Wednesday, December 11, 2013

2013 Season Review

The year began with a bang, Formula One was finally back, at the circuit of Albert Park, the Finn who had made his comeback to Formula 1 in 2012, Kimi Räikkönen raising his hand as one of the possible title contenders getting away with a formidable win in Australia which he considered 'one of the easiest' of his career.

Then, on to an exciting Grand Prix filled with controversy brought by Team Orders. Red Bull telling Sebastian Vettel not to overtake teammate Mark Webber, Mercedes denying Nico Rosberg to overtake teammate Lewis Hamilton... In the end, Hamilton kept his third place and Vettel overtook Webber ignoring team order. This all ended up giving us a nice race to watch.

Then, the race in Shanghai. 2012 title contender Fernando Alonso making a great race to get his first win of the year. Also, this was one of the few times Sebastian Vettel didn't make the podium as Räikkönen and Hamilton wrapped up the podium.

Deja vu, the result in 2012 in the Bahrain Grand Prix would be repeated with Vettel taking the win and Kimi and Romain Grosjean closing up the podium. A race where Ferrari struggled a lot as Alonso had problems on the rear wing and Massa had 2 punctures.
We also got to see a great fight between McLaren teammates Jenson Button and Sergio Perez.

At the race in Spain Alonso dominated and won in front of his people, Kimi came in second and we would see Vettel outside the podium again with Felipe Massa making a great race to get third place.

The street circuit of Monaco, the only race in the season in which we saw a red flag (following Maldonado's accident with Chilton). In this race, Nico Rosberg demonstrated that he dominates the streets in Monaco as he usually had good races there. 
In this race we saw possibly the two best overtaking moves in the season, Checo Perez overtaking Jenson Button at the chicane and Adrian Sutil making an awesome move to overtake Alonso at the Casino Hairpin.

Vettel showed up his great pace and domination in the race in Canada making an almost perfect race. 
Rookie Valtteri Bottas showed his talent with a brilliant 3rd place in qualifying.

We had the most polemic and controversial race of them all in Silverstone as the weekend was loaded with punctures and failures in the tires. 
Perez in practices, Hamilton in the race, Massa in race, Vergne in race, Perez in race...
In this race we also witnessed the only abandon of Sebastian Vettel in the whole season with a alternator problem. 
Nico Rosberg grabbed his second win of the year.

Sebastian Vettel's dream of winning in front of his home crowd came true when the German driver won the race in Nurburgring, but just barely as Kimi Räikkönen followed him closely one second behind.

We had one of the best (if not the best) races of the season in zhungary.
Lewis Hamilton took his first win driving for Mercedes, he took pole position and put on and amazing race pace to keep the position.
Kimi Räikkönen took second place but battled to keep it as Vettel attacked him for the position in the last laps.
We saw another great overtake with Romain Grosjean overtaking Felipe Massa almost going out of the track.

This way, we got to the second half of the season. This is the point where Vettel's total domination began.
Vettel took the win in Spa.
There we saw the first abandon from Kimi Räikkönen in a lot of time as he struggled with brakes problems.

Vettel won in Monza with Alonso just behind him.

Vettel won in Singapore. Grosjean abandoned in what could've been a great race for him and Kimi Räikkönen made an amazing comeback from P13 to third place.

In Korea, Lotus again placed both of their cars in the podium as Sebastian Vettel won again.
Nico Hulkenberg was, clearly, the man of the race as he battled to get to fourth place and fighting to keep that position.

In Suzuka, Romain Grosjean made a big approach to a race win as he leaded a big part of the race, but his pace fell down and he got overtaken by both Red Bulls, Sebastian Vettel won again.
Mexican Rookie Esteban Gutierrez scored his first points in Formula 1 after a long wait.

The race in India, saw Sebastian Vettel win his 4th straight championship, a 26 year old turning into a legend, making history and winning another race.

Abu Dhabi, always exciting to see, Vettel won again. 
Kimi Räikkönen abandoned the race in the first turn after hitting a Caterham.

Formula 1 back in America for the US Grand Prix, Vettel dominated the race again, Romain got a deserved second place, Heikki Kovalainen replaced Kimi Räikkönen in Lotus as Kimi underwent back surgery and Finn Rookie Valtteri Bottas scored his first points in Formula One in a great performance in the whole weekend in Austin and hard fought race.

It all comes down to this, the race in São Paulo, many meanings and significances to this race, Webber's goodbye to Fprmuls 1, Massa's goodbye to Ferrari, Perez's last race with McLaren and the last race of this season.
As expected, Sebastian Vettel took the win, 13th in the year, 9th in a row, wrapping up an awesome year where he dominated Formula 1.
Checo Perez fought hard to go from P19 to sixth place, Button sealed McLaren's best finish of the year with fourth and Webber got in second place, celebrating as he had won the race in his goodbye to F1.

I would've put some pictures in this post but I decided not to, to make the writing stand out more.

Thanks to you all for all this time in the season (although it wasn't the whole season) reading this blog.
I will do some other posts during this offseason time.
Now let's just hope that the time that lights go out again and the race in Australia starts comes quickly.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Vettel wins 9th in a row, 13th in the season, Goodbye Mark! - 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

This is it.
Welcome to the last race of the Formula 1 2013 season! 

We're in São Paulo Brazil, land of many F1 legends, Fittipaldi, Senna and Piquet.
Emerson Fittipaldi

Legend Ayrton Senna

And also in a track where we've had an amazing championship definition last year.

Team Lotus' hashtag

Romain Grosjean on track

Felipe Massa before his last race at Ferrari

A great goodbye gift from Red Bull to Mark Webber

Mark Webber's helmet design for his last Grand Prix

The drivers before the race

A race threatened with a 60% possibilities of rain.
LIGHTS OUT!
The start of the last Grand Prix of 2013.
Race Start
Rosberg quickly takes lead in the first turn, he goes on and leads the first lap. But then Vettel comes and takes lead overtaking him in the principal straight!
Also, a good start by the Brazilian Felipe Massa.
In the next lap Alonso would also overtake Nico Rosberg.

Retirement, Romain Grosjean's car stops, we can see smoke coming out of the back of his car, probable engine failure, a shame for Romain to end the season like this for a driver who evolved a lot this year.

Then Mark Webber would also overtake Rosberg.
In lap 10, Checo Perez, who started the race 19th, would overtake his fellow countryman Gutierrez for P11.
Then in the next lap, Hamilton would overtake his teammate Rosberg for P4.
We could see Webber threatening and attacking Alonso for 2nd place he finally overtakes the spaniard in lap 13!
Checo, with an amazing pace would also overtake Valtteri Bottas for P10.

As of lap 17, Vettel had built a big lead of 10.8 on Webber.
Box for Bottas and Adrian Sutil in lap 18. They would fall to P17 and P16 respectively.
Massa stopped in lap 19 and fell to P9, Perez boxed in lap 19 too and fell to P13.
Alonso and Hamilton pitted in lap 22, falling to P4 and P6.
Webber would box in lap 23 and lost 2nd place to Fernando Alonso.
Vettel boxed in lap 24, switching for Medium tyres again.

Drive-Through for Felipe Massa, as he crossed the white line in the pitlane.  He got seriously upset with it, as this could ruin his race... Not that much, he came out 8th.
Lap 40, Perez in P7, began to attack Nico Rosberg, cutting the gap to 0.8 seconds.

Massa and Button boxed in lap 44, they fell to P9 and P10 respectively.
Perez and Rosberg stopped in lap 45, falling to 7th and 8th.
I could notice Vettel's pace falling down as he was overtaken by Sutil and Vergne.

CONTACT! Hamilton hits Bottas, the Finn's car's tyre went out, what a shame for Valtteri, as he was making a good race. 
Bottas spun off after the contact
Bang! Hamilton's tyre is punctured because of the contact with Valtteri.

BOX BOX BOX!
Vettel goes to pits for a new set of tyres. There's a problem in the stop (there was a tyre missing in the stop, only three tyres), Vettel takes more time than expected, Webber comes to pits too, he has to wait behind Sebastian, Seb goes out of pits.
Alonso also boxes, many other drivers do too.

Drive-Through! For Lewis Hamilton as the contact with Valtteri Bottas was his fault.

Checo in P6 and Rosberg in P5, involved in a great fight for 5th place.

Drive-Through! For Giedo Van der Garde as the Caterham driver ignored blue flags.

Pit stop for Adrian Sutil, the German probably stopped for a set of intermediate tyres as the rain was approaching.

Hamilton in P10, fought to overtake Australian Daniel Ricciardo and finally overtook him in lap 57.

Caterham driver Charles Pic, spins off and then gets out of track.
Charles Pic after spinning off

There's yellow flag but no Safety car.
Here comes Adrian Sutil, he overtakes Heikki Kovalainen for P13.

Pastor Maldonado spins off, Vergne overtakes him.  No, he did not spun, Vergne hit him.
Maldonado's incident

A nice goodbye from Webber
LAST LAP
Sebastian Vettel, in his way to his 9th victory in a row, Webber, in his last race in Formula 1.
Vettel wins in Brazil, the champion gets another win!
Vettel's 13th win of 2013
Webber comes in Second place in his last race!
And Alonso comes Third!

An emotive Mark Webber, he takes his helmet and hood off.
Mark Webber without his helmet

Vettel again, he goes and makes donuts in the straight!
DONUT TIME!
Massa goes to do donuts too, in front of his home crowd!

Button, Fourth place, seals the best finish for McLaren, a very bad season for the Woking based team.

Vettel gets off his 'Angry Heidi'
Seb after the race
Vettel, Webber, Alonso and Horner, such a great podium.

Champagne Showers! One last time this season, the last podium for Mark Webber.
Mark Webber fell during the celebrations. 
Applauses for Mark! A great driver during his whole career!
A living legend in the history of Red Bull Racing and the history of Formula 1.

Thank You Mark.

See you in March 2014 when Formula One is back!
Thanks for being here making this blog widely read throughout this second part of the season!
I will also be making some posts during this winter break.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Vettel's 8th win in a row! Bottas' first F1 points! - 2013 United States Grand Prix

A very comfortable timing for the Grand Prix here in Mexico at 13 o'clock. Welcome once again to this blog! This time in the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Sunny Sunday, great weather for the race, Vettel on pole, Finn Valtteri Bottas with a great Qualy in P9 and Kovalainen replacing Räikkönen as Kimi decided to undergo back surgery.
Supportive hashtag for Kimi in Lotus' car.
Romain Grosjean qualified 3rd.
Romain and Heikki's helmets.
Checo Perez on track in Austin
Mexican Sergio Perez helmet


University band made a parade before the race.

Great attendance at the Circuit of the Anericas.

LIGHTS OUT!
As expected, Vettel escaped onto the lead. Webber stayed behind and was overtaken by Hamilton and Grosjean, great start for the Frenchmen.
Kovalainen stayed in the start and fell to 12th.

CONTACT!
Adrian Sutil hits the wall and abandons the race. Appears he was hit by Maldonado.
SAFETY CAR.!
Lap 4
Safety Car out in this lap.
Perez also overtakes Alonso to take 6th place. 
Webber started to threat Hamilton for P3.
Maldonado's front wing was falling down and he had to box in lap 8.
Perez tried to cut the gap with Hulk for P5, Alonso also threatened behind Checo.
Webber still attacked Lewis cutting his gap to 0.3 secs and overtaking him in lap 13.
Kovalainen pitted in lap 17.
Nico Rosberg overtook Daniel Ricciardo for P10 in lap 19.
Jenson Button boxed in lap 20 falling to P15.
Felipe Massa boxed in lap 21 and went out just in front of Button.
Checo stopped in lap 22 as he was keeping Alonso behind in P6, he fell to P10.


Another good race for Checo finishing 7th
Box, box, box for Bottas, he was in P7 and fell to P10.
Awesome performance by Bottas this weekend.

With a nice set of Hard tyres he changed in lap 1, Esteban Gutierrez pushed harder overtaking Vergne for P7. Perez also overtook Jean-Eric.
Alonso pitted in lap 27, he came out  just ahead of Checo.
Vettel and Hulkenberg boxed in lap 28, falling to 3rd and 5th respectively. Grosjean to the lead.
Webber stopped in lap 29.
The leader Grosjean boxed in lap 30 and fell to P2, Vettel back to the lead.
Rosberg entered in point scoring position as be overtook diResta.
Great move by Bottas! He overtook Gutierrez for P8.
Esteban then boxed.
At lap 44, Alonso started to attack Hulkenberg for P5, cutting the gap to 0.3, he overtook on lap 45.
Drive through! For Charles Pic as he ignored blue flags.
Webber started to attack Grosjean for P2, 0.8 secs behind him, laps later, Grosjean made the gap bigger in 1.6 seconds.
Final Lap! 
Sebastian Vettel goes for his 8th consecutive win! A total champion! Great driver!
CHECKERED FLAG!
Sebastian Vettel wins in Austin!  
He goes and does donuts to celebrate!

Again donuts for celebration, for the third time in a row!
Red Bull's Christian Horner's birthday this weekend, nice present by Seb and Mark.

Contact! Vergne hits Gutierrez and the Mexican spins off.

Seb after the race

Anyways, Grosjean comes in Second Place! Great season for the Frenchmen!
Webber in Third Place!
Wow! Grid girls in Austin looking good!

Also, Valtteri Bottas gets his first points in F1 on a nice weekend for him!
Valtteri Bottas had a great drive to achieve his first points

See you in one week in the last Grand Prix of the year in Brazil!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

Vettel wins 7th race in a row! - 2013 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

A week after seeing the Champion Sebastian Vettel being crowned, Formula 1 is back, in the circuit of Abu Dhabi located in the artificial island of Yas Marina in the United Arab Emirates.
A track where we saw the great definition of the 2010 drivers championship with Vettel winning it and the comeback of the 'Iceman', Kimi Räikkönen winning in 2012.


Mark Webber at the pole position, Kimi starting at the very back of the grid because of a floor deflection test failure.

LIGHTS OUT!

Vettel takes lead, Rosberg takes 2nd.
Kimi abandons the race right in the first lap, what a shame, it would've been interesting to know what he could do to make it to the podium.
It appears he was hit by a Caterham in the first turn.

Button boxed in lap 3 due to some front wing damage.
Vettel with a 3 second lead on Rosberg in lap 5.
Hamilton, Ricciardo stopped in lap 7, the Briton switched to the harder compound.
Webber and Grosjean boxed in lap 8.
Nico Rosberg boxed in lap 10, which brought both Ferraris to the top 3.
Mark Webber overtook Sutil in lap 14 with a nice move.
Then, Vettel boxed in lap 14.
Alonso boxed in lap 16 coming out 14th.

Kimi, after his retirement from the race.

Massa still in 2nd place, a very nice race for him.
Grosjean overtook diResta in lap 18 while Hamilton found himself stuck behind Gutierrez.
Felipe Massa and Gutierrez boxed in lap 18 coming out 8th and 14th respectively.
diResta boxed falling to P9.
Lights are on in Yas Marina as the sun starts to go down.
Massa made a GREAT move to overtake Hamilton, moving from Lewis' right to Lewis' left.
Massa then advanced to P5 as he overtook Sutil; downsides, we get to see Adrian's girlfriend.
Hamilton also overtook Sutil.
Drive-Through for Nico Hulkenberg because of an unsafe release that almost caused an accident with Checo Perez.

A beautiful view of the circuit at this time of the night.

A nice fight between both Ferraris, Massa fifth and Fernando sixth.

A last stop for Sebastian Vettel in lap 37.
Grosjean to pits, falls to P4 just ahead of the Ferraris.
Massa to pits, falls to P9.
Hamilton was stuck behind Jean-Eric Vergne until he overtook him in lap 44.
Alonso stopped in lap 44, he came out seventh just ahead of Vergnem, after making contact with the Frenchman. That contact would be investigated after the race.
Great race until the end for the seventh place between Alonso, Vergne, Massa, Bottas, Sutil and Perez.
Massa and Sutil overtook Vergne, Bottas boxed.
Checo also overtook Vergne in lap 48.
Maldonado also overtook Jean-Eric.
Also Button overtakes Vergne! Terrible pace for the Toro Rosso driver.

Checkered Flag!
Sebastian Vettel takes his 7th consecutive win here in Yas Marina! 30 seconds lead on Webber.
Vettel again, making donuts outside the track! 26 years old, a total genius!
Webber comes 2nd and Rosberg wraps up the podium!


Grosjean in 4th.

I totally nailed it in my predictions!
1-Vettel   Vettel
2-Webber Webber
3-Rosberg Rosberg
See you in two weeks when Formula 1 is back in America for the United States Grand Prix!