European GP Report: No one can fight Seb's Bull in Valencia

Sebastian Vettel wins. Getting kind of used to typing that. I'd be annoyed if there wasn't so much to admire about the boy. Yes, Seb took the honours in the European Grand Prix in Valencia, making it his sixth win in eight rounds (and he came a close second in the other two). As for Seb's claiming of his second driver's championship this year, short of falling over getting out of the bath it's surely a case of when rather than whether.

Vettel was in command in Valencia

I got back from Valencia (had a good time, thanks for asking) to encounter lots of 'boring' talk about the race. I have to say I don't agree. Partly this is because I take the Murray Walker view that there's no such thing as a boring F1 race (only processional ones), but I also thought there was much to admire in Valencia last Sunday.

Most prominently was the performance of Seb. This was no grim clinging to the lead seen from him in Spain, Monaco and Canada. Vettel was in command in Valencia, and concocted the perfect mix of speed, composure and sympathy to his Pirellis. He once again scampered away from pole at the start, and was upwards of two seconds clear of team mate Webber in second place after three laps. From then on he went as fast as he dared, edging out his lead tenth by tenth while keeping his tyres in shape, and immediately responding to whatver brief challenge burgeoned behind him. And then in the final laps he showed what he could really do, shaving the walls and setting some fastest laps, and finished ten seconds up the road from Fernando Alonso, his nearest challenger. It's hardly news, but it's worth repeating the extent that Seb has the winning from the front thing down to a nicety. And all this at a track that (again) wasn't meant to suit the Red Bull, on a weekend that the new fangled ban on changing engine mapping between qualifying and the race was supposed to trip the Bulls up, and Seb was under some scrutiny after his last lap goof up in Canada. At this rate, not even the much-vaunted ban of off-throttle blown diffusers for Silverstone will cause the slightest hesitation in his or Red Bull's stride.

What's eating Lewis Hamilton?

The knives are out for Lewis Hamilton it seems. In Canada he squeezed two collisions with other cars in attempted passing moves, one terminal, and a further near miss, into a grand total of three racing laps. This might not have been so bad in itself, but it followed but a fortnight from Lewis's Monaco race, which included a further two controversial collisions as Lewis attempted to overtake a rival, as well as an extraordinary and frustrated verbal diatribe after the race. This in turn continued a series of slightly strange public comments from Lewis this year, in a season that started with Lewis insisting his head and off-track situation was now sorted.

Lewis Hamilton was in the wars again in Canada
Credit: ph-stop / CC

After the Canadian race there were many looking to stick the boot into Lewis. This was most egregiously so for Niki Lauda, who variously described Lewis as 'completely mad', and that the FIA should punish him as his driving will result in 'someone getting killed' (as an aside, with all respect due I think Lauda sometimes crosses the line between being outspoken and irreverent, and being a cheap, over the top, rent-a-quote). Stirling Moss was also critical.

Clearly not all is right in Lewis's world right now. But what?

Canadian GP Report: Wet a drive from Jenson

A few stats from Jenson Button's drive in Canada last Sunday. Number of pitstops: 5; number of drive-through penalties served: 1; number of laps in last place: 4 (laps 37-40); number of collisions with other cars: 3; number of punctures: 1; average speed: 46mph; place at the chequered flag: 1st.

Jenson Button's win in Canada was stunning
Credit: Alex Comerford / CC

No doubt had you written a drama script based on Jenson's afternoon in Canada it would have been thrown back at you by the producer with comments scrawled on it to the effect of 'unbelievebale' and 'outrageous'. Yet, it is exactly what happened, and the numbers tell the story of what an outlandish and stunning performance it was from the Englishman, as well as what a potty race it was in Canada. Without hyperbole, it will surely go down as an all-time classic.

It was very much a race of two halves for Jenson. His first half of the race was somewhat clumsy, and herein he ended the race of two other drivers (Hamilton and Alonso) in clashes. Both did have the whiff of the racing incident about them, but speaking personally I'd marginally attribute any blame for both to Jenson. His change of direction before the Hamilton collision looked a bit unnatural and robust to me, while in the Alonso contretemps Nando gave him just enough room and no more, and Jenson seemed to understeer off a kerb into him. These, and a few other things besides, served to put Jenson in last place just after half distance.

Explaining my mini-hiatus

You may have noticed that it's been almost two weeks since I posted anything new on this blog. Unfortunately my day job (yes, I have one) has been detaining me even more than normal in this time, hence my lack of activity on here.

What's more, I'm off to Le Mans this weekend, so there aren't likely to be any opportunities for me to post anything on here prior to next week. Normal service should resume then.

In the meantime, F1 will hopefully struggle on without my input (joke).

Monaco GP Report: A game for three players

To say Sebastian Vettel won the Monaco Grand Prix, while true, barely does the event justice. This was no Monaco procession, nor was it a stroll for Vettel of the sort we've seen more than once this season. It was a tight, exciting battle that ebbed and flowed. At no point was it clear who the winner would be. And for all of the various incidents up and down the field, as far as first place was concerned Monaco was a game for three players - Vettel, Alonso and Button. All performed magnificently.

Alonso and Button were magnificent in Monaco  Credit: Nick J Webb/CC

Vettel headed Jenson Button off the line from pole, and Fernando Alonso managed to shuffle ahead of Webber to claim third. From that point on no one else saw them. And on two separate occasions they put close to a lap on the fourth placed car only for a safety car to negate much of the gap. They finished in the order of Vettel first, Alonso second and Button third, but there were many adventures along the way.

In the opening laps Vettel disappeared off like a scalded cat, building a gap of around four seconds in the blinking of an eye, which Button then clawed back a little. But then a botched Red Bull stop for Vettel, seemingly down to a breakdown in communication, put Button ahead of Vettel after the first round of stops. Button, still on option tyres, then appeared to have the race in the palm of his hand. He put often upwards of a second a lap on the chasing Vettel, who, mistakenly having had primes put on in the confusion of his stop, struggled to stay in touch. However, this tyre mistake ended up giving Vettel the win.

Monaco Qually: Vettel ticks another box

Who or what can stop Sebastian Vettel in 2011? He's making a habit of proving doubters wrong, and of dashing any expectations (or hopes) of his preponderance being challenged.

This is exactly what happened in qualifying in Monaco today. Seb had claimed four out of five pole positions so far this season, but today was supposed to be different. The Red Bull wouldn't be able to stretch its legs around the tight Monaco track, and in any case Seb didn't have a great record in the Principality. But Seb did claim pole position today, and by close to half a second from the next challenger. We really should learn not to underestimate him.

Vettel is clearly a more rounded and formidable performer than even in his championship year last season. He's addressed many of the areas that were previously seen as relative weaknesses in his make-up, and he demonstrated today that he's now got Monaco licked. His race engineer Guillaume 'Rocky' Rocquelin exclaimed 'tick!' down the radio to Seb after pole was confirmed. Everyone knew exactly what he meant.

Monaco Preview: Street-fighting Alonso to tame the Bulls?

There are lots of reasons to dislike the Monaco Grand Prix. The wealth on show is ostentatious, the poseur occupants of the yachts in the harbour in all probability have little interest in the sport in the rest of the year, and modern day F1 cars have long since outgrown the circuit. Nelson Piquet famously likened driving an F1 car there to trying to ride a motor cycle in your front room. But even with all this, for most F1 fans there's nothing quite like the Monaco Grand Prix. And when you've got Monaco you've got F1.

Further, in terms of driving challenge and the ability of an individual driver to make a difference over and above their car, Monaco is probably unparalleled on the calendar. And it's for this reason that many believe that today's qualifying session may finally see the Red Bulls step down from their usual front row dominance.

Spanish GP Report: Vettel does it old school

Yet another great F1 race took place on Sunday in Spain. But rather than being a manic overtaking-fest as in previous races this year, at the front this was a more subtle, tight and tense battle in the old style. And no bad thing for that.

Lewis Hamilton performed brilliantly  Credit: Alex Comerford / CC

Not even the established annual Barcelona snooze-fest could stand in the way of the new, exciting Formula One. This was a race where many (me included) expected the Red Bulls to run and hide, but Lewis Hamilton performed a prodigy to harass Sebastian  

Vettel all the way to the flag, showing every intention of finding a way by. In the end he didn't quite manage it and Seb did win, which is his fourth win from five this year, but the performance of Lewis and McLaren at a circuit that was supposed to be Red Bull country bodes well for their future endeavours. And further down the field there was plenty of action as well, with no fewer than 90 overtakes in the race. Compare this with a grand total of two in the Barcelona race in 2009.

Sebastian Vettel won again, making it four wins from five races in 2011

But Seb drove a great race at Barcelona as well. A year older and with the assurance of winning a world championship, he's improved even from his title-winning performance of last year. The wins from the front were already being done to a nicety, but he appears to now be performing better in areas that were considered to be his weaknesses, and this was shown in Spain. He kept a cool head when led by Alonso early on, was clean and decisive overtaking traffic in the pit stop phase (passing three cars in a single lap at one point) and then utterly flawless when being stalked by Lewis in the latter stages (and without KERS). Seb continues to answer all of the questions posed to him in 2011.

Barcelona Qually: Bulls Fighting in Spain

Barcelona has proved to be Red Bull country. This wasn't particular unexpected in itself - the long rapid curves give such importance to aero advantage that they could have been designed by Adrian Newey himself. But even with that the advantage the Bulls have here has left their rivals gasping. Only Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso could get within a second of them in qualifying yesterday, and even then only just. The teams chasing them, fresh in Barcelona with a variety of upgrades, will hope this isn't the way of things at future rounds.

The only surprise at the front was that pole was claimed by Mark Webber, rather than by Sebastian Vettel, for the first time this season. It was perfect timing by Mark, it's a track he has gone well on historically, and if Seb and got one over on him here of all places yesterday it would have been very difficult to see him coming back. He was assisted by the fact that his KERS was working, and Seb's not (not for the first time year), but Mark's probably due a bit of luck.

Today's race will be fascinating. If Webber leads off the line then Vettel, unusually for 2011, will be out of his comfort zone, and it'll be fascinating to see how he'll react. There are lots of signs of a new maturity and calm in Vettel's armoury in 2011, and today may be a good chance for him to prove it. For as long as he's not at the front he won't be able to just react to those behind him strategy-wise, as he has done in most of the races this season. He will have DRS on his side, which will make things a lot easier. On this flipside, if the KERS glitch is still active then passing will be a bit more difficult.

A Formula transformed: Thoughts on F1 in 2011

An awful lot is different about Formula One in 2011. The various regulation changes effectively have brought in a new formula. Depending on who you spoke to in advance of the season start it was either going to prove as unnecessary and counter-productive tinkering, or a healthy means of improving the show from 2010's high level. Now, four races in and the European season having started last weekend, seems a good point to look back on how it’s all gone.

 

F1’s new formula seen in 2011 is certainly new. And what has been served up in a race on Sunday in 2011 is unrecognisable to recent previous years, and such a switch between seasons is barely precedented in the history of the sport. Even though 2010 was commonly accepted as a great season, it was hardly a secret that F1 had a conspicuous shortage of overtaking and had done for years. After much wrestling with the regulations over time, and many a false dawn, it appears that finally F1 has cracked the problem. And then some.

Webber and Alonso dice in the Turkish Grand Prix

Credit: Alex Comerford / CC

Finally, we have the F1 racing again. According to the Clip the Apex excellent historical overtaking analysis (you need a log in but it’s free – I highly recommend a look), the Turkish GP produced 126 passing manoeuvres. The previous record (since the start of 1982) was 79 overtakes in the 1983 Long Beach Grand Prix. Further, there has been an average of 74 passes per race in 2011, which compares to 28.8 last year and 14.4 in 2009. There’s already been more overtakes in 2011 in four races than there were in the whole of 2009. Indeed, by a distance there’s been more per race than in any year since these things were first analysed in 1982 (the previous highest annual average was 41.6 in 1984).