Vettel warned by FIA

Sebastian Vettel has been warned by the FIA, that he should re-consider his manner when not winning.

In 2010 and 2011, Sebastian Vettel´s finger was everywhere and the grin on the young German´s face got wider and brighter, as the titles came closer. But in the face of adversity, Vettel is portrayed as a sulky teen, who hasn´t been allowed to borrow daddy´s car.

After the European Grand Prix in Valencia, in which Vettel retired, he was clearly not happy with the result. After climbing out of the cockpit of his car, the 24-year old threw away his gloves and looked very angry. After the race, he commented that the safety car was brought out to disrupt his race, and even went as far as saying, that he suspected a conspiracy. This comment has angered many fans especially after Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko agreed that he thought a conspiracy had taken place.

Last Thursday, the Kölner Express, a Cologne-based tabloid, reported that Vettel has been placed under a sort of probation for his comments.

“We know that, quite often, Vettel tend to use a rough tone after a disappointment. He is not a good role model, because of this,” said an unnamed FIA official.

Oops, I did it again

Here we go again

As if it wasn´t enough that Sebastian Vettel cried foul after retiring from the European Grand Prix last Sunday, adding that deploying the safety car was part of a conspiracy, the entire legality of the RB8 has come under fire.

If it isn´t one thing, it´s another. Being on top is sometimes not what it´s cracked up to be, it seems. Especially if you are driving for the Red Bull team. Genius, brilliant and innovative are definitely words that can be used to describe the Red Bull team and especially their mastermind Adrian Newey. The point of building a F1 car, is to do so within the limits of what is legal, but to find the loopholes no one else sees. But after Mark Webber´s remarkable battle from the back of the grid to 4th in the race, the FIA might just want to have an extra careful look at the double floor of the car.

Where some observers believe that Sebastian Vettel´s comments about a conspiracy are a little over the top, there are those who believe that he might have drawn un-wanted attention to the RB8 and its so-called double floor.

According to Italy´s Autosprint magazine,Webber´s car just narrowly made it through the post-race scrutineering. The FIA officials were looking at the new rear suspension layout, and paired with the double floor installed for Valencia, Vettel not only took pole for the race, but dominated the race until the time when the safety car was deployed.

Red Bull did not have the start to 2012 they expected, and from the first race in Melbourne, it was clear that the Austrian team wasn´t going to be cruising to a third consecutive title. No doubt they built a strong base model, but so did McLaren and Lotus. Adding the double floor for Valencia added a second per lap in race speed, but if the floor is used for the British Grand Prix next week, it will be interesting to see how dominant the RB8 can be.

Vettel a sore loser

The reactions to Sebastian Vettel´s comments from the European Grand Prix last Sunday, in which the 24-year old said that deploying the safety car was a conspiracy in order to ‘break our neck’, has received widespread negative publicity and several pundits and observers are now publicly shaming Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel for the comments.

Vettel claimed that the deployment of the safety car was ‘to break out neck’, in order to get some more excitement and un-predictability into the race again, after Vettel had been able to pull out a 20 second lead over his rivals. Also he stated that running with the lower speed, meant that the temperatures increased to a point where certain parts of the  started to fail, finally ending in his retirement.

After the race Vettel said:

“It just went to sh*t,” Vettel said. “I think it was clear to see that [until then] we were pulling away without problems.

“I think we could have been spared the safety car period, [but] I think the reason is clear. I don’t think there was a danger. There were pieces on the track earlier [following the collision involving Bruno Senna and Kamui Kobayashi] and it was acceptable, [so] I think, in a sense, the safety car was to break our neck.”

Red Bull´s advisorDr  Helmut Marko also agreed with Vettel, that there were some kind of conspiracy going on, targeting Red Bull, but former F1 driver Hans Joachim Stuck said that

The deployment of the safety car was justified and that “Sebastian Vettel should learn to be a good loser.

“It was clear there was debris on the circuit, representing a danger of puncture to the other cars. For that reason, the safety car was justified,” Stuck said.

“I don’t think that slow driving behind the Safety Car can be the reason for the failure, otherwise all other 22 vehicles would have also failed. There must have been some other damage. If the Red Bull overheated during the Safety Car period, then there it was designed wrong. The cars have to be able to handle all temperatures.”

 

Area 51, Roswell, Watergate, Kennedy…Red Bull?

The Red Bull team has admitted that they are sure a conspiracy has taken place in Sunday´s European Grand Prix, when the safety car was deployed.

John F. Kennedy is a live and well, living with Marilyn Monroe, Area 51 iswhere the US government keeps alien space ships and anal probe them, Bigfoot is real and so is the the Loch Ness monster. Now add a new conspiray to all these.

Speaking for the Austrian team, Dr Helmut Marko, the team advisor, said Monday that the safety car was brought out only to mix it up and deliver a show. the safety car was deployed at a time on the race where Sebastian Vettel was leading by a comfortable margin, but at the re-start the RB8 broke down. Possibly due to a failure in the hydraulics, as some observers believe, some believe cooling issues were the cause, as the car´s temperature rose above the limit under the safety car period, causing elements of the car to overheat and subsequently broke down.

Vettel said after the race that the safety car was deployed, not to clear the debris from the collision between Heikki Kovalainen and Jean-Eric Vergne, but “to break our neck”.

After the re-start, Lotus man Romain Grosjean managed to close the gap to the front-runners and made the race close and exciting again, throwing up all sorts of possible winners. Vettel explained his car problems like this:

“It just went to sh**,” Vettel shrugged. “I think it was clear to see that (until then) we were pulling away without problems.” Marko agreed with Vettel´s sentiments.

“Vettel was too far ahead and so the field was brought back together, just as they do in American racing.”

Many observers, myself included, thought it was un-necessary to deploy the safety car, since most of the debris could easily be cleared by marshalls under a yellow flag for perhaps just one lap. But perhaps the safety conscious FIA responsible for the safety of the drivers, thought it best to have the safety car out, just in case. Either way, the “conspiracy theory” is now in full bloom around the interweb. Fan boys, start your engines!

Penalties all around

The effects of dangerous driving are well-known in the public but try a stunt on a race track and you will be punished there too.

As Michael Schumacher was able to keep his 3rd place finish in the European Grand Prix in Valencia on Sunday, after it was believed that he did not slow down the speed of the car while entering a yellow flag zone, and at the same time having his DRS open, several drivers have now been handed a variety of penalties for their wrong-doings in the thrilling and exciting race.

Pastor Maldonado was involved in an incident where he tried an overtake pass on Lewis Hamilton at Turn 12, where he had to move to the left, and outside of the track, in order to keep up with Lewis Hamilton. However, Hamilton kept his line, he was ahead of Maldonado, but the two hit each other and ended Hamilton´s race. Maldonado has received a post-race penalty of 20 seconds for his crash, leaving Hamilton without blame for the incident.

Former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari said that Maldonado was overly aggressive towards Hamilton, and the Spaniard pointed the finger of blame on Maldonado.

“He was entirely outside the limits of the track and, honestly, there was no room to overtake at that point,” said Alguersuari.

As if it wasn´t enough, Kamui Kobayashi has also received a penalty, this one for crashing into Felipe Massa and he is bumped down five places on the grid for the British Grand Prix in two weeks. And over at Toro Rosso, Jean-Eric Vergne received a double penalty. His move on Heikki Kovalainen, where he overtook the Finn, but then moved into the path of the Caterham driver causing a collision, cost the Frenchman a fine of €25,000 and a ten-place grid penalty for Silverstone. The stewards said that the severity of the double penalty, should be viewed in light of the “serious nature of the incident”.

Valencia – The Day After

The day after one of the most exciting races in years, and yes I could easily copy and paste the first few lines of text of that from the previous race. Or the one before that. It is getting increasingly difficult to find positive words to use to describe this season, when words like ‘astonishing’, ‘staggering’, ‘sublime’ or ‘brilliant’ just isn´t enough anymore.

So was it astonishing, staggering, sublime and brilliant? Well, let me say this. My father tries to watch all races, bu usually falls asleep after ten laps. He knows that the street of Valencia hasn´t exactly produced the most mind-boggling amazing races in the history of F1, in fact, the four previous versions can easily be labelled ‘most boring race of the season’. But I spoke to him on the phone after the race, and he not only managed to stay awake, it was almost as if he sounded younger and more vital. Well, I don´t know, but if he was entertained, then it´s a pretty fair shot to say that so was I.

Driver of the Day: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso won the race, starting from 11th on the grid, in what I think is the best race performance from Alonso on the last five years. He ducked and he dived and he took the chances, calculating the risks so fast, you´d need a computer to beat him. This is one of his strengths. The mind of a racing driver is usually right on the edge, but Alonso showed that little bit extra that makes his effort seem just that more important. Alonso was in tears after his victory, and it was clear that a huge weight had dropped from his shoulders. No one can put a finger on his performance on Sunday. Well deserved win.

Best of the rest: Michael Schumacher

It´s what his fans have been waiting for since his return. A podium. And they got it. Schumacher drove a very smooth race, he too calculated the strategy so fine, knowing when to push, when to ease off. Tyres are hugely important this season, but in Valencia, it all came together for Schumacher and Mercedes, and produced some memorable racing. And his first podium in six years.

Best of the rest II: Mark Webber

Mark Webber is a strange cat, isn´t he? We know he´s fast, we know he drives that Red Bull so close to the edge, but he makes it looks so effortless that we tend to forget him a bit. In Valencia it was almost like no one noticed he drove home 4th, because all eyes were on Vettel´s exit from the lead and the race. Webber started 19th on the grid, that´s a long way up. In an astonishing drive, he managed to conserve the tyres at just the right time, finding that small gap where the tyres work perfectly, and in case you didn´t know, is actually second in the championship. Bravo, Mr Webber. Bravo!

Biggest Head Scratcher of the Day: Safety car

I am sorry, I didn´t get why the safety car had to be deployed. When it finally came out, the cars had been going round the track for a few laps and there wasn´t any dangerous debris lying around, and no car had been plowing into a barrier, blocking a piece of the track. First Senna and Kobayashi touched each other, that was the incident where Senna simply didn´t see the rather optimistic move from Kobayashi on his right side. No one´s fault, but Senna got penalized for it. Soon after Vergne and Kovalainen touched wheels and that was the reason the safety car came out. Both cars were able to either drive around to the pits, or if they couldn´t manage that, there was a huge run-off area right there. The deployment of the safety car did make the race interesting again, not that it was boring at all, but it was un-necessary in my opinion.

Great Driver: Romain Grosjean

Romain Grosjean is having a whale of a time these days, as he returns to F1. Good results are one thing, but coming back after two full seasons, into a car that had a big question mark on it in February and then are battling for wins against a handful of world champions, his place in F1 is rightfully deserved. To retire such a short way from the chequered flag is enormously frustrating, but I have every confidence in him to take at least one win this year.

Worst performance: McLaren

It´s safe to say that I didn´t expect the McLaren team to struggle the way they have been this season, but it seems that nothing they do seems to work. For Button, there were talks that he would copy the set-up from Hamilton, seeing that this is working out rather well for the 2008 champion. He has 88 points, Button 49. But the team continues to botch their pit-stops to such a degree that it looks they have given up. Again in Valencia, we saw how Hamilton´s second pit stop failed miserably, the one under safety car. we don´t know if the car is hard to handle for Button and this is the reason why he is not scoring the points needed. And we don´t know what the pit stops fail. What we do know is, that this needs to stop. Fix it.I am not commenting on who was at fault, when Pastor Maldonado and Lewis Hamilton had a get-together at Turn 12, that is just not up to me. I will say that the accident was avoidable.

 

No penalty for Schumacher

Michael Schumacher can keep his 3rd place finish.

The former seven time world champion was under investigation for having his DRS open under a yellow flag zone. But after an hour of deliberation, the stewards have decided not to impose a penalty on Schumacher.

In the statement, the stewards say they have looked at video footage and have decided that Schumacher did slow his car down whwn he approached the yellow flag zone.

“The stewards considered a report that driver #7 used his DRS in a yellow flag zone and that his allegedly constituted a breach of yellow flag regulations,” said a statement from the stewards. “Having examined telemetry and video evidence, and heard from the driver and team representatives, the stewards noted that the driver did make a significant reduction in speed on entering the double waved flag zone.”

 

 

Schumacher could lose podium

Michael Schumacher’ celebrated his first podium since the Chinese GP in 2006, and he certainly looked very comfortable being back holding a champagne bottle, like we have seen him do so many times before.

But the joy of finishing 3rd, in an action-packed European Grand Prix, could be stifled by race stewards, who are right now debating whether Schumacher´s podium should be taken away from him. There are rumblings that Schumacher did not slow down for yellow flags when he used DRS.

Mark Webber had radioed the pits to inform his team, and FIA, that the DRS of Schumacher´s car was open when they went through a yellow flag zone. Both Schumacher and a representative from the Mercedes team are right now talking to the FIA. If penalized, Schumacher will most likely lose not only 3rd place, but could be dropped ten places for the British Grand Prix in two weeks.