a great battle between himself and Hamilton. We’ve seen those battles in the past often end badly but Massa crossed the wrong lines on the track and that does incur a penalty. After the race, he commented that he wasn’t the only doing it, but the only one to get a penalty. Whether that is true, I don’t know but you can see how it would feel to him, on his final race at Ferrari. Hopefully he won’t dwell on it too much.

Summary

McLaren had a great weekend, considering the form they’ve had all year.  A fourth for Jenson Button is the best result of the year for them and his experience will be invaluable with their rookie driver coming through. Fernando Alsono will have to think about his future if Ferrari still can’t deliver a car. The Mercedes team have done well this year – better than anyone thought – and Romain Grosjean has really grown this year. Let’s not forget Max Chilton, who did finish EVERY race this year, in his first year in the sport. A great achievement, and this all makes next year much more interesting!

Results

1 – S. Vettel (Red Bull)

2 – M. Webber (Red Bull)

3 – F. Alonso (Ferrari)

4 – J. Button (McLaren)

5 – N. Rosberg (Mercedes)

6 – S. Perez (McLaren)

7 – F. Massa (Ferrari)

8 – N. Hulkenberg (Sauber)

9 – L. Hamilton (Mercedes)

10 – D. Ricciardo (Toro Rosso)

11 – P. Di Resta (Force India)

12 – E. Gutierrez (Sauber)

13 – A. Sutil (Force India)

14 – H. Kovalainnen (Lotus)

15 – J. E. Vergne (Toro Rosso)

16 – P. Maldonado (Williams)

17 – J. Binachi (Marussia)

18 – G. van der Garde (Caterham)

19 – M. Chilton (Marussia)

20 – C. Pic (Caterham) – DNF

21 – V. Bottas (Williams) – DNF

22 – R. Grosjean (Lotus) – DNF