As a spectacle it was one of the better GP’s, assisted by a great track. We also learned that “The Finger” (Sebastian Vettel) can drive a very calculated race and can listen to his pit wall (when he feels like it). However, take nothing away from his skill – he drove a very good race to end on the top step of the podium. However, he did have his fair share of luck with some nerfing into the first corner by Hamilton (Mercedes) resulting in a puncture for the Mercedes, eventually retiring with a damaged floor while Vettel had no damage.
Webber (Red Bull) fought his way through to second after a third pit stop, but it took him too many laps to pass Romain Grosjean (“Lotus”) and by then it was too late and Vettel was too far out of reach. However, there is no doubt that Eric Boullier and his “Lotus” team will sign Grosjean again for another season.
The “Lotus” seat to be vacated by Raikkonen at the end of the year must surely go to Hulkenberg (Sauber) who was really more deserving of the Ferrari drive for 2014, than the taciturn Finn. The Hulk came sixth in Japan and is quite fearless and yet very clean. He will be a top runner if he gets a good car.
Alonso did not have his usual “tiger” and was shown up in qualifying by his (about to be ‘ex’) team mate Massa. Despite coming fourth there were only occasional flashes of brilliance plus some of his old petulance, demanding the pit tell Massa to move over. Massa blotted his copy book (as usual) and finished 10th.
Raikkonen has gone into cruise mode, the last few races. Scraping into the top 10 in Qualifying and then circulating in the middle of the pack, picking off the odd place as they are presented to him and finished fifth, over 30 seconds behind Grosjean. Apparently he has not been paid his full wages, so maybe that is the reason? Surely someone can lend him the money for his ice creams!
Sauber’s second driver Esteban Gutierrez finally made the point score table after 15 races. He did not impress enough for me to expect great things for the rest of the year. He was just fortunate that Mercedes (Hamilton and Rosberg) had problems with one DNF, and Rosberg a drive-through after an unsafe release.
The top 10 were rounded out by Button (McLaren) and Massa, but neither of them caught the eye of the television director.
In the also-rans, Di Resta was the last car not lapped by Vettel, and next year’s Red Bull signing Ricciardo was beaten by his team mate Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso).
And finally, stupid statistics – Alonso has now scored more points than any other F1 driver. He has 1571 compared to Michael Schumacher’s 1566 while Sebastian Vettel has a total of 1351 points. Considering that in the 1950’s there were around seven GP’s each year and now there are 20, it is not so difficult to rack up the big numbers. Always remember there are lies, damned lies, and statistics!
The next GP is in India (October 27) with the telecast commencing at 4.30 p.m. Thai time.
