Tyred Out

The British Grand Prix started off well with Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes leading the race from pole position, closely followed by Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and fellow Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg. It was not to last though as, within a handful of laps, Hamilton's left rear tyre disintegrated coming out of turn 5. Having only just passed the start/finish straight he was forced to limp around the rest of the lap before he could enter the pits for fresh rubber, dropping him from first to last.

This was not to be the only tyre issue during the race as Felipe Massa (Ferrari), Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso) and Sergi Perez (McLaren) all had major blow outs, some quite spectacularly, while battling for position at high speed. The amount of debris from these tyres required the deployment of a pair of road sweepers under safety car conditions. There was much debate about the reason for the tyre failures during the GP. If it wasn't from a sharp kerb/circuit issue then Pirelli will need to get its act together pretty quickly.

Toward the end of the race Vettel's Red Bull suddenly lost power, cruising to a standstill on the racetrack. A huge cheer went up from the pit straight grandstand, not, I feel, from any sense of dislike for the triple world champion himself but more for the fact that, like myself, the predominately British crowd knew that this would blunt his lead over the other drivers.

I don't know about you but I like a championship to be decided at the last Grand Prix of the season between two or three drivers, under immense pressure to claim the title of Formula 1 World Champion. How exciting was it when Lewis and Sebastian won their first titles? Nobody could have guessed the final outcome until the final lap had been completed by each of the drivers in the hunt. That's when F1 is at its best.

Rosberg claimed victory on this day, flanked on the podium byRed Bull's Mark Webber, who had a tough but determined race after being knocked off track at the first corner, and Ferrari's Fernando Alonso, second in the championship and desperate for his third title.

As a McLaren fan I wasn't impressed to see Sergio Perez retire close to the end of the race with car damage from his high speed blowout or Jenson Button crawling across the line in an unlucky 13th place. The twitter hashtag #BelieveInMcLaren has been adopted by the team in recent weeks. I haven't given up on them but it isn't easy to watch such a successful team failing so miserably.

 

Rosberg rulez ok

In the handful of races so far this season Mercedes have been seen to qualify well only for their race pace to drop off during the Grand Prix. Monaco, with it's tight, twisty circuit that's notoriously difficult to overtake on, provided the team with a chance to score their first win of 2013. At least, this was my prediction. Just call me Nostradamus.




Pole sitter, Nico Rosberg, controlled the race perfectly from start to finish and it was only the intervention of a safety car period, one of two, that ruined team mate, Lewis Hamilton's, chances of a 1-2 finish. In the end, the remaining podium positions were claimed by the Red Bull drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, who finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.




The chances of Mercedes winning another Grand Prix this season is fairly slim. With the exception of the Singapore GP, the rest of the races will be held on traditional circuits with plenty of overtaking opportunities and run off areas thereby negating Mercedes' advantage from qualifying. That said, however, I would personally like to see either Nico or Lewis on the top step on the podium again. Next stop... Canada.




Footnote: Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikonen turned up for the race with inappropriate helmets. One driver was allowed to wear his. Can you guess which one?

Did you see the Malaysian Grand Prix?

The Malaysian GP seems like weeks ago... because it was. I never got round to posting a report, so here is a brief catch up.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso lost the front wing under his car on the pit straight on lap 2 after a touch with Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull at turn 2 of the previous lap and went flying off the track. Race over for Alonso.




Too brief?
Alright, a little more.




Vettel showed his true colours by overtaking team mate, Mark Webber for 1st place in the final phase of the race after receiving instructions to hold position from the pit wall. Mark was not a happy bunny, to say the least.







By contrast, Mercedes' Nico Rosberg showed his team colours by doing what was asked of him. He found himself rapidly catching his team mate, Lewis Hamilton, and after several requests to overtake were denied, settled for 4th place behind Lewis. I doubt Nico was a happy bunny either but at least he has respect, both for and from his team.




Next stop China.