"macshome" (macshome)
08/25/2013 at 22:43 • Filed to: formula 1
1
1|
"macshome" (macshome)
08/25/2013 at 22:43 • Filed to: formula 1 | 1
| 1 |
After the summer break, the F1 teams have all returned to fight it out at one of the most spectacular racetracks in the world, Spa-Francorchamps. Nestled in the forests of Belgium, Spa is a favorite with the drivers and fans. It’s a long, fast, steep, and sweeping circuit made mostly of formerly public roads. Until 2000, parts of the track were still converted back to road use after the race. This was most notable at the Bus Stop chicane, so named because it was actually a bus stop on the side of the road! These days Spa is a dedicated track but the modern layout remains much the same as it has for 20 years. The corners here include the famous Eau Rouge-Raidillon complex that has challenged the best drivers in the world for over 50 years now.
One thing that is never predictable here is the weather, and this weekend was no exception. Qualifying on Saturday was held in changeable conditions and was as exciting as many races are. With so much dependent on timing and tires several teams were out of place. Both the Marussia and Caterham team were thrilled to make it out of Q1, while both Torro Rosso and both Williams cars were left behind. The failure to get out of Q1 marked an inauspicious debut for Pat Symonds at Williams, but hopefully he will soon be able to have more of a strategic affect on the team.
With more rain forecast for Q3 the pitlane had a traffic jam waiting for the session to start. When the light turned green all of the top drivers raced out on slicks to try and beat the rain. It didn’t work and they were all forced to slip and slide their way back to the pits. Meanwhile Di Resta had gauged the rain perfectly and went out to the empty track on a set of intermediate tires to set the first timed lap. When he finished his lap the skies opened up and rain poured down. Driver after driver went out to try and beat his time but it was too wet and it seemed that a Force India pole position was in the cards. Sadly for Di Resta the track began to dry and the top teams found their pace. First to get past him was Rosberg who turned in a fast lap that was only 0.001 seconds faster than Di Resta’s best time. After that though the times tumbled with each car and at the last gasp it was Lewis Hamilton who took his fourth consecutive pole in a row. This was a bit of a surprise as Mercedes had been struggling for pace all weekend. With the wet conditions though they were now looking much more competitive. Force India saw Di Resta slip down to fifth on the grid. A great position for the team, but not the storybook ending that they were so close to.
There were no penalties and the grid looked like this for the race:
Hamilton, Vettel;
Webber, Rosberg;
Di Resta, Button;
Grosjean, Raikkonen;
Alonso, Massa;
Hulkenberg, Sutil;
Perez, Van der Garde;
Bianchi, Chilton;
Maldonado, Vergne;
Ricciardo, Bottas;
Gutierrez, Pic;
Was Mercedes sitting pretty in P1 and P4 at a track that should suit them well, or would their slower form from before qualifying return to haunt them? Can Vettel stretch his championship lead or will the Spa specialist of Kimi Raikkonen manage to close the gap to the leader? Would Grosjean’s third attempt at a Belgian GP see him finally get past the first lap?
We’re about to find out as it’s time to go racing!
The Race
As the grid formed up on Sunday it seemed that the rain was holding off for the time being. Hamilton led the field around the long track and back for the start. Without rain, the big strategy choice was to make a one or two stop race.
When the lights went out Vettel and Button were the quick starters, with the McLaren taking a look around the outside of the Red Bull at turn one. He wasn’t able to pull it off though and Vettel and Button slotted in behind Hamilton on the run down to Eau Rouge.
Behind them Webber and Di Resta had made appalling starts and they immediately slid down the order. (Webber at least had a mechanical issue with his clutch, Di Resta simply got too much wheelspin off the line.) In stark contrast to last year, everyone made it through the first turn.
Hamilton’s time at the front was short lived as Vettel simply pulled out of the slipstream and drove around him on the first run down the Kemmel Straight. Red Bull is not known for their straight line speed, so to see this pass without DRS was a surprise. With Hamilton safely behind him, Vettel simply drove off into the distance lapping up to 1.4 seconds quicker than the Mercedes.
Button’s great start saw him out of place and he was soon passed by Rosberg, Alonso, and Webber. Alonso was on a tear as he quickly ran down and passed Rosberg in the second DRS zone on the Kemmel Straight. All weekend the Ferrari has shown fantastic pace on the long straights of Spa.
By now Raikkonen had found a way around Grosjean into P8 but he seemed to have an issue with his left front brake. Every time he slowed down black dust poured from the wheel. In the other Lotus Grosjean slipped back to 12th behind Perez and Massa when he lost out at the end of the Kemmel Straight to Perez and didn’t make the chicane. In a few laps more time Perez was given a drive through penalty as it was ruled that he had forced Grosjean off the track.
Laps 11 and 12 saw a flurry of pit activity as the two stopping cars came in for service. Vettel was one of the last two stop cars to pit, managing to stay out three or four laps longer than his rivals.
With the order jumbled up some there was a rash of overtaking as the cars with fresh tires came back at the one stop hopefuls who had continued around. Hamilton and Alonso had soon found their way around Grosjean, and then Alonso pounced when Hamilton ran a bit wide at La Source. As they headed through Eau Rouge Hamilton was close behind the Ferrari and soon had the DRS wide open. In the most amazing defensive maneuver I’ve seen in a long time though Alonso just kept the throttle down and refused to yield. The Ferrari slid around under the incredibly late braking but somehow Alonso managed to get his car slowed down in time for the next turn. This stamped some authority onto the position as he then pulled out and away from Hamilton’s Mercedes.
Other battles were being fought throughout the midfield as well. In a great move, Sutil slid past Gutierrez at Eau Rouge to continue his sold race.
Massa was now locked in a huge battle with Raikkonen. The Lotus was no longer spewing brake dust after a quick adjustment in the first round of stops and Kimi was now desperate to get around the Ferrari. Once again the Ferrari was showing tremendous speed in a straight line and he was unable to get around Massa even with the DRS open. Massa was dealing well with the mounting pressure as Raikkonen crept closer and closer. Finally he pulled alongside on the way into the Bus Stop chicane only to go straight on through the corner. The Lotus quickly turned around and drove into the pits, a victim of brake failure. The DNF ends Raikkonen’s amazing run of 39 consecutive finishes with 28 consecutive points earning races.
So far the only retirement of the day other than Raikkonen was the Caterham of Charles Pic who suffered from an oil leak early in the running. We were about to add another car to that count though.
On the run to the Bus Stop the two Force India cars were following the fight of Gutierrez and Maldonado. The Williams lost out to the Sauber and then clipped the back of Sutil in the leading Force India. Maldonado then made a dive for the pit entrance and right into the side of Paul DiResta. Maldonado lost his nose, but it was race over for Di Resta as his Force India suffered a huge amount of damage to its rear suspension. In all it was a bad end to a bad day for Di Resta. With none of the potential from his great qualifying realized he slowly walked back the short distance to his garage. For his part in the carnage Maldonado was given a ten-second stop and go penalty.
As we entered the last stage of the race everyone in the top five other than Button had stopped twice for tires. Button, laying in P3 was trying to make it all the way to the finish with just one stop to claim McLaren’s first podium finish of the year though. It wasn’t to be however as the tires just didn’t have the distance in them and he was forced to stop on with only nine laps remaining. Having lost P3 to Hamilton it didn’t make much sense to leave him out there on tires that were slower with every lap.
Webber was now the fastest car on the track as he chased the Mercedes teammates down. He quickly caught Rosberg, but was unable to make a pass stick for the few laps that remained. A small consolation to Webber would be that he captured the fastest lap of the race. Meanwhile a call went out to Vettel to just calm down and cruise to the end.
In the end Vettel took his 31st victory which puts him equal with Nigel Mansel and only one behind Fernando Alonso in the all time win tally. He also became only the 5th driver to lead over 2000 laps in Formula 1 and stretched his lead in the championship to 46 points.
The finishing order was: Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton, Rosberg, Webber, Button, Massa, Grosjean, Sutil, Riccardio, Perez, Vergne, Hulkenberg, Gutiérrez, Bottas, Van der Garde, Madonado, Bianchi, and Chilton.
Non-Finishers were: Di Resta (Contact), Raikkonen (Brakes), and Pic (Oil).
Analysis
Spa typically delivers a thrilling race and today was no exception. From qualifying to the finish line there were battles nearly everywhere.
Fears that the double DRS zone at such a high speed track would lead to a race full of false overtaking never came to fruition either. DRS worked exactly as it is supposed to here by allowing a faster car to overtake. Furthermore there were plenty of passes at places without DRS as well. When a circuit offers as many lines and options as Spa does the drivers are freed up to ply their trade and find the fastest way around.
With all this in mind we saw different cars with clearly different strengths. Ferrari and Red Bull were very fast on the straights, while Lotus was far and away the best car in the twisty middle section. This led to fantastic fights from P2 on down.
Up at the front though there was no battle at all. All Sebastian Vettel needed to do was drive around Hamilton on the first lap and then cruise to the end. The reigning champion was completely dominant and simply held the gap he was asked to in a controlled and effortless victory. Raikkonen’s DNF catapults Vettel to a nearly two race advantage of points over Alonso in second place. As we move into the second half of the season a fourth consecutive title seems to be solidifying around Vettel.
Things are not locked up though as it is important to remember that at this time last year Vettel was behind Alonso by over 30 points in the title race. It was at Spa that the 2012 championship began to unravel for Ferrari and it could always happen to Red Bull as well. With the consistency shown by Vettel so far this year I wouldn’t bet on it though.
Heading to the next race at Monza the championships look like this:
Driver Standings:
Vettel: 197
Alonso: 151
Hamilton: 139
Raikkonen: 134
Webber: 115
Constructor Standings:
Red Bull: 312
Mercedes: 235
Ferrari: 218
Lotus: 187
McLaren: 65
Special Awards
The Rightful Indignation Award
Goes to the fans for trying to boo Greenpeace out of the circuit when they attempted to disrupt the podium proceedings.
The We’re Number 5! Award
Goes to McLaren for moving ahead of Force India in the standings to take 5th place.
The Where’s the Ice Cream Award
Goes to Kimi Raikkonen for seeming a little unsure of what to do with his first DNF in nearly 40 races.
The Oh, There was a Race Going On Award
Goes to Sebastian Vettel for just driving around in P1, seemingly all alone and wishing someone would come and play with him.
MrGuy
> macshome
08/25/2013 at 22:58 |
|
(Commenting to remember to read later) Good news for Webber is that in the WEC there aren't any standing starts (or "running" starts anymore).