After 8 months and 18 races, the curtain comes down on a historic Formula One season. Sebastian Vettel proved the class of the field with records tumbling on a weekly basis. Youngest double world champion, equal most pole positions in a season you name it and Vettel goes out and beats it.
Right from the first race in Australia, Vettel has consistently found that little extra on a Saturday during qualifying which has enabled him to avoid the bustle and jockeying of the start. He has been on pole for 14 of the 18 races and you wouldn't bet against him holding the record outright.
Some will say that this season has been a procession but the facts are nobody outside of Red Bull has had an answer for Adrian Newey's car and even Vettel's team mate Mark Webber has looked off the pace compared to his young German team mate.
In many of the races this season the action has been further down the field where the cars have been closely matched and there has been some performances worth noting. Paul Di Resta has impressed throughout his debut season and he looks set for a decent career in F1. Another young driver to catch the eye has been Sergio Perez in the Sauber. The young Mexican has looked good on his tyres and maximized his strategies.
The DRS and KERS systems have added excitement this year although not every track is suited to these. I had questioned whether or not weight bias could be added depending on championship standing or after qualifying but it looks like the MacLaren duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button are enjoying the challenge of trying to end Red Bull's dominance. The same cannot be said of Ferrari where you would argue Fernando Alonso has punched above his weight and pure consistency and some amazing starts have left him in the hunt for best of the rest behind Vettel.
Next years race calender looks well thought out with lots of back to back races feature so the drivers will be able to target their points on a month by month basis. The only complaint is that I still feel 25 points for a win is excessive if next season is going to follow suit. The FIA should be more rigid with what they ask for and this would stop the annual dispute over which teams have taken the laws at face value and which ones have bent them.
Now we are not saying that we want Indy style racing with all the cars the same but we do expect them all to be equal. If the FIA sets out guidelines and 10 or 11 teams interpret them how they are laid down and 1 team invents it's own interpretation that may be clever but it is still flexing the boundaries of the rules. Rules which has been a constant topic this year due mainly to the trials and tribulations of Lewis Hamilton. As a neutral I couldn't argue with a single penalty he has received this year and he will say the stewards are being picky but deep down I think the penny has dropped with him. This isn't the 80's and F1 has to be safety conscious. Anything else is going to get you punished.
Next season could end up being a 20 race audition for 2013 for the likes of Massa, Webber and Barricello not necessarily guaranteed drives beyond next season. Hopefully the tyres supplied for next season will be more like the beginning of the year when the teams and manufacturers were not sure what to expect.
No comments:
Post a Comment