F1 JAPANESE GRAND PRIX: 5 Out of 5 Race Wins for Vettel

By Keith Mehaffey

Sebastian Vettel triumphs yet again in a race where his driving was anything but perfect.





Sebastian Vettel acknowledges the crowd and surely his 4th straight World Championship.

 

The Suzuka circuit evokes special memories. Many of the sport’s greatest drivers have been crowned here. The only classic figure of eight circuit on the calendar and with it`s narrow track has made for some great races in the past. Was a certain young German driver going to be crowned champion today? Was this going to be a classic race to match previous outings here? ummm… not quite.

This was a rag-tag race by the 3 time World Champion and not anywhere near the levels of perfection reached in recent races. He frequently rode kerbs, locked up at corner entries, and at one point actually forgot to deploy DRS whilst trying to overtake! Football fans know that if you can still win when you aren’t playing well then championships are right around the corner! In Vettel’s case surely that corner will be India, in two weeks time.

At the start Lewis Hamilton 3rd on the grid lined up at an angle obviously looking to drive between the two Red Bulls of Webber and Vettel on the front row. As the lights went out Romain Grosjean got away with most traction and took a surprise lead from all of them. Lewis did indeed manage to split the Bulls but only for his rear tyre to kiss Vettel’s car and he suffered a puncture that would lead to his retirement.

Mark Webber, with the entire world hoping for one last win for the popular Australian,  
Was able to give chase to Grosjean, but in doing so wore out his shoes a little too soon and had to pit early. In doing so he switched from a 2 stop strategy to a 3 stopper. Vettel on the other hand was able to stay out later and was able to do the faster 2 stop. This was to prove the deciding factor between the two Bulls despite a late onslaught by Webber who failed to pass the very fast Grosjean early enough to challenge Vettel in the closing laps. Vettel’s only other title challenger Fernando Alonso could only manage 4th, some 45 seconds behind Sebastian.

Hard for Sebastian Vettel to lose this championship from here? Surely India will become a world championship crowning venue – we will see. Please remember, no booing!

In memory of Maria De Villota, 1980 – 2013

 









By Keith Mehaffey

TheSportMatrix.com

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F1: Sebastian Vettel Triumphs at the Nurburgring

Sebastian Vettel won at home for the first time after he saw off Kimi Raikonnen to win a dramatic German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.

Lewis Hamilton – who qualified in pole position – came fifth, but managed to overtake former teammate Jenson Button in the final lap.

Lotus took second and third place with Kimi Raikonnen and Romain Grosjean. Raikonnen was ordered to overtake Grosjean with five laps remaining, meanwhile he held off Fernando Alonso.

Vettel controlled the race following by passing Hamilton at the start in the first corner, but Raikonnen almost hindered his attempt to win.

The safety car played a factor when it closed up the field and Vettel found himself fending off Raikonnen and Grosjean. It was deployed because Marussia suffered an engine failure.

This marks the first time that Sebastian Vettel has won in Germany, and this also marks his 30th Grand Prix win.

Vettel talked about Raikonnen challenging him for the win: “Kimi was pushing very hard in the race, they tried to do something different with different compound tyres.”

Alonso could have snatched fourth when he was 0.7 seconds behind Grosjean, but as he approached the flag his team immediately told him to pull of at Turn One.

Hamilton’s tyre wear made it challenging for him, but following his final pit stop he managed to overtake Jenson Button to take fifth place.

Webber took the final points position, but at one point in the race he was second, until  a wheel came off when he accelerated after his first pitstop.

A cameraman was hit by Mark Webber’s car during the pitstop, he was part of F1’s Official TV company. He remained conscious and is now being checked out at hospital.

The FIA has confirmed that the cameraman hit by the loose wheel is conscious & under observation in hospital. More to follow.
— Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) July 7, 2013

Raikonnen later suggested that he could have won in the event of him not pitting in the latter stages of the race.
 
Sebastian Vettel’s win puts him 34 points clear of Alonso, marking a very successful day for the German who wins at home for the first time.

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IMAGE COURTESY: GETTY IMAGES, Reuters

F1 Canadian Grand Prix: Vettel Breaks Montreal Duck

Sebastien Vettel continued his good form and won the Canadian Grand Prix for the first time in his career. He led in all but three of the laps as title rival Fernando Alonso beat Lewis Hamilton to second place with 9 laps remaining. Vettel’s teammate fell short of a Podium finish while Kimi Raikonnen had a tough race and finished 9th. Valtteri Bottas, who was a surprise in qualifying started in 3rd but dropped to 14th in an average Williams.

Vettel was absolutely dominant in Montreal, building a lead of almost three seconds after just 2 laps. His advantage over Spaniard Alonso is 36 points and 44 points ahead of Raikonnen. He is widely regarded the favourite to go on and claim a record-breaking fourth consecutive World Championship. “It was a very important race for us to win – finally we get it off the list and i’m very proud of that” said Vettel.

F1 Canadian Grand Prix: Sebastien Vettel Takes Pole Position

Sebastien Vettel took control of the Canadian Grand Prix after taking Pole position ahead of Lewis Hamilton and also a surprise third place finish from Valtteri Bottas of Williams. Hamilton and Vettel’s teammates Nico Rosberg and Mark Webber finished 4th and 5th while Vettel’s title rivals Kimi Raikonnen and Fernando Alonso finished ninth and sixth respectively.

“It was very tricky, especially as you never knew what conditions it would be next time you were out,” said Vettel. “We decided to have two runs in the final part and we thought the second one would be quicker especially as we had new tyres, but it started to drizzle again and the track was too wet in the final sector.

“It was very tight with Lewis – in the end everyone was improving in the first two sectors but the last two corners did not allow anyone to go quicker. I didn’t mind but it just goes to show how difficult it was for everyone.”

Jean Eric Vergne and Adrian Sutil had decent qualifying as they finished seventh and eightth while Daniel Ricciardo will start the race in tenth ahead of Nico Hulkenberg. Felipe Massa had a dissapointing qualifier as he finished in sixteenth. Sergio Perez finished ahead of his McLaren teammate Jenson Button with Pastor Maldonado sandwiched in the middle of them in 13th position. Scot Di Resta and Roman Grosjean failed to make it out of Q1. Di Resta was furious after his tires were unable to cope with the varying conditions in Canada.