Monday, November 25, 2013

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix review

Mark Webber enjoying his last moments in his Red Bull

The season ended yestarday with Red Bull's 1-2-finish with Sebastian Vettel 1st and Mark Webber 2nd. Fernando Alonso managed finally to bring his Ferrari to the podium by taking 3rd place. He said that if Felipe Massa would have been behind him he would have let him pass and give him one last Ferrari podium.

In my opinion Alonso seemed very sad and emotional on the podium. He's friends Mark Webber and Felipe Massa were both leaving him in a way or another. Webber is leaving the sport and Massa is leaving Ferrari to Williams.

Mark Webber on the other hand was happy and started celebrating right after the finish. He even took his helmet and gloves of and drove around in his Red Bull for the last time. It is very rare to see a drivers face when they are driving. Can't remember a similar situation.

I remember when Häkkinen won for the last time. He took his seat belt of and almost stood in his car when it was moving slowly. At the press conference he said "hasta la vista".

Mark tripped and fell on the podium when he was chasing Alonso but he smiled the whole time. That is how I will remember him, just smiling and having fun on the podium. It's almost emotional for me as well when I think about it.

Mark was a driver that amazed me right from the start. In his first GP he overtook the very experienced Mika Salo in his Toyota with a Minardi and took 5th place. Mark celebrated like he had won the race because the Minardi's were always the last ones to cross the finish line. It was also his home GP so that was even better for him.

All the best wishes to Mark Webber. He was a great driver and a character we will miss in F1 who always spoke his mind and didn't care what others said.

Thank you Mark Webber for entertaining us all these years!

It was also the last race for Felipe Massa at Ferrari. It didn't end very well when he got a drive through penalty for a very stupid reason. Everybody were crossing that white line all the time and he was the only one who got a penalty for it.

If you don't know what I am talking about then he got a penalty for crossing the white line before the pit lane.

It was also Pastor Maldonado's last race with Williams. The result wasn't that good for him either. I don't know what was wrong with him. Going of the track, caused a small collision and spinning etc. Let's see were he ends up next year. Some say that it will be Lotus now if Nico Hülkenbeg is going to rejoin Force India.

Valtteri Bottas was driving pretty good again but lost a wheel when he was overtaking Lewis Hamilton. They were on different laps but anyways if Bottas had more speed then why stay behind?

Hamilton also got a puncture and a penalty for causing the collision which ruined his race. He was close to a podium finish.

Lotus driver Romain Grosjean had bad luck when his Renault engine failed which is pretty rare nowadays.

The other Lotus driver Heikki Kovalainen had an awful start again. They had changed his bottom of the car before qualifying which effected his performance. You can clearly see that he was fast in the practice sessions but couldn't match the same kind of times in qualifying.

He blamed himself again just like the last GP but Lotus confirmed that they had made some changes on his car that weren't good. So Lotus didn't deserve more than 4th place in the constructors championship when Ferrari took third and Mercedes took second place.

Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel had already won the championships but made their victory even stronger by winning the last race with a 1-2 like I said earlier.

Sebastian Vettel and Felipe Massa performed a little show for the crowd by making some donuts in front of the main grandstands. Is this going to be a habit in the future?

Now it's time to compare guesses with results starting with guesses:

Pole position: Mark Webber, Red Bull - WRONG. It was the other Red Bull again (Sebastian Vettel)

Race:
  1. Mark Webber, Red Bull - WRONG. I really hoped for a "movie finish" but it never happened.
  2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - WRONG. These drivers were both up there but the order was reversed.
  3. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber - WRONG. Hulkenberg was 8th. This is the most wrong I have ever had.
Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - WRONG. I got the pole and fastest lap mixed up. Webber was fastest of the race.

Surprise: Nico Hulkenberg and Felipe Massa will shine at this GP. <----- they did but unfortunately they had nothing to show for it.

I would also like to thank all my readers for a great season!
I have posted something for you every day ever since I started and I will continue doing that. I promise!

Sunday, November 24, 2013

The driver's championship final standings of the 2013 season

1Sebastian VettelGermanRed Bull Racing-Renault397
2Fernando AlonsoSpanishFerrari242
3Mark WebberAustralianRed Bull Racing-Renault199
4Lewis HamiltonBritishMercedes189
5Kimi RäikkönenFinnishLotus-Renault183
6Nico RosbergGermanMercedes171
7Romain GrosjeanFrenchLotus-Renault132
8Felipe MassaBrazilianFerrari112
9Jenson ButtonBritishMcLaren-Mercedes73
10Nico HulkenbergGermanSauber-Ferrari51
11Sergio PerezMexicanMcLaren-Mercedes49
12Paul di RestaBritishForce India-Mercedes48
13Adrian SutilGermanForce India-Mercedes29
14Daniel RicciardoAustralianSTR-Ferrari20
15Jean-Eric VergneFrenchSTR-Ferrari13
16Esteban GutierrezMexicanSauber-Ferrari6
17Valtteri BottasFinnishWilliams-Renault4
18Pastor MaldonadoVenezuelanWilliams-Renault1
19Jules BianchiFrenchMarussia-Cosworth0
20Charles PicFrenchCaterham-Renault0
21Heikki KovalainenFinnishLotus-Renault0
22Giedo van der GardeDutchCaterham-Renault0
23Max ChiltonBritishMarussia-Cosworth0

The constructors championship final standings of the 2013 season

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix - Race

11Sebastian VettelRed Bull Racing-Renault711.32.36,300125
22Mark WebberRed Bull Racing-Renault71+10.4 secs418
33Fernando AlonsoFerrari71+18.9 secs315
45Jenson ButtonMcLaren-Mercedes71+37.3 secs1412
59Nico RosbergMercedes71+39.0 secs210
66Sergio PerezMcLaren-Mercedes71+44.0 secs198
74Felipe MassaFerrari71+49.1 secs96
811Nico HulkenbergSauber-Ferrari71+64.2 secs104
910Lewis HamiltonMercedes71+72.9 secs52
1019Daniel RicciardoSTR-Ferrari70+1 Lap71
1114Paul di RestaForce India-Mercedes70+1 Lap12
1212Esteban GutierrezSauber-Ferrari70+1 Lap17
1315Adrian SutilForce India-Mercedes70+1 Lap15
147Heikki KovalainenLotus-Renault70+1 Lap11
1518Jean-Eric VergneSTR-Ferrari70+1 Lap8
1616Pastor MaldonadoWilliams-Renault70+1 Lap16
1722Jules BianchiMarussia-Cosworth69+2 Lap21
1821Giedo van der GardeCaterham-Renault69+2 Lap20
1923Max ChiltonMarussia-Cosworth69+2 Lap22
Ret20Charles PicCaterham-Renault+13 Lap18
Ret17Valtteri BottasWilliams-Renault+26 Laps13
Ret8Romain GrosjeanLotus-Renault+69 Laps6