New Grand Prix Times article: F1 at Christmas and the New Year? It happened...

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Now that you're in the week between Christmas and New Year, perhaps having some downtime, stop for a moment to imagine that the final F1 race of the season was due to happen. And if that isn't enough of a mental shift then imagine also it is a title as well as that and it has been months since the penultimate round that set all of this up.

Well, this has happened. Once again F1's rich history has come up trumps with something that to the modern perspective seems unthinkable.

And in my latest article for Grand Prix Times I look back at these F1 races in the Christmas-New Year week, as well as to the more numerous occasions of when the F1 season started in double-quick time in January for the first race, and why all of this outwardly odd scheduling happened.

You can have a read here: http://www.grandprixtimes.com/news/display/11027

Long time, no GP

In the Hungaroring paddock weekend before last there was a definite end of term atmosphere. And with reason, after months of whirlwind activity the sport was off on its summer holidays - compete with bucket and spade and rubber ring. Possibly. Whatever was the case no one would have to think about FRIC, team orders or any other of the sport's uniquely esoteric matters until reconvening at Spa in late August.

The Hungarian race was the last we'll
see of F1 cars for a while
Photo: Octane Photography

The roughly month-long summer break is in itself a new thing, introduced in 2009, and gratefully received by a fraternity experiencing a calendar both growing (in 2003 and the years immediately preceding 16 or 17 races was the norm - now 19 or 20 is, and the 2003 season ended in mid October rather than late November) and featuring much more in the way of long haul travel (again back in 2003 but six rounds were outside Europe, now 10 are and indeed last year there was 12). Quite the unprecedented attack of generosity from Bernard Charles.

Thus we now are in a full four weeks with no F1. And the associated withdrawal. But it's a marginal improvement at least on this time last year when the Hungarian round was the only F1 meeting in a run of six weekends; which in turn was partially down to the summer break, partially down the New Jersey round being cancelled and not replaced, thus leaving the summer months more generally with a rather sparse look.

Further thoughts on the Hungarian Grand Prix

Title tilts
Way back in the aftermath of the Spanish Grand Prix in May I made the entirely foolhardy decision to try to predict the drivers who I thought would be title contenders this year. I went for Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen. And, unusually, I can pat myself on the back as if I was picking drivers now I'd again go for that four.

Fernando Alonso leads the way,
but who is likely to challenge?
Credit: Morio / CC

The inclusion of Alonso is a no-brainer. He sits 40 points clear at the table top and is driving beautifully. And even though his Ferrari is by no means the envy of the field, as outlined in this column last week several things count in his favour: that Alonso is always maximising things and finishing everywhere, and that the field remains tight and the likelihood is that others will take points off each other.

After the events of Hungary one could argue that Lewis Hamilton is Alonso's most credible rival. Following a mini-trough the McLaren has looked to be back on the money in the last two rounds. Lewis has a lot of ground to make up - 47 points - but with each win getting seven points back at least and with nine rounds remaining nothing is beyond the realms. And Lewis has been driving brilliantly all year.

Sebastian Vettel remains right in there also, even though just as with Hamilton there is a long way back to the table summit (in his case, 42 points). The car remains quick, Newey & co. will continue to push the boundaries to make it quicker, and Seb remains as competitive as always. And remember that this time last year after a period of relative struggle he came back from the summer break with a devastating run of form and victories, which definitively put the title beyond others' reach. The same again would suit him just fine.

Kimi Raikkonen also manages to hang in there in the vicinity of Lewis and Seb at least, mainly due to his consistency and ability to bring the car home in 2012 (he's finished everywhere and only in China did he fail to score). And in a race there are few, arguably no, cars as good as the Lotus, and as we saw in Hungary (and elsewhere) Kimi remains perfectly capable of taking advantage of it. Further, Eric Boullier reckons that once its double-DRS system is race-worthy Lotus will be in a position to win every time. There of course is likely to be a bit of blarney in there, but the confidence may tell us something. If nothing else a device that boosts the car in qualifying (which an enhanced DRS system will do) will target Lotus's overarching weakness in 2012. And remember where the next round is: Spa is very much Kimi country.

The most glaring omission from my selection (I hear you cry) is Mark Webber, who lest we forget remains in second place in the championship. However, I retain a hunch that over an entire season Vettel will ultimately emerge on top of the Red Bull intra-team battle. The list also omits Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. I wouldn't count either out for race wins in the year's remainder, but for the championship I believe both have ceded too much ground, not only on Alonso at the top but also on their respective team mates. I say this because on the days that they have a mechanical advantage their team mate will also, so overhauling someone in the same equipment to that extent will be doubly-difficult.

Breaking up is never easy

This weekend the F1 circus has a new venue, at the Korean International Circuit in Yeongam. But it turns out that the new facility for the inaugural Korean Grand Prix may if anything be too new. Anticipation of the race had for some months focussed prominently on whether there would be a race at all, with preparation of the track and facilities behind schedule.

Bernie admitted in the Guardian yesterday that until a few weeks ago cancellation of the event was a real possibility: 'Last month I didn’t think it would be finished. And it would have been cancelled then – for sure'.

However, things came together (Bernie's public 'hurry up' of Korea's preparations seemed to concentrate minds) and FIA race director Charlie Whiting approved the track 10 days before the first practice session is scheduled to start. This somewhat stretching the FIA's usual 90 day deadline for such an approval.

This hasn't done a great deal to calm nerves in certain quarters, particularly given that the final layer of track tarmac was laid on 9 October, but 13 days before F1 rubber hits the road. Some therefore doubt the extent to which the tarmac will have 'cured', and will therefore hold up to the rigours that 24 F1 cars (and support events) will impose upon it. Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld among others have aired their concerns publically, such as that the track may break up, as well as that oils used in the construction of the track may not have dissipated, both of which have the potential to make the surface treacherous.