Hamilton takes Nurburgring pole

Lewis Hamilton will start on pole for the second race running as he pipped Sebastian Vettel to the top spot in qualifying for tomorrow’s German Grand Prix.

The Mercedes driver had been off the pace in the morning’s practice session, but found the sweet spot in his car when it mattered to beat Vettel’s Red Bull by just 0.103 seconds.

Mark Webber will start third tomorrow, just ahead of the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean, whilst Daniel Ricciardo continued his impressive run of strong Saturdays to qualify his Toro Rosso sixth.

The Ferraris of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso lock out the fourth row of the grid after opting to qualify on the medium tyres in order to optimise its race strategy, whilst Jenson Button and Nico Hulkenberg complete the top ten.

The big shock of qualifying was Nico Rosberg’s failure to make it through to the final part of qualifying. The victor at Silverstone last week was kept in the pits by Mercedes, the team thinking they had done enough to make it through to Q3, but a flurry of late improvements left him down in 11^th and with an uphill struggle to fight for the podium tomorrow.

Rosberg was joined on the sidelines in Q3 by Paul di Resta, Sergio Perez, Esteban Gutierrez, Adrian Sutil and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Williams celebrates its 600^th Grand Prix this weekend, but the team marked the milestone in the worst possible way as both cars fell at the first hurdle. Valtteri Bottas will start 17^th and shares the ninth row with Pastor Maldonado.

Charles Pic starts 19^th, with Jules Bianchi, Giedo van der Garde and Max Chilton completing the grid.

Qualifying Results
1) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes
2) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault
3) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault
4) Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus-Renault
5) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault
6) Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
7) Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari
8) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari
9) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes
10) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari
11) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes
12) Paul di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes
13) Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes
14) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes
15) Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes
16) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari
17) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault
18) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault
19) Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham-Renault
20) Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia-Cosworth
21) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault
22) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth

Stephen D’Albiac

Performance Podium: Great Britain

On a day where tyres played a bigger role on the circuit than the racing, which drivers impressed the most at Silverstone? Here’s the belated Performance Podium from the British Grand Prix.

1) Mark Webber

With the headlines in the build-up to the race dominated by Mark Webber’s decision to leave Formula One at the end of the season and pursue a career in sports car racing, the Australian was looking to produce a trademark strong performance at Silverstone in his last British Grand Prix.

Webber started fourth, alongside his Red Bull teammate Sebastian Vettel, but a disastrous start saw him lose several places off the line and contact with Romain Grosjean’s Lotus at the first corner left him in fourteenth place and a damaged front wing, leaving himself with a mountain to climb for the remainder of the afternoon.

But having never been one to give up, Webber – with the safety car’s help – managed to battle his way back up to fifth place with seven laps remaining. And with fresh wheels on his wagon, he quickly dispatched the trio of Daniel Ricciardo, Adrian Sutil and Kimi Raikkonen to take second, and give himself an unlikely shot of catching Nico Rosberg and taking an outstanding victory.

Despite pushing himself to the limit to pass Rosberg, the lap counter got the better of him and he was left having to settle for second. A couple more laps in the race and it may well have been a different story, but Webber had produced a characteristic display that has come to define his career, and one that was fitting for his final Grand Prix at a circuit that will go down as one of his most successful.

2) Lewis Hamilton

By the time the British Grand Prix had reached its eighth lap, it appeared that local favourite Lewis Hamilton was well on the way to a first Mercedes win and a second success on home soil, having led away comfortably from pole and opened up a convincing gap to Sebastian Vettel.

But then the wretched luck that came to define the Englishman’s 2012 season returned, and Hamilton fell victim to the first of many blowouts in the race, forcing him to crawl back to the pits and dropping him out of contention for victory in the cruellest of fashions.

However, with his chances of salvaging something from the race hanging in the balance, Hamilton began his recovery, and by the time the second safety car came in he had clawed his way up to ninth with seven laps left. And with the bit between his teeth in those final stages, the Brit picked up five places in the last part of the race to come home fourth, just behind Fernando Alonso and a place on the podium, capping off a strong fightback in fine style.

3) Nico Rosberg

The fortunes of Nico Rosberg in the British Grand Prix represented something from a bygone era, as the German benefitted from the reliability woes of both Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel to claim his second win of the season.

However, to say that Rosberg simply inherited the victory would be unfair on the Mercedes driver, for he drove a mature race and put himself in the position to be the main beneficiary of any problems in front of him. Furthermore, he kept his cool in the final laps despite having a reinvigorated Mark Webber breathing down his neck and threatening to deprive him of a third career victory.

For the first time in his career, Rosberg has a car underneath him capable of challenging for regular victories and he is making the most of this opportunity in impressive fashion.

HM) Sebastian Vettel

From the moment he took the lead of the British Grand Prix following Lewis Hamilton’s puncture, Sebastian Vettel appeared to be cruising to a fourth win of the year as he looked set to extend an already convincing margin in the driver’s championship.

But with only 11 laps remaining a gearbox problem dashed Vettel’s hopes of a second win at Silverstone, forcing him to retire from the race and leaving him with no option but to enjoy the remainder of the afternoon from his pit garage. The history books will show that the world champion failed to finish this race, but will ignore the way he’d looked like dominating it for such a large portion of the Grand Prix.

2013 Performance Podium Rankings
1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 23pts
2) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) – 20pts
3) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 17pts
4) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) – 13pts
5) Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) – 10pts
5) Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 10pts
5) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) – 10pts
8) Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) – 7pts
8) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 7pts
10) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 6pts
11) Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 5pts
11) Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) – 5pts
13) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) – 4pts
14) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) – 2pts
14) Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari) – 2pts
14) Jules Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) – 2pts
17) Giedo van der Garde (Caterham-Renault) – 1pt
18) Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Renault) – 1pt

The Performance Podium rankings are calculated depending on where each driver places in each race. 1st place receives 10 points, 2nd place = 5pts, 3rd place = 2pts and an Honourable Mention = 1pt

Stephen D’Albiac

Let’s do something for Murray Walker at Silverstone

Firstly, I’d like to join everyone else in wishing Murray Walker a very speedy and full recovery from his illness.

As someone whose commentary has provided much joy for motor racing fans across the world throughout a legendary career, and especially in the UK, the venue of the next race of the F1 season, I’m sure I’m not alone in believing that Murray deserves a show of support at the British Grand Prix.

Therefore I’d like to propose that before the race at Silverstone, a minute’s applause takes place on the grid to allow the F1 paddock and the thousands of fans that are set to pack the grandstands in a fortnight’s time an opportunity to show their support to a motorsport legend, and let him know that everyone in the sport is fully behind him as he begins his fight against his illness.

I’d picture this as being similar to how fans of Aston Villa Football Club show their support to club captain Stiliyan Petrov, who is battling leukaemia, in the 19th minute of every game they play.

As someone who is very much an armchair blogger with no Formula One connections, I don’t know how much chance this little campaign has of succeeding, but if you see this post, I’d kindly urge you to share it on your Twitter or Facebook pages or via any other form of media you can think of.

That way, hopefully those with the powers to organise such a thing will take notice and something will be done at Silverstone to show support to this great motorsport icon.

Stephen D’Albiac

Why the title race is far from over

Sebastian Vettel leads the world championship, but Fernando Alonso is lurking behind him

Sebastian Vettel’s dominant drive to victory in Canada last weekend has prompted many to conclude that the title race is already as good as over.

The world champion’s seemingly effortless charge to the chequered flag in Montreal was the most convincing win of the year so far, and helped the Red Bull driver increase his lead over Fernando Alonso in the drivers’ standings to a comfortable 36 points with just seven races gone.

The nature of the win means that Vettel is now odds-on favourite to claim a fourth successive title, with the 25-year-old’s price amongst the bookies being slashed as low as 2/5, indicating a fairly sizeable amount of confidence as to the final destination of the 2013 world championship.

But is the title race really over at this still early stage of the season?

There can be no disputing that Vettel is the clear favourite to make it title number four at this stage. He has a lead larger than at any point since his stroll to the championship in 2011, and his Red Bull is looking stronger than it has at any point over the season. If your life depended on choosing a champion this year, you would plump for the German.

But take a closer look at the race in Canada and the season as a whole, and things don’t look quite as clear-cut.

Focusing solely on the last race for the moment, and the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve looks custom made for the RB9. With no high-speed corners to speak of, the track is far easier on its tyres than the likes of Barcelona and Sepang, meaning that everyone, even the notorious, rubber-wrecking Mercedes, had a relatively easy time of things during the race. This was borne out by the fact that the Force India of Paul di Resta was able to complete a marathon 57-lap stint on a set of mediums without any significant drop-off in performance.

Therefore Vettel’s Red Bull, one of several cars to suffer with high wear on the 2013-spec Pirellis, was rid of its main Achilles heel, and the tyre advantage of its rivals, particularly Ferrari and Lotus, was effectively gone before lights out, meaning he was able to push his car to the limit without any fear of having to conserve his rubber.

Not only that, but the RB9 is a clear step ahead of its rivals when it comes to generating traction, a characteristic that Montreal tests like perhaps no other venue on the calendar. The traction of the Red Bull is such that it makes the car capable of gaining at least a tenth through each acceleration zone, giving it a huge advantage throughout the lap and more than making up for what it loses through its relative lack of straight line speed. It’s also no coincidence that Vettel’s other convincing win this season came in Bahrain, another circuit which is heavily reliant on traction.

It so happens that traction is a weakness of the Red Bull’s closest challenger, the Ferrari. There is no doubt that the Scuderia have a cracking car on their hands this year, but its pace on circuits where good acceleration is a must has been noticeably lacking. Alonso was losing time to not only the Red Bulls through the traction zones, but the Mercedes as well, which delayed his charge through to second to the closing stages, and meant that even if he’d had a clear run at Vettel throughout the race, it’s unlikely he’d have ruffled many feathers upfront.

These factors created the perfect recipe for Vettel, and he took full advantage of it to produce the perfect dish for his team.

So what can we expect going into the next few races?

Focusing on the four tracks coming up, we have Silverstone, the Nurburgring, the Hungaroring and Spa.

They all have their unique challenges, but the quartet that makes up the next chapter of this season share some fundamental elements. All four have significant sections of long corners, plenty of which are medium to high-speed bends, all four should provide a bigger test of the Pirelli tyres than Canada, and traction is much less of an issue at each of these venues compared to Montreal.

This spells good news for Ferrari. Its car thrives on circuits with long, sweeping bends and its abundance of front-end grip means it can carry more speed through these corners than the Red Bull, and do it whilst being kinder on the tyres. Of the three tracks raced on this year that fit this profile, Alonso has won comfortably at two of them (China and Barcelona), and his spectacular front wing failure and premature exit from the Malaysian Grand Prix left an open goal for Messrs Vettel and Webber to squabble it out for the win, with explosive results.

If they get it right on the pit wall side of things, and luck goes their way with the weather, they have a very realistic chance of winning all four of those races.

And with the benefit of a driver with the relentless consistency and determination of Alonso to unleash on the field, if he gets a sniff of victory, he will be there every time to tough it out for the win.

Kimi Raikkonen is a potential third title contender, but his Lotus team appears to have taken a step backwards in recent races, and with the Enstone team overly reliant on tyre wear and hot weather – something far from guaranteed in the paradise of uncertainty that is the European summer – it looks as if his hopes may be starting to fade.

This leaves us with a probable repeat of the 2012 title battle; Vettel v Alonso.

Alonso trails Vettel by 36 points, but a win at Silverstone, coupled with a retirement for his rival, would cut the deficit to just 11, and with three tracks that should theoretically suit the Ferrari over the Red Bull to follow next, the title race would be well and truly back on again.

That’s not to say that Vettel doesn’t have a chance over the summer months. The Red Bull will undoubtedly still be right up at the sharp end challenging for podiums at the very least, and with the brain of Adrian Newey at its disposal, the team is only ever one upgrade away from taking a giant leap forward.

But if Ferrari does take the upper hand over the next few races, consistency will be key for Vettel. Even with a 36-point lead in his pocket, if Alonso can string a sequence of wins together, a sizeable advantage can evaporate fast for the championship leader if he’s not there picking up the points. It’s something these two men will know only too well after last year, when a run of four straight wins at the back end of the season helped Vettel overhaul a 39-point deficit to the Ferrari driver and take a lead he was never to lose in the title battle.

Things change so quickly in Formula One that it would be unwise to jump to any conclusions at this stage. What may look comfortable one day suddenly looks decidedly uncomfortable the next, and it is far too early to proclaim that there is only one outcome in this year’s title battle. The next four races will tell us much more, and only then will a clearer picture begin to emerge as to who will be crowned world champion in Brazil at the end of November.

For, to borrow a phrase from the legendary Murray Walker: “Anything can happen in Formula One and it usually does.”

And as the opening salvo of the 2013 season begins to take its final bow, a new chapter of uncertainty may be just around the corner.

Stephen D’Albiac

Performance Podium: A Quick Update

Having not blogged for a few weeks, one thing that was somewhat neglected was the Performance Podium feature. With points at stake based on how well a driver is ranked I kept a record of the best performers from each race, and so to bring the rankings back up to date, here’s a quick summary of my Performance Podiums for the Spanish, Monaco and Canadian Grands Prix.

The feature will return in its entirety for the British Grand Prix in three weeks time.

Spanish Grand Prix
1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2) Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
3) Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari)
HM) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault)
HM) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)

Monaco Grand Prix
1) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)
2) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes)
3) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault)
HM) Giedo van der Garde (Caterham-Renault)

Canadian Grand Prix
1) Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari)
2) Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes)
3) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault)
HM) Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Renault)

2013 Performance Podium Rankings
1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 23pts
2) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 15pts
3) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) – 13pts
4) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) – 10pts
4) Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) – 10pts
4) Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 10pts
4) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) – 10pts
8) Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) – 7pts
9) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 6pts
10) Felipe Massa (Ferrari) – 5pts
10) Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) – 5pts
12) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) – 3pts
13) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) – 2pts
13) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 2pts
13) Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber-Ferrari) – 2pts
13) Jules Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) – 2pts
17) Giedo van der Garde (Caterham-Renault) – 1pt
18) Valtteri Bottas (Williams-Renault) – 1pt

The Performance Podium rankings are calculated depending on where each driver places in each race. 1st place receives 10 points, 2nd place = 5pts, 3rd place = 2pts and an Honourable Mention = 1pt

Stephen D’Albiac

Performance Podium: Bahrain

The Bahrain Grand Prix turned out to be a race in which some rather unexpected names stood out, making this the Performance Podium of the ‘unusual suspects’.

But in which order did the stars of Sakhir end up in performance terms? Keep reading, and you’ll find the answer.

1) Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez answered his critics in fine fashion in Bahrain with a highly impressive drive to sixth place.

The McLaren driver had been criticised for not defending hard enough when battling with other cars in China, but Perez came back brilliantly in Bahrain, getting stuck into fights with other drivers throughout the race, most notably with teammate Jenson Button, with whom the Mexican tussled in a thrilling duel that lasted many laps.

Perez got the better of his McLaren sparring partner late on in the race, before passing Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber in the closing laps and also demonstrating his renowned tyre management by getting to the end on three stops, in a race where Button was forced to make four visits to the pit lane.

The challenge now is for Perez to continue to produce drives of this nature, and if he manages to do so, he will more than begin to repay the faith McLaren showed in signing him to replace Lewis Hamilton.

2) Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean was another man slightly under the cosh before this weekend. The Frenchman hadn’t driven particularly badly, but had failed to show the speed he had often demonstrated in 2012.

It was perhaps apt, then, that Grosjean produced by far his best performance of the season so far in Bahrain, the scene of his maiden Formula One podium last year, making best use of a three-stop strategy to take third place.

Having spent the first part of the race mired in a battle with the McLarens, Grosjean came alive in the second half, using his fresher medium tyres at the end to pass Paul di Resta in the closing stages and claim his first podium finish since Hungary last year.

Grosjean has managed to keep his nose clean so far this season, and if he can build on the speed he found this weekend, then the Frenchman could well become a regular podium challenger throughout the year.

3) Paul di Resta

Paul di Resta made best use of an extremely quick Force India to match his career best finish of fourth in Bahrain.

di Resta moved up to fourth on the opening lap, and when Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg began to drop back, for a time was running in an incredible second place on merit.

The Scot lost out to Kimi Raikkonen on lap 34, but then ran solidly in third place, and looked set for a maiden F1 podium before Romain Grosjean’s charge bumped him down to fourth in the closing stages.

Despite missing out on the podium, di Resta will be delighted with his weekend’s work, and with Force India fighting it out at the front on merit so far this season, a top three finish may not be too far away.

HM) Sebastian Vettel

It would be hard not to find a place in this Performance Podium for Sebastian Vettel, who even by his standards produced a storming drive in Bahrain.

A stunning overtake on Fernando Alonso on the first lap put him second, before his swift pass on Nico Rosberg gave him an early lead which allowed him to streak clear at the front.

From that point Vettel never looked like being beaten, and comfortably drove out the rest of the race to take his second win of the season and cement his place at the top of the drivers standings.

HM) Fernando Alonso

It’s a testament to Fernando Alonso’s driving ability that he recovered from two DRS failures to secure eighth, and a good haul of points from today’s Grand Prix.

Two unscheduled stops in the early part of the race, put him on a compromised pit strategy, and with no DRS to make his way through the field, he was forced to make up lost ground with a significant speed disadvantage.

Despite the lack of DRS making him defenceless against Sergio Perez in the closing stages, Alonso will be happy to have salvaged some points from this race and minimise the ground lost in the title battle ahead of F1’s return to Europe.

2013 Performance Podium Rankings
1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 13pts
2) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) – 10pts
2) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) – 10pts
2) Sergio Perez (McLaren-Mercedes) – 10pts
5) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) – 5pts
5) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 5pts
5) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 5pts
5) Romain Grosjean (Lotus-Renault) – 5pts
9) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) – 2pts
9) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 2pts
9) Paul di Resta (Force India-Mercedes) – 2pts
12) Jules Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) – 2pts
13) Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault) – 1pt

The Performance Podium rankings are calculated depending on where each driver places in each race. 1st place receives 10 points, 2nd place = 5pts, 3rd place = 2pts and an Honourable Mention = 1pt

Stephen D’Albiac

Rampant Vettel takes dominant win in Bahrain

Sebastian Vettel cruised to his second win of the season as he romped to victory in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

After losing second to Fernando Alonso at the start, Vettel produced a stunning overtaking manouevre to reclaim second at turn five on the opening lap, before passing polesitter Nico Rosberg on lap three to take a lead he never looked like losing.

Kimi Raikkonen came second after using a two-stop strategy to come through the field, while his Lotus teammate Romain Grosjean took his first podium of the season by finishing third, passing the Force India of Paul di Resta in the closing stages of the race.

di Resta’s fourth place underlined the improvement Force India have made over the winter, whilst Lewis Hamilton, the hugely impressive Sergio Perez, Mark Webber and the luckless Alonso, who had to pit twice in the opening laps after his DRS got stuck open, rounded out the top eight.

Poleman Rosberg and Jenson Button completed the points, with both struggling to preserve their tyres throughout the race and the pair had to make four stops to get to the end.

Everyone got away cleanly at the start, with Rosberg making it to the first corner from pole position, ahead of the dicing Alonso and Vettel.

Alonso made it out of turn three in second place, but Vettel then used his KERS to great effect on the exit of the fourth corner to blast up the inside of the Ferrari and reclaim his starting position in brilliant fashion.

Now into second place, Vettel clearly had more pace than the Mercedes of Rosberg, and having spent the whole of the second lap threatening a pass, pulled off a move at turn six on lap three to move into the lead.

Alonso then waited his turn behind the Mercedes, and with the help of the DRS made his move on Rosberg to take second at the start of lap five.

However, in passing the Mercedes the Ferrari’s DRS had failed, and the flap on the rear wing of Alonso’s car jammed open, contravening FIA regulations and forcing him to pit on lap seven to get it fixed.

That pitstop dropped the Spaniard way down the order, and instead of hunting down race leader Vettel, he was now staring at the gearbox of Jules Bianchi’s Marussia. He used the DRS to pass the Frenchman into turn 11, but as he did so the Ferrari’s flap stuck open again, forcing a second visit to the pits in as many laps.

With the use of DRS not an option for the remainder of the race, Alonso was forced to make his way through the field without the use of his main overtaking aid, but creditably fought back into the points in the closing stages. He passed Perez to take seventh place, but with no way of using his rear wing to make inroads into the scrapping Webber and Hamilton ahead of him, he became easy prey for the McLaren in the closing laps and the Mexican retook the place to leave Alonso in a still very respectable eighth.

Perez was one of the standout performers of the race. Having received plenty of criticism over his racecraft since his move to McLaren, he got himself into some cracking battles for position throughout the race, most notably with teammate Button in the second and third stints. The pair made contact on more than one occasion as they fought wheel-to-wheel, and the Mexican got the better of his more experienced teammate, managing to complete the race on one less pit stop.

A fine afternoon for Perez was completed on the final lap when he passed the Red Bull of Webber to take sixth place.

Hamilton was another driver that fought through in the closing stages. The Englishman had endured a subdued afternoon up until the final round of stops and looked set for a place in the lower reaches of the points, but fought through in the closing stages to pass Perez and then Webber right at the end after a thrilling battle that lasted several laps.

By now Vettel and Raikkonen were safely out front, and the big question was as to whether di Resta would be able to claim a place on the podium ahead of Grosjean, who had been forced to visit the pits on three occasions throughout the race.

Having driven a storming race, undoubtedly the finest of his F1 career, it looked as though di Resta was set for his first ever podium finish, but the Lotus of Grosjean made a late charge on the medium tyres and with just five laps remaining, took the place from the Force India on the pit straight to take third place and ensure an exact repeat of the podium standings from last year’s race.

But there was no stopping the dominant Red Bull of Vettel, who comfortably drove his car home to take his second win of the season.

He now leads the world championship on 77 points, ahead of Raikkonen with 67, whilst Hamilton lies third with 50, three clear of Alonso in fourth place.

Classification
1) Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Red Bull-Renault – 1:36:00.498 secs
2) Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Lotus-Renault – +9.111 secs
3) Romain Grosjean (Fra) Lotus-Renault – +19.507 secs
4) Paul Di Resta (GB) Force India-Mercedes – +21.727 secs
5) Lewis Hamilton (GB) Mercedes – +35.230 secs
6) Sergio Perez (Mex) McLaren-Mercedes – +35.998 secs
7) Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault – +37.244 secs
8) Fernando Alonso (Esp) Ferrari – +37.574 secs
9) Nico Rosberg (Ger) Mercedes – +41.126 secs
10) Jenson Button (GB) McLaren-Mercedes – +46.631 secs
11) Pastor Maldonado (Ven) Williams-Renault – +1:06.450 secs
12) Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Sauber-Ferrari – +1:12.933 secs
13) Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Mercedes – +1:16.719 secs
14) Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Williams-Renault – +1:21.511 secs
15) Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari – +1:26.364 secs
16) Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – +1 lap
17) Charles Pic (Fra) Caterham-Renault – + 1 lap
18) Esteban Gutierrez (Mex) Sauber-Ferrari – + 1 lap
19) Jules Bianchi (Fra) Marussia-Cosworth – + 1 lap
20) Max Chilton (GB) Marussia-Cosworth – + 1 lap
21) Giedo van der Garde (Ned) Caterham-Renault – + 2 laps

Not classified
22) Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari – 41 laps

Stephen D’Albiac

Bahrain Grand Prix Preview

This weekend will see the ninth running of the Bahrain Grand Prix, a race that made history in 2004 when it became the first Formula One race to be staged in the Middle East, but also one that has attracted much controversy over the last few years.

Without wanting to detract too much from the fact we have a race on this weekend, there are clearly a lot of people (both in Bahrain and around the world) that do not think this Grand Prix should go ahead for political reasons.

However, the race will go ahead as normal and the fact that there has been no further deterioration in the political situation in the Gulf state since last year’s event, which attracted just as much criticism, means that anyone lobbying for the Grand Prix’s cancellation this time around was as likely to be successful as a Jacques Villeneuve comeback bid.

With that little titbit about Bahraini politics out of the way, let’s move onto the race. And it promises to be yet another exciting one after the three crackers we’ve had to start off the season. Lotus, Red Bull and Ferrari have all taken turns at the front in the first three races, and with Messrs Raikkonen, Vettel and Alonso all tasting victory so far we are almost halfway to a repeat of the electric start to last year’s championship, when seven different drivers won the first seven Grands Prix.

However, with those top three teams looking more likely than anyone to take the victory this weekend, and those three teams all having established lead drivers, it’s quite likely we’ll be seeing that little run come to a crashing halt on Sunday.

The big talking point last time out was the tyres, particularly the durability (or lack of) of the softer compound. With cars not being able to get more than five or six laps out of it in Shanghai, Pirelli have taken the last-minute decision to bring the medium and hard tyres to Sakhir, rather than the soft and medium rubber.

Whether it’s a kneejerk reaction or not, or whether teams like Red Bull have coerced them into the unexpected change of heart is not yet known, but it’s definitely something that will delight a large section of the paddock who have become fed up with using tyres that don’t last.

Will that decision affect the race? If anything, it’s Red Bull that will benefit the most from it. The team have struggled to make their tyres last as long as the Lotus and Ferrari on the longer runs so far this season, meaning they have been unable to unleash the full potential of their car. Therefore, compounds that last longer should help them out a bit in this respect and help them keep up.

However, should these harder compounds have the effect of pushing the race into a borderline two or three stop race, it could be the Lotus, the best car on its tyres so far, that benefits from being able to run one less stop than its rivals and gains the most from it.

All that, and much more, means we are set for a fascinating race on Sunday, and if the opening gambit of this season is anything to go by, we’re in for a treat in Bahrain this weekend.

The Circuit

Designed by (you guessed it) Hermann Tilke and opened for business in 2004, the Bahrain International Circuit was one of the earlier tracks to be brought to the F1 calendar by the sport’s resident architect.

With the exception of 2010, when what can only be described as the most boring section of track in the history of the F1 world championship was added to the circuit (and wisely removed just as swiftly), the race has been held on the original 3.3-mile layout.

The track features a mixture of long straights and hairpins, meaning those with good traction and rear end grip should go well here. There are a couple of fast, sweeping bends that provide a good test of a car’s aerodynamics, but overall this is a track that plays into the hands of those with good mechanical grip.

With several first and second gear corners the circuit is one of the harder ones on the calendar for braking, so its vital for the drivers not to get too trigger-happy with the left foot, or that could become a major concern later in the race if the brakes become too hot and the chances of a failure (never a pleasant experience at 200mph) increase.

Now instead of talking through each part of the Sakhir circuit one-by-one (which isn’t the most exciting thing that’s ever been done), I’ve gone for something different this weekend. So, courtesy of Marussia reserve driver Rodolfo Gonzalez, here’s an onboard lap of the Sakhir circuit from practice earlier today.

Track Facts
Location: Sakhir, Bahrain
First Race: 2004
Track Length: 3.363 miles/5.412km
Laps: 57
2012 Winner: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault)
Lap Record: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) – 1:30.252 (2004)

Past Winners
2012: Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull-Renault)
2011: Cancelled
2010: Fernando Alonso (Ferrari)
2009: Jenson Button (Brawn-Mercedes)
2008: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2007: Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
2006: Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2005: Fernando Alonso (Renault)
2004: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)

Stephen D’Albiac

Imperious drive in China the perfect comeback for Alonso

When Fernando Alonso entered the paddock in China on Thursday there was no doubting he did so with a huge amount of pressure behind him.

The Spaniard had thrown away a golden opportunity to win in Sepang three weeks previously by hitting Sebastian Vettel, the catalyst for his spectacular front wing failure and retirement a lap later, and with every point in what is set to be another hugely competitive title battle, the importance of bouncing back with a good result was immense.

Alonso was at his nonchalant best at his press call prior to the weekend, coolly playing down the effect of his retirement in Malaysia, but deep down both he and his team knew that another fruitless weekend, even at this early stage of the season, was not an option, and that a strong response was needed under the Shanghai sun.

That response, when it came on Sunday, was emphatic.

In perhaps the most complete performance of his Ferrari career, Alonso put on a driving masterclass in front of the watching fans. He obliterated the field, beating the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen by over 10 seconds with pace still in reserve.

It was a walkover in every way imaginable. From the moment he passed Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes for the lead on the fifth lap, Alonso was imperious. His lap times were typically metronomic, his tyre wear was on a par with anyone else, and his racecraft in fighting his way through traffic after his pit stops was exquisite.

There are times in this sport when man and machine just come together during a weekend and create a combination that brushes aside anything that’s put in front of it. It doesn’t always happen that way, but when it does it takes a minor miracle for anything to beat it.

The true magnitude of Alonso’s advantage over his rivals was demonstrated shortly after his final stop, when he began to lap in the 1:39s, a pace almost a second quicker than anyone else had managed all afternoon. His response when told by his race engineer Andrea Stella not to push, “I’m not pushing.”

Lotus fans can point out Raikkonen’s damaged front wing as a reason for his failure to challenge Alonso for the win, but the reality is that Sunday was just one of those days when one man was head and shoulders above the field. The Ferrari could probably have finished 15, 20, even 25 seconds in front if it had wanted to.

To assume that Raikkonen could have won the race you would also have to assume that Alonso was pushing his car through the entire race, and the time the Lotus would have lost as a result of the front wing damage caused by the collision with Sergio Perez was enough that it would have been enough to get to the Ferrari, assumptions that would both have been wrong.

Alonso’s win has put him right back amongst the championship leaders. He lies just nine points behind Vettel in the standings, and with the knowledge that he has now has a car that can challenge for regular wins on pure performance rather than minor miracles, the Spaniard cuts an ominous presence amongst the frontrunners.

With a matador-like fighting spirit, the right car underneath him, and an immovable resolve to salvage the most that he can from any situation, the tidal wave of momentum Alonso will now take to Bahrain this weekend will be huge, and if he can get himself to the head of the championship, and Ferrari can continue to deliver him a car that can run at the front, it is very difficult to see anyone surpassing the Spaniard over the coming races.

And after several near misses and a seemingly neverending wait for that elusive third title, it looks like everything may just be beginning to fall into place for him.

Stephen D’Albiac

Performance Podium: China

The Chinese Grand Prix proved to be a thrilling battle of strategy. So which three drivers made Torque F1’s Performance Podium this week? It’s time to find out.

1) Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso was at his magnificent best in China. After the disappointment of Sepang three weeks ago it was crucial that the Spaniard had a good race to kick-start his title challenge.

Having passed Kimi Raikkonen for second at the start, Alonso then tracked Lewis Hamilton for the first few laps, before making the best use of the DRS to pass the Mercedes driver at the start of lap five.

From then on Alonso never looked back, and consistently pulled away from the rest of the field. He also managed to cut his way through the traffic after his pit stops better than anyone else, which proved instrumental in gaining extra time over his rivals.

Alonso continued to set the pace even after he was told to stop pushing after his final stop, and romped home for his first win since last year’s German Grand Prix, a result which now leaves him third in the drivers’ standings.

2) Daniel Ricciardo

It may have gone unnoticed with all the action at the front, but Daniel Ricciardo produced a stunning drive in Shanghai to finish a career best seventh.

Having surprised many to make it into Q3 yesterday, Ricciardo refused to be overawed by running at the front and remained in the points for the entire race, finally beating his previous best finish of 9^th (something he achieved four times last year) and scoring Toro Rosso’s best result in two years.

With the likely departure of Mark Webber, who looks set to be leaving Formula One at the end of the season to join Porsche’s Le Mans efforts, there is a seat at Red Bull up for grabs in 2014, and if Ricciardo can continue to produce drives of this quality, the chances of earning a promotion next year can only increase.

3) Jenson Button

Jenson Button made the best use of a two-stop strategy to overcome the shortcomings of his McLaren and take a strong fifth place.

Button drove an incredibly strong opening stint, making his tyres last for 21 laps, and he made his first stop at the same time as the rest of the leaders made their second.

The strength of the Englishman’s first stint of the race was such that after he pitted for the first time, he was actually running a net second. And although he didn’t have the pace to keep the trio of Raikkonen, Hamilton and Vettel behind him, an impressive fifth place finish will give both he and his team confidence as they look to fix the issues with the car over the coming races.

2013 Performance Podium Rankings
1) Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) – 12pts
2) Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus-Renault) – 10pts
2) Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault) – 10pts
4) Adrian Sutil (Force India-Mercedes) – 5pts
4) Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) – 5pts
4) Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso-Ferrari) – 5pts
7) Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) – 2pts
7) Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) – 2pts
9) Jules Bianchi (Marussia-Cosworth) – 2pt

The Performance Podium rankings are calculated depending on where each driver places in each race. 1st place receives 10 points, 2nd place = 5pts, 3rd place = 2pts and an Honourable Mention = 1pt

Stephen D’Albiac