10 Things We Learnt From: Malaysia

McLaren Are Quick Turners
Whilst the gap to the top runners is still significant, McLaren in the space of a week have done a fab job to cut the gap down, with Jenson Button performing well and would have scored a 5th place most likely, and Perez scored his first McLaren points. A long way to go, and their early season form will have cost them, but who knows where they'll be at the end. Good on them for the progress, hope it keeps going. 


Alonso Isn't Bulletproof
The flawless Alonso of 2012 started off with an immaculate 2nd place in Australia, and no doubt would have been on the podium again if it weren't for the touch with Vettel in turn 2. Fernando has slightly blamed Sebastian for being slow through the corner, but regardless, he should have come into the pits at the end of lap 1 and changed to dry tyres regardless based on the weather forecast of no more rain and given himself a chance.


Management Isn't Everything
Red Bull have been supreme for the last three seasons, but management and driver relationships have perhaps never been so strained. Just 2 races in to the 19 race season, massive headlines have been made. Horner made the call to Sebastian, but was bluntly ignored. He's said 'sorry', but Button has pointed out it may hinder Vettel in the long run in terms of help from Webber and Sebastian's own performances as a result of the negative press he's had. Only time will tell.


Webber CAN Make Quick Starts
Last season Webber made some awful starts, and his technical glitch in Australia was cruel luck, but he impressively made a quick start instead of the Ferrari's this time, going into turn 2 he was 3rd and after lap 1 was 2nd. After his race winning pace before the controversy with Vettel, lets hope he can take the fight to Vettel and make it interesting with the other top drivers.


Force India Look Like Top Indie Team
Force India finished 6th in 2011 but dropped back to 7th in 2012. They're only podium came in Belgium 2009, whilst Sauber won 4 podiums last year and Williams won a race. Whilst their pitstops ultimately cost the team the whole race, they were in fine form particularly di Resta who was slicing through the field. After 2 races they look much quicker than their midfield competition, and I expect di Resta to meet Sauber's and ex-teammate Hulkenberg on track regularly!


Webber Isn't Shy With Words
Mark is very professional, but says it how it is at the same time. After referring to their code instructions before the podium, in the interview Mr Brundle gave he was extremely direct about the 'protection' that Red Bull give Seb, implying that he'll get away with it and other blue murder anytime. Expect to hear more honesty from the man who is of course 'not bad for a number 2 driver'.


Mercedes Aren't All Dandy Either
Beyond the Red Bull controversy, Rosberg was asked to hold station behind Hamilton by Ross Brawn, and had it not been for Red Bull, they'd be grabbing all the headlines. Nevertheless, I hope Lewis' and Nico's relationship hasn't been dented by this, as they have a car and team to challenge in many races this year. 1-1 in the F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker - game on!


McLaren Still Have Fast But Dodgy Pitstops
Whilst Ferrari were both the quickest and most consistent in Malaysia for pitstops, McLaren were up to old tricks again, quick but something went wrong. This time Button almost lost his front right which wasn't secured properly, and was wheeled back to his pitbox, going from 5th to 1 lap behind. I think Homer Simpson refers to that as 'doh'! Quick stops are great but, for the sake of a few tenths.. consistency chaps.


Most Controversial Team Orders Since Ferrari 2002 & 2010
Ferrari have always taken the hit for team orders, but Red Bull have now taken over the reigns. In Austria 2002, Barrichello moved over for Schumacher, whilst Massa infamously moved over for Alonso in Germany 2010. Now that team orders are legal again, it still doesn't stop fans not appreciated their actions, so early in the season at least.


Hamilton Still Loves McLaren Deep Down
Lewis paid a visit home to McLaren's pitbox, rather than to his new Mercedes pad in Malaysia. He of course blamed it on habit, but perhaps was a bit more than that! Maybe a good thing he got waved through after Jenson's pitstop though ey.



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

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

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/F1-Hub/375000299247307?fref=ts
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Nick, F1 Hub

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Malaysia

The teammate battles spiced up to say the least, on Sunday at the Sepang circuit, for the 15th Malaysian Grand Prix, with Red Bull and Mercedes having a mighty teammate tussle...



Red Bull
Race: Webber
Overall: Vettel 1 vs Webber 1
Obviously a controversial battle, both on track and in terms of awarding the battle point. Vettel gained pole, whilst Webber moved from 5th to 2nd after the first lap. Arguably Webber had the pace to beat Vettel overall, and would have won if not for Sebastian defying team orders during 'tyre-wear saving' to close in and pass. Nevertheless, whilst it was close, the point goes to Webber as a result of this who probably deserved the win.


Ferrari
Race: Massa
Season: Alonso 1 vs Massa 1
An off weekend for the Spanish hero Alonso, whilst he qualified 3rd, Massa qualified 2nd and despite not having the pace he did in Melbourne, at least he didn't have an uncharacteristic collision like Fernando did with Vettel's Red Bull, ultimately leading to his retirement at the start of lap 2. 1 all!


McLaren
Race: Button
Season: Button 2 vs Perez 0
McLaren looked much improved this weekend, especially in the dry. Perez still isn't up to the pace of Jenson both in qualifying and in the race, but it is still early days in his career in a top team. Button looked great and proved his quality, whilst he couldn't hold back Rosberg's Mercedes, he gave him a good defensive battle, and had the pace to easily secure 5th if it weren't for his pit stop wheel woes. Well done to Perez for scoring his first McLaren points nevertheless, putting in a decent and consistent drive.


Lotus
Race: Grosjean
Season: Raikkonen 1 vs Grosjean 1
After his Australian victory, Kimi sat on the naughty step for blocking Rosberg in Q3, taking a 3 place grid penalty to start 10th. This hindered him greatly, after a bad start battled with Nico Hulkenberg for the large majority of the race, leaving it too late to catch Grosjean. Romain looked much improved after a poor opening race, putting in fastest laps towards the start of the race.


Mercedes
Race: Rosberg
Season: Rosberg 1 vs Hamilton 1
A great result for the Mercedes team, and if not for Hamilton's fuel saving could have finished much closer to the Bull's. Hamilton out-qualified Rosberg despite Nico performing better in Q1 and Q2, but in the race Nico deserved the podium finished, only staying behind Lewis due to team orders. He had better race pace which Lewis admitted, and said he felt Nico should be where he was. A nice touch, but surely Mercedes could have let Nico go through on the pit straight. Game on here.

Sauber
Race: Hulkenberg
Season: Hulkenberg 2 vs Gutierrez 0
Hulkenberg's first race of the year held a scrap with Raikkonen, ultimately losing but did a great job to do so for so long, and get 4 points for Sauber. Truly outpacing Gutierrez, who finished over a lap behind, and as of yet doesn't seem as impressive as Perez on his debut.


Force India
Race: di Resta
Season: di Resta 1 vs Sutil 1
A disappointing race for the team, pit stop problems with their wheel guns hindering what had promised to be another similar good result to the last race in Melbourne. di Resta was unlucky in qualifying after being called back in by his team, but was one of the fastest cars on the track until his retirement, and may have ended up fighting between 5th and 8th. Paul purely outpaced Adrian, and needs many more performances like this this year.


Williams
Race: Bottas
Season: Maldonado 0 vs Bottas 2
Another poor performance by Pastor M, going off the track once damaging his front wing, before spinning out for good just like in Australia. Bottas after a poor start ended up in 11th, just behind Vergne's Toro Rosso for the last point. A notable performance and deservedly goes 2-0 in the battle.


Toro Rosso
Race: Vergne
Season: Vergne 2 vs Ricciardo 0
As mentioned Vergne scored the team's first point of the season, whilst Ricciardo joined many on their lap to the grid by going off the track before the race even started, Daniel damaging his diffuser. Vergne still seems to be out-pacing the Aussie in race pace. 2-0 to the Frenchman.


Caterham
Race: Pic
Season: Pic 2 vs van der Garde 0
Pic again showing much more pace than his Dutch teammate, nevertheless both finished ahead of Chilton's Marussia.


Marussia
Race: Bianchi
Season: Bianchi 2 vs Chilton 0
Bianchi finished in 13th, which is a help towards securing 10th in the constructors, whilst Chilton finished disappointingly behind the Caterham's, not as good a performance as in Australia. Jules Bianchi is raising eyebrows, as he qualified just 0.2 seconds off a place in Q2 qualifying as well. At this rate is going to be in a midfield team next year comfortably.


Nick, F1 Hub


Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!
Bring on the Chinese Grand Prix in three weeks!

Race Report: Malaysia - Controversial Red Bull & Mercedes Battles Dominate

The Sepang circuit threw up another gripping Grand Prix, and despite the race starting on intermediates, the track dried up quickly and was ultimately dominated by Red Bull and Mercedes, both in terms of pace, inter-team battles and team management controversy. In the end, it was Vettel who won his third Malaysian Grand Prix after success in 2010 and 2011, in dramatic fashion.

Alonso Out Of Control Into Turn 1 On Lap 2

The race had high expectations for the fast-starting Ferrari's starting from 2nd and 3rd, but Alonso uncharacteristically knocked his front wing into the back of Webber who overtook them both in the first corners. Half hanging off, everyone was amazed he didn't come into the pits immediately, and as he came down the pit-straight, it came off lodging underneath the car, leaving Fernando with no steering careering off into the gravel. 

Lap 1 was reasonably uneventful besides the events of Alonso, and after Webber's much better start for once, he jumped teammate Vettel in the pit stops and the controversy began. The two Red Bull's along with the Mercedes who had jumped Massa at the start broke away from the pack. 

At one of Hamilton's pit stops, he comically drove into his old McLaren pit box before realising. Both Mercedes nevertheless chased down the Red Bull's, within a couple of seconds in the middle of the race, before Hamilton had to significantly begin to save fuel.

Mercedes Had A Super Result & Have Proved Their Genuine Competitiveness

In the latter stages of the race, both pairs of teammates came into combat and had the making of Turkey 2010 with Red Bull and McLaren. Both were told to conserve their last set of tyres, but Vettel ignored and whilst Webber engine was turned down, attacked Mark for a couple of laps, almost coming together into the pit wall at one point, before Mark eventually almost let Sebastian through after turn 4, maturer heads prevailing after constant radio chatter from team management calling the scrap 'silly'.

Similarly, whilst Hamilton saved fuel, Rosberg demanded permission to overtake Lewis and hunt down the Red Bull's, but was denied and despite having better race pace the whole race, was asked to hold station for over 10 laps, Lewis later admitting on the podium it should be Rosberg on the podium.

The Red Bull's Fought Hard, Here Against The Pit Wall, Before Webber Let Vettel Continue

Behind the top two teams, Button showed McLaren have made massive strides in the space of a week, and would have finished 5th most likely if not for a duff McLaren pit stop with the right front not going on properly. A shame and a waste of 10 points, as he dropped 1 lap behind before retiring. Teammate Perez however, scored his first McLaren points, finishing in 9th place.

Force India also had wasted opportunities, as both cars in particular di Resta looked mighty quick, but were hindered with their wheel guns not changing the wheels properly, ultimately having to retire both cars on safety grounds. Paul could definitely have challenging for a strong 6th place most likely. 

Massa after a poor first lap, dropped from 2nd to 7th, before recovering to 5th. Grosjean finished 6th outperformed his teammate Raikkonen who scrapped with Hulkenberg for the majority of the race, eventually getting the upper hand to finish 7th and 8th respectively. The Finn after winning last weekend didn't have the pace to cleanly overtake the German, and cost him dearly and is now 9 points behind Vettel in the championship after round 2.

Jean-Eric Vergne scored Toro Rosso's first point of the year in 10th behind Perez despite being released into Pic's Caterham in the pitlane and immediately having a front wing replacement, just ahead of Bottas who again out-performed more experienced Maldonado who again spun off the circuit. Gutierrez finished 13th, whilst Bianchi once again impressed as best small team driver, but Chilton wasn't as successful, finishing behind both Caterham's.

Dismal Expressions On The Podium, But Webber Was The F1 Hub  Driver Of  The Race (see below)

The second race has confirmed the season has well and truly burst into life, and now with 3 weeks until China, has many headlines to be written particularly about Red Bull and Vettel. Let us know what your opinion is of the team orders, on-track battles and overall situation.

Please check back for our F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker and 10 Things We Learnt From Malaysia articles which will be up in the next couple of days.

Nick, F1 Hub




F1 Hub Overtake of the Race
Nico Rosberg on Jenson Button - Lap 3
Button impressively got up to 5th after the first few corners, moving to 4th after Alonso retired. Rosberg stayed on his tail, and into turns 1-5 had a great battle. Jenson defended well in his improved McLaren but when Jenson defending into turn 4, Nico got a better drive out of the corner and swooped round Jenson into turn 5 with a better turn in angle. Great little scrap at the start of the race, allowing Nico to chase after the Red Bull's and Hamilton.


F1 Hub Driver of the Race
A controversial race all-round, and had di Resta for Force India and Button for McLaren have kept running, one of them would have deserved driver of the day. di Resta's pace was outstanding, vastly out pacing Sutil, whilst Button was streams ahead of Perez and would have helped turned McLaren's fortunes around. 

Nevertheless, Webber gets my vote for the day, as he had the pace to beat his champion teammate, but thanks to team orders and his engine being turned down, Vettel attacked, and Webber eventually softly let him through after aggressive battling. His pace deserved recognition, as well as his maturity in the situation. Kudos to Rosberg for a much similar situation too.



Full Race Result
1) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull-Renault]
2) Mark Webber [Red Bull-Renault]
3) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes]
4) Nico Rosberg [Mercedes]
5) Felipe Massa [Ferrari]
6) Romain Grosjean [Lotus-Renault]
7) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus-Renault]
8) Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber-Ferrari]
9) Sergio Perez [McLaren-Mercedes]
10) Jean-Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso-Ferrari]
11) Valtteri Bottas [Williams-Renault]
12) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber-Ferrari]
13) Jules Bianchi [Marussia-Cosworth]
14) Charles Pic [Caterham-Renault]
15) Giedo van der Garde [Caterham-Renault]
16) Max Chilton [Marussia-Cosworth]

Did Not Finish
Fernando Alonso [Ferrari] Lap 2 - Accident & Front Wing
Paul di Resta [Force India-Mercedes] Lap 22 - Pits Wheel Nut Issue
Adrian Sutil [Force India-Mercedes] Lap 27 - Pits Wheel Nut Issue
Pastor Maldonado [Williams Renault] Lap 45 - Spun Out
Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] Lap 51
Jenson Button [McLaren Mercedes] Lap 53

10 Things We Learnt From: Australia

Number One Drivers Ruled
As you can see in the F1 Hub teammate battle tracker (see link below), the large majority who has the first number on the front of their car and are considered 'number one' driver outran their teammates. The noticeable expections being Sutil finishing ahead of di Resta (just), and Bottas overall performing better than Maldonado who had a poor weekend all-round. I'm sure these battles are just spicing up though!

http://f1-hub.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/f1hub-teammate-battle-tracker-australia.html


McLaren Have Swapped With Ferrari
Ferrari started with a dismal car at the start of last year, and McLaren have obviously being spying on them again as they have a terrible car to start the campaign with - between 2 and 3 seconds off the pace in dry one-lap pace. Malaysia will be interesting for them, with a better performance if it rains, but China and particularly will be key races to turning their year around before it's too late.


More Predictable Than We May Have Anticipated
After many mixed up results in the first half of the season last year, three tops teams, with Mercedes lurking behind dominated the weekend. It was nice not to see one team dominate the opening weekend, and 3 to 4 teams battle out qualifying and the race from the start. I won't be surprised if Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull stay at the front permanently  with Mercedes and eventually McLaren mixing in top positions when the track suits them, leaving it harder for midfield teams to podium it up.


Marussia No.10 & Bianchi
Yes, Pic finished ahead of Chilton's Marussia, but due to his first lap incident resulting in a wing change. Max scrapped with van der Garde in the second Caterham, before overtaking and pulling away considerably. Meanwhile, Bianchi impressively was only 1 lap behind rather than 2 like the other back runners, and set the 11th fastest time of the race! I'm going to put it out there now just incase it happens, future world championship contender? Will be considering this over the course of the season..


Red Bull's Need To Be Careful Setting Up Their Race Car
Red Bull's high downforce, high drag setup may have cost them a lot of time, as Vettel was stuck behind Sutil for a number of laps as he had no straight line speed to overtake. It was only due to fresh tyres and a brave lunge down into turn 3 that he did it after they had both pitted. Whilst I don't think Red Bull had the pace to do better than 3rd anyway, it may cost them in future races. Perhaps they could loose a bit of downforce just so they have the ability to overtake as well.


2011 Style Tyres
After a slightly more conservative 2012, particularly in the last few races, we're back in Pirelli 2011 land. Marbles, chunking and particularly graining tyres galore. It won't be long till top drivers start to complain.. oh wait Vettel takes the first punt at the Italian manufacturer! As long as the races stay good, and pit stops stay at 2-3 per driver though, i'm not complaining.


Grosjean Didn't Crash But..
..where was he in comparison to Kimi who won the race! 10th! Over 80 seconds behind, on average 1.0-1.5 seconds a lap slower. Whichever way you look at it, and upgrade familiarisation aside, that is A LOT. Will need to have consistent good pace as the year progresses to keep his seat again.


Choosing Sutil For Force India Seems Like A Good Choice
Sutil had a screamer of a race thanks to strategy and solid, solid pace.. until he strapped on the super-softs. The Force India teammate battle could be one of the best again, with so much at stake for both.


Mercedes Tyres Are Touch And Go
Hamilton tried a two-stop in Melbourne, but had to change to a later three-stop race, as the tyres wouldn't have quite lasted. Their 2012 car was massively hard on it's tyres generally, but seemed to have improved this, and if can improve slightly more will join the top three teams in the race more easier.


Sauber & Hulkenberg Both Have No Luck In Melbourne
Hulkenberg's Australian races in 2010, 2012 and 2013 have had two first-lap collisions, and now a DNS (did not start). Sauber have had multiple crashes too, as well as being disqualified in 2011 from an excellent 7th and 8th. Looking forward to seeing what Hulkenberg can do the rest of the year though, with a possible top drive on the line in the next year or two..


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

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

Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/pages/F1-Hub/375000299247307?fref=ts
Twitter - https://twitter.com/F1HubTweety

Nick, F1 Hub

F1Hub Teammate Battle Tracker: Australia

This was definitely a race where the 'number 1' drivers had the upper hand on their teammates, well apart from one...

Red Bull

Race: Vettel

Overall: Vettel 1 vs Webber 0

Vettel out-qualified his Webber at his home race, and took his Red Bull to the max clearly, but on the day at Albert Park the Lotus and Ferrari was better suited. Webber did a solid job after the start but Sebastian leads.

Ferrari

Race: Alonso

Season: Alonso 1 vs Massa 0

Fernando ran clear past Felipe last year, but this year's contest might be much, much closer. Massa out-qualified Fernando even if Alonso's DRS didn't open, and kept pace with the double world champion until the last stint of the race. A great race for Ferrari after last year's disastrous start, and lead the constructor's championship.

McLaren

Race: Button

Season: Button 1 vs Perez 0

McLaren have done what Ferrari did in 2012, and lie 2-3 seconds off the pace amazingly. Both did a good job in the race with the car they have, but Jenson edged out Perez, scoring points as a consolation. Bet they can't wait till round 5 in Spain already.

Lotus

Race: Raikkonen

Season: Raikkonen 1 vs Grosjean 0

The most obvious choice of the round, with Kimi beating Romain by 82 seconds, a whopping distance, Romain showing no pace which he matched Kimi in sometimes last year. He blamed it that Kimi had updates before he did in the weekend, but still. An impressive performance by Kimi, lets hope he can mount a title challenge to mix things up!

Mercedes

Race: Hamilton

Season: Rosberg 0 vs Hamilton 1

The most anticipated teammate lived up to expectations, with Rosberg taking the lead in practice sessions as well as in Q1 and Q2 but Lewis did brilliantly in Q3 to take 3rd with Nico in 6th. Nico dropped behind in the race, and would have finished approximately 10 seconds behind Lewis had he not had his electrical fault. Game on though!

Sauber

Race: Hulkenberg

Season: Hulkenberg 1 vs Gutierrez 0

Despite Nico's poor luck and not being able to start, he was way ahead in practice and qualifying, and I expect would have had a similar performance to that of Adrian Sutil. 

Force India

Race: Sutil

Season: di Resta 0 vs Sutil 1

A close contest, finishing in 7th and 8th a couple of seconds apart, a couple more laps and Paul would have easily taken Adrian, but the manner that Sutil handled pressure from the front runners was superb and showed no rustiness at all after a year out. 

Williams

Race: Bottas

Season: Maldonado 0 vs Bottas 1

Maldonado had a poor performance in qualifying and spun out early in the race. Bottas almost wins by default.

Toro Rosso

Race: Vergne

Season: Vergne 1 vs Ricciardo 1

Jean-Eric Vergne is carrying on where he left off at the end of last season, having one up on his previously more favoured Australian teammate. If he can reinforce his race pace consistantly, he will be favourite in the future to take Webber's seat out of the two.

Caterham

Race: Pic

Season: Pic 1 vs van der Garde 

Non-rookie Pic had a poor qualifying not qualifying in the 107% rule, but was allowed to race and his pace was far stronger than his rookie teammate.

Marussia

Race: Bianchi

Season: Bianchi 1 vs Chilton*

Both putting in solid performances, Chilton would have beat Pic if he didn't have to replace his front wing early on, but Jules Bianchi I am mighty impressed with. Marussia look good early on too.

Let us know what you think of the teammate battles!

Bring on the Malaysian Grand Prix in just a few days!

Nick, F1 Hub

Race Report: Australia - Kimi Wins Gripping Strategic Battle

Expectations were high heading into Melbourne, and despite a rained off qualifying session, Q2 and Q3 took place in the morning, only for the Red Bull's to be dominant, everyone feeling it ominously felt a bit like 2011. As the race came at 5:00pm local time, dry weather stayed and 22 cars (all but the stricken Sauber car belonging to Hulkenberg) took their places for the first time.

The Annual Melbourne Grid Picture

As Vettel took off into the distance with a considerable gap between himself and the rest of the field, it seemed a done deal. Teammate Webber continued his poor home race form, this time due to technical difficulties, with his electronics failing and also had no KERS for the first 20 laps. As he slips from 2nd to 7th, the fast starting Ferrari's swoop by, as well as Hamilton and Rosberg. 

Whilst Raikkonen overtook Hamilton to take 4th, the Ferrari's kept pace and actually closed in on Vettel. Changing from the super-softs to the medium compound tyres, the top three held order after the first of their three-stop strategy, whilst Raikkonen stayed out, underfolding his two-stop strategy.  

Vettel Gets Away Well As Webber Falls Behind The Typically Fast Starting Ferrari's

After the first stops, the top three came out behind Adrian Sutil who also on a two-stop race, brilliantly led the race on his Formula One return and even pulled away from Vettel in his Force India for a number of laps before pitting himself. Alonso was first to blink for the second stop and turned out to be a crucial move, as he jumped both his teammate Massa and Vettel to take the lead. As they came to overtake the two-stopping Rosberg, the Mercedes electrics failed and he pulled over.

As the strategies played out, Raikkonen took the lead as Vettel and the two Ferrari's pitted for the final time, and he overtook Sutil again on lap 43, where he could control his pace to manage his tyres and gap to the chasing Alonso. Vettel and Alonso for the first two stints had similar pace, but in the final stint with the fuel burning off, Alonso pulled far ahead as he closed down Raikkonen. Nevertheless it wasn't enough as Kimi took the win 12 seconds ahead, with Vettel surprisingly a further 10 seconds away, and Massa coming home fourth after a much improved performance.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had to make a third stop in the end after hard tyre wear, and Webber after his glum start thanks to faulty electrics and loss of KERS for the first 20 laps, recovered well to sixth despite being stuck in the midfield behind the Force India's and Button's McLaren, who finished 7th, 8th and 9th respectively.

The First Podium Line Up Of The Year

Whilst Kimi won the race from 7th on the grid, teammate Grosjean struggled dropping from 8th to 10th to pick up the last point, over 80 seconds behind, blaming his lack of time with updates which Kimi was more familiar with over the weekend. 

Perez missed out on the final point on his McLaren debut with his under performing new team, by just 0.6seconds, with Jean-Eric Vergne in the Toro Rosso only a further 0.5 seconds behind. His teammate Ricciardo in his home race retired after 39 laps with a broken exhaust.

Two new rookies Gutierrez and Bottas finished 13th and 14th respectively, with Bottas' teammate Maldonado spinning out on lap 24 after dipping a tyre on the grass going into turn 1. Jules Bianchi was the best of the Marussia's and Caterham's, with Chilton scrapping with van der Garde throughout the race, bringing up the back of the field 2 laps down.

Overall a super race, with great developments, strategies and a mixed result. 

Nick, F1 Hub

F1 Hub Overtake of the Race

Vettel on Sutil - Lap 23

After being stuck behind the Force India for a large number of laps, Vettel and Sutil pitted for their second and first stops respectively at the end of lap 21, as they began lap 23 going in the second DRS zone down to turn 3, Vettel cleverly used all his KERS and dived down the inside bravely coming from quite a long way back.

Vettel's Lunge Under Braking Into Turn 3 Using 100% Of KERS Instead Of The Regular 20%

F1 Hub Driver of the Race

A few contenders, with Sutil putting in a brilliant performance on his return after a year out, and Bianchi doing a super job at the back of the field, being the only one of the Marussia's and Caterham's not the be two laps behind. 

Drive of the day though goes to Raikkonen, which may be an obvious choice because of the result, but even his fellow competitors and team principles hailed his flawless performance combined with strategy. A driver has to the make the most of the car they are given, and Kimi took advantage of his car's ability to be easy on their tyres in Albert Park, keeping pace with the frontrunners initially, before managing pace and tyres as the respective strategies played out.

It will be interesting to see in Malaysia if their tyres perform as well in the much hotter, humid conditions. If so, Raikkonen is a serious title contender.  

Full Race Result

1) Kimi Raikkonen [Lotus] 1:30:03:225

2) Fernando Alonso [Ferrari] +12.4 seconds

3) Sebastian Vettel [Red Bull] +22.3 seconds

4) Felipe Massa [Ferrari] +33.5 seconds

5) Lewis Hamilton [Mercedes] +45.5 seconds

6) Mark Webber [Red Bull] +46.8 seconds

7) Adrian Sutil [Force India-Mercedes] +65.0 seconds

8) Paul di Resta [Force India-Mercedes] +68.4 seconds

9) Jenson Button [McLaren-Mercedes] +81.6 seconds

10) Romain Grosjean [Lotus-Renault] +82.7 seconds

11) Sergio Perez [McLaren-Mercedes] +83.3 seconds

12) Jean-Eric Vergne [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] 83.8 seconds

13) Esteban Gutierrez [Sauber Ferrari] +1 Lap

14) Valtteri Bottas [Williams-Renault] +1 Lap

15) Jules Bianchi [Marussia-Cosworth] +1 Lap

16) Charles Pic [Caterham-Renault] +2 Laps

17) Max Chilton [Marussia-Cosworth] +2 Laps

18) Giedo van der Garde [Caterham-Renault] +2 Laps

Did Not Finish

Nico Hulkenberg [Sauber-Ferrari] Lap 0 - Did Not Start Fuel System Issue

Pastor Maldonado [Williams-Renault] Lap 24 - Spun Off Into Gravel

Nico Rosberg [Mercedes] Lap 26 - Electrical Issue

Daniel Ricciardo [Toro Rosso-Ferrari] Lap 39 - Exhaust Issue

It's So Much More Than Just A Race

Say's it all really this video.

Before we embark on the 2013 season with the first race today, let's look at this video montage of the 2012 season presented by Sky Sports F1 - a FANTASTIC review of one of the most epic seasons of the modern era, if not ever.

Let's hope for 2013 to be even half as great.

'IT'S SO MUCH MORE THAN JUST A RACE'

Nick, F1 Hub

EDIT: BELOW LINK HAS BEEN BLOCKED ON COPYRIGHT INFRIGEMENT

USE LINK BELOW VIDEO INTO YOUR INTEREST BROWSER FOR THE SONG & LYRICS WITH STILL IMAGES.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TufqLieyE2o

F1 Hub 2013 Season Predictions

It's that time of year where we wonder what the season ahead has in store for us, here's some food for thought with my predictions. 

Feel free to comment and disagree, or share your own thoughts!

The 2013 Calender

1) Who will win the Driver's Championship?
Many will only be considering two drivers this season, and my prediction out of the two is Vettel. I personally believe Alonso deserved the 2012 championship by quite a margin for many reasons, but unless he repeats his amazing performances almost every race then Vettel has the upper hand. If Red Bull struggle for the first half the season however, and Ferrari don't start as catastrophically awful, then Alonso will have the upper hand. 

Button and Raikkonen will be dark horses though dependent on their cars pace and reliability, don't count them out.


2) Who will win the Constructor's Championship?
Without Hamilton, McLaren will struggle to challenge this season, and I believe it is Ferrari who will be the main challenge to Red Bull's stranglehold. The real battle here will be Webber vs Massa. If Massa can be in the form that helped him challenge the 2008 title winning races then i'll tip Ferrari, but realistically it's hard to see Red Bull be beaten until the big rule changes next year. I'll say Ferrari just for the risk. Lotus and Mercedes will improve, but not enough to win the title or anything.


3) Best mid-field team (Sauber, Force India, Williams, Toro Rosso)?
Sauber impressed last season with four podiums, and have a good replacement of Perez with the highly rated Nico Hulkenberg. Force India are seeking their second ever podium, whilst Toro Rosso are looking to improve on a poor 2012 car. Williams are looking to build on a solid step forward last year including Maldonado's race win, and have developed an innovative car. My predictions are Williams to make the leap up to sixth, just pipping Sauber, with Force India going back to eighth and Toro Rosso still ninth.

The Williams FW35 Looks Much Improved & Has A Solid Yet Exciting Pairing

4) 10th place Constructor?
Realistically Caterham and Marussia will be fighting it out for tenth and eleventh. Marussia look primed to finally make the jump to tenth, with a car designed with more development possibilities than Caterham, and the highly rated Jules Bianchi in particular at the wheel who is linked to Ferrari and Force India.


5) Rookie of the season?
Determining a rookie usually is difficult as many join back of the grid teams, with those joining midfield teams easier to shine through. This season, 2011 GP3 champion Bottas joins Williams after many free practice sessions last year, and Mexican Gutierrez replaces Perez at fellow midfield team Sauber. Chilton becomes the fourth British driver on the grid at Marussia with the fourth Frenchman Bianchi, whilst van der Garde finally gets an F1 drive at Caterham. 

Bottas and Bianchi have the most experience in an F1 car, and I think it will show, as they already have shown noted times. Bottas seems to be impressively matching Maldonado's pace to an extent, who despite some wild race-craft is no slouch at all. Bianchi may be the one to get Marussia into tenth place or even a first point.


6) Most exciting race of the year?
2012 was spoilt for choice, with only a few dull races in the mix after a largely dull 2011. Even usually disappointing venues including Valencia and Abu Dhabi were amongst the best! This year, I think there is so much excitement at the start of the season after such a spectacular 2012 campaign, Melbourne will shine through even more than usual. Malaysia is one of my personal favourites, but I hope and will predict the US Grand Prix will be the most exciting as the penultimate race with much more overtaking, whilst I hope the Indian Grand Prix is much more entertaining than the last two Vettel dominated year's.

The Sepang Circuit Always Produces Top Quality Racing

7) Hamilton or Rosberg?
Hamilton. It's very easy to just say that outright, but his class has shown since day one as a Formula One driver for a reason. Rosberg will no doubt beat Hamilton sometimes, perhaps to podiums and even a race win over Lewis if the car is as promising as many believe, but Hamilton will surpass that, and out qualify Nico more often.


8) Will any of the 'number two's' from the top four teams out-perform their more successful teammates? 
By this, we mean Webber challenging Vettel, Massa challenging Alonso, Perez challenging Button and lastly Grosjean challenging Raikkonen. On the surface it's hard to see any of them out-performing them, so, no - I don't think they will. If I had to choose the most likely, i'd say Perez surprising Button, but honestly I see Jenson having his best year at McLaren yet. Nevertheless, i'm more excited for teammate battles throughout the field than ever before!


9) Quickfire teammate battle
Red Bull: VETTEL vs Webber
Ferrari: ALONSO vs Massa
McLaren: BUTTON vs Perez
Lotus: RAIKKONEN vs Grosjean
Mercedes: Rosberg vs HAMILTON
Sauber: HULKENBERG vs Gutierrez
Force India: DI RESTA vs Sutil
Williams: Maldonado vs BOTTAS
Toro Rosso: Vergne vs RICCIARDO
Caterham: Pic vs VAN DER GARDE
Marussia: BIANCHI vs Chilton

Bottas beating Maldonado perhaps my most bold choice there! Most are quite realistic though.

di Resta NEEDS To Beat Sutil Convincingly This Season To Be Noticed By Top Teams

10) Quickfire Constructor's order?
1st - Red Bull
2nd - Ferrari
3rd - McLaren
4th - Lotus
5th - Mercedes
6th - Williams
7th - Sauber
8th - Force India
9th - Toro Rosso
10th - Marussia
11th - Caterham


Let us know your thoughts, if you agree with my selections and what you predict! Join in the discussion right here...

Nick, F1 Hub

10 Things To Look Out For In The 2013 Season

As we embark on the 2013 season, there are lots of exciting developments. Look out for these 10 things throughout the season! Comment what you think, plus if you have any extra things to look out for!

1) Teammate Battles

After a good few years of static team line-ups at the front of the grid, McLaren and Mercedes, along with mid-field teams Force India and Sauber have had a re-shuffle, making some fresh new team mate battles. 

Many will consider Mercedes to have the strongest line-up this year, and the battle between Hamilton and Rosberg will be an incredible comparison. Perez is McLaren’s new boy, many were surprised Hulkenberg or di Resta weren’t more closely considered, but against Button entering his fourteenth season shall be a massive contrast. Lastly, a big season for the Force India drivers. If Sutil wants to justify his return he needs to perform big, but if di Resta wants to be considered for a top team drive, he needs to grab some headlines like Perez last year, which between that and commercial opportunities may have been why he was overlooked. 

Let the battles commence! 

Nico Rosberg & Lewis Hamilton Will Be Teammates Again Pictured Here In Their Karting Days Together

2) Grosjean/Crash Colleagues
Despite his speed and occasional brilliant performances, Grosjean will be remembered in 2012 for his first lap crashes. Lotus team principle Eric Boullier believes the Frenchman has the potential to be a future world champion. Big words. Nevertheless, despite the odd incident, I am hopeful he and pals such as Maldonado have learnt lessons and nobody will be in the headlines as often or receive a race ban... *crosses fingers*


3) Rookies
Bottas for Williams, Gutierrez for Sauber, van der Garde for Caterham and both Chilton and now Bianchi for Marussia. Five rookies after the departure of Petrov, Kovalainen, Kobayashi, Glock & Schumacher; as well as the HRT team now disappeared. Because of the teams they are in, they're effectively split into two categories. Bottas and Gutierrez will be in the midfield rookie comparison, and the others in the back of the grid comparisons. For me, Bottas will be stronger than Gutierrez after his free practice sessions in 2012, whilst Bianchi already looks far ahead of Chilton and van der Garde. 

4) Massa & Webber's 2014 Seats
These two top of the grid seats have been under speculation for a number of years. Massa in particular had a poor 2012 before showing signs of the 2008 title challenging Massa. Now amazingly entering his eighth year as a Ferrari driver, he needs to justify his one year extension for the world's most famous racing team. Webber challenged for the title in 2010 but has come up short in 2011 and 2012, I haven't doubted his position the last few seasons, but if he comes up short this season, or Red Bull see more potential in a junior Toro Rosso or other, he will struggle to get yet another rolling one-year extension himself. 

Look out for their position in the championship table and for performances from those wanting their seats!

Will Ricciardo Replace His Fellow Australian?

5) Bahrain Political Position/Number Of Grand Prix
There is no talk of Bahrain being off so far, after months and months of it for the 2012 season. Remember, if we didn't go to Bahrain in 2012 and Vettel didn't get 25 points for winning, Alonso would be champion. Just proves how many if's and buts there are in this sport. What is the New Jersey race was included this year would that make a difference? 

Bahrain is firmly on the calender at the moment, but keep an eye out for this space just incase.


6) What Grand Prix You Want Exiled/8) How Many New Tracks Will Be On The 2014 Calender?
So we have a 19-grand prix (intended to be 20) season this year, with New Jersey (U.S.A) and Sochi (Russia) confirmed for 2014, that's 21 grand prix in total. With talks of Mexico looking extremely promising and likely, Thailand is also in talks but Cape Town in South Africa now looks unlikely. Bernie Ecclestone told City A.M, "the teams could probably deal with 22 races." Regardless, take a note of what races in what countries you think we could do without... I know what my money is on already!

7) Hamilton's Move To Mercedes
We've already mentioned Lewis' teammate battle with Nico Rosberg, but his move to Mercedes in general will still no doubt be a talking point throughout the year. Be expected to see a few reports each from the BBC, Sky and any other way you watch and keep track of F1 about this. Will he miss McLaren, blend quickly with his new team, get frustrated with the car, show his class against other drivers, win a race, get a pole position - so, so many questions to look out for!

Bianchi May Be Crucial To Beating Caterham & Has A Chance To Prove Force India Were Wrong Not To Sign Him

8) Can Marussia Overhaul Caterham?
...or can either of them score a point in their fourth season? Can you imagine if points only went to sixth place still like the olden days? Would be a certain no I think. I think everyone would like to see one of the teams get a point this year though.

Marussia very nearly overcame Caterham, until Petrov got an 11th at the last race in Brazil to overhaul 10th place. Caterham don't seem to be anywhere in winter testing, but Marussia's car looks like it has lots of room for improvement similarly to last year. Watch out for Marussia in the background! Britain's new boy and the very exciting Bianchi should be great.


9) Can Lotus Continue To Improve?

Whilst Sauber had a creditable sixth place behind the five big teams including four podiums, Lotus were the notable success story of 2012, improving from fifth to fourth in the constructors, many more podiums than the previous number of years and a well-deserved win with F1 returnee Kimi Raikkonen. It will be difficult to overhaul the top three teams Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari, but Lotus along with Mercedes have got the talent and resources to do challenge.

10) Will The Championship Go Down To Brazil Again?
Predictions? Yes. I really do. All experts say it's going to be closer than ever so, yes, why not. 

The Poster At The Penultimate Race In Austin, Texas; US Grand Prix 2012

Got any thoughts on these questions or you've got something we should all look out for this season? Please comment and share your thoughts! Look out for F1 Hub's next blog, which will be on predictions for the year! Like our facebook page for it to come to your news feed. 

Nick, F1 Hub