As the German National Anthem is played out from Monza, it is a great day for Red Bull fans. Sebastian Vettel has just won his 6th race of the season and Mark Webber has achieved his first and last podium finish at the Italian GP in his F1 career. Today pundits and commentators confirm the feeling I've had for the past couple of races, that Vettel has pretty much won his fourth World Driver's Championship, with a staggering lead of 53 points.
After a poor qualifying session yesterday from Hamilton and Raikkonen, it left Alonso to challenge Vettel for victory. Not that it panned out that way at all. Alonso got a brilliant start from 5th on the grid and was quickly up to 2nd within the first few laps and drove a well measured race to hold off Webber in the closing stages and maintain his record of finishing within the podium places with Ferrari at the Italian grand prix. Looking back on the race, perhaps Ferrari should have pitted Alonso after Vettel made his first stop, but I don't think Alonso would have closed the gap to Vettel anyway, because after Vettel had got rid of the damaged tyres from locking up on the first corner of the first lap, he was able to manage the gap to Alonso and by a considerable margin. After both Vettel and Alonso had pitted, the gap from Sebastian to Fernando was 10.010 seconds, which was only reduced to 5.4 seconds by the end of the race.
By Mercedes recent form, Hamilton had a pretty tough race today. After qualifying in 12th place it was always going to be a struggle, especially because you are more likely to be involved in first corner incidents in the middle of the pack. Fortunately, Hamilton avoided any incidents and as he was on the hard tyre as opposed to the medium at the start of the race in the early stages he was one to watch out for alongside Raikkonen. However, the race was effectively ruined for both drivers when they were both forced in a two pit stop strategy because Hamilton suffered from a slow puncture on lap 12 and Raikkonen suffered front wing damage on the first lap after running into the back of the McLaren of Sergio Perez.
To add to Hamilton's woes, he suffered him radio problems throughout the race, making communication extremely difficult and almost impossible. At the end of the race he even is said that it was like 'driving blind', but even after the problems he had a brilliant ending to the race, managing to take 9th, with 8th or even 7th in sight before he went wide on the penultimate lap.
We lost Di Resta on the first lap of the 53 lap race, after he locked his own wheels and drove into the unsuspecting Romain Grosjean, which was the first time in his career that he has retired on the first lap of a race. However, I'm sure that he can bounce back from this in Singapore, and hopefully we will get back to seeing the Di Resta running in the top 10.
After a surprising qualifying result of 3rd on the grid, Hulkenberg was expected to go backwards during the race in his Sauber. Indeed he did drop back, but not by the margains expected. He drove a clean and mature race and was rewarded with 5th place, making him in many people's eyes the driver of the day. One thing to consider though is if Raikkonen and Hamilton had qualified higher up the grid, would they have beaten the young German? The Sauber seems to really like this track, shown both this season and last season when Perez drove from 12th to finish 2nd when he was racing for the team.
This weekend we've seen some new camera angles on the tv coverage and one which I have been particularly enjoying is the thermal imaging camera mounted onto Di Resta's car. Unfortunately because of his retirement we were not able to see it in full action across the entire race, but from what I've seen from qualifying and practise, it is a really interesting angle to see.
I've also loved the camera view which looks down onto the pit box, and I noticed this at the Red Bull garage during the race. I just love the angle and it's amazing to see how quickly the car arrives and departs and how all the mechanics appear to work symmetrically together. Not necessarily a new camera angle, but one which I've loved to see this weekend.
With new engines coming in for the 2014 season, I've also been making the most of listening to the sound of the engines. After hearing a prototype for the new V6 engines, I am going to appreciate the sound of the V8's before they disappear, as there is a significant difference between the two.
Personally, the driver of the day for me was Sebastian Vettel. He had a perfect weekend; qualified on pole, won the race and extended his race lead. He was able to look after a damaged tyre whilst leading the race and maintaining a gap and he drove a race without incident even when Red Bull had 'enough problems.'
Looking forward to the Singapore GP in two weeks time, I am looking forward to seeing how Hamilton will respond to a disappointing weekend, what McLaren can achieve in terms of improvement and whether or not Vettel can continue to dominate this track as he has done over the past few seasons.
Showing posts with label mercedes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mercedes. Show all posts
Sunday, 8 September 2013
Wednesday, 4 September 2013
F1 Team Review 2013: Mercedes
It's fair to say that Mercedes have been less than impressive since their return to F1 in 2010. Their history to say the least is complicated, yet they built a team which saw Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher take the two racing seats from 2010 to 2012.
However, this season has proved different, with pole positions and race wins as well as a new driver in the form of Lewis Hamilton.
Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons the team finished without a single pole position or win, and a number of retirements due to technical problems. Things seemed to have improved in 2012, with Rosberg taking pole at the Chinese GP and subsequently winning the race as well. Although some expected for this form to continue into the 2012 season, Mercedes suffered from multiple technical issues and retirements which lead them to finish 5th in the Constructor's Championship with 142 points.
With the arrival of Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season and the departure of Michael Schumacher, the team was expected to deliver a competitive car. There was a lot of pressure on the team to perform and questions as to why Hamilton had decided to join them.
Mercedes are now enjoying what is their best season in the sport since returning in 2010. So far after 11 races they have achieved 3 wins and 8 pole positions, a radical improvement from 2012. They still have areas to improve in order to be able to convert each pole into a race win, but the races they have won, they've done rather dominantly.
Mercedes have suffered with a number of tyre problems throughout the season, suffering from blow-outs at the British GP with Lewis Hamilton and extreme degradation in races which have seen them slide down the order. However, they arguably have the fastest car in qualifying trim, which is illustrated by the amount of pole positions which they have achieved so far.
At recent races we have also seen an improvement with the Mercedes' tyre degradation, whether this be because they understand how to manage the tyres more effectively or because the change in the Pirelli tyres have suited them.
They have worked extremely hard over the winter to develop a competitive car and this is shown by the fact that they stand 2nd in the Constructor's Championship and are Red Bull's nearest rival with 235 points. The two drivers have been extremely consistent as well, with Hamilton finishing in the points in 10 of the 11 races with 1 win and 4 podium finishes. Nico Rosberg also has finished in the points in 8 of the 11 races, but also has 2 race wins included. The big question now surrounding Mercedes is can they continue to develop their car which will be able to challenge Red Bull for the titles? With big regulation changes coming in 2014, it is natural to think that the team will be dedicating more time and effort towards their 2014 car, but all the great teams are able to balance their developments between the two cars. If Mercedes can continue a decent rate of development for their 2013 car, I believe they have a good chance of securing 2nd in the constructors championship and may even be able to chase Red Bull down even to the last race in Brazil.
When Lewis Hamilton joined the team at the beginning of the season, many people doubted that he would be able to win races with the team because of how uncompetitive their 2012 car was. Admittedly, I didn't think that considering the form of the team since 2010, that Rosberg let alone Hamilton would be winning races this season. Its astonishing how far the team have come in this season and they've proved a lot of people wrong. It is almost as though Hamilton knew the car would be competitive when he joined.
For these reasons, so far this season Mercedes have been the team of the season for me. In order to call this season a real success I believe they should still be trying to challenge for the titles as much as possible and I think even if they don't win these, if they get a few more race wins this season, they can call 2013 a real success.
However, this season has proved different, with pole positions and race wins as well as a new driver in the form of Lewis Hamilton.
Between the 2010 and 2011 seasons the team finished without a single pole position or win, and a number of retirements due to technical problems. Things seemed to have improved in 2012, with Rosberg taking pole at the Chinese GP and subsequently winning the race as well. Although some expected for this form to continue into the 2012 season, Mercedes suffered from multiple technical issues and retirements which lead them to finish 5th in the Constructor's Championship with 142 points.
With the arrival of Lewis Hamilton for the 2013 season and the departure of Michael Schumacher, the team was expected to deliver a competitive car. There was a lot of pressure on the team to perform and questions as to why Hamilton had decided to join them.
Mercedes are now enjoying what is their best season in the sport since returning in 2010. So far after 11 races they have achieved 3 wins and 8 pole positions, a radical improvement from 2012. They still have areas to improve in order to be able to convert each pole into a race win, but the races they have won, they've done rather dominantly.
Mercedes have suffered with a number of tyre problems throughout the season, suffering from blow-outs at the British GP with Lewis Hamilton and extreme degradation in races which have seen them slide down the order. However, they arguably have the fastest car in qualifying trim, which is illustrated by the amount of pole positions which they have achieved so far.
At recent races we have also seen an improvement with the Mercedes' tyre degradation, whether this be because they understand how to manage the tyres more effectively or because the change in the Pirelli tyres have suited them.
They have worked extremely hard over the winter to develop a competitive car and this is shown by the fact that they stand 2nd in the Constructor's Championship and are Red Bull's nearest rival with 235 points. The two drivers have been extremely consistent as well, with Hamilton finishing in the points in 10 of the 11 races with 1 win and 4 podium finishes. Nico Rosberg also has finished in the points in 8 of the 11 races, but also has 2 race wins included. The big question now surrounding Mercedes is can they continue to develop their car which will be able to challenge Red Bull for the titles? With big regulation changes coming in 2014, it is natural to think that the team will be dedicating more time and effort towards their 2014 car, but all the great teams are able to balance their developments between the two cars. If Mercedes can continue a decent rate of development for their 2013 car, I believe they have a good chance of securing 2nd in the constructors championship and may even be able to chase Red Bull down even to the last race in Brazil.
When Lewis Hamilton joined the team at the beginning of the season, many people doubted that he would be able to win races with the team because of how uncompetitive their 2012 car was. Admittedly, I didn't think that considering the form of the team since 2010, that Rosberg let alone Hamilton would be winning races this season. Its astonishing how far the team have come in this season and they've proved a lot of people wrong. It is almost as though Hamilton knew the car would be competitive when he joined.
For these reasons, so far this season Mercedes have been the team of the season for me. In order to call this season a real success I believe they should still be trying to challenge for the titles as much as possible and I think even if they don't win these, if they get a few more race wins this season, they can call 2013 a real success.
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