I had huge expectations before the Singapore grand prix. The circumstances where the F1 action took place were absolutely staggering! All those fantastic buildings lighted in different colors in the dark night of Singapore made the venue just perfect. Nevertheless the race wasn´t as entertaining as it could have been... Don´t get me wrong, it was the 9th win of the season for Super Sebastian and I enjoyed every glorious moment of it!
The atmosphere was palpable when the lights went off. Vettel had another successful start and was able to pull away quite easily. Webber´s streak of bad starts continued and he lost positions to both Button and Alonso. What made the race less entertaining than for example the Italian GP two weeks ago was the lack of intense wheel-to-wheel battle! Vettel was able to pull out a huge gap to his rivals very quickly. Webber had some battle with Alonso once again but nothing huge.
I have to admit that I hoped Hamilton to be able to challenge Button and Webber for the 2nd place! Usually I´m not that big fan of the Briton but this hope was based on Vettel´s chance to clinch the second world title... If Vettel was going to win the race, neither Button nor Webber should finish 2nd and Alonso shouldn´t be among the top three... But it seemed Button was going to ruin my hopes! And Hamilton ruined his race just by himself - once again! He crashed to Massa and damaged his front wing and Massa got a puncture due to the crash and both had to pit... And in additon to that Hamilton got a drive through penalty due to causing the collision!
On lap 30 Vettel had pulled out a gap of about 20 seconds to Button when Schumacher crashed to Perez in his Sauber. It seemed to be some kind of a misunderstanding; Schumi didn´t expect Perez to break so early. Schumi ended up to the wall and his race was over. The incident caused safety car to come out and Vettel lost his advantage. But after the re-start he was able to disappear to the horizon once again. At the end of the race Button closed the gap quite massively and at the chequered flag the gap was less than 2 seconds! But what mattered most was that Vettel was there first! :)
Kimi Räikkönen & Sebastian Vettel
sunnuntai 25. syyskuuta 2011
lauantai 24. syyskuuta 2011
Singapore GP / Qualifying: Super Sebastian flies to 11th pole of the season!
Sebastian Vettel, do You have any idea how massively difficult You make my blog writing by being too awesome for words?!? You make Your performance better and better every race weekend though it has been absolutely perfect since the start of the season... It´s sooo hard to find words or expressions which would actually tell how You make me dumbfounded every time You snatch another pole or take another win!
The qualifying in the dark night of Singapore was totally a Sebastian Vettel show! No one else could even come close to his lap time! No surprises in terms of Q3. The top 5 teams today were Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes GP and Force India. Sauber´s Perez was pretty close to make his way into Q3 but didn´t quite make it after all. Kobayashi in his Sauber on the other hand crashed in Q2 after cutting the kerbs aggressively in a chicane and there was red flag for a short while.
Button´s performance was strong today. Not strong enough to beat the Red Bulls as the pole was taken by Super Sebastian and Webber made it a front row lock-out for Red Bull by taking the 2nd place! But Button qualified 3rd ahead of his team-mate Hamilton. McLaren had some kind of a fuelling problem with Hamilton´s car so he was unable to do the second run in Q3 but due to that he saved a set of tyres for tomorrow´s race. The Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa finished 5th and 6th.
What was very disappointing for me to see was that there were three drivers who didn´t drive in Q3 at all: Schumacher in his Mercedes as well as both Force India drivers. The fans and spectators would love to see the drivers on the track so in my opinion it´s absolutely disappointing that they´re allowed to make the decision not to run at all. If I´m asked, there should be enough tyres for the race so that saving the tyres wouldn´t be necessary for the teams. Or there should be regulations that would make it compulsory for the teams to do at least one run in each qualifying session... At least I would love to see all the drivers on the track fighting for the best position they can reach!
I absolutely can´t wait for tomorrow´s race! I would love to see Super Sebastian to clinch his second world title tomorrow!! I know I shouldn´t be thinking about that, because it doesn´t necessarily happen tomorrow. I know it´ll happen sooner or later but not necessarily tomorrow. However, I´ll be prepared to bake a cake in a couple of days ;) I´ve promised my colleagues at work that I´ll bake them a cake if/when Vettel wins the world championship this season. I did it also last year so this baking thing seems to become a habit, hahaha ;D I´ve ordered an eatable picture of Seb in his RB7 which I´ll put on top of the cake... Just can´t wait to get started!
The qualifying in the dark night of Singapore was totally a Sebastian Vettel show! No one else could even come close to his lap time! No surprises in terms of Q3. The top 5 teams today were Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes GP and Force India. Sauber´s Perez was pretty close to make his way into Q3 but didn´t quite make it after all. Kobayashi in his Sauber on the other hand crashed in Q2 after cutting the kerbs aggressively in a chicane and there was red flag for a short while.
Button´s performance was strong today. Not strong enough to beat the Red Bulls as the pole was taken by Super Sebastian and Webber made it a front row lock-out for Red Bull by taking the 2nd place! But Button qualified 3rd ahead of his team-mate Hamilton. McLaren had some kind of a fuelling problem with Hamilton´s car so he was unable to do the second run in Q3 but due to that he saved a set of tyres for tomorrow´s race. The Ferrari drivers Alonso and Massa finished 5th and 6th.
What was very disappointing for me to see was that there were three drivers who didn´t drive in Q3 at all: Schumacher in his Mercedes as well as both Force India drivers. The fans and spectators would love to see the drivers on the track so in my opinion it´s absolutely disappointing that they´re allowed to make the decision not to run at all. If I´m asked, there should be enough tyres for the race so that saving the tyres wouldn´t be necessary for the teams. Or there should be regulations that would make it compulsory for the teams to do at least one run in each qualifying session... At least I would love to see all the drivers on the track fighting for the best position they can reach!
I absolutely can´t wait for tomorrow´s race! I would love to see Super Sebastian to clinch his second world title tomorrow!! I know I shouldn´t be thinking about that, because it doesn´t necessarily happen tomorrow. I know it´ll happen sooner or later but not necessarily tomorrow. However, I´ll be prepared to bake a cake in a couple of days ;) I´ve promised my colleagues at work that I´ll bake them a cake if/when Vettel wins the world championship this season. I did it also last year so this baking thing seems to become a habit, hahaha ;D I´ve ordered an eatable picture of Seb in his RB7 which I´ll put on top of the cake... Just can´t wait to get started!
sunnuntai 11. syyskuuta 2011
Italian GP: DRS makes overtaking too easy... or does it?
I have to say the Italian GP was one of the most thrilling and entertaining races this season so far! The start was absolutely action-packed with Alonso getting a superb start and making his way to the lead! My heart was pounding as there were three cars (Vettel, Alonso and Schumacher) side by side going to the turn 1! And what a huge crash took place at turn 1 when HRT´s Liuzzi lost control of his car and hit both Rosberg and Petrov taking them both out of the race. The incident caused tha safety car to come out.
After the restart Vettel was able to overtake Alonso and take the lead back! Although Alonso didn´t give very much room for Vettel which caused him to go a bit wide Vettel managed to overtake the Ferrari driver :) And what´s remarkable about it is that Vettel did it without using the DRS! There has been a lot of talking this season that the DRS makes overtaking even too easy but this certainly wasn´t the case today! Super Sebastian didn´t even need it to get past Alonso!
The battle between Schumacher and Hamilton was highly entertaining and exciting to watch! Mercedes GP had very high straight line speed so despite using the DRS Hamilton wasn´t able to get past Schumacher. Instead his team-mate Button recovered from a lousy start and managed to catch those two. It was impressive how Button managed to overtake his team-mate and how easily he overtook Schumacher right after that! But overtaking wasn´t easy today, that´s for sure.
After Vettel had taken the lead he cruised to a sweeping victory! Although he had the lowest straight line speed yesterday at qualifying he disappeared to the horizon very quickly and was totally untouchable. They said that the secret behind his unbelievable speed was the gear ratio that he used in his RB7. I have to say I was absolutely dumbfounded by Vettel´s driving today (again), there was something absolutely magical about it! No body had absolutely no chance to catch Vettel but behind him there was intense battle for positions.
Button finished 2nd behind Vettel and Alonso came 3rd in front of his home crowd. Hamilton managed to catch Alonso at the end of the race but wasn´t quite able to overtake him. Schumacher drove a strong race and was 5th in the final standings. But what about Webber in his competitive RB7? He hit Massa at the beginning of the race and damaged his front wing which caused him to crash the barriers a bit later and retire. Bruno Senna grabbed his very first points by finishing 9th.
After the restart Vettel was able to overtake Alonso and take the lead back! Although Alonso didn´t give very much room for Vettel which caused him to go a bit wide Vettel managed to overtake the Ferrari driver :) And what´s remarkable about it is that Vettel did it without using the DRS! There has been a lot of talking this season that the DRS makes overtaking even too easy but this certainly wasn´t the case today! Super Sebastian didn´t even need it to get past Alonso!
The battle between Schumacher and Hamilton was highly entertaining and exciting to watch! Mercedes GP had very high straight line speed so despite using the DRS Hamilton wasn´t able to get past Schumacher. Instead his team-mate Button recovered from a lousy start and managed to catch those two. It was impressive how Button managed to overtake his team-mate and how easily he overtook Schumacher right after that! But overtaking wasn´t easy today, that´s for sure.
After Vettel had taken the lead he cruised to a sweeping victory! Although he had the lowest straight line speed yesterday at qualifying he disappeared to the horizon very quickly and was totally untouchable. They said that the secret behind his unbelievable speed was the gear ratio that he used in his RB7. I have to say I was absolutely dumbfounded by Vettel´s driving today (again), there was something absolutely magical about it! No body had absolutely no chance to catch Vettel but behind him there was intense battle for positions.
Button finished 2nd behind Vettel and Alonso came 3rd in front of his home crowd. Hamilton managed to catch Alonso at the end of the race but wasn´t quite able to overtake him. Schumacher drove a strong race and was 5th in the final standings. But what about Webber in his competitive RB7? He hit Massa at the beginning of the race and damaged his front wing which caused him to crash the barriers a bit later and retire. Bruno Senna grabbed his very first points by finishing 9th.
lauantai 10. syyskuuta 2011
Italian GP / Qualifying: There´s no stopping of Super Sebastian!
There was an illusion floating in the air before the qualifying that it was going to be very close a battle for pole this afternoon at Monza. I mean it was supposed to be... But the qualifying turned out to be a one man show, not a one team show but... a mesmerising Super Sebastian show!!
No real surprises or big disappointments today in terms of Q3. There were the drivers of the top 5 teams at the moment: the Red Bulls, the McLarens, the Ferraris, the Mercedes drivers and the Renault duo. Even Bruno Senna managed to make his way into Q3 which was maybe a bit unpredictable. I knew both Button and Hamilton were going to be highly competitive at Monza which is known for its long straights. I was sure if there was going to be some other than a Red Bull driver on pole this season it was definitely going to happen at Monza... But that wasn´t the case!
The German Red Bull ace was just unbelievable and utterly unstoppable today: at the end of the day he outqualified the McLarens by nearly half a second! On the track that wasn´t supposed to suit the Red Bulls at all... It was definitely a lap too awesome for words! Unlike Vettel´s team-mate Webber who didn´t have the most perfect Q3 and he finally qualified 5th. And thinking about the starts that Webber has taken earlier this season the 5th spot on the grid doesn´t seem very promising. The pecking order seems quite obvious: first there´s Super Sebastian in a class of his own, then there´re the McLaren drivers and then the Ferraris... On a very lucky day the Mercedes drivers (especially Nico) or either of the Renault drivers may be able to challenge the top teams but unfortunately either Mercedes GP or Renault isn´t at their level yet. Like today´s qualifying result proves: Vettel on pole, Hamilton 2nd, Button 3rd, Alonso 4th, Webber 5th and Massa 6th.
Both Hamilton and Button admitted at the post-qualifying press conference that Vettel was untouchable today. Button aborted his final flying lap though the split times showed improvement in his lap time. But for sure he wouldn´t have been able to improve his time so much that he could have threatened Vettel´s time! But as far as the race tomorrow is concerned I´m sure we´re going to see an absolutely impressive show! McLaren´s race pace is extremely convincing so for sure both Hamilton and Button will challenge Vettel seriously for the victory...!
So it´s 10th pole of the season for Super Sebastian! How on Earth am I able to describe his driving any more...? I mean it sounds fair to say that he is good. He´s extremely talented. Super fast. Unstoppable. Out of anybody else´s reach. He rarely makes any mistakes and when he does he learns from them and doesn´t repeat them. He dominates qualifying sessions and is clearly superior to his rivals in terms of performance. But this all sounds so dilute... I guess all I can really say is that not only in terms of his performance but also in terms of describing his driving the man is completely out of reach! Absolutely amazing. He impresses me completely every time he drives!
No real surprises or big disappointments today in terms of Q3. There were the drivers of the top 5 teams at the moment: the Red Bulls, the McLarens, the Ferraris, the Mercedes drivers and the Renault duo. Even Bruno Senna managed to make his way into Q3 which was maybe a bit unpredictable. I knew both Button and Hamilton were going to be highly competitive at Monza which is known for its long straights. I was sure if there was going to be some other than a Red Bull driver on pole this season it was definitely going to happen at Monza... But that wasn´t the case!
The German Red Bull ace was just unbelievable and utterly unstoppable today: at the end of the day he outqualified the McLarens by nearly half a second! On the track that wasn´t supposed to suit the Red Bulls at all... It was definitely a lap too awesome for words! Unlike Vettel´s team-mate Webber who didn´t have the most perfect Q3 and he finally qualified 5th. And thinking about the starts that Webber has taken earlier this season the 5th spot on the grid doesn´t seem very promising. The pecking order seems quite obvious: first there´s Super Sebastian in a class of his own, then there´re the McLaren drivers and then the Ferraris... On a very lucky day the Mercedes drivers (especially Nico) or either of the Renault drivers may be able to challenge the top teams but unfortunately either Mercedes GP or Renault isn´t at their level yet. Like today´s qualifying result proves: Vettel on pole, Hamilton 2nd, Button 3rd, Alonso 4th, Webber 5th and Massa 6th.
Both Hamilton and Button admitted at the post-qualifying press conference that Vettel was untouchable today. Button aborted his final flying lap though the split times showed improvement in his lap time. But for sure he wouldn´t have been able to improve his time so much that he could have threatened Vettel´s time! But as far as the race tomorrow is concerned I´m sure we´re going to see an absolutely impressive show! McLaren´s race pace is extremely convincing so for sure both Hamilton and Button will challenge Vettel seriously for the victory...!
So it´s 10th pole of the season for Super Sebastian! How on Earth am I able to describe his driving any more...? I mean it sounds fair to say that he is good. He´s extremely talented. Super fast. Unstoppable. Out of anybody else´s reach. He rarely makes any mistakes and when he does he learns from them and doesn´t repeat them. He dominates qualifying sessions and is clearly superior to his rivals in terms of performance. But this all sounds so dilute... I guess all I can really say is that not only in terms of his performance but also in terms of describing his driving the man is completely out of reach! Absolutely amazing. He impresses me completely every time he drives!
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