Monaco Grand Prix: How & Why

This year’s Monaco Grand Prix was one of the more exciting races to be held around a track that can easily cause a 'procession'. With a culmination of different strategies from the drivers, a series of questionable overtaking manoeuvres throughout the field, and race defining moments in the pit lane; the 2011 race around the Monte-Carlo streets was one of the best ever in terms of outright excitement. In order to understand just why and how the race panned out, I have selected three race defining factors that essentially caused Sebastian Vettel to clinch his fifth victory of the year; and his first win around Monaco.

Driver Judgement

 Formula One drivers are often scoffed at for maintaining a job that is essentially driving a car quickly, and being paid monumental sums of money; however, Monaco like no other track is a track that really does allow the drivers to rightfully earn their money and show their worth. With the steering wheel only centralised for a mere ten seconds during in a lap of Monaco, the drivers judgement is tested to the absolute limit more than ever thanks to the business of any one driver.

Two examples that stood out from the rest for me in terms of drivers judgement was those of Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton. During the opening lap, Hamilton had overtaken Schumacher going into the first corner, after the Germans Mercedes had gone into anti-stall mode, causing Schumacher to endure a horrific start from fifth on the grid. As a result, Schumacher filtered in behind Hamilton after the first turn at Sainte Devote. A mix of experience and skill however, meant that Schumacher was able to put a fantastic maneuverer up the inside of Hamilton's McLaren going into the extremely tight Lowes Hairpin, catching the Brit somewhat napping. This move was crucial to Hamilton’s progress; the McLaren driver losing 26 seconds to the leaders, two seconds per lap slower, by the time he managed to find a way through into Sainte Devote on lap ten. Schumacher’s split second decision demonstrated to on-lookers that there certainly isn’t anything wrong with the 42 year olds race craft, on a circuit where it is most potent in terms of being displayed.

Besides losing the place to Schumacher on the first lap, Lewis Hamilton suffered a race full of misjudged and ill-fated manoeuvres and decisions that essentially meant that he wound up a disappointing sixth place in car that had looked to have the legs in terms of race pace on the Red Bull's and Ferrari's. Hamilton's most costly mistake came on lap 36, when a misjudged late lunge up the inside of Felipe Massa going into the Lowes Hairpin left Massa with terminal mechanical damage to his cars left rear end, causing a secondary accident seconds later in the Tunnel, in which Massa's damaged Ferrari came to a stop alongside the barriers prior to the chicane. This bought out the safety car; a factor that essentially lost Hamilton's McLaren team mate Jenson Button the lead of the Grand Prix. The initial move, and another move later on in the race during the restart with six laps to go on Pastor Maldonado, earned the Brit two separate penalties, compounding the horror of what was a poor race caused by poor judgement calls, for a driver who is often linked to being one of the few 'Monaco Masters'

Strategy

Strategy was absolutely key to how and why Sebastian Vettel was victorious in this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. Heading into the race, Pirelli Boss Paul Hembery had confirmed the widely expected conventional strategy would indeed be a two stopper. However, come the end of the race, winner Vettel had amazingly only made one pit stop, ahead of the two stopping Alonso and the three stopping Jenson Button in third. How did Vettel pull it off? Well, Red Bull placed their driver on the gutsy strategy in an attempt to nip Buttons strong victory charge in the bud, in a race they anticipated would place massive pressure on Vettel, in terms of defensive ability and being able to nurse a set of Soft compound tyres on a massive 60 lap stint. Their faith in the current World Champion was well and truly justified, as Vettel was able to hold off the efforts of Alonso and the extremely quick Button in third place, prior to the red flag being bought out with six laps to go. It was desperately unfortunate for fans that the inevitable three car battle for victory was effectively prevented thanks to the red flag, as Alonso and Vettel were allowed to change their fading sets of Pirelli's during the temporary race stoppage.

It's unclear to anyone as to whether Vettel would have maintained the lead had the red flag not come out, with many calculated suggestions from insiders at Pirelli expecting Vettel's tyres to metaphorically fall 'off the cliff' in terms of grip three laps on from the Petrov/Sutil/Hamilton/Algusuari incident that bought out the red flag.

A certainty to come from yesterday’s race was that the winning strategy modelled by Red Bull was somewhat lucky in terms of the timing of the Petrov incident and the need for Red Flags. This 'luck' was also empathised by the sluggish first round of pit stops that had earlier hindered Vettel aswell.

On the other end of the scale, McLaren's Jenson Button was massively unlucky; the two safety car periods during the race both causing the Brits race to be heavily compromised. Hindsight’s a wonderful thing; had McLaren not brought Button in early for his second of three pit stops; Button probably would have enjoyed a comfortable and classy second victory around the streets of Monte-Carlo.

FIA

Perhaps the most upsetting and frustrating and aspect of this year’s Monaco Grand Prix was the manner in which the FIA had to interfere with race proceedings. With a fantastic scrap shaping for the race win between Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, the last ten or so laps looked to be the most exciting yet this year. However, after Petrov's Renault slammed into the barriers as a result of attempting to avoid the damaged Force India of Adrian Sutil on lap 72, the FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting selected to rightfully stop the race. This decision was later justified as news emerged that Petrov was in a considerable amount of pain in his stricken cars cockpit, and time and medical officials would need to venture out on track to recover the Russian Driver. However, perhaps a more disappointing and spectacle ending factor of the race stoppage, was that the FIA rulebook states that tyres are able to be changed during the course of a race stoppage. This as a result, ruined the dynamics of the scrap for first, as overtaking at Monaco in-between cars of similar outright pace on  identically worn rubber is nigh on impossible, and highly risky. It would be fair to say that this rule indeed did ruin the conclusion to a race that up until the red flag had looked to be a classic.

Although the 'edge of your seat' build up to races conclusions was eventually deflated and below expectations, this year’s Monaco Grand Prix was still a fascinating race for teams, drivers, and fans alike. With Vettel picking up another on what was a track that wasn’t expected to be particularly advantageous to the Red Bull, and his closest rival Lewis Hamilton suffering a torrid weekend, Monte-Carlo could well have staged a Grand Prix that could well be seen as critical, come the end of the season in Brazil.

Monaco Grand Prix: Review

  Sebastian Vettel claimed his first victory around the streets of Monte-Carlo by clinching victory in today’s somewhat chaotic Monaco Grand Prix. Vettel had to overcome the monumental pressure from former winners of the event, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button throughout the races latter stages, as the three driver’s strategies came to head in what looked like would be a fantastic scrap over the course of last ten laps. However, with six laps to go, Vitaly Petrov was involved in a sizable crash also involving, Jaime Alguersuari and Lewis Hamilton that was triggered by Pastor Maldonado passing Adrian Sutil for sixth place at Tabac.

  Having held off a charging Lewis Hamilton last time out in Spain, Vettel once again had to resort to his proven defensive driving skills, after his pit stop strategy was changed from the conventional two stop strategy to a much more ambitious one stop plan, in an attempt to cover off the scintillating pace being exercised by Jenson Button. Button had taken the lead after the first round of pit stops after a rare error in preparation from the Red Bull mechanic’s caused disastrous pit stops for both Webber and Vettel, who inconveniently both pitted on lap 16.

 Button looked to have the legs on Vettel at the half way point of the 78 lap race; however prior to a mid-race safety car period caused by an ill-fated battle between Felipe Massa and Button's team mate Lewis Hamilton, in which the Brazilian driver came out worse, Button had pitted in caution to another potential safety car period caused by Jerome D'Ambrosio's stricken Virgin Racing car. Button as a result, was placed third come the end of the eventual safety car period behind Vettel who had selected not to pit under caution.

  From then on, Button had the bit between his teeth; keeping in close company to Vettel looking for a way past on the notorious Monaco streets. Safe in the knowledge that Vettel would 'have to pit' again, Button made a third stop on lap 58, putting the prime Soft Pirelli tyres on. He emerged third, behind Vettel and Alonso as a result, both of which had essentially used the two sets of tyre compounds. Although Button's pace was significantly quicker than that of Alonso or Vettel’s, up until roughly 20 laps to go, the Brit was safe in knowledge in that they would have to pit again

 However, Vettel was embarking on an extremely ambitious mission; aiming to go the distance on a set of tyres that would be 56 laps old come the end of the race; the longest stint ever achieved on the soft Pirelli tyres this year.

 With Vettel’s tyres nearly destroyed, and Alonso's tyres being only 12 laps younger, Button in third place was closing a rate of 1.5 seconds a lap, eventually closing a 20 second gap down to 1 second deficit with ten laps to go. Alonso launched a number of half-hearted glances up the inside of Vettel's Red Bull on the entry to Sainte Devote, as Button took a backseat in third place, waiting for an ideal moment to attack the rear wing of Alonso's Ferrari. Petrov's incident at the Swimming Pool chicane with 6 laps left of the race to run however, brought out the Red Flag. Unconventionally, the race directors decided to restart the race for a mad six lap sprint. However, as the teams were allowed to work on the cars and change tyres, the top three were unable to continue the fabulous battle that had initially started prior to the red flag, meaning that Vettel went on to clinch a victory that would be perceived by many as being somewhat 'lucky'.

Outside the podium positions, Mark Webber finished fourth, having dropped as low as 14th early on due to a 15-second stop as Red Bull pitted him on the same lap as Vettel. His two-stop strategy left him with fresher rubber than many of the cars around him during the second half of the race, allowing him to pass Kamui Kobayashi's Sauber, Sutil, Petrov and Maldonado within the final 15 laps. Kobayashi secured a fantastic fifth place,  scraping the barrel for the Sauber team after the monstrous crash from the teams other driver Sergio Perez on Saturday, that had left him unfit for today’s race. Lewis Hamilton’s disastrous race left him finishing in fifth, however with an investigation once again hanging over the McLaren driver after he effectively took Pastor Maldonado out of a points scoring position on the restart on lap 73. Adrian Sutil, Barichello, and Heidfeld locked out the points positions respectively.

So who's the ultimate street fighter?

After yesterdays practice sessions, this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix looks to be the closest yet this year, in terms of potential winners. With six former winners of the event in the field, two of which being multiple winners, and a track infamous for being more dependent on the driver, instead of the car, as is the case for the majority of the circuits currently on the F1 calendar. Below is my list of  'drivers to watch' for this weekend’s grand prix, which promises to be one of the best yet:

Sebastian Vettel

  It of course would be wrong to overlook Vettel in any capacity this year; with four out of five race victories since the season kicked off in Australia, many people have already wrote off hopes of anyone other than the current World Champion from claiming this year’s title. Reports in today’s press have suggested that one bookmaker has waved the chequered flag on the Formula 1 season already, by paying out to punters who backed Sebastian Vettel to be world champion. Although this course of action on the season is certainly speculative and in some ways cynical, the fact that the RB7 has been the dominant machine at the hands of Vettel so far, certainly can't be overlooked, with the German undoubtedly going into  this weekend’s race as favourite for his fifth victory in six races. However, Vettel is not part of the elusive winners circle in Monaco, having not won in the principality in his short career, with a best position of second coming in last year’s race behind team mate Mark Webber. With a car widely considered as still being superior, and an off colour patch of form being suffered from team mate Webber, 2011 would appear to be Vettel's best shot to date at victory around the streets of Monaco.

Lewis Hamilton

Since bursting onto the F1 scene in 2007, Lewis Hamilton has undoubtedly been known as one of the 'street fighters' of the grid, being at the forefront of every grand prix held around the streets of Monaco since his debut. Many will remember his debut race in fact; with the controversial team orders being placed against Hamilton's strategy in that race, that ultimately lost him the chance of victory in that race. A year later, Hamilton won the event, in perhaps his most memorable victory to date; with a slightly slower car to that of Ferrari, and appalling conditions testing Hamilton’s' limited experience to the limit, the McLaren driver survived a brush with the barriers early on the race to go on to dominate the event come the end of the race. over the last couple of years however, Hamilton has suffered a number of average results, both of which coming down largely to issue of having an off-the-pace package at his disposal. This years event is not only massive in terms of the Championship and stunting Vettels championship charge, but also acts Lewis' best opportunity over the past couple of years to claim a second victory around his self-confessed 'favourite' circuit on the calendar. Expect an aggressive approach from Hamilton as always, at a track that favours his aggressive driving style.

Fernando Alonso

It would take a wise/stupid man to write off Fernando Alonso for any race, never mind a track in which the Spaniard is a multiple victor at. With victories in both 2006 and the following year in 2007 in a Renault and McLaren respectively, Alonso is aiming to become the first man in F1 history to be victorious around the streets of Monaco in three different manufactures of cars. Alonso's driving style, like Hamilton’s, is aggressive, which is a trait that is often favoured around the streets of Monaco, thanks to the determination and lack of hesitation in attacking the circuits famous twists and turns. Alonso has already moved to suggest that the team has a new found 'positivity' about it going in to this weekend’s event, caused by the reshuffling of the Prancing Horse’s technical department. As any change to the team in terms of performance in relation to this reshuffle isn’t likely to be noticeable in such a short period of time, this may well be a case of the Spaniard playing mind games with the opposition, sending out a psychological warning. With the timesheets looking good from Thursdays practice session, and Alonso looking to bounce back in style after a dismal home race last week, don’t write off the two times world champion from clinching a third victory around the streets of Monte-Carlo.

Felipe Massa

 Massa has well and truly been wrote off by experts and fans ever since his life threatening injury in 2009’s Hungarian Grand Prix; with a series of poor results, a lack of progress shown throughout a season, and being outshone on a regular basis, it really is no wonder that Massa has been muted as the next ‘Barichello’, in a number two role similar to how Rubens was placed when alongside Michael Schumacher within the Maranello team. However, there have been flashes over the course of last year and this current season of the brilliance last truly seen in Massa during the 2008 season, when fighting Lewis Hamilton for the title. Germany last year for example; Massa had the pace to hold off team mate Alonso for the win, until the Scuderia interfered and manufactured an overtake between the pair, in favour of Alonso. Around Monaco, Massa is handy; His ‘stabbing’ technique with the brake and accelerator pedals’ really suit the circuit, as was apparent in 2008 when Massa took pole position in the principality. After impressing during yesterdays practice sessions with some high performance long runs on the option tyre (soft), my ‘dark horse’ tip for victory this weekend goes to Massa, who surely wouldn’t be a bad bet at the bookies judging by his lack of form over recent races!

Sauber

Okay, so at a first glance, Sauber isn’t orthodoxly at home on a list of ‘ones to watch’. However, after an impressive showing by both Sergio Perez and Kamui Kobayashi during the season’s opening five rounds, both showing a level head that wouldn’t look out of place on a more experienced driver, they shouldn’t be overlooked at a race that should suit them extremely well. For instance, Sauber have made far fewer stops than any other team so far this season, due to the way In which Kobayashi and rookie Perez have been able to nurse the Pirelli tyres successfully in order to elongate their stints on the favourable compound of rubber at each round. If the team is able to continue this apparent strong point of its car during this Sundays race, than Peter Sauber crew may be able to spring a few surprises and collect some major points and scalps at the sharp end of the grid, with overtaking being notoriously tough in Monaco also aiding their chances of sustaining a high end race result.

 It’s extremely hard to predict a winner for this weekend, with so many varying factors in the mix that could shake up the pecking order; Vettel is undoubtedly the favourite, but with little success in Monaco in the past, I can see a victory for the Scuderia with the experience and race craft of Alonso shining through, come the end of Sundays Monaco Grand Prix.

Monaco Grand Prix: Build Up

After no more than a three day gap, the relentless Formula One circus rolled up into the Monaco principality; still widely accepted as the most prestigious event on the calendar, even with the introduction of the stunning facilities that come with the races from the Middle East.

  With very little time to reflect on last weekend’s highly eventful Spanish Grand Prix, a number of rash decisions and alterations within the teams have been made, most noticeably at the head of the field with Ferrari and Red Bull making changes to how they go about racing:

 After having its pit stops shadowed by Ferrari in last weekend’s race, Red Bull have moved to revise its pit stop procedures, in the hope of making it less obvious to rival teams just when they select to stop. Although these alterations remain unclear for obvious confidential reasons, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner confirmed that the alterations have been put in place in order to make their pit stop timing much less "transparent". The issue they faced in Spain was the manner in which Fernando Alonso was seemingly able to shadow Mark Webber’s pit stop strategy, which in turn prevented Webber from passing Alonso in the pit stop windows via the 'undercut'. Horner rejected the wild claims from the teams Motor Sport Advisor Helmut Marko, that the Scuderia had been hacking into Red Bull's team radio, and instead suggested a much less controversial and reasonable series of suggestions as to how Ferrari knew when Webber was pitting: "I don't know if mechanics were putting their hands in their pockets at the wrong time, or it was someone picking a tyre up".

 Ferrari themselves have also made changes to their backroom staff on the back of a largely disappointing start to this year’s campaign, which was further compounded in Spain last weekend, as Felipe Massa eventually retired after suffering from handling woes throughout the entire weekend, and Fernando Alonso made waste a race lead in the first half of the race to finish a dismal lapped fifth come the end of the race. As a result, technical director Aldo Costa has relinquished his position as the team's technical director, in the midst of a raft of changes inside the Maranello team’s technical department. Former McLaren man Pat Fry has been placed in charge of chassis development for the rest of the season, with Corrado Lanzone being put in charge of production. The Engine & Electronics development will continue to be headed by Luca Marmorini, as the three men will now report directly to team boss Stefano Domenicali as appose to communicating to Aldo Costa beforehand. It is hoped that these largely dramatic alterations within the teams technical department will herald a new direction in terms of development and success for the team, who enter this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix with the unwelcome dark cloud over the teams head, of the tenth anniversary since the team was last victorious in the principality during the wonder years of Michael Schumacher’s domination in the 2001 season.

 Further down the pecking order, Hispania Racing’s team boss Colin Kolles has moved to quash rumours that his team was to launch a protest during this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix. During the immediate aftermath of last Sundays Spanish Grand Prix, Kolles had suggested in a BBC interview  that his team may be prepared show their opposition to the use of blown diffusers by launching some form of unspecified protest. However, today (Thursday) Kolles rejected any chance of HRT protesting, having been rest assure by the governing body the FIA, that the concept of ‘off throttle blown diffusers’ was being looked into.

    The issue with the use of off-throttle blown diffusers relates the rule in the sport that effectively bans any means of movable aerodynamic assists; the rule having reared its head several times over the past few years, most recently with the situation regarding ‘flexi-wings’. In this instance, teams are exploiting the very limits of the rulebooks perimeters, by feeding hot exhaust gases through to the cars’ rear diffusers, most controversially when the cars are off throttle. On conventional engines, exhaust gases are not emitted whilst off throttle; however the technical gurus within the F1 paddock have altered engine mapping with the car, allowing ‘off throttle’ gases to course through to the rear diffuser, generating a consistent source of downforce. Besides Kolles and other personnel, including race director Charlie Whiting, the Williams team have also issued their own complaint at how the rule has been interpreted by other, more wealthy teams that have been able to develop and utilise this apparent loop hole in the regulations. If a complete ban of this typically clever and exceptional devise is outlawed during the season (as is well likely regarding the current state of affairs), then the pecking order within F1 may just be turned on its head.

Spanish Grand Prix: How & Why

After another entertaining and enthralling race in the 2011 season, many people in and around the F1 Paddock are still 'catching their breath' as such, on the back of the Spanish Grand Prix. In order to try and make sense of it all, I have broken down certain key aspects from last Sunday's race, that majorly contributed to the final result after 66 laps of the normally processional, Circuit De Catalunya.

The Start

As is the case in the majority of motorsport series', the race start is a key factor in defining the shape of a race. This was empathised most noticeably in the Spanish Grand Prix, as a truly sensational display of reaction, technique, and race craft allowed home hero Fernando Alonso to fight and squirm his way into the first corner of the first lap in first place. This immediately scuppered Red Bull Racing's strategy, that almost certainly envisioned a race based around the conventional two horse race that was expected from there two drivers starting on the front row. This forced Red Bull to take a complete re-think in strategy; which was made all to obvious for observers to see, thanks to their horrific decision to bring Sebastian Vettel in for his first pit stop, before any of the front runners, on lap 9. Unfortunately for Vettel, his out lap looked to plagued by a queue of traffic, consisting most noticeably of Jenson Button and the ever struggling, Felipe Massa. However, during the second sector of his out-lap, Vettel had brilliantly made use of his new, fresher rubber to dispose easily of both Button and Massa, enjoying a much later braking zone in the overtakes of both the McLaren and the Ferrari. By the end of his disastrously positioned out-lap, Vettel had caught up to the tail end of Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, in which he passed using KERS and DRS at the end of the circuits 1047m home straight. Although Alonso emerged ahead of Vettel at this stage, it could be strongly argued that had Vettel not disposed of the three cars during lap 10, that he would have thrown away his chance to gain his eventual victory. Come the end of the first round of pit stops; Alonso continued to lead, ahead of Vettel, Hamilton, and a traffic engulfed Mark Webber. This complete reversal of status quo was the catalyst result of Alonso's blistering start line antics.

Tyres

If anything has shaped the start of the 2011 F1 Championship in particular, it has been the introduction of the Pirelli rubber; and the Spanish Grand Prix didn’t fail to further empathise this. With Pirelli introducing a new, more durable Hard compound tyre for Spain, the race dynamics were further altered compared to the seasons earlier races, with the importance of being on the correct compound at the right time being less important, and instead the factor of being on the correct compound, for the right period  of time becoming more crucial. For example; a key feature of last Sunday’s race was drivers 'covering' and gaining an 'undercut' on fellow drivers in which they were essentially racing. Red Bull had mixed results when addressing this:

Sebastian Vettel used the 'undercut' to pass Fernando Alonso for the lead. Vettel pitted early, on lap 18 and his out lap on new tyres was so much faster that when Alonso pitted a lap later, Vettel was through to lead the race. However, Mark Webber distinctively failed in his attempt to 'cover' off the efforts of his team mates first stop, pitting on lap 10 (one lap after Vettel), meaning that he had to endure an extra lap of wear and tear of his fading tyres. After exiting the pits, Webber emerged at the back of a queue of cars that had just been expertly dealt with by Vettel on his out-lap, and Webbers in-lap. Webber later found himself in hot water during his attempts to pass Alonso for third position at the third round of pit stops. Red Bull pitted Webber very early on lap 29, in the hope of surprising the Prancing Horse. Ferrari however had listened to Red Bulls team radio, and also pitted Alonso on lap 29; the end result was that Alonso emerged yet again in front of Webber, with both drivers having cut short the life of a brand new set of the much more favourable soft tyres, in exchange for the much less driveable hard compound tyres. After being on the softs for a period of laps much shorter than realistically ideal, Webber and Alonso found themselves way adrift of the Hamilton/Vettel scrap for first place, and instead drifting back into the clutches of a resurgent McLaren in the hands of Jenson Button, on his more 'tyre-wise', thought out strategy. As a result, the podium was locked out with Vettel and the two McLarens thanks to their wise outlook on tyre degradation and usage, as Webber finished a distant fourth and Alonso becoming essentially a moving chicane, in a lapped fifth place.

Drivers

In an age where team development and innovation are at the forefront of focus being placed on Formula One, it is often the case that the drivers themselves, the 24 men who withstand mind-bending strains and stresses both mentally and physically during a race weekend, are seemingly overlooked in terms of influence on the final results. The Spanish Grand Prix however developed a key reminder that the racers should never be overlooked come the end of a weekend. This was particularly relevant to two of the drivers during the Spanish race: Sebastian Vettel, and Lewis Hamilton.

 After the second round of pit stops for both Vettel and Hamilton in their four stop races, they were both able to extend there gap over the rest of the field by a considerable amount: Button crossed the finishing line a massive 35 seconds behind the front two just to give a rough idea of the shear pace and dogged determination of Hamilton and Vettel.

  Hamilton’s reputation certainly earns him his fair share of admirers and haters, but it would take a very pedantic and pessimistic man to agree with anything other than the fact that Lewis drove an outstanding race, relentlessly pursuing the Red Bull of Vettel throughout the second half of the race, on both the soft and hard sets of tyres. It's difficult to also bear in mind that 24 hours prior to Hamilton mounting a serious challenge on Vettel for first place, that Red Bull had smashed the Qualifying session with a huge 0.5 second advantage over the rest of the field. This therefore, clearly shows the massive difference in single lap pace and race pace, which was fully exploited by the charging Hamilton. Had it not been for a somewhat average final pit stop (Lewis lost two seconds in total to Vettel during the final stops), who knows? It may well have been a different story at the front...

It may be an overused cliché in modern terms, but my 'driver of the day' has to go to Sebastian Vettel. After demolishing the 'artificial' undertones of overtaking this year by passing both Button and Massa within one sector, without using either KERS or DRS, Vettel went on to put in lap after lap of relentless pace that could only be matched by Lewis Hamilton, who had a largely much more simplistic run to the chequered flag as a result of careful timing of pit stops and clever strategic predictions by his McLaren team. After emerging in front of Hamilton at the end of each and every round of pit stops, Vettel continued to push on, regularly stabilising the gap in between the two, before expertly demonstrating a master class in defensive driving late on the race, in a phase that Vettel’s tyres and KERS were both not working too the effective level of those on Hamilton’s car. After pinpointing his use of throttle off the penultimate corner, and making use of the Red Bulls aerodynamic superiority in the final corner leading onto the straight, Vettel successfully kept the ever 'racy' Hamilton at bay until the chequered flag.

  It goes without saying really, in a race that was arguably Sebastian Vettel’s finest victory, out of the 14 he has already acuminated in his short but prestigious four year Grand Prix Career., that the Spanish Grand Prix was won by the driver and not the team.

Spanish Grand Prix: Review

Sebastian Vettel continued his early season domination at the Circuit De Catalunya this weekend; with his fourth win from the five races held so far in 2011. Although Vettel became the eventual winner, the race was nowhere near as predictable and lacklustre as previous Grand Prix's held at the Barcelona circuit, and produced a race filled with strategic interest, overtaking throughout, and a  number of interesting outcomes come the end of Sunday's race.

  After the Friday and Saturday practice sessions in Spain, it appeared that as seen so clearly last year, that Red Bull had well and truly stole the march on its rivals; holding on average a lap by lap advantage of half a second.  This widely accepted statistic, along with the strength of Webber & Vettel’s long run pace on the newly introduced extra hard tyres, appeared to mirror that of the 2010 race in which Red Bull had clearly dominated.

  However, come Sundays race, a blistering start from home hero Fernando Alonso ensured that Red Bulls front row lock out was immediately interrupted; with Alonso storming from his happily achieved 4th place on the grid, proceeding to nail Lewis Hamilton for third immediately off the line, before a master class in how to slipstream and position a Formula One car meant that he held the lead on the inside, going into turn one. Further down the field, Jenson Button's average weekend took a turn for the worse, with the McLaren driver suffering a dismal start and falling to 10th place in the pack, come the end of lap one. He however, would come into play in the closing stages of the race.

  During the first two stints, the positions at the front remained unchanged; Alonso continued to lead Vettel, from Webber, and from Hamilton, all in close company, stretching the gap to fifth place man, Vitaly Petrov who was continuing his impressive early season form. The first round of stops came early, with Vettel the first of the leaders to come in on lap 10. Alonso and Webber covered him on the following lap, making their stops. Vettel had to pass Button and Massa on his out lap and did so decisively to keep his challenge alive. Come the end of the race, it could be argued that that these two moves on one lap, are what gave the Vettel the race win. The first major change in positions at the front came during the races second stage of pit stops on laps 17 & 18; Vettel choosing to blink first by going on to a new set of option tyres one lap prior to that of team mate Mark Webber, and race leader Alonso. An extra lap on the new rubber ensured that as he entered the first corner on lap 18 in front of Alonso (who remained ahead of Webber after the pit stops),was charging down the pit exit. But perhaps the cleverest move of the top four drivers came from McLaren, who decided to pit Hamilton a further four laps into the race on lap 22, which in turn meant that he had managed to also jump Alonso and Webber for second place, much like Vettel.

 From the conclusion of the second stage of pit stops, it became a clear two-horse race for the victory, with Vettel leading a resurgent Hamilton throughout the remainder of the race. To many onlookers, including those situated in the Red Bull garage, the seemingly increased and superior race pace of Hamilton’s McLaren was a massive surprise; throughout the second half of the race, Hamilton continued to hone in on the Red Bull, both of the soft tyres during the third stint, and also when on the much less favourable Hard compound Pirelli rubber during the fourth and fifth stint. However, come the end of the race, a master class in defensive driving from Sebastian Vettel, meant that he went on to claim his 14^th career victory; one that was arguably potentially his best, after crossing the line a mere 0.6 of a second ahead of the equally impressive Lewis Hamilton.

  In a distant third position, Jenson Button crossed the line over half a minute behind the Hamilton and Vettel duel; after a largely impressive three stop strategy hauled him up from 10^th place after the first lap. Button had passed Webber for fourth place on lap 36 his soft tyres making all the difference and he passed Alonso later on the same lap. Due to the advantage of his soft tyres compared to the hard tyres on Webber and Alonso’ s cars, Button was able to pull out a gap of over 20 seconds; enough to ensure that when on the less favourable hard tyres in the final stint, he would be unable to be caught by either Webber or Alonso. Button made this strategy work beautifully, and crossed the finishing line 12 seconds ahead of Mark Webbers disappointing fourth place finish; the last person to cross the line on the lead lap.

  After leading the race so cleverly during the first two stints, Fernando Alonso finished a dismal fifth place after a promising start, above expectations To add salt to the wound, Alonso was sensationally lapped during the race’s latter stages, after losing a massive1.5 seconds on average per lap to the leaders during the final two stints of the race on the hard compound rubber.

 Outside the top five, a much improve performance by Michael Schumacher propelled him up to sixth position at the chequered flag, ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg, after a sophisticated performance of clever strategy and experience in defending his position. Nick Heidfeld put in a strong performance after his last place grid position in order to clinch eight position, ahead of a respectable showing from Sauber; Sergio Perez opening his account with 9^th place finish, ahead of a brilliant performance by Kamui Kobayashi who was 30 seconds adrift of the field come the end of lap one, after suffering a first lap puncture.

Turkish Grand Prix: How & Why

Sebastian Vettel came out of last weekends with yet another win under his belt in the 2011 Formula One Championship, after a race that was almost 'too much' in terms of eventualities and action. With the Pirelli tyres, the use of DRS, and the varying strategies displayed by each team all being under scrutiny come the end of Sundays race, the event really does need decoding.

  The weekend certainly seemed to provide the biggest challenge for the teams so far this season, with so many variations in weather predictions and tyre performance all contributing to the number of different routes and directions that each driver selected going into race day. One thing that is visibly apparent this year compared to last year is that it is much more important over the course of the weekend to set the cars up in favour of a better Sunday compared to a better Saturday, which was very much the case in 2010. The main, most foremost reason for this alteration in how to approach the weekend is due to the much less durable Pirelli tyres introduced this year. With the much less durable rubber being used this year in Formula One, and a larger gap generally being seen in between ultimate pace of the two sets of compound’s, being on the right tyres at the right time is essential to a race. For example, Jenson Button went against the conventional four stop strategy being used by the front runners in Turkey, and as a result was out of sync with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, of whom he was racing for the last place on the podium. However, because the strategy was changed mid-way through the race as teams discovered that tyre degradation was higher compared to Friday and Saturday, the McLaren team had not been able to save a fresh set of the soft compound tyres. This meant Button exited the pit lane for his final stint on rubber already used, and older than that of the Pirellis on Hamilton’s car, leaving him a sitting duck for both his team mate, and a resurgent Rosberg after his own tyre issues mid race.

 Away from the rubber situation in Turkey, another massive talking point coming out of the weekend was the effect on the race caused by the controversial drag reduction system, otherwise known as DRS. After seeing the most overtaking in a race as has been seen for years, reaction from many fans has echoes that of many of the drivers and team personnel, in saying that the art of overtaking has become ‘superficial’. The issue in Turkey was not that the DRS was unneeded, but more so to do with the positioning of the DRS ‘zone’. The tracks DRS trigger line was positioned shortly after the circuits legendary four apex Turn Eight, and yards prior to the braking zone for the turn nine chicane. The ‘activation line’ was shortly after the chicane, in front of the light hearted kink on the circuits back straight, approaching  turn eleven; infamous for being the corner in which the Red-Bulls entangled in last year’s race.  The majority of the moves made in this zone were done and dusted prior to turn eleven (the turn in which overtaking was supposed to be influenced using DRS), meaning that changes for position became as straight forward as breezing past one another on the back straight due to the massive windfall caused by the DRS, aswell as the use of the KERS system. If anything, this race was a steep learning curve in terms of how the FIA should approach future races when considering where to place the DRS zone at each track, bearing in mind that although increased overtaking is fantastic in theory, there is still a fine line in-between a skilful Maun over , and gimmick propelled change of position.

Turkish Grand Prix:Preview

With the traditional three week gap in-between the curtain raising fly away races and the start of the European season been and gone, a lot has been made of the last fly away race in China, and this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix.

  As always, Red Bull was at the centre of analysis as is the norm in the modern era of Formula One, with scrutiny being placed significantly on their ultimate downfall during the Shanghai event three weeks ago. With a car still widely considered to be the quickest on raw pace, and a third consecutive pole position for Sebastian Vettel, it really was Red Bulls race to lose: as they eventually did. A wrong footed strategic decision midway through the race to place Vettel on a two stop strategy compared to the conventional three stop path was the main issue with Red Bulls race; not to mention the fact that the teams other driver Mark Webber was starting in a lowly 18th place. Teamed with a stunning performance of tyre management, clever strategy and some outstanding over-taking from McLaren's Lewis Hamilton who went on to become victorious, Red Bull were ultimately caught napping.

  Even after a frustrating time in China, the widely accepted theory is that going into Turkey; the RB7 is still the car to beat, even with a vast array of upgrade packages being placed on rival cars. Ferrari for example, arrive in Istanbul with a new front and rear wing, aswell as revised brake ducts in order to try and cure the 150º Italia's early season woes; often most noticeable on Saturday afternoon when the cars ultimate pace is most evident and important during Qualifying. Turkey has been kind to Ferrari in recent years, with Felipe Massa being the undisputed king of the Herman Tilke designed track, taking a hat-trick of wins since the venues introduction to the calendar in 2005.

 The media spotlight has been intense on the Williams team during the three week layoff, with an early season run of form going against pre-season predictions from both team insiders, aswell as the pre-season testing timesheets. With the team being recently being placed on flotation on the stock market, results this year are essential in order for the team’s long term and shirt term business plan to become a success. With a promising looking car and a fantastic blend of youth and experience in its driver line up, all was looking well for Williams, until a run of three disappointing fly away race results left the team scratching their heads. It would appear that a number of costly driver errors from both the normally reliably consistent Rubens Barichello and series debutant Pastor Maldonado, teamed with a car lacking downforce from the rear, have left the team way behind expectations, and in need of drastic action to get their season back on track. Prior to this weekend’s event, the team answered muted rumours within the press of a reshuffle in the departments at Williams, by announcing that long term Technical Director Sam Michael and Chief Aerodynamicist Jon Tomlinson are to leave their positions in the team come the end of the year. The team also raised paddock eyebrows by confirming that the shamed 'spy gate' protagonist from 2007, Mike Coughlan, is to join the team during June this year as Chief Engineer. This announcement and the introduction of a significant upgrade package for this weekend’s Turkish Grand Prix, could well be defining factors in the fortunes of the team both on and off the track, come the end of the season.

  Going into this weekend’s racing, a lot of focus has been placed on how tyre degradation may influence the race’s outcome, as was very much the case in China three weeks ago. With McLaren being able to save an extra set of tyres from qualifying for Hamilton in the race, they saw there man cut through the field come the end of the race, prompting many analysts to predict a similar tactic being used in Turkey, where the Pirelli’s are thought to be under even greater pressure in terms of lasting condition than in China.  In particular, the Istanbul Speed Park’s turn eight is widely acknowledged among drivers, team personnel and fans alike as having one of the greatest turns on the calendar; the originally named ‘Turn 8’. With four apex’s, the corner will be a challenge throughout the weekend for all the drivers, with the cars downforce being tested to the absolute limit; especially in race trim when carrying heavy fuel loads, and when trying to reduce tyre degradation.

   It goes without saying then, that Turkey holds the answer to a lot of unanswered questions raised in the last three weeks: How will the team’s updates affect the pecking order? How far ahead actually is Red Bull Racing? How will the Pirellis hold up, on a track traditionally tough on tyres? All will be answered, come Sunday evening.

In many respects, Jason Plato was hoping that Thruxton was to be a turning point on the back of what had been a frustrating weekend at Donington Park a a fortnight previous. And with the reduction of the maximum boost limit by 0.1 bar being imposed during the build up to the weekend, things appeared to be shining on Plato and the normally aspirated cars in the field.

  Qualifying on Saturday however, gave a clear indication that the early season advantage in raw pace was well and truly still with the turbo powered machinery; Gordon Shedden taking his first pole of the season for the Honda Racing Team as a result, followed by the continuingly impressive Andrew Jordan in his Eurotech Vauxhall Vectra. Behind the front row, Matt Neal put in a quick lap near the end of the hour session to capture third place in front of the Ford Focus of Tom Chilton in forth. Jason Plato finished the session in a disappointing fifth position; all be it as the only man to crack the top ten grid positions in a non-turbo entry ,Chevrolet Cruze for Team Silverline. Saturday then, suggested that the Sunday would be dominated by the Turbo powered machines...

  Race One at Thruxton was dominated by the two Honda racing entries of pole man Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal, who received little resistance from the following pack headed by Andrew Jordan. After a tactical switch of positions on lap 13 ensured that Neal crossed the start line in first place, thus taking a single point for leading a lap of the race, before handing the position rightfully back to Shedden. Shedden went on to take victory in race one, followed closely by the new championship leader and team mate, Matt Neal. Further down the field, Andrew Jordan skilfully held off a resilient Tom Chilton for third place. Reigning champion Jason Plato had looked set to challenge Chilton for fourth before a suspected tyre failure caused him to crash at the chicane with two laps to go. This handed fifth place to SpecialTuning SEAT's Tom Boardman who completed an impressive performance in race one from ninth on the grid, ahead of Airways Ford's Mat Jackson and Tom Onslow-Coles ever improving AmD Volkswagen machine. The Vauxhall Vectra’s of championship leader going into the weekend James Nash (Triple 8) and rookie driver Jeff Smith, followed closely behind, with Alex MacDowell rounding out the top ten.

 The second Touring Car race of the day saw the grid organised based on the Race One results, with Gordon Shedden leading a Honda Racing lock out of the front row, followed again by Andrew Jordan and Tom Chilton in the Vauxhall Vectra and the ‘global’ Ford Focus respectively.  Shedden lead the field down into turn one, with a lead that would prove short lived thanks to a gutsy move  by teammate Neal on lap 6 on the entry into the fast right hander of Church. Shedden’s 40kg extra ballast thanks to his race one win was hurting him on a track where a cars balance and ability to change direction is paramount, resulting in Andrew Jordan eventually finding his way past the Honda in a move that placed him in Second place, all be it a distance two seconds behind Neal. Further down the pack, Plato had made good use of a blistering start and a number of excellent overtaking moves under breaking (an area well known for being a strong point of the Cruze), to move his way up to Eighth from the very back of the grid, one place behind Teammate Alex MacDowell who had aggressively displaced Rob Collard for seventh laps from the end of the race. Matt Neal went on to comfortably win the race, followed by Andrew Jordan, and Neal’s teammate of Shedden who had masterfully managed to withstand the efforts of both Tom Chilton and Mat Jackson (forth and fifth). James Nash continued his quiet march up the order to come home sixth, followed by the two Team Silverline cars of Plato and MacDowell. Tom Boardman continued to impress by finishing ninth, ahead of Triple 8’s Tony Gilham rounding out the top ten.

 Thurxtons final Touring Car race of the day featured a reversed grid based on the race two finishing order. This implemented Tom Boardman as the pole man, with a resurgent Jason Plato being rewarded for his storming race two with second place on the grid. Plato made use of his grid position, and a woeful launch from the SEAT of Boardman, to take the lead around the outside of the first corner , and lead throughout, despite a safety car period caused by Tom Chilton’s heavy shunt midway through proceedings. The Team Aon driver had been defending his position of forth going into turn one, after a poor exit from the final corner onto the start straight had left him off line; with the Eurotech Vectra of Andrew Jordan on the inside for turn one. A misjudgement in entry speed to the corner forced Chilton off track and into a track side barrier, in what was a sizable shunt. The restart saw a fast starting Mat Jackson briefly challenge Plato for the lead in his turbo powered Ford, before the RML run Chevrolet managed to establish a comfortable lead. The main battle in the race became the fight for third place, with Boardman holding his nerve in the last podium spot, followed by a train headed by Triple 8’s James Nash. Behind Nash the two Honda Racing entries continued there stellar weekend in fifth and sixth, both of which benefiting from Chilton’s retirement and Andrew Jordan’s own exit from the track, just before the safety car period.  Jordan scarcely managed to hold off Alex MacDowell  for seventh come the end of the race, followed by an impressive performance by Tony Gilham for ninth, and a resurgent Tom Onslow-Cole who rounded out the top ten, after starting last on the grid after missing race two thanks to a damaged exhaust manifold. Plato went onto dominate the latter stages of the race to take victory, joined in the podium places by Mat Jackson and Tom Boardman.

  The conclusion of weekends BTCC action leaves Matt Neal in the lead of the Championship, followed by Airwaves Ford driver Mat Jackson and Triple 8’s James Nash in third. Reigning champion Jason Plato continues his largely below expectations start the season, by lying sixth in the standings; a sizable 27 points shy of Neal’s points total.

The next BTCC meeting is at Oulton Park, 4^th/5^th June.