Button stays dry to win in Hungary

Lap 52, Button is inches behind as the two McLaren’s run nose to tail. He activates the DRS, applies a little bit of KERS and dives to the inside as they shoot down the start finish straight. Hamilton immediately sets about trying to get back past and does so immediately, passing into turn two as Jenson runs wide. At the end of the lap Hamilton pits for intermediates, it is the decision that puts Button on the path to victory.

'It is just perfect for my 200th Grand Prix'

Jenson Button triumphed in the Hungarian Grand Prix after a quite thrilling race, full of incident, wheel to wheel action and 88 pit stops. Despite being called into the pits as the rain fell late in the race for a change to intermediates, Button made the right call and stayed out on his prime tyres to take control.

The rain stopped as 24 raging Formula 1 cars lined up to take the start, Sebastian Vettel was starting from pole position and used it well as he shot down to the first corner, no one was anywhere near him into turn one.

The McLaren’s of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button diced into turn two. In the early laps it was extremely slippery, and Hamilton revels in such conditions. He was soon on to the back of the Red Bull, a few times trying to go round the outside into turn one, it looked very tight as his wheels just avoided the grass, Vettel again proving to be more than capable with his defensive driving.

But in these conditions it was almost inevitable that Lewis would be through sooner rather than later. He just had too much speed to resist although it was a slightl mistake going in to the second corner of lap 5 that cost him. Running wide Lewis was immediately past and started to pull away fast. Button closed on the Red Bull but was content to keep a watching brief in the early stages.

After being one of the early stoppers for dry tyres on lap 12, Button’s tyres were up to temperature and he was straight on the back of Vettel who stopped a lap later. Using the DRS he closed up and was parked under Vettel’s rear wing. Sweeping to the left Jenson was on the inside into turn two and Vettel had to accept the inevitable.

For the next 43 laps the McLaren’s circled, never more than 8 seconds apart. For all the world, it looked like Lewis Hamilton was going to cruise to his second successive win and fire a warning shot to Vettel as the season entered its summer break. Suddenly there were spots of water on his visor, and equally as suddenly he was facing the wrong way round after pirouetting on the kerb at turn seven.

Lewis could see the race disappearing, Button had never been far behind and was into the lead on lap 47 as Hamilton spun the car in the right direction again, almost collecting Paul di Resta in the Force India. Hamilton wasn’t going to let it go that easily, as the rain still fell he got back on to the tail of Button 4 laps later to take advantage as Jenson ran his McLaren wide, Hamilton was through.

Lap 52, Button is inches behind as the two McLaren’s run nose to tail. He activates the DRS, applies a little bit of KERS and dives to the inside as they shoot down the start finish straight. Hamilton immediately sets about trying to get back past and does so immediately, Button runs wide into turn two again and Hamilton is through. Button shadows his team mate to the end of the lap, but Hamilton pits for intermediates, it is the decision that puts Button on the path to victory.

The rain stops, the very next lap everyone still on dry tyres is five seconds quicker, anyone on intermediates has just ruined their race. Jenson tops the pack and he is untroubled by Vettel as the laps wind down.

Yet again Jenson Button demonstrates just how calm he is in mixed conditions, taking the time to judge everything to perfection, keeping his car in the right direction and being on the right tyres at the right time. It was ultimately his decision to stay out and it took him to glory, a great drive.

The other Sebastian

There is another Sebastian driving a Red Bull backed car, and he drove what must have been a fantastic race. The coverage didn’t show much of him apart from a good move to pass Kamui Kobayashi who had a train of cars behind him at one point.

Buemi started 23^rd after a grid penalty for knocking into Nick Heidfeld at the previous race, and charged through to a fantastic 8^th place. He’ll be especially pleased as he had been beaten by his Toro Rosso team mate Jaime Alguersuari in the last four races, and despite being confirmed for the rest of the season, he’ll be feeling the pressure as Daniel Ricciardo could well be installed at the team next season leaving only one seat available.

 Alguersuari still had a good race though, finishing up 10^th despite a half spin when he tried to follow Buemi through on Kobayashi. Instead he gave him a friendly tap but he passed him soon after. Another good drive by the Spaniard, but Buemi is giving him plenty of competition.

Hamilton’s eventful day and Vettel’s championship lead extended

Lewis Hamilton had an eventful day to finish 4^th. It was a race he looked to have in the bag. He had radio problems which he has blamed for the switch to intermediates. He was the quickest out there all day, but even without that doomed choice of tyre it was looking doubtful he’d be able to claim the win.

Between laps 40-42 all the front winners pitted. Both Red Bulls and Button went on to the harder prime tyre in the hope it would last to the end of the race. Hamilton and Fernando Alonso continued with the super soft. It was the wrong choice, as throughout the race the super soft was being chewed up and lasting barely 15 laps for most runners.

It was a possibility that with 10 or 15 laps to go, Hamilton would have pitted and charged through the field like only he can, but it would have been a minor miracle for it to work. Anyhow after the spin that let Button through, he’d nearly taken out Paul di Resta when correcting it. His manoeuvre was deemed dangerous and he suffered a drive through penalty which dropped him back. For so long he looked the winner, but today fate conspired to take it away and what would have been a good dent into Vettel’s championship lead.

Vettel had a good day after finishing second. He made a few decent passes particularly on Alonso, defended strongly and generally was right up there with the McLaren’s for most of the day. Despite not winning for the fourth time in five races he’s managed to extend his championship lead to 85 points, thats 3 wins and a 5^th place ahead.

 Vettel is in charge when it comes to the championship, but having said that Red Bull was again beaten on pace for the 3^rd successive race and the next two tracks in Belgium and Italy should suit his rivals. It’s just he’s got so many, they’re all taking points off each other.

The Others

I can’t help but feel Alonso had a missed opportunity today. He was blindingly fast in the opening laps, but dropped back through a couple of mistakes. He made up the ground, but if it hadn’t been for Hamilton’s penalty he wouldn’t have made the podium. He finished behind Vettel which isn’t good for the championship, but like I said, Ferrari are quick, in the next two races they need to capitalise on that.

Mark Webber was one who lost out due to a switch to intermediates which he was back into the pits to change only a few laps later. If it rained like the forecast was saying he’d have looked a hero, instead he looked a bit silly and ended up with 5^th after what had been a generally strong race.

Massa was 6^th after Michael Schumacher kindly spun his car round to avoid making contact with him. I’m sure Felipe was very grateful, but it was another race where he ended up ages behind his Ferrari team mate, and he didn’t look like he put up too much defence when Alonso passed him early in the race.

The other top 10 members not mentioned include Paul di Resta who was up there all afternoon to finish 7^th. He needed a decent race as he hasn’t scored a point since Malaysia, especially after the great result his team mate Adrian Sutil had in Germany. But while Sutil wasted a top 10 qualifying slot and faded away in the race, di Resta made a great start and was battling with the Mercedes for a long time, his avoidance of Hamilton also showed some pretty decent reactions.

Nico Rosberg ended up 9^th, again a few spots down on his qualifying, this time because he was another to get caught out with the intermediates in the latter stages of the race. He was great in the early wet laps, shooting up to fourth at the start with the other Mercedes of Schumacher just behind.

Rosberg managed to stay near the front a bit longer, but eventually he succumbed to Alonso and ran seventh when the track dried with di Resta catching him. Schumacher again set about catching Rosberg during the race once the conditions improved and again got caught in a spin and then gearbox failure. All in all it wasn’t a wonderful day for Mercedes.

Exploding, spinning and noteworthy

Two of the more bizarre events included seeing Nick Heidfeld jumping from a burning car, the flames were licking at his cockpit. It then exploded around a marshal’s legs as they tried to put the fire out. It’s the second time that has happened this season, although not with added bang.

Jerome d’Ambrosio for Virgin Racing decided to liven up events by managing to spin in the pit lane. His pit crew scattered as he tried to enter backwards, it would have been pretty interesting to see if they’d still changed the tyres.

Daniel Ricciardo for HRT, formally Hispania, was outqualified only just by his experienced team mate Tonio Liuzzi. However in the race it was a completely different story, Ricciardo swept ahead in the mixed conditions and finished not only ahead of Liuzzi but d’Ambrosio in the Virgin too.

A great result for him and one in which Red Bull will take great delight. They have high hopes for Ricciardo as part of their young driver program and will be encouraged he’s adapting well in only his third race.

Looking ahead

So that’s it for a month, next time is Belgium. As good as it was for Jenson Button to take the win, it’s also a result that will not have displeased Vettel. There is not one person who is really taking the challenge to him on a consistent basis despite better pace. Vettel has only finished outside the top two once in 11 races, the others are all over the place with finishing positions. McLaren and Ferrari are strong now but Red Bull haven’t got slower either. We could still have a battle but with only eight races left it’ll be tough to beat him now.

BBC to share coverage with Sky

I believe I share a common opinion with many fans of Formula 1 when I say I’m hugely disappointed with the announcement today that the BBC will only be screening 10 races live at the most, with highlights* packages of the rest. Sky now has the rights to the full calendar of 20 Grand Prix from next year including practice, qualifying and the main event. This deal runs to 2018 and at least keeps the BBC involved beyond their current deal which ran to 2013.

It’s a bit of a shock to be honest. As far as I was aware in major markets the teams have certain guarantees in the Concorde agreement (the deal the governs how the sport is run) with Bernie Ecclestone that Formula 1 should remain free to air so as to guarantee maximum exposure.

Obviously with this deal the UK, one of the major markets, loses half of its free to air exposure. There had long been rumours that with the BBC having to cut expenditure due to the license fee freeze, Formula 1 was on the chopping block.

Having trawled through the various Formula 1 websites, I have noticed that Channel 4 were rumoured to be in the running to secure the rights should the BBC not be able to continue with the coverage. If Channel 4 were prepared to bid for the rights, surely there could have been a compromise deal whereby Channel 4 and the BBC share the rights, thus keeping it on free to air television.

It's of course conjecture but Channel 4 would have had a ready made 6million audience just ready to be dumped on its doorstep every other race and the teams and their all important sponsors would have got full exposure to the British public. Sky, not being free to air could perhaps expect to get half that at the very most.

However, rumours go that the Sky deal is worth £60m, £20m above what the BBC has been paying per year since 2009. Taking a wild stab in the dark here, it appears to me that Bernie Ecclestone has gone with the more money option than thinking about the fans of the sport. In fact the teams are looking into clarification as to what this deal really means for the sport, so maybe it’s not over yet.

This deal obviously means that if you’re a Formula 1 fan and want to watch all the races you will not only have to continue paying your license fee, but also have to shell out nearly £40 to obtain a Sky sports package.

What this effectively means is that because the BBC will be showing 10 races live, if you don’t already own Sky sports and would only want it for the Formula 1, you will be paying for the privilege of only 10 live races. It’s a deal that looks to short change the fans.

Having said all that, Sky generally present fantastic coverage of sports and are already looking into whether they can do a few races in 3D (I wonder how many of you already own a 3D television?). As I’ve said they’ll be showing all the sessions live and have extensive multi platform coverage utilising their television coverage, the internet as well as phone coverage. They’ll obviously be full pre and post race discussion, probably until your heart’s content. They’ve also guaranteed not to show adverts during the race, which is a definite blessing.

As good as the coverage will be on Sky, I still feel a compromise could have been found to keep it on free to air television. The fans have to pay more money in hard financial times, the teams and sponsors lose an awful lot of audience and after the hard work of the quite fantastic BBC team, the BBC lose out too. If you’re paying so much for Sky, why would you watch the BBC coverage?

However, I’m sure they’ll be more details announced that may placate the fans including who’ll be involved in the coverage for both sides. There are many options available to them both and that will be interesting to keep note of. Despite this and having looked at opinion on various websites, most fans seem to not be best pleased at all.

*Update: According to Jamesallenonf1.com Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's team boss and FOTA chairman has said after a meeting with Bernie Ecclestone that the BBC will now show the full race delayed by a few hours instead of highlights. Shall wait for this to be confirmed, but that's fairly positive I think. 

Sources: Autosport.com, bbc.co.uk/formula1, Planetf1.com, Jamesallenonf1.com

Hamilton and Alonso lead the charge to Hungary

Here’s the situation coming to Hungary; we have two fairly realistic options for the race. One is Sebastian Vettel takes pole, wins and puts his stamp back on the 2011 season. Option two is, Hamilton and Alonso finish 1-2 in either order, and the chase is on.

After the last two races we can suddenly begin to think of something other than a Vettel victory. Despite the majority of races being pretty damned entertaining, it has been nice having other drivers win.

But what if they win more? What then for Vettel? He showed he could crumble last year. But he still came back strong and eventually stepped up to take the crown and this year has been so much stronger in his mind as a result. However, now Red Bull appear to be being caught. Vettel has already urged his team to improve the car, could we begin to see the cracks in what looked like team invincible only a few races ago.

Fernando Alonso never ever gives up and Ferrari are developing and evolving to such an extent that he’s been on the podium in four of the last five races, whereas he’d only visited once in the first five. If there’s a driver who can make a comeback it’s Fernando, he’s like a little terrier that just won’t leave you alone.

Last year he proved he was pretty good at fighting until the end; after a disastrous first half of the year, he nearly won the title, he’ll certainly be hounding Vettel for all he’s worth. But as he told the BBC, Fernando Alonso doesn’t just need Ferrari to be fast, he needs McLaren to be right up there too to push Red Bull down further.

Lewis Hamilton has already proved he’s pretty good at come backs. This year has been one great big roller coaster for him. It almost seemed like he was cracking up at Monaco after a few clashes, his Ali G ‘joke’ and rant about other drivers, and then he got better by hitting two more in Canada, it was a supreme demonstration of how best to get sent to the stewards.

However, he’s bounced back well, he’s remembered that he is in fact the best over taker in the sport and he can do it without taking anyone else out. A brilliant defence of Massa at Silverstone and of Webber at the Nurburgring, and fantastic passes on Webber in Germany and Alonso at both races show he’s tuned his aggression to a sublime controlled attack.

He’s always going to have incidents because he takes risks, but it’s why he’s one of the most entertaining drivers around. But it’s when he avoids those incidents that he places himself above the rest of the field. If he can continue in this vein, then he’ll get better and better, the frustration will go and he’ll elevate himself to the next level. It’s when he’s like that, Vettel, well everyone, has something to fear. With McLaren also back to top race pace in Germany, they’ll want to capitalise in Hungary to enter the summer break on a high.  

Vettel needs to lead from the front again, it’s what he’s best at. He doesn’t want to be in the pack, it’s not what he’s best at. Having said that I’d like him to prove that he can do it, he has the ability I’m sure, but does he really believe he can take on the likes of Hamilton and Alonso wheel to wheel? It’s about time he did. It’s looking like he might need to. The last thing he’ll want is those two breathing down his neck in the title chase.

Let’s also not forget Mark Webber in the title chase, he could still have a part to play as could Button (200^th race in Hungary, but admits title is over for him) and Massa although the latter two are in increasingly supportive roles. Mark finished ahead of Vettel for the first time this year in Germany and will be looking for that form to continue in Hungary, a race he won last year.

It’s been raining in Budapest during the week, with a promise of cooler conditions than normal for the race this weekend. Conditions are working against Red Bull as this should suit McLaren, although Ferrari look to have overcome their tyre heating issues at last as well.

Red Bull were a second quicker here last year, Vettel will be hoping a similar performance advantage is available to him this year. It’s not unlikely that he’ll bounce back stronger and dominate this weekend but if Hamilton and Alonso can continue their good recent results and Webber joins them then Vettel and Red Bull could well have a proper fight on their hands in the second half of the season.

Schumacher and Rosberg have to step up

Why can’t Schumacher just stay on the track?

Michael Schumacher is a seven times world champion. One of the best drivers the sport has ever seen, racking up record after record, relentlessly consistent in the races, he made everyone else on the grid submit to the inevitable defeat.

He was always a driver who made mistakes, but most of the time these were made in practice as he pushed the limits of the car and found the escape routes at the track should anything go wrong. That’s how well prepared he used to be. Very rarely would he need to use them in the race, because very rarely did he ever make a mistake.

Nowadays of course, in his second career, his pace has slowed slightly, he can barely out qualify Nico Rosberg, and he often likes to use the escape routes he’s found during the races, as well as crunching his front wing against many a driver.

In Germany he spun away what was actually another decent race pace. It’s becoming increasingly frustrating, because if you follow Schumacher’s races his speed is actually pretty good. In fact in the races this year he’s often been faster than Rosberg, but yet he’s unable to prove it.

In Germany he could have finished 6^th, in Britain 5^th, Valencia he was on for another top 6, all races he eventually finished behind Rosberg. Hungary is this weekend, it would be nice for him to prove to the world that he’s actually not doing that badly if only he’d stay on the track. However, it’s all very well saying he could have but the fact is he hasn’t.

To be fair, not all the incidents are his fault, but he’s certainly far more incident prone than he used to be, but then that is a consequence of his qualifying pace and being further down the grid. He still has a fierce desire to win and the will to never give up. He still makes great moves and takes risks even if it’s just for seventh, he’s the definition of a racer but is that enough anymore?

Is Rosberg doing enough?

Nico Rosberg generally qualifies the car where it should be. He maximises it’s potential on the Saturday but is he doing that all the time on race day? Quite obviously Rosberg has brought much better results for Mercedes. He’s been a safe pair of hands, who is able to bring the car home and last year was especially impressive against the returning champion where he scored three podiums with some impressive driving.

I'm not saying Rosberg doesn't haven't the speed to win because he patently does, but this year has been less spectacular for him. He’s still bringing in the results but I get the impression that he doesn’t quite have what it takes to take him to the next level, to match an Alonso or a Hamilton. His race pace hasn’t been as good Schumacher’s, it’s only the elder German’s desire to risk his front wing insurance so often that has covered this up.

Nico needs to be more aggressive, too often there has been occasions where people have passed him fairly easily, the latest being Felipe Massa in Germany. He’s brought the car home where you’d expect it to be, but as the BBC commentary team pointed out, has he ever out driven his car? Has he ever got a result the car didn’t deserve?

Schumacher’s risk judgement has been shaky but if it had come off he’d arguably have finished higher than Rosberg for the last four races and when you think that Nico is bringing the car back where it should be then that becomes a concern. Nico needs to step up and show us what he can really do because at the moment if Schumacher can finally regain the consistency he once had and put a weekend together without trying to hit someone, people may begin to doubt Rosberg has what it takes for a title shot.

Schumacher also needs to step up and prove he has what it takes to be more controlled and take risks that work, while their team Mercedes needs to provide them with a faster car which would show them both in a much better light anyway. They’ve made progress this year and are optimistic heading to Hungary, let's see if they can finally put a trouble free weekend together.

Hamilton takes brilliant win in Germany

Lewis Hamilton could see his nemesis exiting the pit lane in front of him. He couldn’t let the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso get it’s tyres up to temperature, he had to make the move now. Despite past criticism this season, there isn’t a better over taker in the sport. Alonso was in front of him into turn 1, Hamilton cut round the back, onto the outside of the Ferrari going into turn 2 and just didn’t give him the opportunity to push him to the outside. He was through and in control of the race.  

“I just feel great . . .”

So said Lewis Hamilton after claiming a superb second win of the year in Germany. Despite the threat of rain which decided not to play in the end it was an intense and intriguing race rather than an out and out action fest, but there was still plenty to keep us interested. The main feature of the race was the battle between the three podium finishers; Hamilton, Alonso and Mark Webber. For lap after lap they were setting times within a tenth of a second of each other, not one of them willing to give an inch.

This weekend Hamilton was in brilliant form. He delivered an amazing qualifying lap within a tenth of pole that his team mate Jenson Button failed to match by over a second to claim 2^nd on the grid to Webber. He shot into the lead at the start but wasn’t able to get away. Webber passed him into the final corner on one lap but this time he didn’t over react. He let him through and tucked himself in behind using his KERS to optimum effect to squeeze into the tiniest of gaps between the Red Bull and the pit wall to claim the inside line for turn 1 and maintain his lead.

As the first round of pit stops approached, Webber pitted first and emerged in the lead, but this didn’t upset Lewis, he bided his time, keeping a close watching brief until the second round of pit stops began, again Webber pitted first onto fresher rubber. It was now that the three elements which won Hamilton the race began.

Hamilton pitted on lap 32, storming out of the pits he can see Webber in his mirrors. The Red Bull has its tyres up to the optimum temperature and goes to the outside line into turn 2. The McLaren driver sees this. “I did not give him any room... I continued to drive my line”. Webber was forced onto a wet patch on the kerb and has to concede the corner.

The very next lap, Alonso emerges from the pits ahead of Hamilton. The undercut is simply not working on the softer tyres for the top 3 as the race progresses. He sees his quarry exiting the pit lane in front of him. He couldn’t let the Ferrari get it’s tyres up to temperature, he had to make the move now. Alonso was in front of him into turn 1, Hamilton cut round the back, onto the outside of the Ferrari going into turn 2 and just didn’t give him the opportunity to push him to the outside. He was through and in control of the race.

The final element was the risky one, stopping on lap 52, two laps earlier than Alonso or Webber for their final tyre change onto the harder compound. This tyre was meant to be a second and a half slower than the soft, but McLaren had seen that Vitaly Petrov who had already stopped for the hard was still able to set competitive sector times and brought him in. It worked perfectly, he was almost instantly lapping quicker, and once Webber and Alonso had pitted was easily in the lead.

“To be able to control the pace and get faster and faster we didn’t expect... conditions played into our hands. We’re able to switch on our tyres in cold conditions”. Lewis Hamilton used this advantage to full effect to take an impressive and controlled victory. More like this and just maybe he can work his way into the title fight.

Alonso and Webber take the rest of the podium

Mark Webber was left disappointed to finish third this afternoon. He was in the lead between the first and second pit stops and was always up there but ultimately didn’t have the pace on race day that had secured him pole position on the Saturday.

It was the 5^th consecutive race he’s not won when he’s started first and it’ll be something that’ll concern him. However, he raced strongly for the most part, and will surely be pleased to finally finish ahead of his team mate Sebastian Vettel for the first time this season. He’s taken three points out of his lead, although it is still fairly large at 77 points.

However it is Alonso who’s looking the likelier title challenger if anyone can get up to Vettel before the season’s end. He drove another strong race to claim his 5^th podium of the year. He made a strong start passing Vettel, although he ran wide and let him through a few laps later. He didn’t let this last long slipstreaming the Red Bull driver down the start finish straight to move up to third. His lap times got faster, soon finding the back of Webber and it looked like he could just be on the verge of a second win of the year, he looked dangerous.

This was especially true after the second pit stops, emerging in the lead having saved his tyres beautifully in the second stint, but Hamilton had his measure in Germany and he had to settle for second. This was impressive anyway given that he must have had to conserve fuel as he ran out on the slowing down lap, receiving a lift from Webber to get back to the podium.

It was still a great result, especially given the conditions. It was cold in Germany, and Ferrari so far has been poor at getting heat into their tyres but not today. With progress like this and a second successive race ahead of Vettel, it would be unwise to rule the Spaniard out yet.

Second star to Sutil

A mention most definitely has to go Adrian Sutil of Force India. He has generally been out performed by his team mate Paul Di Resta this season but at his home race he shone. He qualified 8^th and beat that by two positions to finish 6^th making a two stop strategy work beautifully.

It was a relatively lonely drive, there was no real wheel to wheel action for him, apart from keeping Michael Schumacher behind him in the opening stint. He made the option soft tyre last longer than most, and then defied those who believed the harder tyre was so much slower to set competitive lap times that kept him ahead of both Mercedes.

It’s a performance he really needed, because with Paul Di Resta doing so well and reserve driver Nico Hulkenberg looking likely to get a drive at Force India next season, Sutil needs to show what he can do, and he did so today with an outstanding drive in front of his home crowd.

Top 10 notables

Felipe Massa had a good day, although for the most part he wasn’t on the pace of the leaders, he put a good move on Rosberg and Vettel and  then held off Vettel until his final pit stop on the final lap which he could do nothing about to come in 5^th. Still, it’s a bit concerning to see him finish up nearly 50 seconds behind his team mate, he has to finish closer in the races which he was quite capable of that once upon a time...

The Mercedes cars of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished up 7^th and 8^th a disappointing result as they were expecting more. However it’s entirely conceivable that Schumacher may have finished 6^th if it weren’t for a spin. He again had strong race pace, despite qualifying over a second off Rosberg, but was generally faster all race. Rosberg had a decent race but lost positions too easily. I’ll write more extensively on Mercedes later in the week.

Kamui Kobayashi had a strong drive to finish 9^th. He too utilised a two stop strategy, but what really made his race was a fantastic start from 17^th on the grid to wind up 12^th by the end of lap 1, something that was sadly missed by the cameras. It’s his 8^th points finish of the year, and it’s about time some top teams began to take notice of him.

Vitaly Petrov rounded out the points scorers. He’d started 9^th but was unlikely to hold Schumacher back, which he didn’t. However, he put in some great defensive driving, holding Jenson Button back for many laps. He was also on a two stop strategy and even contributed to Lewis’ win when he showed the harder compound wasn’t as bad as expected.  A good result as he hadn’t scored a point since Canada.

Other mentions

Jaime Alguersuari in the Toro Rosso kept up his tradition of qualifying low and then making good on the Sunday. Although he failed to score points for a fourth race in a row he still managed to bring the car home a none too shabby 12^th. It was better than his team mate Sebastian Buemi who managed to get a five place grid penalty for Hungary after shoving Nick Heidfeld off the track at the final chicane.

Jenson Button suffered this weekend, being well of the pace in qualifying, having a poor start to finish the opening lap in 10^th and suffering a second retirement after a nice fight back up to 6^th. It’s certainly a weekend he’ll be looking to forget.

Vettel –  “It is not satisfying, we need to work harder in order to be back on the podium... I didn’t feel good all weekend”

So now we come to world champion and championship leader Sebastian Vettel. He didn’t look quick this weekend. He was out qualified by his team mate at his home race, even dumped to the second row for the first time this year, finished behind Mark Webber and off the podium for the first time this year, and made some fairly significant mistakes including his spin in the first stint.

He generally seemed a bit subdued during the race, perhaps, as is often commented, it was because he was not at the head of the pack. Once he’s away from his favoured position at the front, he just doesn’t seem like quite the same driver.

I’m not one who subscribes to the view that he can’t overtake, as he has had a few races where he’s charged through the field. It’s just when he’s trying to overtake another top car where he seems not to have the confidence to just attack. He failed against Lewis Hamilton at Silverstone, and he relied on his pit crew in Germany to pass Felipe Massa for fourth.

He’s sublime when he’s leading and equally good when defending, it’s just that he seems to lack that sense of fight when he has to get back to the front. Admittedly he did suffer from brake problems, although these were resolved after half the race had gone.

What can’t have escaped Vettel’s notice is that despite still having a points lead of over three race wins, he’s only won one out of the last four and Ferrari and McLaren certainly now have the pace to challenge on most occasions. As Alonso commented after the race, if they can both finish ahead of the Red Bulls then the title charge is on.

Having said that, Vettel this year has been extremely good under pressure. This is nothing but a small blip at the moment, one he can easily get over at the next race in Hungary just a week away. Red Bull were light years faster last year and Vettel is more than capable of delivering.

He’ll want the win to reassert himself before the F1 season takes a month long break, so as to continue the year of Vettel. I certainly don’t expect him to crumble at all he can finish second all year now and still take the title. But if he doesn’t win, a month is a long time to think about the rest catching especially if it’s Alonso and Hamilton heading the chase. We’re only just over half way through, there’s still a long way to go.

News and Previews

Rule changes...again!

Having scoured the Formula 1 press for the past week here are some of the top stories making the news after Silverstone. The first major thing to look at is the diffuser row. After a lot of arguments and politicking it has been decided to revert the off-throttle blown diffusers back to the specification they were at Valencia. This basically means they can blow as much hot air through them as they like for the rest of the year, but they must run the same engine map for qualifying and the race, so no extra boost for qualifying.

This rule change doesn’t seem to have been thought through very well by the FIA. Changing this particular rule meant that the teams would potentially suffer unreliability because their cars had been designed around this diffuser concept. It all got overly complicated so they’ve decided to revert. This pleases Red Bull and McLaren in particular who seemed to suffer the most as a result. The major team that seemed to benefit was Ferrari, who gained their first win of the year. However, they don’t seem too bothered by the revision to the rules as they had already brought in a huge update package for the British Grand Prix and will still expect to challenge in Germany.

Team Orders and Contracts

Next is Mark Webber and his sudden case of losing his hearing while being told to hold station behind his team mate Sebastian Vettel. In the press conference he said he ignored the instructions and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner made sure they had a discussion after the race. Webber told the BBC he felt they came away from the chat ‘seeing each other’s perspectives`.

It seems like a fuss about nothing really. In all likelihood Vettel isn’t going to manage to be silly enough to throw away more than a 3 race win advantage over his nearest non Red Bull rival. Vettel has had the measure of the Australian all season and there’s no reason to expect that to change. So when Webber was on a charge, they should have just let them race as Red Bull are the team that claimed they wanted their drivers to feel free to race to the end. Although they were worried about contact while the team were in a good position, to me it looks like Webber may have to deal with this situation again at some point this season.

He’s not had a good year against Vettel, things haven’t worked out the way he would have wanted, but one thing he should expect is to be able to race him when he is capable, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. Maybe Red Bull have realised how harmonious it is to have one driver taking the charge for the championship while the other one backs him up with the odd good result. Anyway, team orders are allowed, but it seemed unnecessary in the grand scheme of things.

However despite this, Mark Webber is likely to be extending his contract until the end of 2012. Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz has said that ‘Mark Webber will re-sign for us’. This appears to be the likely outcome, and after Horner announced that he didn’t see the need to sign Lewis Hamilton while they have Vettel there is no obvious replacement.

The fight for a Red Bull drive

This leaves us with who may replace Webber if he were to leave after 2012. I wrote about Daniel Ricciardo threatening to replace one of the Toro Rosso pair, but they have since been given to the end of the year to prove themselves and Ricciardo has replaced Narain Karthikeyan at Hispania in a deal with Red Bull to give him some experience.

Depending on how they perform over the next year and a half, one of these three could find themselves partnering Vettel at Red Bull and immediately in a race winning position. The prize is high for them, it’ll be interesting to see if any of them are capable of it. Red Bull expects a lot from Ricciardo, so it’s likely he’ll be given a chance at Toro Rosso next year. It then comes down to Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastian Buemi, they’ve both been closely matched this year with Buemi edging it in qualifying and Alguersuari one point ahead in the championship.

However, Alguersuari is finally showing signs of progression, in the last three races he has scored points, all from 18^th position on the grid. He appears to be getting better by the race and has showed flashes of real talent over the last year mixed with admittedly some rather mediocre performances, but I think it’ll be Alguersuari fighting Ricciardo for a potential drive at Red Bull in 2013.

Ferrari test young drivers but not Kobayashi!

In other young driver news, Sergio Perez has caught the eye this year in the Sauber. He has put in a few notable performances, particularly in Australia and Britain and has been rewarded with a test in a 2009 Ferrari later this year. He’ll be up against fellow Ferrari young driver Jules Bianchi, a current GP2 racer whom Ferrari have a lot of time for.

Felipe Massa must be beginning to look over his shoulder, he’s not had the best season despite spirited race performances, and he’s not been the same since his accident in 2009. Despite having a contract for next year, rumours won’t go away that he’s in danger of being replaced, having said that I’d be surprised if they were to lose him for next year.

As good as it is for Perez, I do find myself wishing a top team would give such an opportunity to his team mate Kamui Kobayashi. He’s too good to be sitting in the midfield for his entire Formula 1 career and he is certainly the best driver to come out of Japan. He is one of the best over takers out there and has impressive race pace, it would be a shame if he is resigned to the fate of most Japanese drivers of trundling round with the odd good result but never letting the talent flourish at a top team.

German Grand Prix preview

Looking ahead to the German Grand Prix this weekend I have a feeling it could be close. This years race is held at the Nürburgring in the Eifel mountains region. It has a very changeable weather system and looking at the 7 day forecast, rain is looking likely, hopefully it’ll stay that way as it’s always nice to have a good wet race.

There are many teams who seem to be looking optimistically at Germany as a chance of a good result. Renault is due to bring a new exhaust system which they will be evaluating during practice on Friday. At Silverstone they were overtaken for fourth in the constructors championship by Mercedes and will be determined to get that place back after being off the pace for the last few races despite a strong start.

However, Mercedes seem to be feeling particularly confident. They now feel they are able to understand the car much better than earlier in the season and having brought a number of improvements to Silverstone they’re optimistic for Germany. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg are both looking forward to their home race with the former saying: "We saw some improvements over the Silverstone weekend with our new exhaust system, along with improvements to how we work with the tyres, so we go to the next race weekend with a good feeling added to our fighting spirit."

If the promise of rain materialises expect to see a strong showing by Mercedes, particularly by Schumacher. He’s not had the results his general speed this year has deserved (partly because he likes to knock his front wing off first) and could have a very good race indeed. Rosberg is always thereabout, and if it rains could grab a podium.

McLaren lost their way as a result of the off-throttle diffuser row. They seemed to suffer the most so will be mightily relieved that its back. Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton are demanding their team to make more progress, but they also need to iron out their operational difficulties. They wasted a set of soft dry tyres in qualifying at Silverstone when they sent them out in the rain with them on, then they messed up Button’s pit stop. It’s these things that have been noticeable this year especially with some of the gambles they’ve made with Hamilton’s car in qualifying.

They’ve lost ground to Red Bull and fallen behind Ferrari, but a team like McLaren are more than capable of getting back to the front and although I don’t see them becoming a major title challenger this year, there are definitely a few more victories to be had by them.  

Both Vettel and Fernando Alonso have encouraged their teams to keep fighting. Alonso is not getting carried away by his victory at Silverstone but has told his team that much more needs to be done to take the fight to Red Bull even if the title would be optimistic.

However, Ferrari was genuinely a lot quicker at the end of the last race and deserved their win. The most interesting thing will be to see if Ferrari will be affected by the return of the off-throttle diffusers. As I’ve said, they’re update package at the last race gave them a significant step forward, and they’ve been up near the front for the last three races, so I see no real reason to see them fall away. In fact, I’d expect Ferrari to be consistent challengers for the rest of the year.

Vettel is aware he’s in a strong position as we get to the half way point of the year and only a fool would bet against him for the title, but having said that Ferrari properly beat them on pace and there are still ten races to go with 250 points available.

A good strong run for Ferrari or McLaren come to that, and Vettel could suddenly find himself in a fight, so little wonder he’s insisted on his Red Bull team not resting on their laurels. However with their off-throttle diffuser back, it would be a surprise not to see Vettel back at the front this weekend while Webber will want to make a point ... if he’s allowed.

The Sound of Thunder as Alonso Wins

A high pitched thundering sound could be heard approaching. There’s nothing quite like seeing your first Formula 1 car of the day. You know it’s coming, it’s getting louder and louder. In the distance you can see spray being lifted into the air but it will never prepare you for the explosion of noise, speed and colour as it hurtles into view...

The dedication of a Formula 1 driver is absolute, or for that matter any top athlete. The single mindedness to achieve their goals and their dreams to be the best in their chosen discipline requires the sort of dedication that most normal people can’t quite comprehend. But spare a thought for the fans, the people whom without, many top sports wouldn’t exist.

After my 13^th race yesterday at the British Grand Prix, the Formula 1 fan requires similar dedication to appreciate the sport they love. Well, maybe that’s overstating it slightly, but dedication is what you need for the day or weekend you go to see man and machine at their sporting peak. It’s more than worth it.

Waking up at 2am after a mere two hours sleep is not the best start to a day, being dropped off at Romford for the coach ride to Silverstone at 3am is even less appetizing  but many Formula 1 fans will be in similar situations over the course of the year, it’s what they do.

Sleep deprivation is all part and parcel, and the battle to stay awake during the day something of a challenge. However, traffic was kind on the way up and we arrived at the circuit trouble free at around 6.30am. We came into the circuit at the old start finish straight, looking at the map of the track our seats at Stowe corner were half way around.

We walked slowly, stopping off for Bacon baguettes, looking at the various stalls, being very impressed by the new facilities Silverstone have built up over the past year, the new pit buildings looking superb. It was a fairly crisp morning, but soon started to warm up as we found are seats. At 8am the grandstand was barely full, but we were going to have an excellent view as the action kicked off with the first support race of the day.

The support program of GP2 and GP3 are where you’ll find many of Formula 1’s future stars plying their trade although they are a bit hit and miss in terms of excitement. The cars are smaller, a lot quieter and don’t offer the same intensity that you find from the main event. However, as soon as the races start the day begins to speed up.

It’s not long before you’re looking up into the sky at the Red Arrows performing another great display which seems to never change, but tradition is good sometimes. At 12.15 the rain came. I’d been praying for rain from the beginning of the day. Partly because my neck was beginning to burn and partly in a hope that with the track damp, the Red Bulls wouldn’t run away with it. It seemed to come like a tidal wave on the far side of the track soaking it. Here at Stowe we got a fairly light shower, but it set up the race nicely. A Formula 1 fan doesn’t mind a little bit of rain if it’ll spice up the action and you’ve remembered your waterproof.

As the Red Arrows finished, it was 12.30pm. A high pitched thundering sound could be heard approaching. There’s nothing quite like seeing your first Formula 1 car of the day. You know it’s coming, it’s getting louder and louder, but it never quite prepares you for the explosion of noise, speed and colour as it blasts into view sending vibrations through your body, your ears on the edge of tolerance. Nothing compares to it as a spectacle.

One by one the cars shot down hanger straight into Stowe testing out the conditions before eventually lining up on the grid. This is perhaps the longest part of the day. Between 12.45 and 1pm when the cars start their formation lap seems to take ages. It’s the time to start fighting off the nervous tension before the start, shake off the last vestiges of tiredness, make sure your camera still has enough battery and set it for high speed unless you want a lot of pictures of empty track.

I looked at the screen opposite our grandstand. Mark Webber on pole position led them off to form up the grid, this is when the tension builds. Over in Europe this is when the entire crowd would be up on their feet searching for the best possible view, here at Silverstone it was all reassuringly British, everyone remaining firmly seated, but the cheers as they slowly made their way to the start competed with the engines.

They were all lined up, we could just see the end of the start finish straight, the two Hispania cars at the back of the grid were in view but we turned to the screen. The lights came on one by one, the engine note rose to a shriek, and then they were off and a minute later they were shooting down Hanger straight into view for the first time at racing speeds. Twenty-four powerful finely crafted angry machines being controlled by some of the greatest pilots on earth raced towards us at approaching 190mph down to 120mph as they controlled the cars on the edge of adhesion through Stowe. The machines fighting to be let loose, but their pilots sublime in their reactions to control the beasts. Amazing.

A few thoughts on the main happenings of the race: Fernando Alonso raced impressively at Silverstone, whether or not this was down to the banning of the off-throttle blown diffuser is up for debate, but it doesn’t take away from a fine performance. Yes, he lucked into the lead when Sebastian Vettel’s pit stop went wrong, but he didn’t panic when Hamilton overtook him, kept it calm in the wet conditions as he waited for his tyres to come to him and then unleashed some amazing pace to claim his first win of the year. He looked ecstatic and it was thoroughly deserved.

Vettel extended his championship lead and was brilliant in the mixed conditions at the start, again using his ability to make use of the tyres better than anyone else in the early stages. However, it started to fall away after his second pit stop, and once he’d found a way past Hamilton through the third round of tyre changes after an intense scrap, Alonso had long since disappeared. In the latter stages, it was exciting to see Mark Webber close him down, but he managed to keep him at bay to record his equal lowest position of the year. Second...bit ominous.

Mark Webber failed to hold onto his pole position at the start and despite some moments of great pace, he somehow managed to find himself down in fourth, before overtaking Lewis Hamilton as the McLaren driver saved fuel. He charged down his team mate and came close to overtaking but couldn’t make it work. Webber needs to finish ahead of his team mate soon, just to give him the belief he can still actually do that.

Michael Schumacher’s recovery drive after he’d hit another driver again, this time Kamui Kobayashi, was excellent. If he stopped clashing with people he’d be doing a lot better, because more often than not he’s had better race pace than his team mate Nico Rosberg and should have easily finished in the top 6. Still it was great seeing him slice past Jaime Alguersuari into Stowe and eventually finished 9^th behind Nick Heidfeld.

Alguersuari completed the top 10, showing another measured performance to enhance his reputation. Again qualifying wasn’t great, but as the season progresses his race performances are very good indeed.

It was a shame for Jenson Button who almost lost a wheel as he exited the pit lane due to being released too early before the wheel nut had been attached. Disappointment for the fans, but at Stowe he made the crowd cheer after coming around the outside of Massa and holding him off on the run down to Club corner, a beautiful piece of controlled aggression, he had potential for a podium.

Many people seem to think you don’t see much when attending a race but you do. Usually you’ll have a screen opposite you, but also the live track action allows you to follow battles throughout the race which TV won’t be showing. For instance the fantastic battle between Nico Rosberg and Sergio Perez in the Sauber lasted for the whole race. Perez in particular was impressive as he held onto the Mercedes driver for lap after lap, coming close to passing a few times, although it wasn’t highlighted much in the coverage.

You also missed Lewis Hamilton finish his race with a doughnut at Stowe, spinning his car around to the delight of the crowd. It was a frustrating race for him, he looked like he may have challenged for the win at one point, but lack of fuel slowed him towards the end, but he had some great battles with Alonso and Vettel. However it didn’t compare to the last lap challenge of Massa.

Hamilton was being caught at several seconds each lap, by the last circuit Massa was right on top of him. As they dived into Stowe for the final time, he darted to the right coming into Club corner and for all the world looked like he’d made it stick as their cars clashed. Hamilton wasn’t finished though, he cut back to the inside and was alongside Massa pushing him wide and crossed the line 0.024 ahead to secure fourth, the crowd loved it.

After the race we made our way back to the coach, having walked onto the track at Club corner and down the start finish straight along with several thousand other people, it was a fantastic atmosphere.

As soon as we sat on the coach sleep overtook everyone while we enjoyed the traffic home. It had been a long day, but a great one. These titans of sport had put on a great show, and like leaving a great concert our ears were ringing, but this was to the sound of the thunderous roar of engines; a great day.