Tough luck!

Justin:

Teammate battles are becoming very intriguing this year, more so than any season that I can recall in recent times. Three battles in particular are proving the most interesting to me thus far...

Mercedes
Hamilton is seemingly burying Rosberg at the moment, with three wins on the spin. Bahrain was amazing in terms of these two dueling for the lead for the entire race. In China Hamilton was utterly dominant where Rosberg never really got going. Nico had all sorts of technical problems on the grid and it was a great recovery drive to limit the points loss damage to Lewis. Three poles so far for Lewis, three wins from four. It will be interesting to see how Rosberg does in Spain and whether he can cease the runaway express that is an on-song Hamilton.

Ferrari
The one driver lineup that everyone thought was going to explode first hasn't, and doesnt really show any signs of doing so. Kimi is uncomfortable with the car and is generally struggling at the moment. Alonso drove the car off it's wheels in China to a great third place. The true all time greats find ways of adapting their driving to get the best out of a not so great car or a car that is not to their liking. Alonso does this - see 2012 as just one example. Drivers such as Kimi and JB are awesome on their day when the car is just right. If it's slightly off, then usually so are they. We'll see what happens when Kimi comes back.

Red Bull
That's twice in four races now that Red Bull have asked Vettel to move aside for Ricciardo. Oh dear. Ricciardo is blowing Vettel away a bit at the moment. He is getting on better with car whilst Vettel struggles to adapt to the new regulations. Vettel has gone on record as saying that yep, Daniel is doing a better job, plain and simple. How does that really sit with a four time world champion? Not well I'd expect. We've already had a flash of that Vettel petulance on the radio...."Daniel is behind you, he stopped later.."......"Tough luck!". A flash of that thinking that says he is bigger than the team once again.

I think this situation will explode soon if Vettel doesnt start putting the new guy firmly in his place.

Alonso made a remark at the end of last year that if when Vettel has an average car, same as the rest, or a car he doesnt get on with very well....if he comes 5th, 7th, 8th, then these four world titles are even worse news for Vettel and how people view him.

He was king of the exhaust-blown era, but that is all gone now. Can he adapt? Is he a true all-time great?


It's not just these three....Williams....Massa Vs Bottas.....Force India...Hulk vs Perez....it's kicking off all over the grid this year and I love it!!

Now...where was I?

Justin:

Two rounds gone, two wins for Mercedes. It seems the rumours were bang on the money before the season started. Mercedes have gotten themselves a huge gap and the title race will seemingly be fought between Nico and Lewis.

F1 2014
Is a new beast. It is an engine formula now, with aerodynamics taking a backseat. Mercedes have the best engine by far, hence even if the Red Bull is the fastest car in certain corners and is more aerodynamically efficient etc, the Mercedes engine still has more grunt. With horsepower to spare and the Renault engines having serious reliability issues, I find it difficult to see where another winner will come from at least until we get back to Europe or a wet race before then.

Ferrari
Pains me to say it, but the Ferrari does not look that fast. Alonso pretty much started 4th and finished 4th in both races, making no notable superfast overtakes aside from on Hulkenberg at the end of Malaysia (Hulk's tyres were shot to pieces). It's easier to make a fast car reliable, than to make a reliable car fast. The Ferrari is reliable, but looks to be the third fastest car behind Mercedes and Red Bull...at best.

Domination - Nico vs Lewis
It's early days, but you'd be silly not to put fair cash on either of the Mercedes drivers being champion in 2014. At least there are two people dominating right now, as opposed to just Vettel in the second half of 2013 - though I must say the Malaysian race was pretty boring!!

I am still going with my instinct and sticking with Nico for the title. People are saying Hamilton thrashed him at Sepang and that Nico wouldnt have won had Lewis not retired in Oz. Well, the latter we'll never know. The former - Nico seemed happy enough with second in Sepang. Just like JB accepted when he was at McLaren with Lewis, there will be days when Lewis absolutely knocks you out of the park. It's what you do on the days he doesnt that matters. Over a season, I think it's going to be a very close run thing between these two.

Felipe - Valtteri is faster than you
I sympathise with Massa here. Surely Williams will understand where he was coming from on ignoring team orders.

Hulkenberg
How has this guy not go a top drive? He was awesome in Malaysia.

New sound
I still miss the V8 roar, especially when they are on the grid starting the race. But, you can hear the fans cheering, the tyres screeching and the engine sound is quite different engine to engine and it's nice and deep...rich.

Next round....Bahrain. Let's hope Mark Webber avoids Nigel Mansell impressions in future.

3 minutes 10...hehehe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26798524

Schumi and Senna
No news on Schumi unfortunately.

It's 20 years in May since the passing of the great Aryton Senna. Two giants of the sport.

Here is a very cool twenty year anniversary edition of Senna's helmet, designed by the son of the guy who used to design Senna's helmets.

2014 preview

Justin:

Just 71 days, 9 hours and 11 minutes until P1 in Australia.

Of course before this preview gets going, I should mention Michael Shumacher. As many people have pointed out, if anyone was in a position where fighting spirit and steel determination was needed, he'd be top of the list. Get well soon Michael.

Red Bull
With Webber having departed, Daniel Ricciardo steps into the role of Aussie Number Two. Course, Red Bull say there are no clear orders regarding number one drivers, but we all know it's Vettel's house - his 4 world titles give him this as well as protection from the RB powers that be when things go wrong - see Malaysia 2013! Ricciardo is quick. Whilst I don't think he'll beat Vettel over a season, there might be one or two times where Vettel throws his toys out of the pram when Ricciardo might trump him in qualy. Team dynamics are key and it will be interesting to see how each party reacts when this happens. I expect Vettel to be in the title hunt and RB will be up there with Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Lotus.

Mercedes
Rosberg and Hamilton were evenly matched in 2013. Lewis will have more of an input on the car this time around so expect to see a faster, more settled Lewis in 2014. Rosberg will undoubtedly raise his game to meet this challenge. If, as people predict, Mercedes build the best power train, then expect both drivers to be real title contenders. The only weaknesses with Mercedes could be tyre wear (they have had this issue since 2010/11) and the reshuffle at the top - with Brawn out they have a technical director and a commercial director. Will be interesting to see who takes blame for stuff when it goes tits up.

Ferrari
Fire and Ice. This is the team where it could all go spectacularly wrong. If they don't produce a winning car (quite likely given the shit they have churned out the last few years), then expect Alonso to wring it's neck and get more out of it than Kimi over the course of a season. Kimi was allegedly brought in to keep Alonso honest in qualy - but as Alonso pointed out, Massa was just as quick as Kimi over their years as teammates. If Ferrari give both guys a winning car - then, well, how it all plays out is anyones guess. The politics at Ferrari are huge. Kimi more or less doesnt get involved in all this so I think it will all be down to how each guy reacts when soundly beaten by the other. Then again, these two may push each other towards the constructors and drivers titles, who knows.

McLaren
This is the year that JB could be made to look a little stupid by a fast rookie. It also has the potential to be the year when JB drives a sublime car to his second world title. If the car is awesome, JB will crush Magnuessen. As a team they must bounce back after 2013 was their worst season for 30 years!

Lotus
Maldonado is still a wild, unpredictable driver. He did win a race when the Williams was good, but I don't expect much from him at Lotus. They should have gotten The Hulk. Grosjean will go onwards and upwards from 2013 and lead this team with style I believe. I wouldnt be surprised, if the car is good, to see Grosjean take his first F1 win in 2014.

Williams
Regulation changes may help them move forwards. Bottas is a very quick guy and with Massa in it for three years I expect much progress from this legendary team in 2014.

Force India
Perez and Hulk is a great combination on paper. Whilst it was the best available seat for Hulk after Lotus declined his services, I am unsure why he has signed a multiyear contract - what if a big team comes calling, which it surely will. With Perez around, I'm half expecting these two to be shunting each other off a fair bit.

Sauber
If they can produce a good car as in 2013, expect Sutil to lead them to many points finishes.

Torro Rosso
Their car was pretty useful in 2013. If they can do the same again I reckon they'll get a fair few points finishes. JEV will be looking to prove the Red Bull people wrong by hiring Ricciardo over him.

Marussia and Caterham
The regulation changes represent the best chance of jumping up the grid a bit for these two eternal backmarker teams.

I have a funny feeling that the two Mercedes drivers will be heavily involved in the drivers title race. There are bound to be others for sure - Vettel and Alonso, but Mercedes seem to be making a lot of good noises thus far and the big rumour is that their power train is pretty awesome and ahead of the game. They need to sort bloody tyre wear and sort off-track issues asap.

To sum up...2010 was a better F1 season than 2013!!!!!

Justin:

I decided to watch my 2010 F1 Review DVD this weekend. Thought, given how boring the second half of this year has been, I'd like to watch some vintage F1. OK, recent vintage, but vintage none the less.

2010 was the year when Webber made his....Mark....gettit, by winning in Monaco and at Silverstone, amongst a couple of others. We had teammates fighting all over the shop with Jenson unsettling Lewis by winning two of the first four races for his new team. We had Webber and Vettel literally driving each other off the road as well as swapping front wings etc. Ferrari binned the "no team orders" rule by cunningly disguising their order to Massa to make way for Alonso. Good one...Rob Smedley didn't beat around the bush there!

5 guys going for the world title - you could probably take that down to four after the brilliant GP at Spa which saw "The Crash Kid" Vettel lose control of his car and nerf Button out (of the race and title contention).

4 guys going into the last race with a mathmatical chance of the title. A truly great season.

Back to 2013.

Will I even bother watching the next race? The only reason I watched the last one was a Webber pole and the hope he may produce a last victory before retirement.

I recently put to my co-blogger that a leading candidate for driver of the year has to be Romain Grosjean.

OK, there are others who are deserving of such a brilliant award given by me.

Sutil, who has made DiResta look stupid at various times through 2013, especially the first race in Australia when after a year out, he was amongst the leading cars for a good while.

Rosberg - you would easily say he has more than held his own against Hamilton. There was a big hoohaa about JB going to Mclaren to join Lewis. OK, qualifying forget about it, but over the course of three years in terms of wins and points JB and Lewis were more or less equal. Rosberg looks just as fast as Lewis frankly, over one lap and the race, where Lewis has a lot more problems looking after his tyres. Rosberg has been best of the rest (outside the Red Bulls) for the last couple of races now.

Hulkenberg. Has driven some stonking races this year, often keeping much quicker cars behind him for long periods. A great racer and future champion surely.

Alonso? Look at the drivers championship. He is still second. The Ferrari, you could say is probably the 4th outright quickest car after Red Bull, Mercedes and Lotus.

I'm naming Grosjean as my driver of the year though. From the worst season in anyones career for a long time in 2012, crashing into anybody and everybody on more than a few occasions, to being a consistent podium finisher from race to race now - that's a terrific turnaround and fair play to him for sorting himself out.

He has clearly become the lead driver for Lotus, and with Kimi leaving they are treating him as such - encouraging him to go get Kimi when he was just in front in a race.

Some may say that Grosjean's rise has coincided with Kimi signing for Ferrari and perhaps taking his foot off the gas, not being paid etc etc. Perhaps. But Grosjean has shown a real maturity in his driving this year, particularly the second half where he has become a serial podium offender and with the right car again, with Hulkenberg is a future world champion surely.

Team leader at Lotus next year is Grosjean. I am excited to see how he copes and how he does.

Roll on 2014 F1. This second half of the year has been dull!!!!!!!!!!! If we all know who will win before it starts, why watch? I am asking myself more and more at the moment.

Seven agree/ disagree replies..

Justin:

What have you been doing?

1. Steady on. Don't go making broad, sweeping remarks. Did you see the race in Singapore? And a few before that one?! Yes, we had excitement with the battle for 4th down and plenty of shenanigans through the field, but the race winner was never in doubt.

I'm struggling more and more to get excited about races where we all know who the winner will be before the start. I switched off for a few races in the Schumi years, where he dominated and pissed all over the rules (Vettel has really earned my utter hatred this year - Mr bigger than the team twat), engineering results of races on the finish line etc etc, parking so competitors could not complete pole laps etc etc. For me, I'd much rather see 5/6 guys fighting over first, all in the title race. I actually agree with Lewis for once. He and Fernando are much better than being relegated to fighting for 5th.

Dogfight. World Champions. At the front. All of them. Go. Next year.

Rule changes cannot come soon enough for me.

I'm almost at the stage where I won't do my yearly ritual of rising early for Japan. Whats the point?

This decade...the even years provide us with vintage years...perhaps the best ever in F1. 2010 and 2012 were awesome. I'd even say 2011 was better than this year. At least 2011 gave us the most epic race ever. Canada...slightly damp.

So, my only hope is that 2014 follows 10 and 12.

2. I concur. The Hulk is bloody awesome.

3. I concur. Though, if I was the Lotus boss, I wouldnt say "hold station and bring the points home". Lotus have let it be know they are hurt by Kimi leaving, so fuck him I say. As DC said, Kimi is leaving, this is them giving Romain the confidence to be team leader. Besides which, over the second half of the season the Frenchman has been utterly superior to Kimi.

4. Alonso has stated he'd love to see Mark go out with a win before the end of the year. He said Mark announces his retirement then has all this bad luck. Hows this? Webber wins in Brazil with Alonso joining him on the podium? That would be beautiful.

5. They'd need the bleep sound a lot more if I was commentating.

6. Indeed.

7. Bet he plays with it in private too. Nudge nudge wink wink.

PS....

8. Neither of us has done an official review of Rush yet. I will do this over the weekend.

9. Fact. Niki Lauda is without doubt the most double hard, courageous man with balls the size of melons ever to race in F1. Fact.

a) Because he came back after his near-death crash 6 weeks later and finished 4th.
b) Even more so because he pitted after a lap in Japan 76.

Seven things we learned on Sunday

Phil: Yes. Don't ask what I've been doing. Anyway...

1. Formula 1 is less boring than we thought. In the first half of Sunday's race in Korea, we had Sebastian Vettel pulling out two seconds in the first lap, everyone pitting within a lap or two of each other, and, er that was pretty much it. In the second half, we had overtaking, not overtaking, overtaking back, sparks, tyre delaminations and rogue safety cars. No change at the front, but at least the rest of the pack kept us guessing.

2. Nico Hulkenberg is a world champion waiting for the right car. In these days of DRS when it's all about overtaking, keeping a faster car behind you has become something of a lost art. Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes should have dispatched Hulkenberg's Sauber in a lap or two after the second safety car incident, but despite a much faster car, DRS and a world championship under his belt all he could do was ask the pit for suggestions.

3. Romain Grosjean is Lotus' man for 2014. After Kimi had mugged Grosjean of his second place you'd have expected Lotus to tell both cars to keep station and protect their two podium places and valuable points for the constructors' championship. Not so, and Eric Boullier not only reminded Grosjean that he should feel free to race Kimi for second but chose to do so in English when both are native speakers of French. In other words, he wanted the whole world, including Kimi, to know who he's backing.

4. Mark Webber really is the unluckiest man in Formula 1. While one half of the Red Bull garage has enjoyed seemingly effortless victories in the last four races, the other half has struggled somewhat. Mark seemed to be making good progress in Singapore when his pit told him to back off a bit. Not enough, unfortunately, as his engine blew up with half a lap left. His mate Fernando Alonso stopped to give him a lift back to the pit lane - a sporting gesture some would way, but not the Singapore stewards who slapped him with a 10 place grid penalty for this week's outing in Korea. So it was that despite having qualified towards the front of the grid Mark was leaving the pit lane immediately behind Sergio Perez when a huge lockup by the Mexican caused a spectacular tyre delamination. Mark was right behind him and picked up a puncture of his own from the debris. While the pack formed up behind the safety car, Mark pitted, only to come out again a few places in front of Adrian Sutil. When Sutil lost it soon after the restart he struck Mark a glancing blow, which coincidentally severed a fuel pipe which set fire to the back end of his car, leaving one Red Bull in parc ferme under the podium and the other half burned out by the side of the track.

5. There is a bleep button in Formula 1. It just took a Lewis Hamilton toys out of the pram moment to find it. No longer can teams avoid giving away their pit stop strategies or their cars' mechanical ailments by giving their drivers messages like, 'Box this lap, fuckwit'.

6. Korean 4x4s are faster than we thought. Anyone reading this who has a Ssangyong or something like that sitting in their drive (which probably means they really wanted a Range Rover but couldn't afford one) can now tell their grandchildren of the day a car like theirs led a grand prix. Which by my reckoning actually puts them just ahead of Caterham in the constructors' championship.

7. Gavin plays with his organ in public. Fact.

Why people choose to boo Vettel - My theory

Justin:

It isn't because he is winning all the time and making things pretty dull ala the Schumi era circa 2001-2004. Oh no. I'll get to why in just a moment.

You have to say, this year is starting to feel like 2011 again (whereas 2010 and 12 were vintage seasons).

I sat watching the Singapore GP in Mallorca and thought "well that was dull, I could have been out in the sunshine". 3.4 seconds ahead after the first lap is just depressing. Brilliant, yes, but it doesnt make for a good GP to watch.

The title is gone for the year. Alonso, Hamilton....forget chasing him. He is out of sight lads.

There is no denying he is making the most of being in by far the most superior car. He is the best driver in the best car. It is rare that a world title is won by anything or anyone but that combination.

Massive regulation changes are coming for 2014, and as Alonso said, everyone starts from zero. It is the biggest chance everyone else will get to beat Red Bull and Vettel.

You read on forums and websites EVERYONE complaining that he should be respected, not jeered and heckled when on the podiums. Why? It's every F1 fans right to pick and choose who they cheer or boo. We are told F1 is a gentleman's sport and Vettel should be treated as one.

Again. Why? Surely he revoked all his gentleman privaliges when he pissed all over his own team, made himself bigger than the team, in Malaysia this year.

Schumacher put himself above the laws and everyone else by barging Hill and Villeneuve off so blatantly. By "parking" in Monaco and knowingly blocking Alonso's last flying lap. The list goes on.


If I was at a race, I'd boo Vettel for what he did in Malaysia.

Mark Webber is the most well liked guy in F1 at the moment. The same reason people boo Vettel on podiums is the same reason they all cheered his retirement at Silverstone. Webber is an adopted Brit, hugely popular at that. People didnt like one bit what transpired in Malaysia.

It's a permenant stain on Vettel's reputation I'm afraid. What annoys me further is he puts it down to the fact he is winning all the time. I'm sure if you polled the boo boys a large percentage of them would say the hatred stems from Malaysia.

It went beyond pure team order fiasco's of the past (ie Massa moving aside for Alonso in Germany in 2010 - the team ordered that, as Alonso was far ahead of Massa in the title race - ok thats when team orders were banned, but you get the idea - Ferrari gave an order and it was accepted).

If Mark Webber had so blatantly ignored an order and barged past Vettel, I'd imagine his punishment would have been far more severe than the telling off like a naughty schoolboy that Vettel received.

So, Vettel, thats why you get booed on Podiums. Deal with it. Don't cry.

Roll on 2014!