Talking Point: British GP2 Stars

As a Red Bull seat is up for grabs, as most probably is a Ferrari seat is, and even a Lotus or two..! It's the time of year many of us start to think about where drivers are going to be next year. I could do a lot of predicting here, but much would be premature. Last here once Hamilton had dealt with Mercedes, the dominoes start to fall, and this year it will be the Red Bull seat that is the decider. Kimi or Daniel, Kimi or Daniel?!

What F1 Hub is looking at is GP2, in particular British drivers as in the top 8 after 7 rounds, 4 drivers are British. Could we see any of these drivers in F1 in 2014, or if not 2015?

For those that don't follow GP2, there are 11 rounds this year as a support on Formula One weekends mainly in Europe, and each weekend they have two races rather than one, so 22 races in all.

Standings

1st - Stefano Coletti [135 Points]
2nd - Felipe Nasr [129 Points]
3rd - Fabio Leimer [110 Points]


4th - Sam Bird [92 Points]

Sam is 26, raced in GP2 in 2010 and 2011, before having a year in Formula Renault 3.5, finishing 3rd in the championship. In 2012 also he joined Mercedes AMG F1 team to be a test driver, and has carried on with the team In 2013, he has won 2 feature race wins in Monaco and his home race in Great Britain, with a sprint race victory also in Bahrain, with new GP2 'Russian Time'. 

5th - James Calado [90 Points]

Williams driver Bottas won the 2011 GP3 championship. He made his successful F1 debut this year and who came 2nd to him in that 2011 championship? James Calado, who in GP2 last year finished 5th and has been recognised by his fellow Brits as the one to beat, and for me stands out as the top F1 contender. He had an extremely successful young driver test with Force India at Silverstone recently. James is currently 24. 

6th - Jon Lancaster [65 Points]

Lancaster is also 24, in 2009 and 2010 raced in Formula Renault 3.5, but in 2011 and 2012 struggled to get a full time drive. He only joined GP2 after the first 2 rounds had been and gone, so to be 6th in the championship with 2 sprint race wins is impressive. His progression will be the most interesting.

7th - Marcus Ericsson [64 Points]


8th - Jolyon Palmer [64 Points]

Only 22, Jolyon is already in his 3rd season of GP2 and winning a great feature race in Hungary last time out. GP2 drivers usually will get a max of 5 years so pressure will be to perform well next year to make his mark. 

4 Brits in F1 out 22 currently, but the future is bright for British racing drivers too!

My view - James Calado in F1 2015.

Nick, F1 Hub
@F1HubTweety

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Hungary

The teammate battles at round 10 in Hungary... 

Red Bull
Race: Webber
Overall: Vettel 8 vs Webber 2
Webber was YET AGAIN unlucky during qualifying, and based on his race pace to finish 4th just behind Vettel would have finished ahead of Sebastian.

Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 8 vs Massa 2
Alonso 5th and Massa 8th. Massa needs another amazing 2nd half campaign to have another half a chance of staying on for 2014. Imagine if we had a new Red Bull and Ferrari driver? Maybe even then Lotus too!


McLaren
Race: Button
Season: Button 6 vs Perez 4
Button mixed it up with the big guys finishing just behind.


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 7 vs Grosjean 3
Another great drive from Romain apart from his bump with Jenson and his unfortunate but brilliant overtake of Massa into turn 4 just outside the lines. Nevertheless, Raikkonen picked up a well deserved 2nd beating Vettel which he needed to keep his title hopes alive, every 3 points count as we have found out before.


Mercedes
Race: Hamilton
Season: Rosberg 3 vs Hamilton 7
Flawless from Hamilton, and whilst he talking down chances are becoming boring, you can't deny his pole lap and his race performance were incredible to claim his 4th race win in Hungary. 2007, 2009, 2012 and 2013. Rosberg nowhere near in Hungary. Can Hamilton mount a title fight?

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 9 vs Gutierrez 1
Hulkenberg's affair with 10th place was ruined by Maldonado and Williams who finally got their first point as Nico finished 11th.


Force India
Race: Sutil
Season: di Resta 7 vs Sutil 3
Oh dear Force India. Double retirement and no pace. Will this let McLaren back into 5th? Sutil qualified higher.


Williams
Race: Maldonado 
Season: Maldonado 6 vs Bottas 4
Great effort from Maldonado, was 7th after the safety car period but it overall messed up his strategy, meaning his chance from Williams first point this season was lost.


Toro Rosso
Race: Vergne
Season: Vergne 5 vs Ricciardo 5
Vergne picks up the point as despite Ricciardo getting a third Q3 appearance in a row impressively, he finished behind Vergne who qualifyied 14th and is still behind Vergne on points. Food for thought, but Ricciardo is definitely putting up his fight despite talk of Raikkonen getting the seat.

Caterham
Race: van der Garde
Season: Pic 7 vs van der Garde 3
van der Garde finished ahead

Marussia
Race: Chilton
Season: Bianchi 8 vs Chilton 1
Improvement from Chilton, closer to Bianchi but still not enough. Marussia are back to being behind Caterham. Will their P13 in China be enough to secure them P10 in the constructors?

Nick, F1 Hub

Twitter - @F1HubTweety

Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Off for the summer break now, next stop Belgium!

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Germany

The teammate battles at round 9 in Germany... 

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 8 vs Webber 1
Vettel has now ticked off both Canada and Germany in his list of countries won in, leaving not many he hasn't. Seriously where hasn't he now, Hungary, Brazil & the US are the only three I can think of! Vettel took the lead from the first corner and was challenged but held his own to take his home win. Webber was nevertheless unlucky not to challenge him due to his tyre stop. Bad luck back with Webber and not Vettel!

Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 7 vs Massa 2
Alonso gets the point just because of Massa spinning, again. Seriously it's almost identical every time, Monaco, Canada and now Germany - what is going on with Massa.


McLaren
Race: Button
Season: Button 5 vs Perez 4
Different strategies allowed Button to finish ahead and they both overtook each other once in a hard racing but fair manner into turn 1.


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 7 vs Grosjean 2
A great drive from both Lotus, was very tempted to give Grosjean the point as if not for the safety car, he had a real chance of winning even. But considering the decision to bring Kimi in, had he stayed out I really saw his tyres lasting enough to take the win.


Mercedes
Race: Hamilton
Season: Rosberg 3 vs Hamilton 6
Mercedes not keeping the pace apart from another pole from Hamilton. Hamilton finished 5th whilst Rosberg went all the back to 9th, a poor showing from him at his home race.

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 8 vs Gutierrez 1
Hulkenberg got YET another 10th place for Sauber with Gutierrez still on 0 for the season.


Force India
Race: di Resta
Season: di Resta 7 vs Sutil 2
The new tyres made Force India look like a low midfield team again in Germany after what has been their best season to date so far. di Resta finished ahead on track again after another dodgy qualifying. 


Williams
Race: Maldonado 
Season: Maldonado 5 vs Bottas 4
Great effort from Maldonado, was 7th after the safety car period but it overall messed up his strategy, meaning his chance from Williams first point this season was lost.


Toro Rosso
Race: Ricciardo 
Season: Vergne 4 vs Ricciardo 5
Ricciardo followed up his Silverstone display with another great qualifying and despite not being able to pick up points still outperformed Vergne. 

Caterham
Race: Pic
Season: Pic 7 vs van der Garde 2
Pic finished ahead.

Marussia
Race: Chilton
Season: Bianchi 8 vs Chilton 1
Chilton gets his first point of the season for not letting his Marussia drive itself across the track backwards.


Nick, F1 Hub

Twitter - @F1HubTweety

Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
On to an always unpredictable race in Hungary next for the last race before the summer break.

10 Things We Learnt From: Great Britain

Tyre Failures In A Grand Prix Is A Big Failure.
Massa, Vergne, Perez, and more importantly Hamilton all received puncture blowouts which shocked many, mixed up the race, and probably made many drivers feel a bit uneasy sitting where they were driving at up to 180mph! I believe Pirelli have done a good job with the racing side of things in general, but blowouts both from a safety point of a view and robbing drivers of good finishes is unacceptable. Immediate action is being taken!


Vettel Gets Some Bad Luck Afterall
Just when you think Webber gets all the unreliability and Vettel gets every bit of luck to his rivals, he breaks down from the lead just like in Round 8 in Valencia last year. A curse?!


Silverstone Is Amazing
What a race - Silverstone produced a corker and besides drivers enjoying almost every corner, nearly every corner is an overtaking spot which is unbelievable. Together with the weather, and the drama of the tyre blowouts, will be hard to beat as one of the best races of the year.


Webber Loves Silverstone But Is Retiring
Another awful start for Webber dropping down to something like P13 I think after the first corner, but ending up less than a second behind Rosberg over the line... Lets hope now he has announced he's hanging up his helmet in F1 he will relax and string some great races together.


Silverstone Can Be Sunny
After last year's washout before raceday, apart from FP1, Silverstone was a scorcher for Britain - well done fans for going back.


Hamilton Still Does Brilliant Come Back Drives
After losing his tyre from first place and dropping to the back of the pack, a points finish would have been a good drive, but to finish fourth and still be challenging for third was a massive drive, and he and the British crowd will be gutted he didn't win at Silverstone again after his 2008 triumph. 


Mercedes On Top
Perhaps Mercedes tyregate test is proving its worth in terms of performance for them now, with Rosberg taking his 2nd victory in 3 races, although he would have come 2nd to teammate Hamilton had it not been for his unlucky blowout. Might not be long before a Mercedes 1-2?


Lightning Massa
Hells bells what a start from Massa - unfortunately for him it's about the only good thing that happens to him at the moment as he was one of the tyre victims.


Ricciardo Showing His Potential
After the announcement of Webber leaving Red Bull and Formula 1, Ricciardo picked up the pace and qualified in the top 10 and finished a very respectable eighth place. Lets see if either he or Vergne can grab the opportunity as finally a 2nd junior Red Bull driver may graduate to the senior time.


The Championship Is Closer
... and the British crowd seem to like that. Vettel is a driver everyone has a different opinion on, but love him or hate him, it's good to see the championship standings closer together again with Alonso and Raikkonen scoring good points. 



Follow us on twitter, or comment on the blog below to join in the discussion!

Twitter - @F1HubTweety

Nick, F1 Hub

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Great Britain

The teammate battles at round 8 in Great Britain... 

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 7 vs Webber 1
Like Monaco this is a happy hunting ground for ol' Webbo and Vettel beat him on Saturday and would have on Sunday if not for losing his gears. Webber had an appauling start but finished less than 1 second behind Rosberg to create an exciting finish to the race, including a great overtake of Raikkonen into Copse corner which was where I was sitting!

Ferrari
Race: Massa
Season: Alonso 6 vs Massa 2
Massa had yet another incredible start from 11th to 5th in what is quite a short run to the first sweeping corner and was on course for a good race until his tyre blowout. Whilst Alonso was on the podium, I really think Massa would have outperformed Fernando in Britain. 


McLaren
Race: Button
Season: Button 4 vs Perez 4
A close race but Button did well in front of his homies.


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 6 vs Grosjean 2
Not a great race for either but Raikkonen squeezed out a 4th after being passed by Webber and Alonso in the last stint - unfortunately Grosjean had a run in with Webber at the start, which was yes, probably his fault!


Mercedes
Race: Hamilton
Season: Rosberg 3 vs Hamilton 5
A massive drive from Hamilton all weekend to get pole and to be on course for winning before his tyre blowout, pulling away from Vettel and Rosberg, followed by a determined drive to 4th from last place.

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 7 vs Gutierrez 1
Hulkenberg got another 10th place for Sauber with Gutierrez still on 0 for the season.


Force India
Race: di Resta
Season: di Resta 6 vs Sutil 2
Paul takes it purely for his qualifying performance taking 5th place, desperately unlucky to be disqualified but rules are rules Force India I guess. A good recovery too nevertheless - a podium finish for him can't be too far away surely?


Williams
Race: Maldonado 
Season: Maldonado 4 vs Bottas 4
Maldonado finished in front of the very close together Williams cars, never too far apart.


Toro Rosso
Race: Ricciardo 
Season: Vergne 4 vs Ricciardo 4
Ricciardo chose the best time to beat his teammate in style all weekend, with a great qualifying and equally impressive race to finish 8th. Seeing what the two of them can do in a bid to replace Webber will definitely make this a teammate battle to watch!


Caterham
Race: Pic
Season: Pic 6 vs van der Garde 2
Pic finished way ahead.

Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 8 vs Chilton 0
As did Bianchi.


Nick, F1 Hub

Twitter - @F1HubTweety

Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
On to Vettel's home ground in Germany where he is yet to win still.

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Canada

The teammate battles at round 7 in Montreal... 

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 6 vs Webber 1
Sebastian finally added Canada to his list of countries won in after it had eluded him for so many years with an admittedly flawless performance. 

Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 6 vs Massa 1
A great drive from Alonso to beat Hamilton to 2nd, using his tyres, KERS and DRS to perfection throughout. Another miserable weekend for Felipe after sticking it in the barriers again.


McLaren
Race: Perez
Season: Button 3 vs Perez 4
Shocking race for McLaren in a race which they have won for the past 3 years with Hamilton and Button. Button really struggled in the race though in particular.


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 5 vs Grosjean 2
Low key race for the black and gold cars, with the brakes not working for Kimi which is what you need around Montreal.


Mercedes
Race: Rosberg
Season: Rosberg 3 vs Hamilton 4
Good performance from Hamilton at a circuit he has won at in 2007, 2010 & 2012, a well deserved podium whilst Rosberg struggled blaming the car...

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 6 vs Gutierrez 1
Another quiet afternoon for the Sauber boys, Hulkenberg must be asking what he was thinking of moving from Force India, scoring double points.


Force India
Race: Sutil
Season: di Resta 5 vs Sutil 2
Fab drive from Paul from 17th to 7th on a 1 stop, 57 laps on the medium tyre NOBODY expected - must have actually been quite relaxing to drive his race really! Sutil had a silly spin trying to overtake Bottas, didn't work out so well but recovered well himself to score points.


Williams
Race: Bottas
Season: Maldonado 3 vs Bottas 4
A superb performance in the wet on Saturday meant Bottas started P3, and whilst he didn't even hang on to score a point, there is no question where the points go this week.


Toro Rosso
Race: Vergne
Season: Vergne 4 vs Ricciardo 3
Perhaps the biggest contrast in teammates, Vergne having the best weekend of his F1 career so far, finishing in an incredible 6th. Vergne becoming the superior junior Red Bull driver?


Caterham
Race: Pic
Season: Pic 5 vs van der Garde 2
Pic gets the point because van der Garde was so poor. Crikey.

Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 7 vs Chilton 0
Standard good effort Bianchi, can the British Grand Prix bring anything out of Max?


Nick, F1 Hub


Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Back to Europe next, the Great British Grand Prix, woo!

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Monaco

The teammate battles at round 6 in Monaco... 

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 5 vs Webber 1
Monaco is one of Webber haven's, so far Vettel to have almost got a front row ahead of Mercedes and to have not have been challenged by Webber in the race gives Vettel the edge today, another runaway season for Vettel from the Aussie?

Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 5 vs Massa 1
Massa had a shocker of a weekend, whether his crashes was his fault or not is still to be resolved. Alonso didn't have much better, poor qualifying and for once dropping back during the race rather than gaining position like he does everywhere else! Alonso pips it but neither really deserves!


McLaren
Race: Perez
Season: Button 3 vs Perez 3
Perez provided the most action from any driver in what was an extremely dull race, everyone is going to have different opinions on his brilliant and disastrous overtakes, but deserves the point to level with Button 3 all!


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 4 vs Grosjean 2
Grosjean had some speed, but a ridiculous amount of crashes automatically hands it to Kimi.


Mercedes
Race: Rosberg
Season: Rosberg 3 vs Hamilton 3
Rosberg after a terrible start controlled the race well and deserved his first race win of the season, Hamilton was unlucky to finish behind the Red Bull's but perhaps would have taken 1st into turn 1 if it wasn't Rosberg next to him!

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 5 vs Gutierrez 1
Hulkenberg so close to getting a point but frustrated after Raikkonen's last minute charge! Gutierrez nowhere.


Force India
Race: Sutil
Season: di Resta 4 vs Sutil 2
Sutil was one of the stars of the show, making some daring overtakes into the hairpin without consequences, a great performance. 


Williams
Race: Maldonado
Season: Maldonado 3 vs Bottas 3
Great effort from Maldonado on the track he excels at, almost making into Q3 in a duff Williams, but had an incredible crash bringing out the red flag. A great effort nevertheless, i'm sure they'll get a point before the end of the European season.


Toro Rosso
Race: Vergne
Season: Vergne 3 vs Ricciardo 3
Vergne was mixing it far above Ricciardo just like last year.


Caterham
Race: van der Garde
Season: Pic 4 vs van der Garde 2
Great performance from Giedo to make it into Q2.

Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 6 vs Chilton 0
Best result of P14 for Max but still is behind Jules although by not as much now.


Nick, F1 Hub


Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Next race over to Montreal in Canada for the race of unknowns...

Race Report: Rosberg Shines In Sunny Monaco

Monaco, the race everyone wants to win typically started for the first 25 laps as quite processional, but nevertheless all the talk was inevitably about strategy, and whether cars would one or two stop. Nevertheless, pace varied throughout and made predicting when drivers would push hard to predict.

The Mercedes majorly controlled the pace in a bid to save tyres, but Mark Webber stopped characteristically first, with Raikkonen a lap later. The top three of Rosberg, Hamilton and Vettel stayed out until lap 30, when Felipe Massa in his Ferrari had an identical accident to his crash in FP3, locking up going into turn 1 San Devote, smashing into the both barriers at 175mph.

Mercedes Lead Into Turn One Off The Line

Thankfully as this report is published, Felipe is okay, having checks on his neck in hospital. Nevertheless, the crash prompted Vettel to pit, which was shortly followed by the safety car coming out. Vettel, Webber and the rest of the field were sent past so the safety car could pick up the Mercedes, who pitted the following lap. This worked out well for the Red Bull's, who overtook Hamilton who had to lap slowly under the safety car yellow flags. Many will argue this is unfair, and a fair point too.

On lap 38 Rosberg restarted the race brilliantly, jumping away from Vettel who was told to look after his tyres. Hamilton trying to regain at least 3rd place from Webber dived down into the rascasse chicane of all places, almost squeezing by going up to the last corner but Webber swiped across firmly, letting Lewis know he wasn't going through. Button was attempted to pass Alonso, clipping the Ferrari's back wheel, which meant Jenson lost momentum and teammate Perez took advantage on the run to the nouvelle chicane completing a fantastic move to move into P7. 

As the second phase started to pan out, further down the field, Chilton in the Marussia moved across on Maldonado not realising he was there going into Tabac, resulting in the Williams front wing coming off and launching the Venezuelan into the barrier at full force. Again, the driver was okay just shaken in what was an instant crash with no control.

Official Looks At Maldonado's Car Wreck

Red flag was brought out on lap 46 as a result for 25 minutes. On the restart, everybody changed to used super-soft tyres used for one flying lap in qualifying, apart from Raikkonen who opted for a new soft of more durable soft tyres. Just before the red flag, Perez tried the same move on Alonso who cut the chicane, so on the restart Alonso conceeded the place. In the matter of a few laps, Adrian Sutil overtook Button and Alonso both into the hairpin, being very opportunistic. Meanwhile, Rosberg increased his lead to 3 seconds from Vettel. 

On lap 63, Grosjean had his 4th crash of the weekend, as he smashed into the back of Ricciardo coming out of the tunnel under braking. Not good enough from the Frenchman and costing Lotus big money. The safety car came out again, whilst Rosberg saw his lead disappear once again. Nevertheless, upon the restart after the debris was cleared, Rosberg was electric again gaining almost 2 seconds immediately. 

Perez clearly in a confident mood went for another banzai move this time on Raikkonen, Kimi cut across squeezing the McLaren into the barrier, which resulted in a slow puncture for the Lotus forcing him to pit, whilst Perez had his brakes and suspension give up on him a few laps later. Alonso lost yet another place after losing places to Perez and Sutil, Button taking advantage of the pack being close together into the final corner.

Sutil Had A Great Race To Finish 4th, Whilst Hamiton Was Unlucky To Finish 4th Rather Than 2nd

On the last few laps, Raikkonen impressively went from 14th to 10th, carrying on his run of 24 races scoring points. Jean-Eric Vergne held on through everything to finish a great 8th to take advantage of others, as well as Paul di Resta in 9th, recovering from his poor qualifying. A super win for Rosberg which was well deserved, and genuinely had the pace and tyres to hold station from pole 3rd time around.

Nick, F1 Hub


F1 Hub Overtake of the Race
Perez on Button - Lap 42
Into the nouvelle chicane, Perez took no prisoners and no intimidation from Jenson to superbly outrace and out-maneuver his fellow McLaren to dive down the inside, firmly and fairly.   


F1 Hub Driver of the Race
Perez had some good overtakes but one too many colliding with Raikkonen, Sutil had a super race to finish 5th, Alonso had an off day but Rosberg was supreme. Many predicted if he won it would be because of defending on the difficult to overtake circuit, but he controlled the starts and restarts well, and was quickest in every session. A truly world-class professional race and showed pace to pull away from everyone including Vettel and world-champion teammate Hamilton in the process.


Full Race Result
1) Nico Rosberg [Mercedes]
2) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull-Renault]
3) Mark Webber [Red Bull-Renault]
4) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
5) Adrian Sutil [Force India-Mercedes] 
6) Jenson Button [McLaren Mercedes]
7) Fernando Alonso [Ferrari]
8) Jean-Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] 
9) Paul di Resta [Force India-Mercedes] 
10) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus-Renault]
11) Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber-Ferrari]
12) Valtteri Bottas [Williams-Renault]
13) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber-Ferrari]
14) Max Chilton [Marussia-Cosworth] Lap 
15) Giedo van der Garde [Caterham-Renault]


Did Not Finish
Charles Pic [Caterham-Renault] 
Felipe Massa [Ferrari] 
Pastor Maldonado [Williams Renault] 
Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] 
Romain Grosjean [Lotus-Renault] 
Jules Bianchi [Marussia-Cosworth] 
Sergio Perez [McLaren-Mercedes] 

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Spain

The teammate battles at round 5 in Spain...

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 4 vs Webber 1
Not a great race for the Bull's, Vettel complaining about the buzz world 'tyres', meaning 4th was the best he could do, losing out to title rivals Alonso and Raikkonen. He maximised his position where as Webber qualified poorly and finished in 5th in what really is one of his stronger circuits. Webber isn't stepping up to the plate since his TMB victory in Malaysia.


Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 4 vs Massa 1
A superb performance by both who arguably both should have a point. Nevertheless, Alonso was another class in Spain, with the overtake of the race on lap 1 and electric pace throughout. Top performance by Massa who with a deserved podium.


McLaren
Race: Perez
Season: Button 3 vs Perez 2
Sergio qualified 9th and ran as high as 6th, again with superb pace for the car he's in, whilst Jenson qualified only 14th, but recovered well and stopped one less time to enable an 8th place finish. Whilst Button finished higher, Perez was the superior performer here.


Lotus
Race: Raikkonen
Season: Raikkonen 4 vs Grosjean 2
We never got to see what Grosjean could do due to his suspension failure ending his good run of finishes and no crashes! Nevertheless, Kimi was on the money again and maximised his car to finish ahead of a great Massa and the two Red Bull's, showing great pace on a 3 stop. He also qualified 4th to Romain's 7th.


Mercedes
Race: Rosberg
Season: Rosberg 2 vs Hamilton 3
What a shocker for Mercedes after locking out the front row. Hamilton was 4th by turn 4, and ended up a lonely 12th. Considering the tyre wear, Rosberg did extremely well to hang on to 6th ahead of di Resta in the closing laps, and took pole by 2.5 tenths to Lewis. 

Sauber
Race: Gutierrez
Season: Hulkenberg 4 vs Gutierrez 1
A much improved Esteban who finally looked like an F1 driver, narrowly missing out on his first F1 point in 11th just behind Ricciardo. At one point before stopping he even led the race and his pace was good, with a few clean overtakes. Hulkenberg ran into troubles but nevertheless must be rueing over his move from Force India.


Force India
Race: di Resta
Season: di Resta 4 vs Sutil 1
Another good race for the Force India crew, apart from the one pitstop for Sutil which hampered his good race. This battle was close but di Resta showed better pace than Sutil overall in a consistent manner and was unlucky not to claim 6th. di Resta is not 8th, level on 26 points with Grosjean in 7th, ahead of Rosberg and the two McLaren's.


Williams
Race: Maldonado
Season: Maldonado 2 vs Bottas 3
No major improvement for Williams, but Maldonado did a respectable job to keep Bottas behind.


Toro Rosso
Race: Ricciardo
Season: Vergne 2 vs Ricciardo 3
Ricciardo picked up another point finishing 10th, and in the early stages of the race was flying, overtaking several cars, but ran out of tyres towards the end. Nevertheless, a firm performance, another one which he can build from.


Caterham
Race: van der Garde
Season: Pic 4 vs van der Garde 1
Giedo gets off the mark with a great display out-qualifying the 1 year experienced Pic, but despite being ahead of him in the race found one of his wheels fall off. A great effort nevertheless and gets the point.


Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 5 vs Chilton 0
Chilton is the last man to be on 0 points, but almost got his first one until Bianchi out-qualified him at the last minute. Both finished 2 laps down, way behind the Caterham of Pic. Looks like they may have lost the edge at the back again.


Nick, F1 Hub


Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Next race back the streets of Monaco - Mercedes favourites?

Race Report: Spain - Alonso Gets Cheered Home First

Fernando Alonso won a mighty race ahead of Kimi Raikkonen and teammate Felipe Massa to win in front of his beloved home fans. Starting 5th, he in fine style swooped around the outside of Raikkonen and Hamilton going through turn 3, which was the benchmark for his race. 

Alonso Celebrates With The Spanish Flag

The Mercedes starting on the front row had a torrid race again, the champions of Saturday dropped from 1st to 6th, and 2nd to 12nd for Rosberg and Hamilton respectively. It must be truly horrible to be a Mercedes driver at high tyre wear circuits. Nevertheless, Monaco is next where tyre where is not so great and overtaking is considerably harder, so expect them to bounce back. I will be bold and predict Hamilton for the win already...

After jumping to 3rd, Alonso then jumped Vettel in the pits, before then passing Rosberg on lap 13 in turn 1. Vettel then got punchy not wanting Alonso to run away, and he along with Massa and Raikkonen then quickly passed the Mercedes. Behind, Perez had got as high as 6th and considering the performance gap wasn't too far behind for the early stages of the race. He dropped back to 9th behind Button in 8th however, as Button stopped one less time than the Mexican who it seems has firmly found his feet again in F1. 

di Resta for Force India had another strong race, starting 10th he steadily made his way up to 7th, unable to pass Rosberg on the final few laps. Bringing up the last point was Daniel Ricciardo who in the early stages was flying, but like most had to stop 4 times, but is showing his potential in a class top 10. 

Raikkonen & Massa Had Great Races From 4th and 9th on the Grid

Hamilton finished a lonely 12th behind an improved Gutierrez who for the first time showed promise, and before his first stop led the race for a couple of laps. There was to be no repeat story for Maldonado this year though, as his Williams updates still delivered no performance. At the back, the Caterham's updates are the most notable of the field, jumping them ahead of Marussia seemingly, van der Garde winning their teammate battle this week too for the first time.

In the previous 10 years at the Spanish Grand Prix, the winner had started 9 times from pole position, and once from 2nd. To start from 5th and win showed Alonso's ability for a countless time and was a well deserved victory with Ferrari in fine form. It seems Alonso and Raikkonen are stepping up the plate to once again challenge Vettel for this year's title...

Please check back for Teammate Battle Tracker: Spain & 10 Things We Learnt From: Spain articles soon...

Nick, F1 Hub



F1 Hub Overtake of the Race
Alonso on Raikkonen and Hamilton - Lap 1
Alonso was in contention for many of his moves, but as the race started though, Alonso's race line gave himself more speed coming out of turn 2, and as Raikkonen got boxed in behind Hamilton as the Mercedes struggled to grip, Alonso swooped around the outside of the both - he's a clever ol' boy and never stops to remind us of it (apart from Malaysia maybe).

Alonso Sweeping Around The Outside Of The Lotus & Mercedes Round Turn 3

F1 Hub Driver of the Race
It's hard to look anywhere else but Alonso really, Massa had a fab race but Alonso was just infatic. A great weekend for the Ferrari boys and despite the tyre debates, the championship between Vettel, Alonso and Raikkonen is shaping up nicely.


Full Race Result
1) Fernando Alonso [Ferrari]
2) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus]
3) Felipe Massa [Ferrari]
4) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull]
5) Mark Webber [Red Bull]
6) Nico Rosberg [Mercedes]
7) Paul di Resta [Force India]
8) Jenson Button [McLaren]
9) Sergio Perez [McLaren]
10) Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso]
11) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber]
12) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
13) Adrian Sutil [Force India]
14) Pastor Maldonado [Williams]
15) Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber]
16) Valtteri Bottas [Williams] 
17) Charles Pic [Caterham]
18) Jules Bianchi [Marussia]
19) Max Chilton [Marussia]

Did Not Finish
Jean Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso] - Lap 52, Accident
Giedo van der Garde [Caterham] - Lap 21, Wheel Nut
Romain Grosjean [Lotus] - Lap 8, Suspension Failure

10 Things We Learnt From: Bahrain

Vettel Really Likes Bahrain
Sebastian has now won in 2013, 2012, 2011 was cancelled and he would have won in 2010 had it not been for an engine failure. For a track with 4 straights, the Red Bull goes well there and Vettel after Alonso had his wing failure looked unstoppable, characteristically controlling the race from the front with ease. What is it about Sakhir that suits him?


Ferrari Can Be Really Dumb
Fair enough, they had a failure and minimised the damaged by changing tyres a couple of laps earlier than he would have. But for them to let him try DRS again when it clearly had only been 'bashed' down, it was inevitable it would stay up again. You don't need to be an engineer to spot that. Alonso recovered well to 8th, but even with the failure could have been much much higher. Another bad management call from Ferrari.


Massa Is Still Unlucky
Two punctures in one race? Only Massa could manage that at the moment. As everyone starts to believe his form is coming back, a good race strategy with potential for a podium is ruined and fails to even score points. He deserves nothing to hinder him for a few races to show his potential for a whole weekend.


di Resta Show His Class
Paul was at his best in Bahrain as he has been for most of the season so far, and was unfortunate not to have the tyres left on a two-stop to hold off Grosjean. Nevertheless, he should take great credit, qualifying 5th, in the race keeping pace with Vettel and Alonso in the early stages, overtaking Rosberg. He needs to perform this season and he is doing brilliantly moving towards this. 


Perez Stepping Up To The Plate
Sergio's race was controversial to many, but to see him match Button's pace, and finish with his first good McLaren points in an underperforming car was good to see. At least he's trying to prove why McLaren he was hired over other candidates.


Grosjean Showing Controlled Consistancy
4 races and 4 points finishes from Romain this year. Credit where it is due I guess! A great drive in Bahrain again from 11th to get a podium, and whilst he is still being outperformed by Kimi, he needs this consistency so he can build from there. Keep going.


Gutierrez Showing Nothing
What can we say about Perez' replacement at Sauber, poor. Accidents, no pace, no points. Only 4 races into his career, but come the midway point of the season, many will be expecting considerable improvements. 


Mercedes Are Still Ridiculous With Tyres
Some old story that we thought had been partially resolved but apparently not. Nevertheless, whilst Rosberg had a torrid time, as the temperatures in Bahrain cooled, Hamilton moved through the field. Mercedes are still one to watch race to race.


Alonso Is Still First Corner Master
After his mishap in Malaysia, Alonso had a great first lap in China, and once again had a great start, taking the better line into T1, overtaking Vettel round the outside. It's not coincidence he does it almost every race.


Vettel Can Listen To Management
For the right reasons by him.. Apparently Christian Horner said the undercut out of T4 was a good place to use KERS, which he did brilliantly to overtake Alonso on the first lap.



Come back for our race report, teammate battle track and 10 things we learnt from articles, which will be posted after every race weekend!

For now, follow us on twitter, or comment on the blog below to join in the discussion!

Twitter - https://twitter.com/F1HubTweety

Nick, F1 Hub

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Bahrain

The teammate battles varied at Round 4 in Sahkir, Bahrain, for the 9th Bahrain Grand Prix, di Resta and Pic for Force India and Caterham two of the stars of the race. The McLaren boys had a proper teammate battle, and perhaps the closest point to call...

Red Bull
Race: Vettel
Overall: Vettel 3 vs Webber 1
Vettel dominated the race and his teammate this weekend. Whilst Webber had a penalty demoting his from 5th only to 7th, he finished there, and Vettel had a strong opening 10 battling laps, and cruised the rest of the way. Clear winner at Red Bull this race.


Ferrari
Race: Alonso
Season: Alonso 3 vs Massa 1
Massa had a poor race in comparison to his recent form, but not one but two punctures summed up his luck of past years to add on. Fernando was unfortunate not to gain a good result suffering a rear wing failure, stopping a likely 2nd or 3rd to finish a respectable 8th. Regardless, Alonso had the better pace in qualifying and would have taken half a challenge to Vettel.


McLaren
Race: Perez
Season: Button 3 vs Perez 1
Perez finally didn't look like a mediocre driver and stepped up to the McLaren plate, despite some suggesting he was too aggressive. Regardless, Perez went from 12th to 6th place in an under performing McLaren, outpacing Button and overtaking each other several times, and he also made one less stop than Jenson who is notoriously easy on tyres. How Perez develops now will be interesting to see.


Lotus
Race: Grosjean
Season: Raikkonen 3 vs Grosjean 2
Both did a great job for Lotus, both being on the podium. Whilst Raikkonen finished ahead of Grosjean, Romain had a great race though showing his ability, including overtaking confidently again, and being of the quickest 3 stoppers, whilst Raikkonen did a tyre management job to be the top two-stopper. Ultimately Romain had a harder job and did it brilliantly. A great recovery from both after qualifying poor.


Mercedes
Race: Hamilton
Season: Rosberg 1 vs Hamilton 3
Rosberg did a super lap in qualifying to gain pole position, but amongst desperately defending destroyed his tyres and slipped back through the field finishing just 9th after stopping for a 4th time. Ultimately Hamilton controlled his race better, and as the temperatures dropped, he got quicker and had a super battle with Webber overtaking on the last lap to take 5th and some decent points. A real shame for Nico nevertheless.

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 4 vs Gutierrez 0
Gutierrez poor again, Hulkenberg finished a respectable 12th in a Sauber which has stepped backwards from last year. I bet Nico regrets moving from Force India now!


Force India
Race: di Resta
Season: di Resta 3 vs Sutil 1
Force India have made a big jump this year, starting the year off in good form for once rather than coming good towards the end of the season. Qualifying 5th and 6th, Sutil collided with Sutil, whilst di Resta maximised his car and was unlucky not to hold onto 3rd and gain his first podium from Grosjean. Great perform from Paul.


Williams
Race: Maldonado
Season: Maldonado 1 vs Bottas 3
Maldonado put in a respectable performance in Bahrain, finishing 11th just one place off the points. Williams must be thinking why us after a strong 2012 but ultimately they won't be repeating their Spanish race win in a few weeks.


Toro Rosso
Race: Ricciardo
Season: Vergne 2 vs Ricciardo 2
A poor weekend for both with a car not suiting the car. Vergne crashed early on whilst Ricciardo struggled with balance after a strong Chinese Grand Prix. Nevertheless on pace and qualifying, Ricciardo was stronger.


Caterham
Race: Pic
Season: Pic 4 vs van der Garde 0
Sure, van der Garde didn't have the upgrades Pic did, but Charles qualified 9 tenths ahead and finished ahead of both Marussia's and Gutierrez's Sauber. Strong weekend, if more people retired Pic would have been right there to capitalise. 


Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 4 vs Chilton 0
Bianchi still in front, but Marussia need to be watchful of Caterham's progress! Barely saw them even less on the screens because of all the battles going on at the front of the field!


Nick, F1 Hub


Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Next race back to Europe for Alonso's home GP in Spain!

Race Report: Bahrain - Vettel Wins Aggressive Race In The Desert

The Bahrain Grand Prix started off as an incredibly feisty affair, with pole sitter Nico Rosberg facing a tough task to hold off some incredibly quick race pace competition, Vettel ultimately being one of few to have clean air, streaking off into the distance whilst it was battles galore throughout the rest of the top field.

His Second Win In Four Races - Now 10 Points Clear Of Raikkonen

Off the line Alonso took Vettel round the outside into T1, before Vettel impressively undertook Fernando back into T5 in an unexpected passing place. The first few laps were unbelievably aggressive, with the front few within a second or two of each other, slipstreaming down the many straights like crazy. Ultimately after haunting Rosberg, Vettel passed Rosberg on lap 3, followed by Alonso. 

The Force India's had mixed fortunes at the start, with di Resta jumping from 5th to 4th, whilst Sutil tangled with Massa, ultimately having to pit immediately ruining his good qualifying from 6th. di Resta then passed the struggling Rosberg into 3rd, and then disappointingly from a race point of view, Alonso's DRS flap became stuck, prompting a pitstop - di Resta into 2nd.

The wing was fixed, tyres changed and the damage was minimal, but unfortunately for the prancing horse, the rear wing became stuck again and immediately had to pit again, ruining his race. 1st stop was damage limitation, but the 2nd stop yet again questions the logic on the Ferrari pit wall, and should have instructed Fernando to not use it again first time round. He recovered to get what points he can to 8th place.

Fernando's Stalled DRS Flap Stuck Open

It soon emerged on lap 12 that di Resta and Raikkonen's Lotus would be 2 stopping, Raikkonen ultimately having the pace to overtake the Force India. It would be Grosjean from 11th on the grid though on a 3 stop race that would prove the Lotus race pace on both strategies, and would finish behind his teammate in 3rd place as he steadily worked his way through the field, overtaking Paul on lap 52 of 57, snatching away what looked like Paul's first podium place, ultimately finishing 4th. 


After Fernando's mechanical wing failure Ferrari's bad after went from bad to worse when on lap 18 Massa added to his front wing woes had a right rear puncture. Thankfully for Pirelli, something had cut and given him the puncture, rather than a overheating tyre failure as originally feared. Unbelievably any chance of points blew away as another tyre suffered the same fate later in the race, finishing 15th. 

Rosberg's expectations quickly became lower and lower, on lap 20 being taken by Button's McLaren which was in better form than talked up, quickly followed by many others. His teammate Hamilton didn't have a much better afternoon starting from 9th as he struggled on 2 sets of mediums, but on the hard tyre battled well, fighting with Webber over 5th in the last few laps, ultimately coming out on top into T1 on the last lap. Rosberg after fighting so much in the race had to pit a 4th time, disappointingly only finishing 9th. Mercedes be impressing in qualifying but there race pace is slipping behind the top teams, with McLaren unexpectedly having a better car on the day.

The Improved McLaren's Put On A Great Show

McLaren on the other hand looked much improved despite not expecting much, Sergio Perez having a brilliant afternoon from 12th on the grid to finish 6th, overtaking Webber on the last lap. Button was ahead for much, but Perez challenged Jenson without fear and showed the reason why he was chosen to replace Hamilton. Perez looking like a McLaren driver for the first time - perhaps Martin Whitmarsh's talk has helped! Button finished 10th, after like Rosberg having to pit for a 4th time.

In the mid and lower field it was quite uneventful in comparison to all the battles constantly going on in the top 10, but Maldonado put in a much improved performance, finishing just outside the points in 11th for Williams, whilst Charles Pic did a great race in the Caterham, finishing ahead of not just both Marussia's, but also Gutierrez in the Sauber to finish 17th.

Overall, it's a shame Alonso couldn't take the battle to Vettel, but Grosjean, di Resta and Perez were superb and all showing their true potentials collectively, whilst the battles in the top 10 made sure there wasn't enough time to make a cup of tea and not miss anything. Bahrain certainly wasn't Bohrain this year.

Vettel now leads the championship by 10 points from Raikkonen, whilst Alonso despite his Chinese win drops back to 27 points behind, and would really love to win his home Grand Prix in Spain in 3 weeks now to close the gap.

Nick, F1 Hub




F1 Hub Overtake of the Race
Button on Perez - Lap 35
Perez overtook Jenson into turn 1 off the DRS and the move looked extremely clean. Despite Sergio running out wide to stop Button coming back, Jenson exited well and squeezed up the inside into turn 2, something that not many people could do, including Webber, Alonso and other big names. Top commitment. Vettel's overtake on Alonso on lap 5 into turn 1 deserves a quick mention too, using his leftover KERS and undercutting out of turn 4, getting the line into turn 5. 



F1 Hub Driver of the Race
Grosjean had a super race going from 11th to 3rd, but for me it's extremely close between  di Resta and Perez showed grit and determination to both challenge his teammate on track, make one less stop and even taking Webber on the last lap to finish 6th, less than a second behind Hamilton. Some rightfully will argue he was too aggressive, but still a great effort and will get his first F1 Hub Teammate Battle Tracker point against Button this weekend! Check back for that article in a few days.

Paul di Resta though didn't put a foot wrong, and was desperately unlucky not to have the tyres left to get his first podium. Showing his class. 



Full Race Result
1) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull-Renault]
2) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus-Renault]
3) Romain Grosjean [Lotus-Renault]
4) Paul di Resta [Force India-Mercedes] 
5) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
6) Sergio Perez [McLaren-Mercedes]
7) Mark Webber [Red Bull-Renault]
8) Fernando Alonso [Ferrari]
9) Nico Rosberg [Mercedes]
10) Jenson Button [McLaren Mercedes] 
11) Pastor Maldonado [Williams Renault] 
12) Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber-Ferrari]
13) Adrian Sutil [Force India-Mercedes] 
14) Valtteri Bottas [Williams-Renault]
15) Felipe Massa [Ferrari]
16) Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso-Ferrari]
17) Charles Pic [Caterham-Renault]
18) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber-Ferrari]
19) Jules Bianchi [Marussia-Cosworth]
20) Max Chilton [Marussia-Cosworth]
21) Giedo van der Garde [Caterham-Renault]

Did Not Finish
Jean-Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] Lap 16