2014 Japanese Grand Prix review

When I think back at this race my thoughts are with Jules Bianchi. I hope he will recover soon and that this won't have an impact on his racing in the future. It might even be that he won't return and that would be very sad.

Some drivers have lost their spark after an accident. Felipe Massa for example. He is good but he used to be better. Then there is Mika Häkkinen who was in a coma for a short period and won 2 championships after that. What about Niki Lauda? Everybody knows that story. Let's hope that Bianchi doesn't end up like Robert Kubica who never returned to Formula One.

The race itself was chaos for some teams. Ferrari and Williams for example. They had a great chance to score some good points but were left with scraps and a retirement (Fernando Alonso).

The Red Bulls took advantage of the other team's misfortune and managed to take a podium. I knew that Sebastian Vettel would be good here because he has always been good in Japan and the previous podium gave him extra motivation. He has also started to beat his teammate Daniel Ricciardo and I think he will continue to do so. Ricciardo is good but don't forget that Vettel is a four time world champion.

Some people don't respect Vettel because he has won his championships with a good car. It's not his fault that the car was good. You can not be a bad driver to win 4 championships.

This year Vettel has been in Ricciardo's shadow because the new car hasn't really fitted his driving style. Don't get me wrong, Daniel Ricciardo is a very good driver but so is Vettel. I have to remind you that I am not a Vettel fan so I am not saying this because I cheer for him or anything like that.

Mark my words Vettel will beat Ricciardo in the next race as well if the car doesn't break down or anything.

My last words of the race are these: I was not surprised that Hamilton won the race instead of Rosberg because this track and this win was so important to him just like I explained in my preview.

Once again let's hope that Bianchi recovers and continues to do what he loves to do which is racing.

Here are my predictions and the actual results:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - WRONG. Hamilton was 2nd and his teammate Rosberg was on pole.

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes - CORRECT
3. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - CORRECT

Surprise: Romain Grosjean will have a surprisingly good race for a change. He likes this track. - WRONG. Didn't go so good for him in Japan. I guess the Lotus wasn't very good in the wet.

First to retire (5 bonus points in the PREDICTORS LEAGUE): Pastor Maldonado - WRONG. Alonso retired first.

Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun. 

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW & MH. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps. 

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com