Red Bull's 2015 Formula 1 Season Preview

Check out Daniil Kyat's dance moves :D

Comparing the 2015 teammates: Red Bull

So now it's time to compare the Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

I'll start with the Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo.

He started racing in F1 back in 2011 with Hispania Racing Team (HRT) but moved to Toro Rosso the following year. After driving for Toro Rosso for two years he got a seat at Red Bull. It went very well for him at Red Bull!

Let's see how he has done against his teammates.

2011 - Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan. Ricciardo drove with Karthikeyan in one race and lost. Liuzzi and Ricciardo drove together in 10 races and the situation between them was 6-3 (one point is missing because neither one of them got a result in Italy). I could say that Ricciardo was the best at Hispania. Hispania or HRT never got a single point in the series.

2012 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo lost to his teammate with 6 points (16-10).

2013 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo won 20-13 in points and was 3 times more ahead of him in the races.

2014 - Sebastian Vettel. This was a shocking year for many! Daniel Ricciardo beat the 4 time world champion in wins, podiums and points. Vettel won no races at all and Ricciardo won three! The points were 238-167 so Ricciardo was clearly better in 2014.

Daniil Kvyat has only had one teammate in Formula One but let's still see what happened there.

2014 - Jean-Eric Vergne. He lost in points 22-8 to his more experienced teammate but still got a seat at Red Bull for 2015. This was a bit strange. Why isn't Jean-Eric Vergne getting any respect from Red Bull? He even beat Ricciardo in 2012! But all in all even though Kvyat lost to his teammate he drove very well and is probably going to improve a lot in 2015. If not then he hasn't got much time left in F1. If they give you 2 seasons and don't get the job done then it's bye bye.

Vettel to leave Red Bull after 2014; Kvyat to be promoted

Sebastian Vettel will leave Red Bull at the end of the 2014 season, the team has confirmed.

The German joined the Milton Keynes-based squad ahead of the 2009 season and the combination has been the dominant force in Formula One ever since, with Vettel claiming four consecutive world championship crowns, 38 Grand Prix victories, and 44 poles over the past six seasons.

Red Bull also confirmed that Daniil Kvyat, who has impressed for sister team Toro Rosso during his rookie season this year, will be promoted to the main team alongside Daniel Ricciardo in 2015.

"Sebastian Vettel has advised us that he will be leaving Infiniti Red Bull Racing at the end of the 2014 season," a statement from Red Bull read.

“We want to warmly thank Sebastian for the incredible role he has played at Infiniti Red Bull Racing for the last six years.

"As we wish Sebastian well in the next stage of his career, we also look to the future with excitement, as the vacancy makes way for the next generation of Red Bull racers. 

"The Red Bull Junior Programme has developed some proven talents in recent times, including Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo, who has excelled in the RB10 and become a three-time Formula One race winner in his first season with the team. 

"We're pleased to announce that Daniel will be joined in the team for 2015 by another rising star from the Junior Programme, Daniil Kvyat."

Vettel is expected to announce his future plans shortly.

His departure has massive significance in terms of the driver market. The 27-year-old has been widely tipped to move to Ferrari, with Fernando Alonso strongly linked with a switch back to McLaren, alongside either Jenson Button or Kevin Magnussen.

Kvyat's promotion meanwhile means a seat will open up at Toro Rosso next year. Rookie Max Verstappen is already confirmed with the team for 2015.

(source: f1.com)

2014 Italian Grand Prix preview

A picture from the old part of the track (the loop).

Are you ready for the Italian grand prix and the Monza track? This is one of the most legendary tracks in F1 history and it is also Ferrari's home grand prix.

Several Formula One legends have died on this track. The list is long so I shall mention just a few.

• In 1955 the Ferrari legend and two time world champion Alberto Ascari died here during a test session. 
• Wolfgang von Trips and 14 spectators were killed after he collided with Jim Clark in 1961. 
• Jochen Rindt was crowned as the Formula One world champion at the end of the 1970 season. Unfortunately he had passed away before that at Monza. The points were enough to make him the champion.
• The best Swedish F1 driver ever lived was Ronnie Peterson. He died in a hospital after a serious crash at the start of the 1978 Italian grand prix.

The Monza track has changed several times over the years. At first it looked like this:

This was in 1922-1933 before the F1 series even existed. The track was 10 kilometers with 4.5 kilometers in the loop and then 5.5 kilometers on the road track.

Later in 1935-1937 the track was changed and looked like this:

In 1950 the Formula One series started and Monza was the last race on the calendar. The race was won by Nino Farina even though Juan Manuel Fangio had been faster all weekend. Fangio got pole position and set the fastest lap of the race. Unfortunately he retired due to a gear box failure and Farina won the race and the first championship. The track was again different and it looked like this:

In 1955 it looked again like it did in the beginning (with the road- and loop-part). After 1969 the oval part was not used anymore and the track looked about the same it looks today.

The fastest lap on the combined track (in a race) was set in 1960 by the American F1 world champion Phill Hill. The record was 2.41.400 and the time was set with a Ferrari.

The fastest lap on the modern track (in a race) was set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 and also with a Ferrari. The current record is 1.21.046 and the reason why it is so much faster is that "the loop" is no longer in use.

If we talk about wins then Michael Schumacher is the king of this track. He has won this race 5 times. From the current drivers the king would be Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso because they both have 2 wins from Monza.

Sebastian Vettel took his maiden victory in Monza back in 2008 with Toro Rosso. That was strange if you ask me! To win a race with the former Minardi now known as Toro Rosso.

This year I think the battler between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will continue. Daniel Ricciardo and Valtteri Bottas will be up there with them taking advantage of the situation.

And now it's time for my predictions and here they are:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Valtteri Bottas, Williams

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Daniel Ricciardo will have a bad race for a change. I don't think this track is for him.

The bonus for the PREDICTORS LEAGUE: Who will be the last one to retire? My answer is Romain Grosjean, Lotus.

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 JT, AE, 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

How Mark Webber prepares for a hot race

If you haven't seen this then I suggest you take a look. It's quite interesting if you ask me.

Helmut Marko: Verstappen has all the ingredients of a champion

Max Verstappen has all the qualities needed to be a future Formula One world champion, according to Red Bull's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko.

Toro Rosso announced on Monday that Verstappen, newly recruited by the Red Bull Junior Team, will drive alongside Daniil Kvyat from the start of the 2015 season.

Though the Dutchman will have just one year of single-seater experience to draw upon, Marko says Red Bull are convinced there is no risk, given what the 16-year-old has already proved capable of.

"I think he has unbelievable speed," Marko told Red Bull. "For his age he is very mature, and he is a hard worker. He has all the necessary ingredients you need to be absolute champion.

"It was a surprise how quickly he adapted to Formula Three. The moment I thought [he was] something really special was at the Norisring. In mixed conditions - it was more wet than dry - he was per lap two seconds and more faster than anyone else.

"He will be 17 when he has his first race, which is pretty young, but I don't think it is a risk. He proved in various races that he can use his head. I had quite a few conversations with him and there you see how mature he is. 

"Toro Rosso is well known for educating and training young drivers, so he comes into [that] environment, and with all the possibilities which are around the Red Bull family - I think he'll go into the season well prepared. We can't see any risk doing it like that."

Verstappen, son of Formula One veteran Jos, admitted his deal with Toro Rosso - which will make him the youngest F1 driver in history - has yet to sink in, but insists he is ready for the challenge.

"I couldn't believe it in the beginning but I'm really, really happy at the moment," he said.

"It happened so fast, in one year and from Formula Three only…you start to realise it a bit more when you see a Formula One car, but I think you completely realise it when you are in the car. Then you are ‘okay this is it'.

"Of course I will do a lot of training from now on to be prepared to the big step. I think the age doesn't really matter. You want to be fast of course, but the main goal is just to try and be very consistent and not make too many mistakes. 

"I think it will be very good for Holland to have a new Dutch F1 driver - and also I am the second Verstappen name now, so I think that will be really cool. In the future of course I hope to become a world champion - that is also a dream."

Marko said the announcement had been made now in order to give Verstappen the maximum time possible to ready himself for his debut season, and also to give the outgoing Jean-Eric Vergne a chance to prove himself to other F1 teams.

"We are announcing it in the middle of the season to end all the speculation, to give a really good preparation for next year," Marko said.

"We were a little bit spoiled by what we have seen from Kvyat, who came into F1 with nearly no testing and was immediately in the points. I think we expect similar things from Max.

"On the other hand [there are] eight races left for Jean-Eric Vergne. He can make a good impression by having some really good results [which can] help him further his Formula One career."

Verstappen has won eight times and scored 13 podiums in his maiden FIA European Formula Three campaign, and lies second in the championship with two rounds to go.

(source: f1.com)

Vettel: Mercedes will be hard to catch in 2014

Sebastian Vettel admits Red Bull have found it difficult to improve their performance and bridge the gap to runaway championship leaders Mercedes over the first half of the 2014 season.

The Milton Keynes-based team have dominated in the constructors' standings for the past four seasons, but over the opening nine races of the year have scored just over half the points total of the Silver Arrows. Both Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel, meanwhile, are more than 60 points behind Mercedes' pairing of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

While the Red Bull duo have enjoyed various successes this year - most notably Daniel Ricciardo's breakthrough F1 triumph in Canada - Vettel admits the Milton Keynes-based team have not made significant inroads into their deficit to Mercedes.

"Right now the gap is very big and we haven't really closed the gap since race one," Vettel, who has scored podiums in Malaysia and Canada, told reporters at the recent Silverstone test.

"It has been up and down this year. Obviously we have tried lots of stuff to improve, but they (Mercedes) are doing the same thing.

"We are waiting for bigger steps to happen to close the gap even more which I think at the end of the season we can judge a lot better - then we know what we can do over the winter."

Vettel said a potential ban on Front-and-Rear Interconnected Suspension (FRIC) systems could alter the competitive order however, adding: "Obviously we know what we are running. We don't know what they [Red Bull's rivals] are running, but it is pretty clear what the FIA have said, so some teams will probably be more affected, others less."

Asked what he therefore hoped to achieve next weekend at his home Grand Prix in Germany, Vettel - who triumphed on home soil for the first time last year - said breaking into the top three was his chief focus.

"Obviously we hope for a smooth weekend without any problems, and to try and get the best out of myself and the car," he said. "It would be very special to finish on the podium there."

(source: f1.com)

Vettel And Ricciardo Preview The Red Bull Ring

Red Bull lose Ricciardo disqualification appeal

Red Bull have lost their appeal against Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from last month’s Australian Grand Prix results. Ricciardo was disqualified from second place after his car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted fuel flow rate.

Following Monday’s sitting in Paris in which it heard evidence from all parties, the International Court of Appeal decided to uphold the decision of the Melbourne stewards. Red Bull have accepted the Court's verdict, full details of which will be published by the FIA later this week.

Red Bull chose to rely on their own fuel calculations at Albert Park, after experiencing what they termed ‘inconsistencies’ with the FIA-approved flow meter, but insisted they could prove they never exceeded the 100kg per hour limit.

The FIA - Formula One racing’s governing body - countered that allowances had been made for any such ‘inconsistencies’ and that using alternative calculation methods without its express permission was in itself also a breach of the regulations.

Accepting the Court’s ruling, Red Bull said: “We are of course disappointed by the outcome and would not have appealed if we didn’t think we had a very strong case.

"We always believed we adhered to the technical regulations throughout the 2014 Australian Grand Prix. We are sorry for Daniel that he will not be awarded the 18 points from the event, which we think he deserved. We will continue to work very hard to amass as many points as possible for the team, Daniel and Sebastian (Vettel) throughout the season. 

“We will now move on from this and concentrate on this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.”

Below is the Court’s official statement, as released by the FIA on Tuesday.

Decision of the International Court of Appeal

The Court, after having heard the parties and examined their submissions, decided to uphold the Decision N°56 of the Stewards by which they decided to exclude Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s car N°3 from the results of the 2014 Australian Grand Prix.

The International Court of Appeal was presided over by Mr Harry DUIJM (Netherlands), and included Mr Rui BOTICA SANTOS (Portugal), Mr Philippe NARMINO (Monaco), Mr Antonio RIGOZZI (Switzerland) and Mr Jan STOVICEK (Czech Republic).

(source: f1.com)

Transforming Formula One: 2014 Rules Explained (Full Version)

If you havent seen this yet.

Red Bull F1 vs V8 Supercar vs C63 AMG (2014, Melbourne Australia)

David Coulthard on Red Bull Simulator at Monaco

Ricciardo upbeat despite Australia disqualification

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo says he has only positives to take away from the season-opening race in Australia, despite losing his maiden podium finish to disqualification.

Ricciardo was excluded from second place in Melbourne after stewards determined that his car had run with too high a fuel flow rate - a breach of Article 5.1.4 of the 2014 technical regulations, which limits teams to a maximum fuel flow rate of 100kg per hour.

The Australian said the stewards’ decision - which Red Bull are appealing - had "put a downer" on his home Grand Prix, but when asked if there were any pluses to take away from the race he was adamant there were.

“Actually it's mostly positives,” he told Red Bull’s website. “I did a good job in the car and I got to stand on the Australian Grand Prix podium – and no-one's taking the sensation of doing that away. 

“What happens next is outside of my ability to control but honestly, I'd rather it went down like this than have retired from the race with a mechanical problem. I'll take a podium and a subsequent disqualification over that any day of the week.”

With Red Bull suffering severe technical issues with the Renault-powered RB10 in pre-season testing, a podium finish in Australia seemed unlikely. Now, however, Ricciardo believes that with the team only beginning to unlock performance from their car, they have every chance of returning to the rostrum again soon. 

“Albert Park's made me hungry to get on the podium again - and I think we've got a really good chance of doing it,” he said. 

“The work we did in the winter targeted reliability rather than performance. It was only in Melbourne that we got the opportunity to start working on a set-up. The RB10 surprised us by being pretty competitive in the dry and very competitive in the wet. It's going to get much better as we dial it in over the next few races and catch up with those teams that did more miles pre-season.

“At the moment, we're in the battle to be the second-best team. Obviously that isn't where we want to be but it's exceeding our expectations of only a few weeks ago. I think once we really get into the setup of the car, we'll be able to close the gap to Mercedes. Obviously they're going to improve too but I think we're in a good position to make bigger strides.”

From Australia, Red Bull travel to Malaysia and a circuit on which they scored a dominant, if controversial, one-two finish in 2013. On that occasion Sebastian Vettel defied team orders instructing him to hold station and passed team mate Mark Webber for the win.

(source: f1.com, redbull.com)

Red Bull appeal to be heard on April 14

Red Bull’s appeal against Daniel Ricciardo’s exclusion from the Australian Grand Prix results will be heard next month, the FIA has announced. Ricciardo was disqualified from second place after his car was found to have exceeded the maximum permitted fuel flow rate of 100kg per hour.

The International Court of Appeal sitting will take place in Paris, France, on the morning of April 14, the Monday prior to the 2014 Formula 1 UBS Chinese Grand Prix. The Court’s decision will be published as soon as possible after the hearing.

Red Bull announced their intention to appeal immediately after Sunday’s race in Albert Park, saying: “Inconsistencies with the FIA fuel flow meter have been prevalent all weekend up and down the pit lane. The Team and Renault are confident the fuel supplied to the engine is in full compliance with the regulations.”

(source: f1.com)

Red Bull's pre season interviews with Vettel, Ricciardo, Horner and Newey

Melbourne F1 2013 speed comparison

If you haven't seen this then you should! Here you can see the awesome power of a Formula One car.

F1.COM: Four teams set for Bahrain Pirelli tyre test

A three-day tyre test begins on Tuesday at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC). The special session was approved by the FIA last week in order to give official suppliers Pirelli more track time to help develop their 2014-specification rubber.

The four teams taking part are Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes and Toro Rosso (all 11 were invited, with McLaren and Force India also initially accepting), and drivers due in action include Nico Rosberg, Jules Bianchi and BIC lap record holder, Pedro de la Rosa. All will be at the wheel of 2013-spec cars, driving to a programme dictated by Pirelli.

The dramatic changes to the Formula One regulations for 2014, in particular reduced downforce and the move to more torquey, 1.6-litre V6 engines, means the demands placed on tyres will be very different. This week’s tyre test will be followed by three official pre-season F1 tests, starting at Jerez in Spain at the end of January.

Running for world champions Red Bull in Sakhir will be Swiss racer Sebastien Buemi, recently reconfirmed as the team’s test and reserve driver. Mercedes, meanwhile, will use Nico Rosberg. Team mate Lewis Hamilton will not attend as expected, choosing instead to focus on his winter training programme.

Ferrari will field veteran tester De la Rosa for the first two days, before Marussia racer and Ferrari Driver Academy member Bianchi gets a day in the F138 cockpit on Thursday. Finally, Toro Rosso will run their 2014 race line-up of Jean-Eric Vergne and Russian rookie Daniil Kvyat.

(source: f1.com)

Webber: You don't want to hear this..

Mark Webber was asked who he thinks is the favorite for the championship in 2014 even though the engines and regulations are changing.

Webber's answer to BBC was something like this: "Seb is the favorite for the drivers championship. They (Red Bull) are favorites to start the season well and that's probably something people don't wanna hear at home."

Mark Webber drove his last season with Red Bull this year and is working for Porsche next year.

Comparing the 2014 teammates: Red Bull Racing

Earlier I promised to compare the 2014 teammates with each other and look back at their old results.

I started with Ferrari's drivers Räikkönen and Alonso so now it's time for Vettel and Ricciardo.

I'll start with Daniel Ricciardo, who is less experienced but still a very good driver.

He started racing in 2011 with Hispania but changed to Toro Rosso the following year. After driving for Toro Rosso for two years he got a seat at Red Bull. That's in 2014! The "newbie" vs. the 4 time world champion. Good luck!

Let's see how he has done till this moment against his teammates.

2011 - Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narain Karthikeyan. Ricciardo drove with Karthikeyan in one race and lost. Liuzzi and Ricciardo drove together in 10 races and the situation between them was 6-3 (one point is missing because neither one of them got a result in Italy). I could say that Ricciardo was the best at Hispania. Hispania or HRT never got a single point in the series.

2012 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo lost to his teammate with 6 points (16-10).

2013 - Jean-Eric Vergne. Ricciardo won 20-13 in points and was 3 times more ahead of him in the races.

The next driver's list is a bit more impressive but he is also more experienced.

Sebastian Vettel started his career in F1 in the year 2007 by replacing Robert Kubica for one race at BMW.

He drove a better race than his more experienced teammate Nick Heidfeld and took his first point with 8th place.

Toro Rosso were really impressed with Sebastian Vettel and replaced their American driver Scott Speed with Vettel.

2007 - Vitantonio Liuzzi. Vettel drove in only 7 races but still got a better result than Liuzzi who had driven in all races. Vettel even lead a race but crashed with Mark Webber who drove for Red Bull. Anyway he took 4th place in China which was Toro Rosso's all time best result till than point. Vettel celebrated the 4th place like he won the championship. After that people even said that this guy could be better than Schumi. I didn't think so but now I'm not sure anymore..

2008 - Sebastien Bourdais. Bourdais had come from the Champ Car series to F1 with high hopes but all his dreams were crushed when Vettel beat him in every race that he finished. Vettel even took a pole position and won a race with Toro Rosso which shocked the world. Toro Rosso has never managed to do that again after Vettel.

2009 - Mark Webber. Vettel joined Red Bull as Webber's junior teammate. He was there to learn more from the more experienced driver but ended up beating him on his first season with Red Bull and almost won the championship as well. Vettel also won Red Bull's first victory and took the team's first pole position that year.

2010 - Mark Webber. Vettel won 5 races and his first championship for Red Bull and himself. That was the second time he won the more experienced Mark Webber. He won him by 14 points.

2011 - Mark Webber. Webber and nobody else had a chance against Vettel that year. He had over 120 points more than Jenson Button who was second. If we compare Vettel and Webber then the situation was 392-258 in the end. Massive difference! Vettel won 11 races and took his second championship for himself and the team as well.

2012 - Mark Webber. This year Vettel won his teammate again by over 100 points. Webber was 6th in the championship and Vettel became the 3 time world champion.

2013 - Mark Webber. This year Webber lost by almost 200 points! That's just crazy. Vettel scored more points in one season than anyone else in Formula One history. He also won 13 races that season which was the same as Michael Schumacher's world record.

There is no doubt that Daniel Ricciardo has someone very good against him and next year is going to be very hard. I hope he can stand up for himself right at the start. Otherwise he is in big trouble and it might hurt his career.

2013 United States Grand Prix review

Vettel won again but the race was still interesting in many ways. The most interesting things for me were Räikkönen's replacement Heikki Kovalainen and the young rookie Valtteri Bottas.

Williams has had one of the worst season of the teams history. Pastor Maldonado has scored only one point this season and now Bottas was 8th at the USGP. That was good news not only for Williams but for the young Finn as well. He really showed that he is able to overtake when the car has what it takes to compete.

Right at the start he overtook Kovalainen and then later Esteban Gutierrez in a high speed chase.

I was very impressed with Bottas! And yes I have said many times that he is a pro driver waiting for his chance.

Have also promised that I will stop talking about him until he actually does something. That didn't take long when I made that promise in Abu Dhabi two weeks ago.

Heikki Kovalainen was a big disappointment right from the start, but when I heard that the problems was because of his KERS, front wing/lack of down force and tire temperatures I understood that it wasn't his fault. I really thought at first that he is a bit rusty but don't think so anymore. His speed in the practice sessions and qualifying was very similar to Kimi Räikkönen so it can't be that bad.

Even Davide Valsecchi who at first said that Kovalainen was a bad choice changed his mind about him.

It takes a racing driver to see how good Kovalainen was performing. But all in all I was still very disappointed with his results. I really wanted to see him higher up fighting with the other top drivers.

Both of the Ferrari's were very slow. Even Alonso had problems keeping Nico Hulkenberg behind him but that is also because Hulkenberg is an awesome driver and not just the lack of Ferrari's speed.

Then I thought that I should mention the name of Romain Grosjean who drove almost like Räikkönen would have driven. It was probably a big relief for Team Lotus when they weren't sure if their two drivers could bring same kind of points home as Räikkönen usually does.

Mika Salo asked Eric Boullier before the race if Grosjean could fight for 2nd place. Boullier answered right away by saying "No, no, no. The Red Bulls will be first and second". It seems that the result was a bit better than even he could have expected. At least when we talk about Grosjean. In Kovalainen's case everything was wrong. Even the first "normal" pit stop was 2 seconds slower than Grosjeans. What was taking so long guys?

And like I always do at the end of the reviews - Here are the guesses from the preview and the actual results:

Pole position: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

Race:

1. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes - ONLY WRONG GUESS IN THE TOP3. LH WAS 4TH AND GROSJEAN WAS 2ND.
3. Mark Webber, Red Bull - CORRECT

Fastest lap: Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull - CORRECT

Surprise: Heikki Kovalainen seems to be a mystery to many but I believe that he will be higher up than Grosjean. This guy is better than many may think. Keep an eye on him if you haven't already done that.

He has been good in the practice sessions so far and is performing stronger than his teammate.

He performed better in the long runs than Grosjean at the practice sessions but then after that everything started going downhill for the former Caterham pilot. I really hoped that he wouldn't retire from the race and he didn't but the problems that he had were almost the same thing.

The biggest surprise for me was the new speed found in the Williams cars. Unfortunately only Bottas could take advantage of the new setups. Maldonado was held up in the qualifying session by Max Chilton and Esteban Gutierrez. Maldonado's position was 18th when Bottas was 9th.

Maldonado had earlier even complained that Williams has been favoring Bottas and making his (Maldonado's) time there more difficult on purpose.

That is a stupid thing to say because Williams needs every point they can get. Valtteri Bottas said that he is going to fight for some more points next weekend at Interlagos. Let's hope that will happen.

Tomorrow I will post the 2013 Brazilian GP preview which is the last preview of the season.