Formula One 2012

[Troy]

Another race, another dramatic first corner. Grosjean again caused a massive accident this time smashing into Webber, who qualified second, sending Webber to dead last after the first lap. Alonso was taken out as well after Raikonnen was sent off track and moved back onto the track clipping Alonsos tire. Rosberg was also taken out on the first corner by Senna. Vettel had an easy race out front to take another win to move within five points of the Drivers Championship. Massa had a great day taking second and it may have secured him a seat at Ferarri next year. The favourite of the day had to be Kobayashi getting third for his first ever podium. It was great seeing him finally deliver on some of the talent that he has. Riccardo sneaking in for 10th right behind Webber was nice as well.

 

[Troy]

Korean GP was today and it was another great race for Red Bull. Mark Webber started on pole but Vettel passed him on the first corner and stayed in front for the rest of the race. Pretty happy with Webber getting second and Ricciardo getting in the points again is a massive boost. Big crash on the start but for once it wasn't Grosjean that caused the issue. Kobayashi managed to crash into Button and Rosberg after he tried to fit into a gap that was too small for his car. It was a relatively drama free race other than the start and it managed to put Vettel ahead of Alonso in the Drivers Championship.

Four races left and things are still tight up top.

 

[Troy]

New Jersey race is off next year as the organisors didn't have their financing in place. Shame as I really wanted to see them race on that street circuit. For now it doesn't look like they will be replacing it with another race so it will go back to being a 20 race season.

A lot of talk in the last few days about Vettel possibly going to Ferrari in 2014. It surprises me that he would think about leaving the team where he could possibly win three world titles and three drivers championships in a row. If the development dropped off I can understand it but at this time it doesn't make much sense.

Massa has also signed on with Ferrari for another year.

 

[Troy]

Indian GP was tonight and it was a good race. Vettel got pole again and lead from start to finish to extend his lead at the top of the Drivers Championship. Webber qualified just 4 one hundreths of a second behind him and looked good for second in the race until his KERS stopped working. After that Alonso easily took him and Hamilton was pushing him right to the end. Vettel continues his revival with four wins in a row and he is the form guy to beat in the last few races.

 

[AZUCAR!]

Not surprised Vettel lead the race from start to finish again. If Alonso is going to stand a chance of challenging Vettel for the World Title, then Ferrari are going to have to do better in qualifying. Alonso can't be starting from 5th in Abu Dhabi, Texas and Brazil like he did today, as the Red Bull's will just pull away. Alonso could do with a front row slot in Abu Dhabi, maybe even 3rd. Just as long as he doesn't make it hard for himself to catch the Red Bull's.

 

[Troy]

The first lap was incredible where Alonso managed to take both Button and Hamilton before Hamilton managed to get back in front for a bit. He always manages to get everything out of the car and his starts are unbelievable. It would be good to see Vettel and Alonso on the front row the last couple of races so that we can really see who is the better driver this year.

 

[Troy]

Plenty of contract news in the past few days.

- Toro Rosso re-signed Ricciardo and Vergne for 2013
- Kimi Raikkonen re-signed with Lotus for 2013
- Nico Hulkenburg is moving from Force India to Sauber next season

Good to see Toro Rosso keeping faith in the two young drivers, they did okay with the car that they had what the team needs to do is improve the car next year. No surprise that Kimi was given another deal, he has had a fantastic year even if he hasn't won a race yet. He has been incredibly consistent. Hulkenburg to Sauber is interesting since the teams are at a pretty similar level but Sauber do have links to Ferrari. Maybe Hulkenburg is trying to get the inside track on Massa's spot at Ferrari in 2014.

 

[Troy]

Drama with qualifying for the Abu Dhabi GP, Vettel qualified third yet finished with no fuel so he was relegated to the back of the grid just as Hamilton was in Spain. This helps Alonso who had a poor qualfying but will still start from sixth and should be able to gain back some points. Hamilton was the fastest car all weekend and he easily took pole position just ahead of Webber. Maldonado finally found some form again and will start third.

Can't wait for this race because of the different battles going on. Obviously I want Webber to win but I want to see how Alonso and Vettel deal with the positions they are in. Going to be an exciting race.

 

[Troy]

Incredible race. 8 retirements including Hamilton's car breaking down yet again, Rosberg flying over Karthikayen and Webber and Grosjean getting taken out by Perez. Vettel had a brilliant drive to go from last to third especially since he had to start all over again after breaking his wing when he was 12th behind Ricciardo. Very happy that Raikkonen got his first win of the season he has been so consistent and it is great seeing him get the big one. Only ten points between Alonso and Vettel with 2 races to go, everything to play for.

 

[AZUCAR!]

I don't know about you Troy, but I personally don't see Alonso winning the World Title now. Obviously Alonso got the best out of his car once again, starting from 6th and finishing 2nd, but with Vettel starting from the pits it was obviously the perfect opportunity for Alonso to close the 13 point gap he had. Obviously he did in the end, but only by 3 points. Vettel got lucky with a few of the retirements, and a few of the safety cars which enabled him to close on the pack and eventually finish on the podium. I just don't think Alonso can finish ahead of Vettel in Texas in 2 weeks, then Brazil.

Still, good job to Kimi and Lotus who benefited from Lewis retiring once again.

 

[Troy]

With the way the season has gone this year I don't think it is over until the last race ends. All it takes is one mechanical issue or one crazy move by Grosjean and Vettel could be out of the US race in no time. There are so many variables and with a race this close it will go down to the wire.

 

[Troy]

Brazialian GP qualifying is tonight this time around 2am my time which is tough because I really want to watch the last qualifying of the season. In practice Hamilton has been quickest yet again and has really started to find some form late in the season. I guess he was doing well early in the season the issue was just his car not being able to make it through a full race. Vettel and Webber have been second and third with Alonso fifth in the most recent practice. Really looking forward to this race because the title is still up for grabs.

 

[Troy]

Now that was well worth staying up until almost 5am to watch. Hell of a way to finish the season, plenty of drama throughout the race thanks in part to the weather. Crazy start with Alonso getting off to a flyer as always but Webber almost squeezed Vettel who then dropped back and then soon after in an attempt to gain back a place cut infront of Senna and got collected. After seeing the damage to Vettel's car I was amazed that he was able to continue without too much reduced capacity, that damage looked quite severe. Again he had to do it where he came from the back to the points in order to win the title. Alonso did all he could but Button was too far ahead of him and second just wasn't enough.

I feel for Hamilton, last race for McLaren on pole and leading quite easily until Hulkenburg took him out. Horrible way to go out and he didn't deserve that at all. Overall really entertaining season, plenty of different winners even if it was basically a two horse race. Next season should be really interesting with all the driver changes.

 

[Prodigy]

Must be a bit boring being a hardcore fan and seeing the same guy win it three years in a row?

 

[Troy]

Not at all. This season the title wasn't decided until the last race which made it so good. For the first seven races there were seven different winners so it was a much more even season. Something like last season where Vettel won 11 out of 19 races, or when Brawn and Button were dominating, was a bit more boring as the battle was just for second. This time everything was up in the air until the last few laps.