Double Trouble

As we know by now, one of the more shocking regulation changes for 2014 was to offer double points to the top 10 finishers of the very last Grand Prix of the year.

The idea is that the motivation will increase competition, and make the championship fight extend longer, unlike the snoozefest's of 2011 and 2013 (yawn). 

There are conflicting beliefs within the paddock that the points system is here to stay, Ferrari's Luca Di Montezemolo says that it's only a temporary folly whereas Lotus and Eric Boullier are certain it's a permanent arrangement. 

It's only one more desperate attempt to make Formula 1 look interesting, when in actual fact it's making the sport look like an absolute joke. Imagine making tries in rugby worth double in the last ten minutes of a match, it's complete crazy.

Eddie Irvine was spot on when he said the sport is completely lost.What gripes me the most is that Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA have basically said that Abu Dhabi, and the Yas Marina circuit is worth more than Silverstone, Monza, Monte Carlo and Spa. Why should emphasis be placed on a below par circuit that has existed for all of 5 minutes, above REAL circuits?

Oh wow, you light up, cause that's what the fans want...

One thing is always for sure; leave it to Red Bell and Sebastian Vettel to shy away from the fact that this only helps them. 

I'm not saying they had any involvement with the decision making, that would be stupid-thinking. What I am saying is that Vettel coming out and calling it "absurd," and Christian Horner criticising the FIA is rather cheap considering they are the only ones who truly benefit.

Red Bull perform far better in the second half in a season. Asia is practically Vettel's playground, you know he's just going to pull maximum points every time. And with 3 wins in 5 races at Yas Marina, it's safe to say it's a Vettel track. What if Red Bull scrape by the whole season, get lucky (because we know it happens) at Abu Dhabi and steal it away undeservedly?! It says to the teams just give it your 100% at the last race of the season, it's worth the real points.


This is all assuming the order remains the same with the new engines however, maybe the change is so big that double points might actually prove to be a great thing in the sport. Right now, it makes it look weak.

It seems to me like this is a quick fix to a really terminal problem with Formula 1. Along with the introduction of the Vettel Trophy (trophy for most pole positions), these are just really bad decisions. If the FIA wants to emulate the success of other motor racing series', introduce interesting scenarios like reversed grids, or ballasts like in the BTCC, not something that belittles 18 races of hard work.

Various Bits & Bobs (2)

Concorde Agreement

After months of back and forth between teams, Bernie and TV chiefs all agreed to improve safety, a new finance structure and the agreement from all parties over a new penalty system.

The deal runs from now until 2020 so we can safely say our beloved sport is good to go, go, go for another while.

Let's just hope by then someone puts an end to Red Bull. Not literally...




22 Races in 2014? Nathan Says:

Piss off. 22 Grand Prix weekends? No absolutely not what a disaster of an idea. I love Formula 1, it is a huge part of my life, whenever it isn't on I do feel a little emptiness and boredom, but 22 races is a dangerous amount of Grand Prix weekends.

The world's economy is still recovering, some more slowly than others. Take this factor and put it with rising costs in Formula 1, we will see that the smaller teams especially will find it increasingly hard to compete in Formula 1. One guy has said to me (sarcastically of course) that Formula 1 couldn't live without Caterham or Marussia. He was a dick to be quite frank but what about Toro Rosso? Then Force India and we all know Sauber and Williams are struggling for cash. Imagine a season without Williams on the grid?

The current stranglehold that Vettel and Red Bull have over Formula 1 is disturbing, people who don't follow the sport have started to ask me 'isn't it boring with one guy winning all the races?' Hell yes it is, why would you want more races where Vettel can run away with it again? Less races, less chances of this happening.

I know you can't structure a calendar just to stop one team and one driver, but don't add races where it's going to hinder the situation.

There are too many events in far out countries, and not enough fans attending them. Bahrain, Korea, Abu Dhabi and especially India have very disappointing turn outs. Cut them along with the New Jersey track, Mexico and maybe Malaysia (like it but I think it has run its course) and we have an okay number of races. Glad to see Austria back though.

What's great though is that Christian Horner is against it, and we all know that him, Newey and the Newey driving the car will stamp their feet until they get their way.

F1 2013 Video Game

I've had all the Codemaster F1 games since the first one for the Wii and every year I've noticed vast improvements over the last. This years installment has been the best so far.

The AI are so aggressive and smart, it is unreal. In my first race, Bottas hounded me for P8 which was incredible. And in every event in either qualifying or the race I have had an incident with one or the other McLaren, with Perez bringing out red flags after a violent crash.

It's only a video game and I'm talking about it like it was an actual race. The addition of classic F1 cars is absoutely fantastic, each car has their own individual traits and characteristics. Tyre wear is the exact same in the game as in real life, either look after them or prepare to lose positions fast.

I strongly recommend buying this game, must have for any fans.

Korean Grand Prix

Lots of people have problems with this circuit, it's one I don't mind watching. Of course it is an Asian track, therefore Vettel had it won before he jumped on a plane but unfortunately the key focal points were negatives.

The marshals were unresponsive to a fire from Mark Webber's car, resulting in the chassis being destroyed. They had to build a brand new car in a few days for FP1 in Japan. They should do what Abu Dhabi done in 2009, bring in British marshal's to train the locals properly.

The other talking point was the low turnout and possible exclusion from next year. Whilst I like the track, I won't care if it's not featured next year, but it is a shame when fairly decent tracks are omitted for disaster tracks like Singapore and this stupid New Jersey track.

Various Bits & Bobs (1)

Hi guys, back at long last, it's been a while right? Instead of just getting ripped in to the latest news and stuff, I'm gonna just do a quick brief of little bits of news, everything from short Grand Prix summaries to the new Formula 1 game. I hope you enjoy!

Rush

The highly anticipated Formula 1 movie directed by Ron Howard was a massively speculated motion picture among us F1 fans, but how excited were the general public? Well out of all my friends who aren't to keen on the sport, not one person has said anything bad about it. 

My experience of the movie was absolutely epic. I loved every single second of the movie and honestly couldn't wait to watch it again. The noise was incredible, the cinema I saw it in captured the noise of the engines wonderfully, and the near fatal Lauda crash was enough to make any man tremble. 

There were a few moments that I would have considered 'silly' for example, a certain moment with James Hunt and a reporter, let's be honest if that had happened, we would have heard about it.

It may be too late to see it if you already haven't, but I would seriously consider pre-ordering the DVD. I know I have, blu-ray steel book edition.

Italian Grand Prix & Sebastian Vettel's Dominance

My pre Monza build up was essentially me gloating about how much I love the track and the aura surrounding the event.

So imagine my disappointment when Newey managed to dull the best event on the calendar. Setting the dominance aside for one second, it's getting annoying whenever Vettel has the race won on the Friday or Saturday. How people can justify him having any level of talent is still beyond me but it's come to the point where I just don't care anymore.

I've put Vettel fans in the same category as cyclists, annoying unwanted abusers. If you have any complaints to make about that statement, please keep it to yourself because nobody cares.

The most annoying aspect of that weekend was Fernando Alonso and Ferrari's qualifying. I'm gonna touch on this a little more in the next few days, but it's just not good enough. I can only assume they're focusing on 2014 but their Saturday performance is killing them, and it slowly got worse.

Singapore Grand Prix

From the absolute greatest Grand Prix on the calendar to the worst abomination since they let Louis Walsh judge talent. Yes for some reason Bernie Ecclestone thought it would b a great idea to run around a track where no overtaking is permitted and its greatest attraction is a few lights above a track.

What's worse is I never realised how many of you like it!! What's up with that? Where are all the real F1 fans who love real tracks like Silverstone and Spa?!?! It just weirds me out how so many people actually enjoy this track.

Of course, everyone is entitled to their opinion (except for the aforementioned Vettel fans and Cyclists), my opinion was that the race was boring and Vettel had this won before he left Italy.

Kimi In, Massa Out

In the sheer space of an hour one long term driver has left Ferrari while a former champion comes home.

Felipe Massa announced tonight on Twitter that he would be leaving at the end of the year, and thanked his team and family for supporting him through 8 turbulent years.

Just Massa packs away his office supplies, the last man to win a world championship at Ferrari has came home, beating people like Nico Hulkenberg and Paul di Resta for the seat.

The BBC has announced that Kimi Raikkonen has signed a one year deal with the option for 2015. As I mentioned previously the ideal scenario for Kimi would have been Massa as a team mate, but the prospect for a Kimi Raikkonen-Fernando Alonso line up is indeed mouth watering from the outside.

Inside our wonderful world of Formula 1 though, it creates a certain fear in the mind. Who gets the number 1 spot? I can't remember a time when Ferrari even thought of an equal driver policy. It's either on or the other and if Luca di Montezemolo & Stefano Domenicali had any sense they would give Raikkonen the role of number 1 driver.

He'll be a fresh albeit returning face, but he'll create a whirlwind of excitement for the Tifosi and the Ferrari team in Italy. At the end of the day, Alonso has nil championships at Ferrari, Kimi has 1. Fernando may have two overall but any bets should be with Kimi.

It would be hard not to be sad for Massa. I've never been a huge fan of him but I've always respected him. But I guess when your time comes you'll know about it. Here is is farewell message on Instagram: 

"From 2014 i will no longer be driving for Ferrari. I would like to thank the team for all the victories and incredible moments experienced together. Thank you also to my wife and all of my family, to my fans and all my Sponsors. From each one of you I have always received a great support! Right now I want to push as hard as possible with Ferrari for the remaining 7 races. For next year, I want to find a team that can give me a competitive car to win many more races and challenge for the Championship which remains my greatest objective! Thank you all. Felipe"

The person who will probably miss him more than Fernando Alonso is poor Rob Smedly. They were like brothers and can you honestly imagine Rob talking any nonsense from Kimi over the radio?

The bottom line is, Kimi still has championship potential in him. The key factor in all of this is James Allison. He is the most important factor for 2014. The fact him and Kimi are back together again can only mean positive things. 

I am honestly so excited for next season that I do not give a damn about this season. Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel should be very, very worried. That's only if the Alonso-Raikkonen situation is managed very carefully.

My Love With Monza

Driving a Ferrari at Monza must be the closest a man can come to being divine.

Despite being a British fan, the British Grand Prix at Silverstone is not the first race weekend I look at on the calendar. My eyes go straight to September to find out what weekend Monza is happening over. I've been like this ever since I can remember. 

The 1998 Grand Prix is the earliest one I can remember, mostly because for some reason it was taped on an old VHS, and I had re-watched it so many times over the years. It was such an epic race, and of course a Ferrari 1-2 led by the God himself Michael Schumacher, followed by Eddie Irvine.

Monza currently caps off the European stretch of races, a fitting send off often because the memory of Monza tides me over for the following poor Asian races. One of the appeals of the circuit is the fast nature of the layout. It is the fastest circuit with the cars reaching their top possible speed at Monza. Teams often fit one of their brand new engines after Spa for Monza purely because of the demand put on them.

The history behind Monza is simply stunning. The old circuit ran through the forest, with the greatest attraction being the Pista di Alta Velocità banking which was one of the fastest corners in all of motor racing. Eventually the track had to be slowed down which led to a configuration and introduction of more chicanes. I would love to have seen a race on the old layout!

Excluding 1980 for construction work, Monza has hosted every Italian Grand Prix. A feat only beaten by Monaco.

My love for the circuit is also a little bit juvenile. The first F1 game I bought for the PS3 was F1 2010 and you started off as one of the bottom three teams and as one might imagine, I wasn't exactly competitive in the green Team Lotus. Somehow, miraculously I put the car on P2 on the grid. I don't know how but it happened. I got to the first chicane behind Lewis Hamilton and just as he was leaving it, he spun... I finished up P1... To this day I do not have a clue... But ever since then I just called myself the Master of Monza.

As a big lover of racing video games, Autodromo Nazionale Monza features in near enough all of them. Gran Turismo 5 is a particular talking point, it just looks like so much fun, I honestly cannot imagine what the real thing is like.

Even though it would seem like I've never had a bad thought about the track, I am realistic about how predictability race day is. Front row is always key here. Once you have secured P1 and P2 into the first chicane, that's it. And as we all know once Sebastian Vettel is first into the first corner, it''s all over because of the car. It's a formula that ruins many race weekends for me, but with Monza I always watch it through regardless.

In 2013, the pressure is on for many. One of the most intimidating factors of Monza is the Tifosi. Ferrari's army of hardcore and ruthless supporters can either make or break a driver's weekend. If a driver has had any previous connection to Ferrari, the fans will rally some support behind them. If not, you are considered the anti-Christ. Lewis Hamilton get boo'd last year when he won, simply for being a McLaren driver.

Obviously, Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa are under both tremendous support but deathly pressure. But driving a Ferrari at Monza must be the closest a man can come to being divine. You will hear the fans if neither are on the front row. Kimi Raikkonen must get his season back on track after his first DNF at Spa since his comeback. A new wheelbase might not save him, when has a wheelbase ever been the key to winning races. That being said I have no clue but I'm not hopeful.

Hamilton is probably favourite for pole, hopefully the Mercedes tyre issue is sorted because tyre wear is high. Italian pride may not exist in Pirelli this season, hopefully confidence will be restored after.

Regardless of events or the outcome, Monza will definitely throw up a huge level of excitement. This year's Formula 1 season has been extremely lacklustre. Most excitement has happened from a few blown tyres and a deserved retirement for Vettel at Silverstone. Australia was the best so far, and that was way back in March. Time for Monza to show us what it's made of. 

2013: Belgian Grand Prix: Qualifying

The Formula 1 season comes back with a bang this weekend at one of the most historical tracks of all time. Sebastian Vettel looks extremely quick this weekend so far but he'll have some competition from the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton too.

Q1 - After a relatively dry weekend, Q1 gets off to a wet start with all cars starting out on the green wall intermediate tyres.

The biggest shock this weekend was the fact that both the Marussia's and Caterham's van Der Garde made it through to Q2! Fantastic job from both especially the Caterham team who put their man on slicks. This meant both Toro Rosso driver's had to bow out, not very good for Daniel Ricciardo considering the media circus around him. If you can't handle the media now, you are not suited for Red Bull.

Another point to talk about was the incident with Force India's Paul di Resta, near the end of the session he went off track at the bus stop chicane and re-joined the track in front of another car. It may occur a penalty afterwards.

OUT - MAL, VER, RIC, BOT, GUT, PIC

Q2 - If Q1 was full of excitement for you, Q2 was the complete opposite. Not much drama occurring until the very end of the session.

Despite taking up their predicted bottom three places, the back markers secure their best grid starts of their career so far.

OUT - HUL, SUT, PER, VDG, BIA, CHI

Q3 - Eddie Jordan thought Raikkonen was going to snatch pole position, which made me very very happy!

The rain started to occur in Sector 3 straight away when 9 of the 10 cars lined up to get out. First it started out as spits, the the heavens opened and all cars headed in for inters. Force India kept di Resta in but as the rest pulled in to change their tyres, Paul headed straight out for the optimum track conditions.

For most of the session it looked as though he had pulled off a master play, but once the other guys got their tyres warmed up it all fell in place, first Nico Rosberg got it, then Mark Webber, then Vettel but the man on pole for the 4th time in a row will be Lewis Hamilton. I am sick of hearing him say he is so surprised, you're not fooling anyone we know you are quick and so do you... Just knock it off Lewis!

Only Spa could throw up such a drama filled GP weekend, and it's only Saturday. Anybody thinking Spa should come off the calendar needs their head looked at.

I'm very glad Force India listened to Paul, they wanted to send him out with the rest but Paul suggested inters and it worked well for him. And it's all on him, he deserves 100% of the glory.

You can bet tomorrow will be the best race of the season so far.

RESULTS:
1. Hamilton 2:01.012s
2. Vettel
3. Webber
4. Rosberg
5. di Resta
6. Button
7. Grosjean
8. Raikkonen
9. Alonso
10. Massa
11. Hulkenberg
12. Sutil
13. Perez
14. van der Garde
15. Bianchi
16. Chilton
17. Maldonado
18. Vergne
19. Ricciardo
20. Bottas
21. Gutierrez
22. Pic

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Daniel Ricciardo

When I set out to write this thing, I had intended not to post two drivers from the same team but I really had no other choice because as much as I prefer Jean-Eric Vergne, I still really like Daniel Ricciardo.

As previously mentioned when I covered Vergne at the start of the week, I have been impressed with both Toro Rosso driver's this season. With Mark Webber opting to leave Formula 1 at the end of the year, after titan names like Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso Red Bull have been considering their sister team for younger talent.

As time goes on and as Spa looms upon us, the odds tell us that Red Bull will announce their new driver for next season at the weekend, but this is still speculation and not my opinion. German and Finnish newspapers seemed to have gotten mixed up in their media circus as one said Kimi was going nowhere and the other said he's signed the Red Bull contract. Today his manager has said he will not be joining Red Bull.

The way Alonso is getting on, it looks as though he wants out of Ferrari, but I honestly can't see Sebastian Vettel liking that too much, he'll probably run and cry to Helmut Marko if Alonso steps anywhere near a Red Bull building. 

That only leaves two people and considering the hype has always surrounded Ricciardo and not Vergne, despite the Frenchman being more successful, it looks as if Ricciardo is stepping up in the world for 2014.

So hypothetically, what can Ricciardo bring to Red Bull that Mark Webber lacked?

Fantastic qualifying. He has made it into Q3 four times this season and has scored well in two of the races where he started quite high up on the grid. If he hopes to better Vettel he'll need to do this on a consistent basis.

There's not that much difference between Webber and Ricciardo. Both Australian's are great fun, they both have fantastic personalities and smiles, the fans love them and they are both dedicated drivers. I just worry that Ricciardo will be bred as another number 2. 

It could be a totally different story when he gets there. He could turn up to race one next year and take the whole world by storm. Two years separate him and Vettel, so if there's anything Vettel can do, Ricciardo should be able to do it just as well in a Newey designed car.

Let's just hope Red Bull learnt the meanings of the words 'biased' and 'equality' before next season.

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Kimi Raikkonen

You knew he had to feature on the list at some point! Nobody had a better start to the season than Kimi Raikkonen when he proved strategy is key to winning a race when he stormed the Australian GP.

Nobody could have predicted that, least of all me, so he certainly had his name down for a title chase.Ten races in and he is the closest man to the greatest pretender of them all, Sebastian Vettel. Despite only winning one race so far, Kimi currently sits in second place after five P2 finishes.

However even for a die hard fan like me, Raikkonen's performances have been disappointing, particularly the Monaco to Silverstone run. 





Granted, Sergio Perez hitting him helped nobody's cause, but Kimi should not have been in that position in the first place. Qualifying pace has eluded Raikkonen all last season and has lingered back this year but in Monaco he should have been on the ball more.

Canada was probably one of the worst Kimi performances I have seen. Getting lapped by the race leaders was heart breaking to watch, it looked as though he just didn't want to be there. Silverstone was a better race, he probably didn't want to push so hard on the tyres given the situation.

Raikkonen should definitely have won a few of the races where he came second. China, Bahrain, Germany are all GP's he should have won. Passing up way too many chances to pass, and getting stuck behind Mercedes cars especially are reasons why Kimi isn't sitting top.

So you might be wondering "why Kimi is even on this list", "why are you bashing your favourite driver?"

He's on this list because of his determination and attitude to improve.Despite only winning a 1/4 of the GP's that Vettel has this season, he's only 38 points adrift of the championship. That's simply incredible. Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg both sit below Raikkonen with multiple wins.

Raikkonen definitely holds the crown of consistency king, setting the most points finishes record shows that by far. He's doing the best with what he's got, and that's quite a bit considering the very small budget and back room staff issues Lotus currently have (losing James Allison).

The only reason of why I'm hard on Kimi is because I'm not one of these people totally mesmerised by their favourite. All eight of the Vettel fans world wide can't see that the car is doing all the work (IN MY OPINION) but I can see that Raikkonen has flaws. But I can also see him working on them, which makes for a complete racing legend.

Kimi will go down in history as one of the greats, and you read it here first, Kimi Raikkonen will be 2013 Driver's World Champion.

7 Most Impressive Drivers So Far: Nico Rosberg

As if squaring up against Michael Schumacher wasn't enough and then beating him, Nico Rosberg now had a younger threat to compete against at Mercedes. Lewis Hamilton was coming.

I had originally considered the hype around Mercedes in 2013 to be a damp squib and predicted it would all implode in their face, but I have never been more wrong! This year's car has amazing one lap pace which can be seen by seven pole positions. This has all came at the price of high tyre degradation and earlier on in the season resulted in both drivers losing key points positions.

So when Nico Rosberg bagged his third successive pole position in the 6th round of the season in Monaco, most were expecting him to hold up the rest of the grid and force someone to take decisive overtaking measures. The truth could not have been further as Rosberg stormed to a massive win, where even Sebastian Vettel gave up on chasing him down.

Rosberg may not have scored as many points as Hamilton so far this season, but whenever all the media attention was on Hamilton, whenever all the talk was about Lewis, Nico Rosberg had continued to put in great race performances. At the end of the day, Nico Rosberg won the first race for this new Mercedes team last season, and he has won two more this season, while Lewis has only won the latest Grand Prix.

One of the key reasons I've put Nico on this (sort of) list of impressive drivers is that his performances are near enough on par with Hamilton's despite the varying levels of support within the Mercedes team. I'm not saying there's any bias but look at it this way; when Nico Rosberg qualified on pole three times in a row and won two Grand Prix's, Niki Lauda was nowhere to be seen or heard from. Whenever Lewis Hamilton won in Hungary, Lauda couldn't praise him quick enough. It's obviously not a huge factor yet, but it would be nice for him to acknowledge the German.

While there has been a lot of renovating been done on the Mercedes team, Nico Rosberg along with Ross Brawn have been constant factors and much like his father, he's destined to lift that driver's trophy eventually.

Preview: German Grand Prix 2013

Is there a grander and more gruesome track in Europe other than the Nurburgring? No... And therefore, it's the most difficult track in the world. And the Formula 1 drivers are only allowed to do the easy part of the track because no one would let real racing drivers (and Sebastian Vettel) loose on the Nordschleife!

I'm not even gutted that we don't have this circuit every year because the Hockenheimring is just as fantastic, but there is a sense of magic around this particular track.

Pirelli will not only be bringing the Medium and Soft compounds this weekend, they are also bringing restructured kevlar rear tyres after incredible failures at last week's British Grand Prix. At some point, Paul Hembery is going to have to admit that when driver safety comes into question, he's actually going to research how to build a half decent tyre.



Despite being a technically demanding 16 turn track, both tyre and brake wear is low. Downforce is often at it's highest, but the new tyres seem to be coping okay.

I am very well aware brand new tyres are going to disadvantage Lotus and play straight into Red Bull's hands, but I don't want something like Massa's 09 injury occurring to any driver. I defy any man or woman to think differently.

Not only are we back in Germany, I also got treated to the sight of Michael Schumacher this weekend! I miss him lots but his old Mercedes team are doing quite well in terms of getting their tyre management during the race under control. Lewis Hamilton's incident was in the fate of God, no one was going to stop him at Silverstone. If he isn't a good shout for pole, he's a race winning contender.

One way of fixing the tyre issue.

As is his team mate, Nico Rosberg. I don't want to jump on any bandwagons, but he is fairly close to becoming full circle. If he could just involve himself in a championship fight, we may see a real hero. Interesting fact, he wants to complete his 'home hat trick.' This is the three Grand Prix's where he has some sort of base. Monaco is where he grew up and lives, Silverstone is a few miles from Mercedes's base so he wants to win the German Grand Prix as he himself is a Native (minus the whole not living there thing).

Vettel can be considered favourite for most races, but never Germany. He normally flops at his home Grand Prix or in last year's case, gets himself demoted following illegal manoeuvre's. But just like in Canada, ducks can be broken. You would be foolish to count him out. 

Just like compatriot Adrian Sutil, I've never been too fond of the man and I'm still not, but the racing driver surely has given me some food for thought. In the wake be being shown up by Force India team mate Paul di Resta, Sutil has stepped up and has produced some wonderful results. I wouldn't count out di Resta too soon though, I think a podium is looming.

Fernando Alonso's main objective this weekend will be too finish ahead of Vettel. Even though it is not my favourite way of fighting a championship, it's the best way to play Vettel at his own game. With Kimi Raikkonen still trying to find some competitive race pace, and the fact Germany doesn't sit well for Kimi, this is Alonso's chance to pull away and gain at the same time.

It's a race that will separate the men from the boy's, let's just pray fate stays the hell away and let the professionals do what they do best: RACE.

Webber Leaves More Than An Empty Seat

27th June 2013, Mark Webber confirmed what most already knew, that he would be leaving Red Bull at the end of the season. What we didn't know was that it would be forever when he announced he would be joining Porsche's new LMP1 programme and will compete in a full WEC season.

I'm gutted to hear about it. He is a true talent and Red Bull have lost possibly the brightest personality on the grid.

Irrespective of talent, Webber was F1's last true gentleman. He conducted himself well in the face of adversity, and always gave his 110% even when he was treated poorly.


His smile will be missed, his banter will be missed, his Grosjean jibes will be missed, his good looks will be missed, there is absolutely nothing negative anybody can say about this driver, other than that he should have had a world championship, but was robbed by those who were supposed to protect him.

Glory awaits him with Porsche, that much is certain and like Robert Kubica in WRC, I will follow every single move this man makes.

Where It Leaves Red Bull

As I discussed over at Let's Talk F1, the man to replace Webber will be a difficult process considering the eclectic options.

But Red Bull could find themselves in a bigger mess now than what they already have created.






Mark Webber was undeniably more liked than Sebastian Vettel. This isn't even a personal statement it is fact. Take Silverstone for example, when Vettel retired, the crowd roared, when Webber came second the crowd roared louder. Even in Canada when Vettel won, the crowd there booed him. How do you combat that?

Will any young driver want to join Red Bull? Strange statement but think about it, you know you're going to be oppressed, you've seen the damage Vettel does to team mate's careers, if he's not willing to be a team player why would you join the team?

The attraction of a winning team like Red Bull is exciting, but the better option could be to stay put until another big team opens their doors.

Raikkonen & Vettel are good friends, but the pair could be volatile together.

Big shoes to fill doesn't even come close to how important it is to pick the right guy. Sure a big name like Kimi Raikkonen is attractive, and he would get along with Vettel on a personal level.

However there is absolutely no way Raikkonen would put up with the nonsense that Webber did. The implosion within the team would be cataclysmic and counter productive.

If not Raikkonen then who else? He is the only one who can bring mass quantities of consistency to the table, not to mention experience or skills. 

If they employ a rookie yes the 2nd driver role is filled but out goes everything Mark stood for!

Red Bull have left themselves a ridiculously hard task, but they need to learn from their mistakes.

One of the reasons why the Vettel-Webber relationship was dangerous was because Webber never once signed up for the 2nd driver role, it was thrust unfairly upon him. The next driver if he is young needs to be made fully aware of where he stands in the team. "You are either playing support, or you're not playing at all." 

What the driver needs to say to himself is: "yes I'm here as 2nd driver, but look what I can do." If he is good enough, he will wait until a chance pops up. Then it's up to his inner champion to clinch the golden opportunity. Who will it be? Let me know in the comments.

Silverstone

God Rest.

First off, I'd like to start this blog off by offering my condolences to the loved ones of Allan Simonsen who tragically passed away during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. A death in motorsport is always tragic, any racing driver will be sadly missed.




The British Grand Prix at Silverstone

As mentioned many times, Silverstone 2012 was the first ever live Formula 1 race I attended. Me and three very close friends decided to have a lads holiday watching the pinnacle of motor racing. It was a weekend in which I will never forget.

This year I am giving it a miss. Instead I'll be watching the race from a bar in Salou and as grateful as I am to be going away, I am still very envious of British Grand Prix goers. Still, a break from the pissy weather conditions in Northern Ireland with someone special is still pretty cool.

I absolutely love Silverstone, in my eyes it's a terrific circuit and is considered among the heights of Monaco, Spa, Interlagos and Monaco. I still have my old map from last year. It is soaked to its very fibres. I really hope the weather is perfect this year. Having said that, my favourite condition is a wet qualifying session and a dry race.

After wandering about the track during qualifying, we decided to stand at Luffield, the combination of a timing screen and huge TV screen was epic and truly informative for someone who had lack of access to Twitter. Plus it's great seeing the cars at such low speeds.

Obviously I'll not be covering any results, but it's not hard to predict winners. It's a Red Bull circuit, and considering Sebastian Vettel's form, he could very well complete a very dominate victory. That being said, his team-mate Mark Webber is something of a specialist here. I think he secretly practises at night time since he only lives a few miles from the track.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso is also a very strong racer at Silverstone, and Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen will be looking to get his title charge back on track now that those stupid street circuits are over for now.

British Hopes Are Feeble

Another thing I took from last year was the insane amount of support the British have for McLaren. It was crazy seeing a sea of orange hats. My friend Patrice caught and still has Jenson Button's hat from the F1 Forum last year.

This year there will be no surprise when Button and McLaren hopes flop. Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton will be the best opportunity for at least a podium. Hopefully McLaren can do something, The fans deserve something, driver appearances, free souvenirs, something to give back for their dedication.

I'll be cheering for Paul di Resta as always. He's such a talented driver and will be looking to prove to the British audience that he is capable of scrapping with the big boys.

With all being said, Max Chilton has as much chance as being a British winner as the other three do this year.

Soaring Ticket Prices To Blame For Record Low Ticket Sales

Whilst reading an article this week, I was shocked to discover that for a standard weekend ticket for the British Grand Prix is the third most expensive behind Interlagos and Abu Dhabi. 

That is sheer insanity on the face of it. 2012 broke the record for the most spectators at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. This years preliminary numbers show it will hit a record low. Teams have took to Twitter and BBC to plug for sales.

Improved facilities and transport is great, but it's all for nothing unless you get the people there.

Enjoy

Folks have a great British Grand Prix. It's the greatest sporting event that happens in the UK, and it delivers a fantastic experience. I hope everyone enjoys themselves safely and cheers on whoever they may support!

The Story So Far... Part Three

The front runners this year have had a turbulent time as of yet. The only team who have been capable of looking after their tyres have only won a single race, while Ferrari have had a roller-coaster season thus far. The only consistent team have been Red Bull, however they have not been without their problems.

All things considered, no one has had a more disastrous time than McLaren. Let's delve a little deeper!

NOTE: I am not proud of the puns.

Lotus
The aftermath of the season opener left a huge Raikkonen fan like me in ecstasy. I was sure the season was going to be great, after all I had already made a pre season bet for Kimi.

However, things haven't been the same since. Yes yes yes, the tyre management is ace in the dry, and Kimi is still scoring points, but recently Lotus fans have had to endure rough times.

James Allison's departure has damaged the title hopes. With Mercedes on the rise, and Ferrari and Red Bull pulling away, 4th place is not good enough but unfortunately that is where the team is heading.

Maybe I'm being hard on the team? All I know is performances have been lacklustre. 

Romain Grosjean
His place as 2nd driver has been firmly cemented now.

This helps his confidence levels as has been shown. Without any pressure, he can concentrate on his driving. The first five races are proof, first lap and other laps incident free. That's a win in my eyes. Granted Monaco showed us the old Grosjean, but that's Monaco for you!

Team principle Eric Boullier (also Grosjean's manager) has always stated that Romain is a future world champion in the making. At the minute this statement is a little hard to materialize in my mind. Considering the losses Lotus are currently enduring (Allison leaving, big sponsors selling shares) I don't think anyone can be world champion at this team for some time.

Kimi Raikkonen
First of all, can he do it? Yes.

I have been extremely critical of Kimi recently. With bloody good reasons too. After the best start possible, he lost ground in Malaysia.Next followed a string of 2nd places, two of which he should have won (Spain was far beyond his reach). 

His performance in Monaco was extremely poor. A race he was supposed to do well in, he hit major flop, granted not all his fault, a particular Mexican became very bumper happy.

The lowest point this season so far was in Canada. Kimi just looked like he didn't care any more. Which is grand for personality, but when it comes to challenging for the title, it's not good enough.

Hopefully getting lapped will have kicked his ass into gear. Silverstone is by far a Lotus track. Not a winning opportunity, but a starting point.

Even though this equalling points record thing is great, it's not doing anything for the drivers championship. It's all well and good if Kimi gets on or two points on Vettel on a run of three or four races, but then it's a giant set back when Vettel wins and Kimi flops. Right back at square one.

It's sad to see a season where McLaren and Mercedes's Lewis Hamilton are no longer race winning contenders, and yet Kimi still struggles to be on top of the podium.

I'm negative at times, but I always do believe. Although I am starting to question if he really does know what he's doing.

McLaren
There's nothing I can say here that you are not already aware of. This is a disaster for "Britain's Best."

Revolution over evolution in the car's design did not help. Keeping the old car should have been a no brainer, not they're following William's into a dark descent. An abyss with no return is impending.

Sergio Perez
I have no idea how a driver can go from the heights of last year to the depths of this one.

His temperament on track this year has been tragic. The crap car excuse can only stretch so far, he has to accept some blame.

So far he has failed to do it. The events with Button in Bahrain, I thought Perez was entirely within his rights. However the events at Monaco I cannot defend. Not only did he attempt an entirely dangerous move on Raikkonen, he then had the gall to say it was Kimi's fault.

I would love to have been the one to punch him. It would have been great to read the headline "Checo Wins __ Grand Prix" and he genuinely thought he had a championship winning opportunity. The team has let him down on this basis, but his own attitude has not helped.

To make the most of this mess, he needs to keep out of trouble and stay positive. Something he's doing better than his team mate.

Jenson Button
I've always thought Jenson was the best at what he does. Last season, he proved he was Britain's best after he (in my opinion) out shone Lewis Hamilton, just like the season before that.

This year, Jenson has shown his darker side. A whiner, less likeable character. He blames everyone else for his mistakes, including Perez whenever he should take a leaf from Paul di Resta's book and aim his frustration to the people who need it.

THE TEAM. They have delivered a heap of metal that is not performing as well as the budget that they allow. Granted constantly complaining isn't helping matters, it might get someone in R&D to get motivated. It won't help the British cause going into Silverstone, but everyone loves his smile!

Ferrari
Results have been fluctuating to say the least, It seems to be going from extremely well, to extremely dire. If they follow the current patten, Silverstone will be a nightmare.

Luckily enough Fernando is an expert of the track. Hopefully he'll seal the win this year. I also think Massa has a chance to bag a long awaited win.

Felipe Massa
Barring an odd Bahrain and devastating Monaco, this season has been excellent, even by post 2009 Massa standards.  

Consistency is the best way to describe his on track performance. I also personally believe Massa's five year wait for a win is coming to an end. The dream would be at Interlagos, but in this day and age of Formula 1, what I want never happens.

Fernando Alonso
The up-and-down nature of Alonso's season is not helping his title charge. As I see it right now, Fernando is the single contender to Vettel. And The German is currently coasting to a 4th world championship.

Fernando should be aiming to generate consistency. Beating Vettel simply won't be enough, opportunities have never been greater, the only thing letting him down is his qualifying. Ferrari's last pole position was Silverstone last year. With the British Grand Prix coming up, now is his best chance to turn everything around.

Fernando also needs to watch for a resurgent Kimi, but the best chance for a drivers championship at Ferrari is now.

Red Bull
As the saying goes, if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything They have again managed to fluke, lie and deceive their way to the top.

The focal point of the season is obviously the disgrace that occurred at Malaysia. But I'm not getting into that again, and you read my feelings here & here, the incident which I have dubbed Twat-gate following an hilarious tweet.

Mark Webber
Mark Webber has only made a few bad mistakes this year. The first was that Christ awful haircut. The second was at the Chinese Grand Prix where he t-boned the Toro Rosso.

He handled the Twat-gate scandal with relative ease, simply not letting Vettel away with it. He called him up on it and made sure the world knew he had been wronged. It was the team who had let him down, but why would anyone want to disturb the golden child at Red Bull?

Webber won the only Grand Prix I have attended (Silverstone 2012) so I have a soft spot for this guy. His problem is that he is in the shadow of a fake driver. But I'm not getting into that again. 

This could very well be Webber's last season at Red Bull. If it is, I would like him to walk away with at least one win.

Sebastian Vettel
Why is he still on top? Three-fold answer:
1) He is still a major fluke. Nobody can defend that anymore.

2) He's a cheat. Malaysia, if you are still disillusioned, get your head looked at. You may have a severe mental disorder.

3) He hasn't put a foot wrong. Did I just compliment Sebastian Vettel? His lowest finishing place this year? 4th. When did he last achieve that? 2011, and I don't need to go into detail of what happened in that year.

While Kimi has failed, Fernando has flopped and Hamilton is no match for Red Bull, he has seized the opportunity to take the early advantage. And he might not let it go.

I had to explain to someone recently why there is no use in hoping Vettel's car will fail or he'll retire: because that kind of bad luck doesn't happen to Vettel.. It has nothing to do talent, it's pure fluke.

The way I see it, if Vettel grabs pole, Houston60 doesn't mind missing the race. His performances in Europe are mixed... Between 1st place and 3rd but when the Asian tracks hit, it's all Vettel town. Considering nothing looks like picking up for Kimi, and Alonso can't find consistency, Vettel may very well have walked away with the championship already.

But I always believe in one man:

#KINGKIMI