Webber is out

Mark Webber will not have his contract renewed after this season.

Short, but not sweet. The message is clear, after last Sunday´s debacle at Red Bull, where a clearly irritated Mark Webber once again saw Sebastian Vettel ignoring team orders, only for the German to stay out of trouble and the Australian being the fault guy.

A source at German´s Bild magazine has reported that Mark Webber, 36, will not have his contract renewed and that he will in fact be forced to leave the team after this season ends, leaving room for a younger driver. After last weekends Malaysian Grand Prix, which saw Vettel ignoring team orders to turn the engine down and cruise to second behind Mark Webber, then overtook the leader to claim a controversial win, the media and several high ranking drivers and team officials, have said that Webber will not tolerate this kind of behaviour, but instead of having the upper hand and voluntarily leave Red Bull, he might be fired.

Sure Webber is 36 years old and some will argue that he has had his finest moments. But is he still finishing well up in the points and scoring vital points for Red Bull? Why, yes. Yes he is. He is still racing because he can and is able, not because Red Bull doesn´t have several other drivers they can replace him with. Stop focusing about if you like Webber or not, or if he is a fast enough driver. He has been with the team for quite a few years now, so obvious he is. Focus instead on the circus that happened last week, where Sebastian Vettel stole the victory, came up with a sad excuse for an apology afterwards and then Webber pays the price?

Sure, Formula 1 is ruthless and a cutthroat business, but this is not about racing. This is about Vettel behaving like a spoilt little brat, who demands everything in the candy store and then kicks and screams until he gets it, no matter what the cost is. And he will eventually be an isolated driver, much like Michael Schumacher was, and in some parts still is. When Schumacher kept winning and we saw one controversial decision after the other in his favour, the sport suffered massively. Rules were being changed, simply to stop a driver from being so dominating as he was. Schumacher might have had some of the sharp edges sanded down in time, but we all remember that he did whatever he damned pleased to win, and never cared about the aftermath.

Vettel is precariously close to following in the footsteps of Schumacher. And that is not always such a great thing.

 

Awkward…

The 2013 Malaysian Grand Prix will forever go down in history, as the race Mark Webber won, but had to concede the position to Sebastian Vettel.

It was an exiting race with plenty of close calls and near-misses, but then trailed off into a rather muted affair with 15 laps to go. Last race winner Kimi Raikkonen was not able to transform his 10th place start into a victory, as he did in the opening race at Melbourne Park last week, and after just one lap Fernando Alonso had to retire his Ferrari, as the team botched up their strategy completely.

And team strategy, or lack thereof, is the main theme of today´s article. Alonso made a great start from 3rd and was able to get right under the rear of Vettel´s Red Bull, but stepped in a little wet spot and just hit the back of the car in front. That caused some damage to the front wing, resulting in the left part of the wing to scrape along the asphalt for the first lap. Everyone then thought that Ferrari would pit Alonso so he could have a new wing fitted, thus continuing the race, and very likely be able to finish in a point scoring position. The team did not do that. Instead they did nothing at all, leaving their man out on the track to battle with the wing, and Mark Webber, until right after the first lap was done. On the main straight of lap 2, Webber saw an opportunity to get rid of Alonso without being a bastard, so he managed to get the better line out, climbed on the back of Alonso´s car and overtook him towards Turn 1. This caused the air in front of Alonso´s car to be disrupted, so he lost downforce and the Spaniard wasn´t able to turn into the corner, but ended his day in the gravel.

A tough day for Alonso, but not at all a good day for Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton has been heavily criticized for being bullish about his options and future at Mercedes, some say that he is burning the bridges, others that it is much to early to fight for podiums. But in the race last week and today, Hamilton showed exactly what he is worth. Every single penny. From start to finish Hamilton controlled the car and the surrounding conditions to perfection, despite a little trip to visit his old employer at the McLaren garage during a pit stop, and he ended up in 3rd place. So well done to the Hamster, right? Wrong. During the final stages of the race, Nico Rosberg was able to lap faster than Hamilton, because Hamilton was told to preserve fuel and it was clear to all that it was a matter of time before he took the Stevenage Speedster for the final podium place. He even asked for permission, but then Ross Brawn came on the radio and just said no. Rosberg settled for 4th, just behind Hamilton, but neither men were happy with that decision. In fact, when Rosberg parked his car, Brawn hailed his performance and said he did a good job and that they need to discuss the events further in the debriefing later. To which Rosberg replied: “Remember this one.”

A threat? Possibly. But Nico Rosberg is not content with being second driver to Lewis Hamilton, as both drivers see themselves as equals. And after thr race, Hamilton has clearly stated that Rosberg should have been on the podium instead of him, saying “If I’m honest I really feel like Nico should be standing here, generally he had better pace than me throughout the race. But he’s a great team mate and did a fantastic job today.”

Rosberg has replied to his good friend, that it was nice to hear, and added: “I understand I drive for Mercedes, for you guys at home who put your life into building this car over the winter and doing such a fantastic job. I’m pleased to be able to do such a great result for the team.

“But of course there’s a small side of me where I want to go flat out all the way to the end and we up on the podium myself. But the time will come for that.”

To make the podium takes a lot of every driver, but todays´podium has to be one of the most cringe-worthy things I´ve ever watched in modern F1. Sebastian Vettel, who by the way won the race, was not really pleased with the results. he basically stole the win from Mark Webber, who looked like he was about to erupt at the drivers lounge immediately after the race.

The reason for this, is that Webber lead for most of the race and after the last pit stop, he was told to turn his engine down. This means that he goes off the setting which spends the most fuel, and instead cruises a little, in order to save fuel and material. This is even agreed upon before the race starts, and the deal was to save the engines and cruise, if possible. However, Sebastian Vettel obviously and blatantly chose to ignore this and instead attacked Webber for the lead. At first he failed, but then Vettel made the best of the DRS zones, squeezing past Webber to claim a very un-popular win.

Webber explained:

“After the last stop, the team told me the race was over. We turned the engine down to get to the end. I want to race as well, but the team made a decision which we always say before the start; we look after the tyres and get the cars to the end.

“In the end Seb made his own decisions today and will get protection as usual, and that’s the way it goes. I turned my engine down and started cruising on the tyres, and then the fight was on. I was disappointed with the outcome of today’s race.”

Ok, so let´s discuss this. Should Vettel stay behind Webber? Yes he should. Of course, because this is agreed upon between Christian Horner, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, so there. But should a driver always push if he is able? Yes again. There will always be a line that is crossed whenever a driver takes a decision into his own hands. Vettel was told to conserve fuel and to not race Webber, but ignored it and won the race. Nothing will happen, because he is a three time world champion, so of course he can basically do whatever he bloody well pleases. And here is what is interesting.

When Vettel did attack Webber, Horner was not at all happy about it, naturally, saying it was silly of him to attack, when they should save the cars and try not to make mistakes. But wait a minute. First of all we have a three-time world champion who races for a living. Everything he does, from he wakes up until he goes to bed, is about being number one. Don´t tell a natural born racer, like Vettel, not to race. The problem is not the team order, the problem is that despite his three world titles, Red Bull is showing a tremendous lack of faith in their driver, which I have to say is very un-settling and quite honestly, disgusting. Horner has clearly showed that the team is pushing Vettel forward to be the best driver ever and will no doubt do what they can to make this happen, but at the same time they are telling him to behave and do what he is told. Rubbish.

It either shows how immature Vettel still is, the little spoiled brat who always gets what he wants or how cynical Red Bull really is. I don´t know, but I know that Mark Webber just increased his value a lot and that Mercedes better need to get the big pen out, when it´s time for Rosberg to negotiate a renewal of his contract.

Engine failure cause of Maldonado´s issues

Renault has revealed that the reason for Pastor Maldonado´s missed points finish in Malaysia, was due to a piston failure.

The Williams team have started 2012 with Renault engines, a return to the partnership the twobrands shared 20 odd years ago. And the team does seem to have figured out how to get more speed and performance in the car, but so far the results have been lacklustre. In Australia, Pastor Maldonado was running in the points, when he suddenly crashed as he was chasing down Fernando Alonso, and in Malaysia the unfortunate Venzuelean was also in the points, when his engine failed.

Now, Renault has found the cause of the engine failure in Malaysia, a problem they are hoping to have fixed before the Chinese GP later this week.

“We used the intervening time between Malaysia and China to thoroughly investigate the engine failure we had on Pastor’s car in Malaysia and quickly identified it as a piston failure,” head of Renault Sport F1 Track Operations Remi Taffin said. “As a result we are looking to put in place safeguards to prevent it happening again to Williams or our other clients.”

Vettel´s middle finger in trouble

Sebastian Vettel is facing a possible penalty of some sort, after he showed Narain Karthikeyan the middle finger after the two had collided in Malaysia´s Grand Prix last week.

Karthikeyan has received support from other F1 drivers, as well as several TV pundits such as David Coulthard. After the race, Vettel called Karthikeyan an idiot, to which Karthikeyan replied:

“I think he’s highly frustrated because he’s having a tough season,” Karthikeyan said Wednesday.

“It’s completely unprofessional to blame me for the incident. The derogatory remark only goes to show him in bad light. Just because he has a good car, he can’t call others an idiot. I have won races in all the previous single-seater championships I have participated in so I don’t need a certificate from Vettel,” Karthikeyan continued.

But the on-board footage from Vettel´s Red Bull, shows the double world champion getting a little too carried away, as he, not once, but twice, flipped his middle finger at Karthikeyan. And that behaviour is not acceptable, said former F1 driver Marc Surer.

“He has breached the code of conduct,” said Surer. “You sign it when you get the license and then you have to behave correspondingly. Any behaviour that hurts other people or the sport is an offense,” added the Swiss.

“Anything from a warning to a license revocation. In this case I think it was quite understandable and there will be a mild punishment, if there is anything.”

Hans-Joachim Stuck, however, is slightly less forgiving.

“When you’re overtaking, misunderstandings can occur. I think Vettel needs to learn this. With him, the curve was always upwards and now it’s not the case, and he needs to deal with that,” Stuck told the DAPD agency.

“If Sebastian had left more space, it would not have happened. It happens sometimes so it’s a racing incident. He (Karthikeyan) didn’t do it on purpose and it always takes two.”

Narain: Seb is blaming me, but I won´t have it

Narain Karthikeyan has received a lot of support from several of his fellow drivers, as well as a very high support from observers, experts and pundits, all calling Sebastian Vettel´s antics on the circuit, ‘unprofessional’.

After Vettel and Karthikeyan collided in the Malaysian Grand Prix last week, which ended Vettel´s hopes of a points finish, on-board footage has now revealed that the double world champion from Red Bull waved a particular finger at Karthikeyan as the incident happened. And it wasn´t a thumbs-up.

Vettel then went on to say, that “it’s like on the normal roads, there are some idiots driving around and seems like there is also one driving here.” That remark is unprofessional and Vettel is not winning many hearts like that. David Coulthard said of the collision, that it was a racing incident and that ‘Narain can´t make the car invisible’. Narain Karthikeyan received a post-race penalty of 20 seconds, dropping him from 21st to 22nd, the last of the runners. But now the usually calm Karthikeyan has decided to speak out about the comments from Vettel.

Karthikeyan said, that Vettel is “trying to put the blame on me for his poor shows.”

“I think he’s highly frustrated because he’s having a tough season after dominating the track for two years. It’s completely unprofessional to blame me for the incident. The derogatory remark only goes to show him in bad light. I, however, have high regard for Vettel for whatever he has achieved in a short span of time,” Narain told Deccan Chronicle from Singapore.

“We have every right to race on track. The rule is that backmarkers have to give way when they are shown the blue flag, but it doesn’t mean we have to go out of the track. Just because he has a good car, he can’t call others an idiot. I have won races in all the previous single-seater championships I have participated in and held pole position in the most demanding F3 Macau Grand Prix, so I don’t need a certificate from Vettel,” Narain said.

Force India drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta has shown their support for Karthikeyan, read more here.

 

Plenty of support for Karthikeyan after Vettel incident

Ok, so what should we call this one? Karthikeyan-Gate? Overtaking-Gate? World-champion-in-a-difficult-situation-while-in-the-race-having-to-struggle-more-and-so-is-more-frustrated-than-he-usually-is-when-he-is-leading-Gate? I vote for the last one.

Sebastian Vettel is a world class driver, he is blindingly fast and is a double world champion. He is one of the best drivers I have witnessed in the last 20 years, and his talent is so pure, so enormous, that we all know he is not done winning races and championship. But he is also a spoiled little brat at times. This is not one of those articles, in which I competely change my stance on a driver, just because he had a bad day at the office. Vettel is brilliant, no doubt about that, but just as your oldest kid grows up, he leaves behind an innocence that will never come back. He/she will meet new people, get influenced by them and make up his/her own minds, and that sometimes brings frustration. This doesn´t mean that your kid is suddenly a completely different person, just as Vettel is no longer a great driver. Because believe me, Vettel is a great driver.

Since the Malaysian Grand Prix last Sunday, in which Narain Karthikeyan now famously caused fourth placed Vettel to end up 11th in the race, by shredding his rear left tyre, the internet has been ripe with all sorts of name calling and slandering. It´s one thing that Vettel´s fans are calling for the Superlicense to be revoked for Karthikeyan, but looking in a mirror is sometimes also a very good idea. This is not about who caused what, but how the reactions have been afterwards. And many are of the firm believe that Narain Karthikeyan had no fault in this.

Immediately after the race, Vettel said that Karthikeyan was an idiot, blaming the Indian driver for the incident. Karthikeyan received a 20 second post-race penalty for the incident, although many expert observers are saying he didn´t deserve the penalty.

“It’s like on the normal roads, there are some idiots driving around and seems like there is also one driving here,” Vettel had said.

Fellow drivers Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta, from Force India, are giving their support to Karthikeyan, saying they don´t understand why Vettel would stoop so such a level, as to call Karthikeyan an ‘idiot’.

“I heard about whatever happened and I also saw it on tv. From what I saw, it was not Narain’s fault. So, I don’t really understand why he (Vettel) said all of that,” said Nico Hulkenberg. “I think Vettel was just emotional at that point of time. He lost out on points, it was frustrating for him and his team. At the end of the day, he is just human and sometimes you get emotional.”

Paul di Resta: “Though I have not really seen the incident, I am sure a lot of was said in the heat of the moment. May be he (Vettel) used the wrong words. Emotions run high in Formula One and sometimes you tend to say what you don’t really mean. Having said that, Narain is entitled to do as much on the track in comparison as someone like Vettel. Both are F1 drivers and are there to represent their teams.” 

 

 

Perez was told not to overtake Alonso. What rubbish!

Come on!

Ever since Sergio Perez came within one second of race leader Fernando Alonso, getting ready to overtake the former double world champion, only to run wide at the final turn and eventually had to settle for second in the race, which is a very good result no matter how you see it, the internet has been swarming with conspiracy theories about how Perez was told to ease off the gas and let Alonso take the win, because the Sauber team needs the Ferrari engines. And the worst part of all this, is that a lot of people are buying this.

I am not walking around in the paddocks, I do not have access to the inner circles, I do not chat to Eddie Jordan and Niki Lauda, or hang out with Bernie Ecclestone. But I have a sound intellect and a ability to think for myself, unlike other bloggers and columnists, who are trying to tell us that Perez sold the win. What utter nonsense.

As the brilliant Will Buxton writes on his blog:

The sign of an intelligent racer and an intelligent team is one who knows when to push and when not to. Sauber knew not to push, they knew that hanging on to second was the most incredible outcome they could have considered. But Sergio Perez is a racer. He wanted the win. And he would not have pushed if he didn’t think it was within his grasp.

Spot on, mate. Perez was closing in on Alonso, and the Spaniard knew that the Mexican could take him. However, the conditions were still slippery and he had only a small piece of track he could brake on. That small piece was so close to the kerbs, and just as Perez was right under the gearbox of Alonso´s Ferrari, the air he encountered from the Ferrari was different, it changed the balance of the car in that instant, and adding that the corner only had this small strip of driveable tarmac, Perez had to let go. But did he? After his mistake, he focused his sights on Alonso again and had five seconds up to Alonso, with five laps remaining.

Perez cut a second off the next lap, then seven tenths in two sectors and on the final lap the gap was 2.5 seconds. Perez was not letting Alonso go, he waletting everyone know that he wants to be on the top step of the podium, and that in Malaysia he could. Conspiracy? Under normal circumstances, F1 is full of secret deals and plenty of drama that only a handful of insiders know about. But you should be looking at it this way: Sergio Perez was not letting Alonso win in order for the Sauber team to continue getting the Ferrari engines. He was letting Stefano Domenicali know, that he will be driving next to Alonso next year.

Malaysia – The Day After

It´s been a while since I have done my usual reports the day after a race. For some time I simply couldn´t find the time for them, there are so many details needed to be correct and was it lap so or so, that this driver overtook that driver and so on. It´s not that I don´t revel in the work, I love it, it´s just so time consuming. I also used to do a HOT/NOT list, where I compressed most of the updates on the Day After article into easy-to-chew bits, where I name the best three and worst three drivers or teams on the day. I have instead deviced a cunning plan. Yes, I have!

Instead of giving the usual race report, complete with who did what on which lap and was it raining by the way – the answer to that is YES! – I am simply going to name the drivers I feel made a difference. It can be good, it can be bad. Let´s do this.

Best Team: Lotus

Romain Grosjean placed his car in sixth place on Saturday, Kimi Raikkonen went fifth fastest of all, but was penalised for changing the gearbox, so he started tenth. In the race, Grosjean retired on lap 3, just before he was about to pit for full wet tyres. He is coming back to F1 after a couple of years out, and never had a full season in which he could learn and develop. he is facing a steep learning curve in 2012, but the speed of Grosjean is there and so is the car. Kimi finished fifth, and could perhaps have done a little better, had he not been penalised. Very good effort from Lotus.

Best Performance: Sergio Perez.

No contest. Perez opted for one of his now famous one-stop strategies, and drove his backside out of those overalls. There are times you see glimpses of brilliance in some drivers, we saw that with Kobayashi in his first race and certainly in 2010. Also when Fisichella came second in Belgium or when Vettel won his first race in a Toro Rosso. But Perez is not only a real gem, he drove an almost perfect race, and more importantly, he breathed down Alonso´s neck for some time. is it a sign of things to come? Is the Sauber, running with a Ferrari engine, just better than the Maranello team? Is it a true picture of how the season will unfold? Am I asking too many questions…?

Almost There: Bruno Senna.

The Almost There award, goes not to a driver who almost won the race, but one who almost won the coveted Best Performance Award. Bruno Senna started 13th and drove a really good race in Malaysia. He started the race by going off, actually hitting team mate Pastor Maldonado, and personally I thought that we would see him go off again or crash into someone else pretty soon. After the re-start, Senna was now 11th, the started to line up the drivers in front of him. Hulkenberg, Massa, Vergne, di Resta, and finishing sixth in such a mad race as it were, is just a very big thumbs-up from me.

Worst Performance: Felipe Massa

There are many things you can say about Felipe Massa, many are true. I don´t think we can put his performance down to one single incident, the accident he had in Hungary in 2009, there has to be something more to it. It if is ‘just’ the accident, then we are talking about the fear a driver has. A boxer, a race driver, needs the fear to work around the contrasting feelings he get when he performs. Placing yourself in a tub going 320 kmh is not a very safe thing to do, and the fear exists in all of them. All drivers have that, but it seems it weighs too heavy with Massa. If that is the fact, of course. Massa´s performance in the race, was completely anonymous and is by far not a sign of what either he or Ferrari can do.

Best Post-race Comment: Sebastian Vettel on Narain Karthikeyan.

“Like on normal roads you have some idiots driving around and you have one here.”