Top 10: Formula One drivers of 2013 – Part I

Now that the Formula One season has come to a close, Online Sport Editor Jamie Klein takes you through the first half of his list of the top 10 best drivers of the year.

Photo: Joe McGowan (via Flickr)

10. Jenson Button – Down 5

With Lewis Hamilton moving on to Mercedes for the 2013 season, Button had every reason to be feeling confident back in March, but it didn’t take long to become obvious that McLaren’s design gamble was not going to pay dividends. Increasingly resigned to scrapping for the minor positions, a solid drive to fifth place in China stood as the Briton’s best result until the end of the season at Brazil, where Button stormed his way from 14th on the grid to take fourth.

Whilst Button is hardly renowned for being a one-lap specialist, he will have been disappointed at losing out to teammate Perez in the qualifying stakes 9-10, and perhaps, considering his world champion status, that there wasn’t more daylight between he and the Mexican in terms of race pace. That said, Button was the more consistent across the course of the year of the two McLaren drivers, only failing to score five times all year in a car often flirting with the fringes of the top 10.

Photo: Joe McGowan (via Flickr)

9. Daniel Ricciardo – New Entry

The prospect of promotion to Red Bull meant that there was awful lot at stake in 2013 for Ricciardo and his Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne. Though there was one stage where it appeared the latter may have been starting to get the better of Ricciardo, the gregarious Aussie upped the ante at precisely the right time, booking his seat at Red Bull with a series of convincing qualifying and race performances as Vergne faded into anonymity in the latter half of the year.

Indeed, Ricciardo was out-qualified by Vergne only four times all year, and made seven appearances in the points versus just three for the Frenchman – including a pair of superb seventh places at China and Italy. However, street circuits proved something of an Achilles’ heel for Ricciardo, retiring from both Monaco (where he was thoroughly eclipsed by Vergne) and Singapore, whilst poor starts, like his fellow countryman Webber, also occasionally served to undo his hard work during qualifying.

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See Also: The 10 Types of Formula One Fan

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8. Mark Webber – Down 2

Photo: Simon Williams (via Flickr)

Regrettably for Webber, his final season in F1 is inevitably defined by events at Malaysia, where Vettel ignored the instruction issued by Red Bull to remain behind his teammate, instead snatching away what was Webber’s rightful victory. Even more disappointing was the fact that the Australian thereafter failed to register a win all year whilst his German teammate proceeded to sweep all before him. Two late pole positions demonstrated the one-lap pace is still there, but Webber’s apparent inability to adapt his driving style to the demands of the modern breed of Coanda effect-assisted cars proved his undoing.

Nevertheless, there were some fine drives by Webber over the course of the year, such as at Silverstone, where he lost out on what would have been a fitting retribution for “Multi 21” by the narrowest of a margins to Rosberg. The Red Bull driver was also plagued with bad luck throughout the year, most notably at India, where an alternator problem denied him what would have been a straightforward second place; without such misfortune, he would have been considerably closer to clinching the runner-up spot in the championship his machinery warranted.

Photo: thesidelineagenda.com

7. Nico Hulkenberg – Up 1

During the first half of the season, prior to Pirelli’s decision to make its tyres more durable after the fiasco that was the British Grand Prix, it looked as if Hulkenberg had made the wrong decision to jump ship from Force India to Sauber. But, as the former suffered a competitive nosedive in the advent of the revised tyres, Sauber’s improving fortunes allowed Hulkenberg to really begin to shine and cement his reputation as a star of the future.

Monza was the start of this late season flourish, more than doubling his points tally for the year at a stroke by finishing a superb fifth. After that, the mild-mannered German was never out of the points, save for two occasions that weren’t his fault; his drive to fourth at Korea, where he held off the advances of the ostensibly quicker Hamilton for a significant chunk of the race, stood out in particular.

6. Nico Rosberg – Re-Entry

Photo: Cord Rodefeld (via Flickr)

It may have been the first time that Rosberg has been out-scored by a teammate in F1 since his maiden season in 2006, but it’s also been the first time the German has been partnered with a teammate as well regarded as Hamilton. And, few would have anticipated back in March that Rosberg would end the season quite so close to the former champion in the drivers’ standings, with just 18 points separating the pair, whilst also out-qualifying Hamilton, regarded by some as the best qualifier in the business, eight times over the course of the year.

Whilst Rosberg was able to rack up two race victories at Monaco and Silverstone this year to Hamilton’s sole triumph at Hungary, it’s worth remembering that the second of those wins was somewhat fortuitous, the 28-year-old benefiting from a puncture for Hamilton and a gearbox failure for Vettel. And, whilst Rosberg’s only non-appearances in the points can be pinned on mechanical maladies of one sort or another, there were perhaps a couple too many occasions where he was simply out-raced by Hamilton.

Check back later today for the second half of the list, which will reveal the top five drivers of the year.

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Vettel wins again as Webber waves goodbye to F1

Mark Webber’s pit garage just before his final race. Photo: Red Bull Racing (via Twitter)

Sebastian Vettel ended an utterly dominant 2013 season with a record-equalling ninth successive win in Brazil, with teammate Mark Webber making it a Red Bull one-two in his final ever Grand Prix outing.

Though Nico Rosberg was able to jump ahead of Vettel at the start the race from second on the grid, once the four-time champion assumed the lead of the race at the start of the second lap, he was unstoppable as ever.

Six laps in to the race and Vettel had already established a cushion of as many seconds over nearest pursuer Fernando Alonso, who was quick to dispatch the struggling Rosberg whose car was seemingly set up for the wet conditions of qualifying rather than the dry of the race.

Alonso’s grip on second place was short-lived however, as Webber, after clearing Rosberg, cruised up to the back of the Ferrari driver and quickly found a way past. By this stage, however, Vettel was already 10 seconds down the road and all but out of reach of the rest of the pack.

There was a brief moment of drama for Vettel, when he lost a few seconds stationary in the pits as the Red Bull mechanics failed to have his tyres ready, but this proved only a small blip in the 26-year-old’s inexorable charge towards a 13th win of the season.

That particular feat puts Vettel on a par with Michael Schumacher’s record, set back in 2004 for Ferrari, as well as Alberto Ascari’s run of nine successive wins – which Vettel could surpass with a victory at Melbourne in March.

Behind Vettel, Webber and Alonso duly completed the podium, with Jenson Button claiming McLaren’s best result of what has been a dismal year for the team with fourth place through a combination of a great opening stint from a poor grid slot of 14th and other drivers hitting trouble.

Chief among these were the two drivers battling for fourth place – Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa. The former sustained a puncture and then a penalty for a collision with a lapped Valtteri Bottas, whilst the latter was slapped with a penalty for a minor pit-lane infraction.

That allowed Rosberg, who was swallowed up by the pack in the opening part of the race, back into fifth, just ahead of Sergio Perez in his final race for McLaren. Massa had to be content with seventh place after his penalty in his last race for Ferrari, whilst Hamilton could do no better than ninth after his dramas.

The abiding memory of the Brazilian Grand Prix will be the sight of Mark Webber with his helmet off on the slowing-down lap, cruising back to the pits to stand on the podium for the last time as a Formula One driver.

It’s rare that a driver decides to walk away from the sport by choice, but the fact the Australian was still in demand prior to making the decision to quit demonstrated that it was the right time for Webber to depart the scene.

After all, at 37 years of age, it’s doubtful Webber could have gone on to have a better chance of winning the title than the one which slipped through his fingers in 2010, while next year’s rule changes, which will place further emphasis on the kind of car preservation Webber is known to dislike, make it a logical time to stop.

Webber, one of the most colourful characters in the paddock and a real fan favourite, will undoubtedly be missed by everyone involved in the sport next year. Never afraid to speak his mind, he will be remembered more for his personality off the track than his achievements on it.

That said, nine Grand Prix victories and 13 pole positions is nothing to be sneezed at, particularly when you consider that Webber, who made his F1 debut back in 2002, didn’t get his hands on a veritable race-winning car until 2009 – when he had the poor fortune of being joined at Red Bull by Vettel!

Webber’s F1 career may now have come to a close after 215 races across 12 seasons, but he now embarks on a new chapter of his career as he joins Porsche’s fledgling endurance racing programme next year. It may not be long before motor racing fans see him spraying champagne atop a podium once more.

Jamie Klein, Online Sport Editor

2013 Formula One season preview

Mark Webber, seen during pre-season testing behind the wheel of the new-look Red Bull. Photo credits to Wikimedia Commons

With the practice sessions for the curtain-raising Australian Grand Prix now just over a week away, it’s time to examine the prospects of this year’s Formula One runners and riders.

Three pre-season test sessions have confirmed, if nothing else, that 2013 is going to be close, perhaps even closer than last season. With the technical regulations remaining stable, and many of this year’s cars thus evolutions of last year’s models, this should come as little surprise.

Despite the inconclusiveness of the testing timesheets, reigning champions Red Bull are widely predicted to retain their mantle as pacesetters as the F1 circus descends upon Melbourne. That means that Sebastian Vettel, who narrowly overcame Fernando Alonso in last year’s nail-biting title showdown, will begin the year as favourite to clinch a fourth consecutive title this year.

With Ferrari looking in far better shape during this year’s testing than a year ago, Alonso also must be feeling bullish about his chances of securing that illusive third title. If the Spaniard can match his scintillating form of last year, even if the new F138 still lacks the ultimate pace of Red Bull’s RB9 as most suspect it will, the mouth-watering prospect of another ultra-close championship fight seems extremely real.

Vettel and Alonso’s respective teammates, Mark Webber and Felipe Massa, have a point to prove after inconsistent campaigns last year. Both have their contracts up for renewal at the end of the year, with numerous usurpers waiting in the wings for an opportunity with a top team, and must deliver if they are to prolong their F1 careers beyond November.

How McLaren are likely to fare this season remains one of the pre-season’s mysteries, as the relatively radical MP4-28 has shown good one-lap speed combined with erratic long-run pace in testing. Jenson Button will be hoping that any issues are solved quickly, as the departure of Lewis Hamilton from the team appears to give him his best chance of a title challenge since his unexpected triumph for Brawn GP back in 2009.

Ironically, three years after Button joined McLaren, Hamilton has moved the opposite direction to what is now the Mercedes team. The 2008 champion was quick to downplay expectations during the early part of testing, but the final test suggested the W04 may in fact be a contender for podiums or perhaps even wins initially. The real challenge for the German manufacturer however will be to avoid a repeat of the performance drop-off they suffered last year.

2013 could be make or break for Hamilton’s Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, who has never had such a competitive teammate alongside him during his career up to now – how he responds to the challenge will be fascinating. Moving to McLaren to fill Hamilton’s shoes is Sergio Perez, who has impressed during his first two seasons of F1 for the midfield Sauber team despite making some high-profile mistakes late last year. The pressure will be on for the Mexican to perform immediately.

The dark horses – literally and figuratively – for the championship this year could prove to be the Lotus team. Their E21 challenger has looked quick and consistent during testing, and 2007 champion Kimi Raikkonen proved last year that he still has what it takes to put a second crown to his name. Romain Grosjean was another driver to come under fire for on-track incidents last year, but the prodigious turn of speed the Frenchman demonstrated warrants a second chance.

The increasing reliance on sponsorship among the tightly-bunched midfield teams has seen a number of established drivers fall by the wayside during the off-season with several rookie drivers arriving to take their place.

Sauber is one such team, recruiting GP2 graduate Esteban Gutierrez to partner Nico Hulkenberg, who steps across from Force India with a move to Ferrari (who supply engines to Sauber) in 2014 a distinct possibility. Filling the breach alongside Paul Di Resta, after months of speculation, is the veteran Adrian Sutil, who returns to the team he drove for from 2007 to 2011 after a year spent on the sidelines following a controversial night-club incident in early 2011.

Williams have eschewed Bruno Senna in favour of their highly-rated test driver Valtteri Bottas, who will drive alongside the fast-but-volatile Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado. Toro Rosso meanwhile have elected to retain both of their rookies from last season, Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne, with the potential prize of a 2014 Red Bull drive on offer should Webber’s services be dispensed of.

With the HRT team having collapsed due to financial woes during the winter, the battle will be between Caterham and Marussia to avoid finishing bottom of the heap. Both teams have been forced to rely on well-funded, inexperienced drivers in order to assure their survival, with Charles Pic (who moves across from Marussia) and newcomer Giedo van der Garde making up Caterham’s driving strength and Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi forming an all-rookie line-up at Marussia.

Timo Glock was originally set to remain with the team for a fourth season before his contract was terminated, whilst his original replacement Luiz Razia was dropped after just one test session after the promised sponsorship money failed to materialise. Bianchi had been a contender to race for Force India before the team elected to hand Sutil his old seat back, but was announced as a Marussia driver during the third and final pre-season test.

The Australian Grand Prix will take place at Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit on March 17.

Jamie Klein

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Ferrari fastest in first F1 test; Ogier on top in Sweden

Felipe Massa behind the wheel of Ferrari’s 2013 contender. Photo credits to Tony Evans

Ferrari draw first blood in Jerez test

Ferrari driver Felipe Massa set the fastest time during the first of three pre-season Formula One tests at the Spanish Jerez circuit.

Massa, who will start his eight consecutive season driving for Ferrari this year, set a fastest time of 1m17.879s on the third day of the four day test, making him the only driver to break the 78-second barrier during the entire test. This marks a significant turnaround for Ferrari, whose struggles in pre-season testing a year ago set the tone for an uncompetitive opening part of the season.

Massa’s  teammate Fernando Alonso meanwhile was not present at Jerez, with much speculation surrounding the reason for the two-time champion’s absence. The official reason cited was Alonso’s desire to do more fitness training before getting back behind the wheel of an F1 car.

The second fastest time of the test was set by Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen, whose time of 1m18.148s made him the quickest driver on the final day of the test, albeit nearly three tenths shy of Massa’s time. Romain Grosjean underlined the new Lotus machine’s potential by topping the timesheets on the second day of the test with a 1m18.218s.

Jenson Button’s time of 1m18.861s was the fastest on the opening day of the test, despite the new McLaren suffering fuel pump failure that morning, with Sergio Perez enjoying a fairly low-key maiden outing for the Woking-based team with a best time of 1m18.944s on the final day.

Lewis Hamilton’s first run with his new employer Mercedes was interrupted by a crash caused by brake failure. Recovering from this setback, the Brit set a best time of 1m18.905s on the final day of the test. Reigning champion Sebastian Vettel’s fastest time, a 1m18.565, also came on the final day behind the wheel of the new-look Red Bull machine.

It’s important to note however that testing times are a fairly blunt instrument when it comes to assessing the relative competitiveness of new cars, as the times are affected significantly by the condition of the track as well as differing fuel loads and other set-up disparities.

The next pre-season F1 test begins on February 19 at Barcelona.

Ogier driving the new VW Polo, pictured at the Monte Carlo Rally. Photo credits to Nico86

Ogier takes Volkswagen’s maiden WRC win

Sebastien Ogier secured the first WRC win for the new Volkswagen team in fine style in the second round of the championship in Sweden.

Ogier, who returned to the championship this year after spending 2012 developing the new Polo-based VW rally car, was in a class of his own on the first day of the event, picking up five of a possible eight stage wins and establishing a healthy cushion of 30 seconds over his nearest rival, Monte Carlo winner Sebastien Loeb (Citroen).

From that point onwards, Ogier was able to control the rally, easing off somewhat during the second day and allowing Loeb to close by around five seconds. The nine-time champion however had already written off his chances of victory and switched his attentions to protecting his second place from Ogier’s teammate, Jari-Matti Latvala.

Despite being just two seconds adrift of Loeb after the first day, Latvala struggled for pace during the second day and lost third position to Mads Ostberg (Ford). Though Ostberg had taken a stage win on the first day, he couldn’t keep pace with Ogier or Loeb during day two and was 30 seconds behind the latter as the final day began.

Ogier turned up the wick once more on the final day, ending the rally with an advantage of 41 seconds over Loeb, who lost time with an error on the second stage of the day. Victory in the points-paying ‘power stage’ gave Ogier a maximum score of 28 points and sees the Frenchman take the lead of the championship.

Behind Loeb, who will only be contesting a further two rounds of the championship and thus is not in contention for this year’s title, Ostberg held onto third position ahead of a rejuvenated Latvala, who missed out on the podium by just six seconds. A late crash by Evgeny Novikov (Ford), who was comfortably running fifth with three stages to go, handed the final top five position to teammate Thierry Neuville.

It was a rally to forget for Citroen’s main title challengers for the season, Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo. Hirvonen’s victory challenge was ended on the second stage of the rally when he rolled his DS3, costing him 25 minutes. Sordo meanwhile lost five minutes on the first day with a crash, and was set to finish eighth before another crash on the final day forced him to retire.

Points Standings after 2 Rounds: Ogier 46, Loeb 43, Ostberg 24, Sordo 15, Latvala 14.

The next round of the WRC is Rally Mexico, which begins on March 8.

Jamie Klein

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Top 10 Formula One drivers of 2012

Photo credits to CaterhamF1

It’s been a roller-coaster season for Formula One, one that makes up for the degree of domination enjoyed by Sebastian Vettel last season; with no fewer than eight different winners and twelve different visitors the podium, it came as little surprise to see the title showdown go down to the wire in Brazil. You could make a case for the majority of the drivers on the grid to be included on this list, but in the end I had to narrow it down to just ten:

10. Felipe Massa – Scuderia Ferrari (7^th in championship) – Re-entry

After an atrociously poor start that rapidly led to calls for his replacement, Massa raised his game considerably in the second half of the year. From Hungary onwards, the Brazilian scored points in every race, turning in particularly impressive drives once his seat was confirmed for 2013 – at Japan, where he scored his first podium in two years, Austin, rebounding brilliantly from the grid penalty brought about by the team, and, as ever, on home turf at Interlagos.

9. Pastor Maldonado – Williams F1 Team (15^th in championship) – New Entry

Arguably the surprise package of the season, Maldonado featured in Q3 no fewer than 12 times over the course of the season and out-qualified teammate Bruno Senna at every race bar two. The way he resisted the pressure of home favourite Alonso to take his maiden win at Catalunya was sublime, although costly errors at Melbourne, Valencia and Spa (to name a few) prevented Maldonado from finishing as high in the standings as he deserved to.

8. Nico Hulkenberg – Sahara Force India F1 Team (11^th in championship) – New Entry

After a somewhat steady start, Hulkenberg was able to gain a clear upper hand over his highly-rated teammate Paul Di Resta during the latter half of the year. After top-five finishes at Valencia and Spa, the young German never finished outside the top eight in the final six races apart from his early retirement at Abu Dhabi. Leading in the rain at Brazil was the highlight, even if Hulkenberg threw away a chance of a maiden podium finish with his collision with Lewis Hamilton.

7. Sergio Perez – Sauber F1 Team (10^th in championship) – New Entry

Armed with a competitive Sauber, Perez made an immediate impression and was heartbreakingly close to what could have been a momentous maiden win in tricky conditions at Malaysia. The Mexican proved that result was no fluke by backing it up with further podiums at Canada and Monza later in the year, earning himself a promotion to McLaren in the process. Perez did however occasionally reveal some rough edges that will need to be smoothed next year.

6. Mark Webber – Red Bull Racing (6^th in championship) – No Change

Things started well for Webber in 2012 as he adapted to the new rules better than teammate Sebastian Vettel, paving the way for victories at both Monaco and Silverstone. A period of frustration nevertheless followed as a poor run of form stretching from Hockenheim to Singapore curtailed any title ambitions he may have been harbouring. Once the car became the class of the field for the final part of the season, he was unable to match a re-invigorated Vettel.

5. Jenson Button – Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (5^th in championship) – Down 3

Though Button’s Melbourne victory boded well for an assault on the championship, it proved to be a false dawn as the 2011 runner-up endured a fallow period from Bahrain to Silverstone which obliterated his title hopes. His remaining wins at Spa and Sao Paulo weren’t attained without superb driving, but on the same token Button managed to by and large avoid the misfortune that blighted Hamilton’s campaign – the meagre difference between the respective points tallies of the McLaren teammates masks the degree to which Button was outperformed.

4. Kimi Raikkonen – Lotus F1 Team (3^rd in championship) – Re-entry

Making the best use of a competitive Lotus machine, a close second place at Bahrain let the world know in no uncertain terms that Raikkonen was back after two years on the sidelines. Establishing a virtually unrivalled level of consistency, the ‘Iceman’ scooped an additional five podiums in the next eight races, and finally bagged that elusive win with an emphatic drive at Abu Dhabi, albeit aided by the demise of Hamilton. Raikkonen also succeeded in seeing off the threat of his fast but error-prone teammate Romain Grosjean.

3. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull Racing (World Champion) – Down 2

It took Vettel longer than expected to adapt to the new 2012 regulations, and with the exceptions of his Bahrain victory and at Valencia, where he surely would’ve won without alternator failure, the flourish of his 2011 campaign was noticeably lacking for much of the year. It was only from Singapore onwards that he really hit his stride, and his four successive wins, not to mention his incredible comeback from the pit-lane to third position at Abu Dhabi, were just sufficient to clinch a historic third straight championship.

2. Lewis Hamilton – Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (4^th in championship) – Up 2

While 2012 was probably the most consistent and error-free campaign put together by Hamilton yet, several blunders by McLaren and a depressing amount of misfortune meant that a championship challenge was never on the cards. His four wins at Canada, Hungary, Monza and Austin were all occasions when he was undoubtedly the class of the field, but he could have taken twice as many if bad luck hadn’t struck at Catalunya, Singapore, Abu Dhabi or at Brazil.

1. Fernando Alonso – Scuderia Ferrari (2^nd in championship) – Up 2

Alonso always extracted the very maximum from what was for the most part the third-fastest car in the field, reaching the podium positions 13 times throughout the season. The Spaniard’s win in the rain at Malaysia was masterful, his overtaking en route to victory at Valencia was a joy to behold and his Hockenheim triumph was equally hard-fought. If not for that rare error at the first corner of Suzuka, or perhaps Ferrari’s strategic mistake at Canada, we would be lauding one of the greatest and unlikely title triumphs that the sport has ever seen.

Jamie Klein

Vettel claims third title as Button wins in Brazil

Photo thanks to iragazzidiredbull

Sebastian Vettel secured a third successive world title in dramatic style amid changing weather conditions in a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix. A collision between Nico Hulkenberg and Lewis Hamilton handed Jenson Button a third win of the season, with Fernando Alonso slotting into second. However, with Vettel lying in sixth position despite first lap contact that demoted him to the back of the pack, there was nothing Alonso could do to prevent the German becoming the sport’s youngest ever triple champion.

As the lights went out at the start, Hamilton led away from pole position, whilst Felipe Massa made a great start from fifth on the grid to take third behind Button. Behind, Alonso made a good getaway from seventh to move into fourth ahead of Mark Webber, with Vettel already down from fourth to seventh at the first corner after being passed by the Ferrari pair as well as Hulkenberg’s Force India.

The pack navigated the first sequence of corners without incident, but drama struck at turn 4. Vettel took a wide line into the corner and was collected by Bruno Senna (Williams), who attempted to dive up the inside. Whilst the points leader pirouetted as a result, dropping to the very rear of the field, Senna was eliminated on the spot along with a hapless Sergio Perez in his final outing for Sauber.

Back at the front, Hamilton continued to lead from McLaren teammate Button. Webber, who had found his way back past Alonso, was attempting to line-up Massa at the first corner of the second lap, but Alonso took advantage of the double slipstream to execute an audacious move around the outside of both drivers and seize third.

The slippery track surface caught out Alonso at the start of the fifth lap, who ran wide at the first corner and dropped to fourth behind Hulkenberg, whose impressive pace had already allowed him to dispatch Webber and Massa. All the while, the two McLaren teammates were busy debating the lead, with Button getting the better of Hamilton at the first corner on lap 8.

As light rain began to fall, Hamilton took the decision to switch to intermediate tyres on lap 10; Alonso and Vettel, by this stage back up to sixth after a tremendous comeback, followed shortly afterwards, the two title contenders erring on the side of caution in the treacherous conditions.

That transpired to be the wrong decision as the rain failed to last, allowing Button and Hulkenberg to stay out on slicks and accumulate a substantial lead over the rest of the field – as the track dried out, the rest of the field were forced to make a second stop to revert to slicks.

A fierce battle was meanwhile shaping up for the lead between Button and Hulkenberg, and on lap 19 the Force India swept past at the first corner to lead the first lap of his career.

On lap 23, the Safety Car was scrambled as debris from various earlier incidents was cleared, including a dramatic puncture for Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes. This allowed Hulkenberg and Button, who were now 50 seconds ahead of Hamilton in third, to change their tyres without relinquishing first and second places. Alonso was still in fourth, with Vettel now fifth.

Hamilton moved ahead of teammate Button into second on lap 31 and set about closing the gap to Hulkenberg. The Force India driver relinquished the lead to Hamilton with a half-spin on lap 48, but was in no mood to settle for second and piled the pressure on Hamilton once more.

On lap 55, as the pair approached lapped traffic, Hulkenberg dived up the inside of his adversary only to make contact which would put Hamilton out of the race.

Hulkenberg was able to continue in second behind Button, but by this stage the rain had returned with a venegance, prompting the whole field to switch to intermediate tyres.

With Hulkenberg dropping to fifth place after serving a drive-through penalty for causing the incident, Massa’s earlier stop catapulted him into second ahead of Alonso. Vettel was now seventh after losing substantial time in the pits due to the Red Bull mechanics failing to be ready for his stop.

That position would nonetheless be good enough to claim the title if Alonso failed to win. Although the Spaniard was able to catch and pass teammate Massa, there was nothing he or anybody could do about Button out front, who cruised to a third victory of the season.

A late crash shortly after the final corner by Paul Di Resta (Force India) ensured that the final two laps of the season were run behind the Safety Car, guaranteeing Vettel enough points to clinch his third consecutive world championship having already passed Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes for sixth.

Webber finished in fourth position ahead of Hulkenberg and Vettel, with seventh place going to Schumacher in his final race appearance. A late spin by Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) dropped him a place down to ninth behind Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso), while Kimi Raikkonen claimed the final point for Lotus in an incident-filled race for the Finn.

Final Points Standings after 20 Rounds: Vettel 281, Alonso 278, Raikkonen 207, Hamilton 190, Button 188, Webber 179.

Jamie Klein

Vettel romps to fourth straight win at India

Photo thanks to Infiniti Global

Sebastian Vettel took a comfortable fourth win in succession with another impeccable drive at the Indian Grand Prix. After pulling clear of Red Bull teammate Mark Webber, the reigning champion led every lap and took a significant stride towards this year’s championship. Fernando Alonso salvaged a second place finish ahead of Webber who suffered from KERS failure in the latter half of the race.

As the lights went out on Sunday, pole-sitter Vettel was able to fend off fellow front-row starter Webber through the first sequence of bends as Button made a superior start to McLaren teammate Hamilton from fourth on the grid to take third position.

Alonso was then able to slipstream his way past Hamilton along the long back straight on the first lap to move into fourth place before making an easy DRS-assisted pass at the same place on Button on the fourth lap to take third. Hamilton passed his McLaren teammate in identical fashion a lap later, but was unable to keep pace with Alonso, who proceeded to catch Webber during the first stint.

After the pit-stop phase the gap between Alonso and Webber was down to less than a second. Webber was able to ease away from Alonso once more at the start of the second stint, but before long the Red Bull began to lose time due to a suspected KERS failure. Alonso duly closed in on his adversary, and was finally able to wrest second position away from Webber along the back straight with the help of DRS.

Alonso was unable to make any significant inroads on the imperious Vettel however, and the reigning champion cruised to a fifth win of the season by a margin of just under ten seconds. Second position was nonetheless a strong return for Alonso having qualified fifth in an event where the Ferrari was clearly not up to the task of challenging Red Bull; the erstwhile championship leader now sits 13 points behind Vettel with 75 left to play for.

Webber’s travails appeared to leave him vulnerable to an attack from Hamilton, but the former was just able to hold off the latter as the McLaren’s pace faded towards the end of the race. Fifth place went to Button, who enjoyed a fairly uneventful race after being overtaken early on. Felipe Massa in the second Ferrari was able to keep Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus in his wake for nearly the entire race, claiming sixth in another solid outing ahead of the frustrated Finn.

It was another fine performance from Nico Hulkenberg, who secured a creditable eighth place finish for Force India on ‘home’ ground ahead of Romain Grosjean in the second Lotus. The final point went the way of Bruno Senna for Williams, thanks in no small part to several well-executed passes by the Brazilian.

It was a disappointing race for the Mercedes team – Nico Rosberg finished eleventh behind Senna, while Michael Schumacher in the sister car had a dismal afternoon after sustaining a right-rear puncture having been clipped by Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) at the first corner of the race. Sergio Perez (Sauber) and Pastor Maldonado (Williams) were also both denied the chance to score points thanks to punctures caused by contact with Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso) and Kamui Kobayashi (Sauber) respectively.

Points Standings after 17 Rounds: Vettel 240, Alonso 227, Raikkonen 173, Webber 167, Hamilton 165, Button 141

The next round of the F1 Championship is the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit on November 4.

Jamie Klein

Vettel closes on Alonso with victory in Japan

Photo thanks to Gil Abrantes

Sebastian Vettel became the first back-to-back race winner of 2012 in an imperious display at the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka. Starting from pole position, the German led throughout and is now just four points behind points leader Fernando Alonso as the Ferrari driver retired at the first corner of the race. Felipe Massa took advantage of the situation to claim his first podium in two years, whilst Kamui Kobayashi made it race to remember for the crowd by claiming an excellent third place on home soil.

Vettel made the perfect getaway from pole position, with Kobayashi getting a great launch from third on the grid to slot into second place behind the Red Bull. Mark Webber was conversely somewhat slower off the mark from second, which would end up proving costly – Romain Grosjean was right behind the Australian as the pack headed through the first corner, and the Lotus driver failed to slow sufficiently to prevent himself shunting Webber into a spin.

Almost simultaneously, Alonso was also in peril. The Spaniard was stuck between the cars of Kimi Raikkonen and the fast-starting Jenson Button heading into the first corner, and moved across on the former. Contact was made between the rear tyre of Alonso and Raikkonen’s front wing, immediately leading to a puncture and a terminal trip into the gravel trap for the championship leader.

With Bruno Senna and Nico Rosberg also coming to blows amid the chaos further down the order, the Safety Car was deployed. Behind Vettel and Kobayashi, Button had ploughed his way through to third place ahead of Massa, who ostensibly followed the trail blazed by the leading McLaren. Fifth was Raikkonen, whose pace appeared not to be too severely compromised by the contact with Alonso.

As the race got underway once more, Vettel wasted no time in stretching his lead over Kobayashi and it soon became apparent that nobody was likely to deny the reigning champion a third win of the season. A later first pit-stop by Massa meanwhile allowed him to jump ahead of both Kobayashi and Button into second place as the pair lost time in traffic after their respective stops.

Vettel ultimately took the chequered flag with 20 seconds in hand from Massa, who took his first podium finish in two years and therefore looks to have assured himself of at least one more season with Ferrari. With the passionate home fans firmly behind him, Kobayashi responded to a late challenge from Button brilliantly, delivering his first ever podium finish and only the third ever for a Japanese driver in F1. Much like Massa, such a result may be instrumental in Kobayashi securing a fresh contract to remain at Sauber.

Button and Hamilton, who recently announced a shock move to the Mercedes team for next season, finished fourth and fifth respectively, scoring the McLaren team a solid haul of points on a day where they lacked the pace to challenge Red Bull. Hamilton in particular enjoyed a couple of good wheel-to-wheel battles with Raikkonen and Sergio Perez during the race, with the latter ending his race in ignominious fashion as he spun into a gravel trap whilst battling Hamilton – whom he’ll replace at McLaren next season – for sixth place.

Raikkonen therefore was able to take sixth, ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg and Williams driver Pastor Maldonado, who took his first points since his win at the Spanish Grand Prix five months ago. Webber used the pace of the Red Bull to recover from his early mishap and salvage ninth place, whilst Daniel Ricciardo fought off Michael Schumacher (who announced his impending retirement from the sport last week having been replaced at Mercedes by Hamilton), during the dying stages for another well-earned point for Toro Rosso.

Points standings after 15 Rounds: Alonso 194, Vettel 190, Raikkonen 157, Hamilton 152, Webber 134, Button 131.

Jamie Klein

Vettel victorious as Hamilton retires in Singapore

Photo credits to Dhonsky357

Sebastian Vettel took full advantage of a gearbox failure for Lewis Hamilton to take his second victory of the season in Singapore. Starting from pole position, Hamilton drove a near-flawless race and looked set to be able to keep Vettel at bay until his McLaren gave up the ghost just shy of half-distance. This handed Vettel the initiative, the German taking the win fairly comfortably from Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, who sees his championship lead marginally reduced.

Hamilton, who had secured pole position on Saturday by half a second from an on-form Pastor Maldonado, made a fine getaway at the start of the race, leading the pack through the first sequence of bends from Vettel, Button, Maldonado (who dropped two places) and Alonso. It was immediately apparent that Hamilton and Vettel were the quickest cars, and the pair quickly built up a buffer against Button in the opening stages.

The pair were separated by just a couple of seconds both before and after their first pit-stops, and the race looked to be a straight duel between the McLaren and Red Bull. That was until Hamilton’s unfortunate gearbox failure struck, which saw his McLaren coast to a halt and the Brit’s title aspirations recieve a severe dent.

Vettel now had the lead of the race, and although two safety car periods served to nullify his advantage over Button, the reigning champion never looked like relinquishing victory. Vettel is now very much back in the hunt for this year’s championship, sitting just 29 points behind Alonso with 150 still up for grabs.

On a day where he seemingly lacked the pace to rival either Hamilton or Vettel, second place was a fair return for Button – with only 23 points now separating the two McLarens in the points standings, the prospect of team orders to assist Hamilton’s title bid now seem as remote as ever.

The first safety car period was caused by Narain Karthikeyan coming to blows with the barriers – and this helped Alonso move ahead of Maldonado, with whom he had been battling prior, as the Williams driver made an additional stop where the Ferrari did not. That ultimately mattered little however as Maldonado was forced to retire with hydraulic issues shortly afterwards anyway.

The safety car periods (the second of which was caused by Michael Schumacher violently rear-ending Jean-Eric Vergne’s car whilst dicing for position shortly after the first restart) brought Force India driver Paul Di Resta, who had qualified sixth, in contention for a podium, but Alonso was able to hang on to secure third with the Scot taking his best ever F1 finish with fourth place.

Fifth place went to Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg narrowly ahead of Kimi Raikkonen who made good progress from a lowly grid slot of 12^th. His teammate Romain Grosjean, back after his one-race ban, drove a sensible race to seventh place, dutifully allowing his faster teammate past late in the race.

Felipe Massa had a decidely more eventful afternoon, dropping to last after suffering a first-lap puncture before making good use of the safety cars to claw his way back up to eighth place – spectacularly overtaking compatriot Bruno Senna whilst sideways en route to doing so.

Toro Rosso’s Daniel Ricciardo kept out of trouble and fended off fellow Australian Mark Webber for ninth place, whose strategy was ruined by the safety car’s appearances. The Red Bull driver however wouldn’t get to keep the one point for finishing tenth, as he was penalised after the race for having been deemed to overtake Kamui Kobayashi illegally. That handed the final point to the other Sauber of Sergio Perez, who also had his strategy severely compromised by the safety car.

Points Standings after 14 Races: Alonso 194, Vettel 165, Raikkonen 149, Hamilton 142, Webber 132, Button 119.

Jamie Klein

Button unstoppable at Spa

Photo credits to xn44

Jenson Button dominated the Belgian Grand Prix, taking a lights-to-flag victory in impressive style following an emphatic pole position on Saturday. Sebastian Vettel secured a second place finish to severely dent the points lead of Fernando Alonso, who – along with Lewis Hamilton – was eliminated in a terrifying pile-up at the very first corner of the race.

The incident was caused by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean, who made a good getaway and moved across on Hamilton. The McLaren driver stood his ground and the two collided, leading to Grosjean’s car being violently launched into the air and into the two Saubers of Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi as well as Alonso as the pack headed towards the first corner.

The Japanese driver continued, with the remaining four drivers out of the race but fortunately unhurt. The voluminous amount of debris spewed over the circuit necessitated an appearance from the Safety Car, whilst Grosjean later recieved a one-race ban, which he will serve this weekend at Monza, for causing the frightening shunt.

All the carnage meant that Button was now leading from Raikkonen, the Force Indias of Nico Hulkenberg and Paul Di Resta and Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes. Once the race resumed, Button escaped from the field and was never challenged, executing a one-stop strategy to perfection en route to the 14^th victory of his career.

Hulkenberg and Schumacher both passed Raikkonen early on with the Lotus struggling for pace initially, while Di Resta began to slip down the order. Raikkonen was able to re-gain the position once he pitted for a change of tyres, but he, along with Hulkenberg and Schumacher, would have to stop twice during the race.

That allowed Vettel, who was on a one-stop strategy, to claim a distant second behind Button. After being severely delayed by the early chaos, some bold early overtaking moves combined with the additional stops by his rivals allowed him to make up the lost ground and trim Alonso’s points lead from 40 to 24.

Raikkonen, after a thrilling battle with the yet-to-stop Schumacher, was able to put the final podium position beyond the reach of the competition, keeping his title hopes alive with third place. Hulkenberg claimed a career-best finish with fourth place, thereby boosting his chances of a potential promotion to Mercedes or Ferrari next season.

Mark Webber had a frustrating race, as he also lost positions amid the early chaos and struggled for pace compared to Red Bull teammate Vettel. He ultimately finished sixth behind Felipe Massa’s Ferrari, and ahead of Schumacher whose late final stop dropped him to seventh place on his 300^th Grand Prix weekend.

Next up were the Toro Rosso pair of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo, who secured their team’s first haul of points since Malaysia, with Di Resta unable to finish higher than tenth owing to a KERS failure. Nico Rosberg endured a nightmare weekend, failing to make a one-stop strategy work from the back row of the grid, and was eventually forced to pit his Mercedes a second time en route to eleventh.

A one-stop strategy saw Bruno Senna climb up to eighth with a handful of laps to go, but the Brazilian began giving away chunks of time with severely worn rubber and was swallowed up by both Toro Rossos, Di Resta and Rosberg before limping across the line in twelfth.

His Williams teammate Pastor Maldonado meanwhile failed to finish after an early collision with Timo Glock, having already jumped the start and sustained damage at the first corner. The Venezuelan will drop 10 places on the grid next time out for both indiscretions.

Kobayashi eventually came home in thirteenth place in spite of the first corner antics leaving a gaping hole in his Sauber’s sidepod. The Swiss team were left to ponder what might have been following a sparkling qualifying performance that saw Kobayashi start from the front row, alongside Button, and Perez line up in fourth.

Points Standings after 12 Rounds: Alonso 164, Vettel 140, Webber 132, Raikkonen 131, Hamilton 117, Button 101.