Yay! The season is over and we had a terrific race in Sao Paulo. It was a race that had everything: drama, excitement, accidents, joy and deep sadness. One can only feel happy for Sebastian Vettel, but at the same time one must feel a little sad for Fernando Alonso, who has driven his heart out all year. He accepted defeat with grace and style. It was an emotional day for little Felipe Massa, who is a driver I admire enormously, both as a racer and a man. It was not a bad day for Michael Schumacher, who went out in slightly less embarrassing style than might have been the case. It was a great day too for Force India, while McLaren had a bittersweet kind of race. You want to weep for Lewis Hamilton’s bad luck sometimes. He did not deserve to be tipped out of the race by Nico Hulkenberg. He deserved to win. But the incident had much bigger implications than that. McLaren, remember, has a technology supply deal with Force India. This was so good that McLaren found itself not only in the uncomfortable position of being beaten by its customer (great advertising, I suppose), but the crash meant that McLaren lost 18 points in the Constructors’ Championship, add to that the points that Ferrari gained as the result of the crash: three for Alonso and three for Massa and you see that the incident cost McLaren 24 points. If the team had scored those points it would have finished second in the title and would have gained around $10 million more. One can only hope that the Force India deal brings McLaren more than that because otherwise the customer programme will have been operating at a loss! One has to say that Force India did a great job and that was why we made Hulkenberg GP+’s inspired driver last night. He did a great job until the crash…
It was a wild day for Caterham and Marussia as well with the two battling over 11th place. The winner of that battle would take 10th place in the Constructors’ title and with that would come an additional $10 million in TV money. It was frantic stuff. I saw Caterham Group CEO Riad Asmat at the airport late last night and he was exhausted from all the emotion of the afternoon.
I was pretty exhausted as well after we crashed out GP+ and then set off, like the Keystone Kops, to get to the airport. We made it and there was time for a quick drink in the bar, where some friendly person stole my iPhone (or I lost it) so today is going to be a little more complicated than my normal activities… So here I am sitting in the departure hall in Atlanta, Georgia, listening to the recording of some disgustingly wholesome person singing “Oh, Come All Ye Faithful”. Tomorrow morning in Paris I am sure I can sort it all out. I have blown the old iPhone using clever technology so all the personal stuff will turn to dust if anyone tries to use it… and the SIM has been fried by geeks.
The only answer is comfort food and so I am off to look for corned beef hash for breakfast!
joeblogsf1 
Hope that the phone is definitely gone then, or else you’ll be kicking yourself if it pops up in your luggage…
Joe you “Apples” are falling quickly from the tree this year. Only to be expected in Autumn…. 😉
No having much luck with your gizmos, Joe! First the Macbook, now the iPhone!
Good race, gutted for Hamilton who could have ended the season on a high.
Safe trip home!
It has been a pleasure reading your blog Joe this season! What are your plans for the silly season??
I am staying at home for at least 16 hours.
Not long, then? 😉
Joe, one or two websites are claiming (I know, I know!) that Lotus are holding off on confirming Grosjean because they are pursuing a ‘high profile’ alternative (even tho’ team staff have said that ‘there isn’t another ‘Kimi’ out there right now’, my paraphrase).
Did you hear anything like that? If the team does decide it’s fed up with Grosjean, can you tell us who the leading candidates are to replace him?
Nothing is impossible, but I don’t see there being anyone worth having out there.
Michael Schumacher? (Just kidding).
Thanks for responding. Appreciated as always. Have a good break, if you do decide to take some serious time out.
(I suppose I’m still hoping that his Schuminess will decide he’s still hungry and cut a deal to come back to Enstone. But altho’ I think his driving this year was the best it’s been since his return, my read on his public comments is that he just isn’t hungry for it any more. In which case, better for everyone that he walks now, pace Damon Hill passim).
My dad’s friend’s cousin’s hairdresser’s fish’s brother’s owner ASSURES me that it’s Sébastien Loeb.
Becoming an F1 driver is a process that takes more than basic talent.
Whew! I had to read that twice! I almost thought your dad’s friend’s cousin’s hairdresser’s fish’s brother could talk!
Kubica won’t be ready and I don’t believe anyone else could replace Grosjean there.
Incredibly the Caterham – Marussia battle was for P12, before something happened at the front that made Petrov end up P11.
You didn’t try to use the “Locate my iPhone” feature, Joe?
Yes, I did. It told me that my iPhone was in Cupertino, California, which I deemed to be rather silly.
Perhaps the person who found it, took it with him or her to Cupertino, California?
Maybe it went home to see it’s family.
*its.
Curses.
Have no personal experience of iPhones, but isn’t that where Apple’s headquarters are? So probably the default location, so either it never worked in the first place, or it’d already been wiped and reset by whoever “found” it by the time you did it.
Thanks for a great blog about a great F1 season Joe.
Second that
Sorry to hear you lost the phone Joe 😦
I’d like to say a massive thank-you for another awesome year of blogs. For people like me who can only dream of having access to the paddock, blogs like this help us fans understand and appreciate the sport and business of F1 that we’d otherwise know nothing about. A highlight for me this year was your Bahrain coverage, but I especially like your business analysis of things like sponsorship deals and inner workings/financing of teams.
Enjoy the corned-beef hash and the winter, testing will be here before you know it and another 19 or 20 Grand Prix! I still can’t believe this season is over already..
Joe, did you think HULK’s penalty was the correct decision or was it more of a racing incident, taking into account the conditions? Thanks.
eagleash
No. It seems to me that Hulkenberg made a mistake in conditions where mistakes were always likely to be made.
So the question is, “Are we going to penalise drivers who have made a mistake, even if it affects another driver?” That’s a wholly different thing from penalising some of the clottish moves we have seen in the last couple of years.
The difficulty is deciding when a mistake becomes a clottish manoevre.
Martin
Lewis Hamilton wins the 2012 “So what happened, Mark?” award for the most unlucky driver of the season.
Indeed, he [Lewis] has had quite a lot of bad luck moments this year – engine down, power lost, drivers crashing into him … But the Hulk incident, no matter how costly it is, for me it was more like ra(in)(c)ing incident …
What an end of a season.
I’m inclined to agree, it’s become a standard punishment for forcing another car to retire, but I think the stewards are getting a little too strict on it.
Nevertheless, definitely not Lewis’s fault, just like so many of his retirements this year.
I think Webber should still get it to. God, it’s hearthbreaking being a Webber fan. Such a great driver; such rotten luck.
Pity the stewards didnt apply it to Vettel for forcing Senna to retire.
I think you may have got the blame thing the wrong way round there.
An amazing year for you as we’ll. Enjoy the short break until testing.
Hopefully, Bernie’s slow demise will keep us all amused in the meantime.
Rodger JOHN
There’s a reason why you lean to the left when you walk.
It’s because of the weight of the chip on your shoulder.
Eh!?
Sorry, no chip; it is just that I believe “what goes-around, inevitably comes-around”, it has just been an incredibly long time coming for BE.
Yes, agree with the karmic cycle, but what’s he done wrong?
Someone needs to read some financial news…..
Any proof? Has he been found guilty?
If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck…
guilty before trial?
Shall I finish the idiom?
If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, and sounds like a duck, then it is PROBABLY a duck.
Barring any legal maneuvers, I don’t have a good feeling about the outcome of the whole affair.
Interesting post as ever. For me, yesterday showed why sport at its best can enrich life, and why F1 is despite all the nonsense that too often surrounds it, one of the greatest of sports. As a, yet again, disappointed tifoso, I can only look forward to next season and reading your excellent blog.
Joe – Thanks so much for all your good work and insight this season! Hope you get to stay home for a while.
I agree Joe, fantastic race. However for me Massa was the star, much as I admire Hulkenberg. The way he rode ‘shotgun’ for Alonso was truly inspiring to watch – great overtaking but fair at the same time. A true team player – others watch and learn. Grosjean’s rather dangerous attempt on De la Rosa, I think it was, is worthy of yet another sanction. Dear oh me.
And finally – Schumacher. A nice present for Vettel at the end of the race. OK it meant nothing in the end and Vettel would have overtaken him anyway, but it’s breathtaking that he would entertain such an idea in such close a fought battle for the championship. Bye bye Michael, you took the place of an younger and better man (it’s a long list) for three years.
I was pleased that he didn’t try to back up Vettel and simply shot off to chase down Kobayashi. With a single dry line he could have backed Vettel up into traffic without much trouble.
I guess I’m not a fan!
Joe – safe journey home, and thanks for all the insights throughout the year. I was wondering if you have any thoughts about whether Grosjean is still a shoe-in for next year at Lotus, or whether he may have blown it with one crunch too many this time out. There seem to be a number of drivers who one can almost predict will have incidents at the start of a race, and four of them managed to stay true to form…
Joe, thanks for your sterling work all season — your blog and GP+ add immeasurably to my enjoyment and understanding of the sport.
Looking forward to the season review issue in the fulness of time (in which I hope I will read of Kobayashi being confirmed at Lotus). Until then, I think you deserve a good long rest, and a Whisky Mac or two as the weather turns colder and the nights draw in.
Good luck on the food front, I’ve had some dreadful meals at the Atlanta airport! Haha
Most of all, thanks for a great season of blogging. It was great to see you in Melbourne and read the blog / GP+ through the year.
I did not stay in the airport
It was such a great race yesterday … I had wanted Alonso to take the title but I think that Vettel thoroughly deserved it after battling against the odds in the last few races . Having said that , it amused me that Maldonado picked up a grid penalty for missing a signal light and Hulkenberg got a drive through for putting another driver out of the race where Vettel got nothing for both ?
But hey , it made for great entertainment and that is what we want on a wet Sunday afternoon !
Thanks for the excellent coverage , not only of the races themselves but all the ‘extra’ bits and angles (which quite often can be the most interesting) !
Cheers :0)
Agree that Vettel is a worthy champ but he won his title (like the other two) in unarguably the best car on the grid. Not that this is uncommon! I can’t remember the last driver to win the title in an inferior car. Mika H won in ’99 for McLaren despite Ferrari winning the Constructors so perhaps you could make a case for that but there are so many other factors in play that even that’s not clear cut.
However had Alonso won he’d have done so in arguably the 3rd best car (yes I know they beat McLaren in the constructors but only down to outrageous misfortune on Lewis’ behalf).
So had Fernando won (and I’m no great fan of the guy personally) it would have been IMHO a massively greater achievement.
Vettel I like both personally and as a driver but for 2 guys to finish 3 points apart in cars as unequal as the RB and the Ferrari leaves me in no doubt as to whom is the ‘moral’ WC.
To put it another way if they had had each others cars this season I’d bet good money that the gap would have been greater than 3 points and not in Seb’s favour.
That said, history will show Vettel to be 2012 WC and I tip my hat to the man.
Roll on March 2013!!!!
On balance, there’s a reasonable case that the best car this year was the McLaren. Looking back to the start of the season, Red Bull weren’t looking all that hot.
I know what you mean Jem. However I’m not sure you’d have much joy convincing Lewis of this as he trudged back to the pits having comfortably led at least 3 races this year and has his car go pop! Red Bull really did get caught on the hop at the start but boy did they develop well.
Knowing what you know now, if you were an F1 driver, which car would you choose if we we’re magiced back to last March?
Surely the RB…..no?
For the car, I’d probably take the McLaren, but for the team I’d take Red Bull (given the early season pit fiascos from Team Woking)
Vettel didn’t look so good after the race when he:
1. complained about ‘dirty tricks’ from other teams (like Red Bull are innocent)
2. Suggested that he should go to Ayrton Senna’s grave to tell him what his Newphew had been up to
3. Looks like he overtook an HRT under yellow flags (different from the Kobayashi incident).
Enjoy the positive things in life. You will find it much better than looking always for the negative.
Fair comment Joe. I would just expect Vettel to show a bit more maturity to go along with his achievements, and maybe recognise the amount of luck he has had come his way.
Joe, was your reply to Luke or Seb, or perhaps to both?
Did he really say that about Ayrton’s grave ?
If so he’s gone down in my estimation. Which I’m sure will keep him up nights…
Ditto ! Why bring a dead person into it ?! Just comes across as petty and childish.
In fairness, the question he was responding to was “..and then comes the nephew of Aryton Senna, and here in brazil crashes in the back of your car, what did you think at that moment?”. He could have done a better job of brushing off/ignoring it then trying to make a quick quip about it but he hardly invoked the name of he who shall not be named first.
Joe, thanks to you,David and Peter for a great season of GP+. Have a great off season, look forward to 2013.
I would also, if you don’t mind, like to tip the hat to the outgoing F1 crew at Speed TV, David, Bob, Steve and Will, as they provide great F1 coverage to those of us here in the USA.
Thanks to you all.
Joe,
many, many thanks for all your insight, knowledge and passion this year. As always you have informed, speculated and infuriated all your loyal followers…long may it continue! You continue to bring a breath of fresh air amongst all the dross who re-tell press releases or act as Bernie’s mouth-piece. Have a great break & I look forward to next year with you.
With sincere best wishes to you & yours
Mark
Thanks Joe for your great work, and enjoy the break. In many ways this is a golden age for Formula 1 and your reporting of it really helps to illuminate why that is.
Joe,
Thank you very much for your great knowledge, insights and hard work this season. Hopefully you will have a good rest until 2013 gets underway.
Thank you for the year’s journalism. For me, you are the successor to Rob Walker as the one who delivers the exquisite flavor of Formula 1 to me, 5545 kilometers, 3446 miles or 2994 nautical miles away. Fun-holiday wishes to you.
Thanks for everything you share on this blog.
I’m sure The Mole has contacts to make your iPhone do worse than that…
Hah ! 😀
Interlagos again showed that the FIA is mired in hopelessly outdated protocol. It refuses to give the newly crowded world champion a podium appearance if he is not in the race top three.
In Jerez in 1997 it looked as it that would happen,and I pleaded personally with Max Mosley for a podium show and his admission to the winners’ press conference, He at least ordered his uptight press officer to yield on the press conference point, though the podium protocol remained sacrosanct. In the event it wasn’t a problem, but it very easily could have been.
Let the race winners have their moment, and then bring on the champion. The FIA have unclenched their collective nether regions suffiicently to allow interviews on the podium, and even, oh horror, someone speaking to his home crowd in their own language, a previous absolute no-no.
It would be nice if the next time this situation arises, the FIA would show it has finally entered the 21st media century, with (a) a podium for the champion if he is not in the race top three, and (b) a formal press conference for him to avoid the ridiculous media scrum in the paddock.
I agree. It seems almost disrespectful to the championship winning driver, to be treated like the rest of the “also rans”. NASCAR and IndyCar celebrate the victory, then bring on the champion in a big celebration. One of the things they do well. The FIA seems to want to save the prize giving as an exclusive event, to which we fans are not invited.
Of course were not, we are merely the fans ! Anything to do with Bernie and the FIA will always be the same.
Awesome.
Do I recall Schumi being in the winners press conference in 94?
Almost had a heart attack during the race yesterday, that is the way to end a season. I was a little sad that Alonso didn’t win as he had driven a brilliant season, but it’s had to find fault with Vettel, he used the equipment supplied to him to the best of his abilities and earned his third crown fair and decisively.
Hopefully next year Ferrari can do a proper job and we’ll have a straight four way battle (I’m hoping Brawn and Hamilton can pull an unexpected rabbit out of somewhere).
Fantastic season overall!
Get some rest Joe, testing is just around the corner.
I meant “it’s hard to find fault”…sorry
Talking to a co-worker this morning about the race and season, I made the comment that when I went to the 2007 Canadien Grand Prix, during Saturday dinner a group of us felt we were on the dawn of the Hamilton era (first pole and first win Sunday). What none of us could have known we were one race away from the Vettel era.
Great season and a tip of the cap to Alonso for making it close.
Kimi needs a GPS unit installed considering his little detour…
“Leave him alone, he knows what he is doing”!!!:)
http://i45.tinypic.com/2r79bif.jpg 🙂
Now THAT is hilarious fernando! Well done.
thank you; but then I have to tell was not me who created the ‘gag’.
I saw it in another comment in a brazilian journalist blog, and who post it there did not know the authorship as well – as it had happened before with the same Kimi and his tripping over a fence in some other circuit this year, when I had good laughter with some of the many ‘fotocollages’ made, all anonymously published (at least where i saw it) then I decided to share the laughter here this time.
cheers
That is very funny.
Almost as funny as it’s going to be at the first test, when Kimi slots himself into the seat & an engineer takes him thro’ the control sequences for the TomTom.
Actually, does anyone else think Lopez ought to be on the phone to TomTom, Garmin, etc. trying to do a sponsorship deal for 2013?
That was so funny to watch ! If only his three point turn had been like the austin powers: http://youtu.be/IGiQOCX9UbM?hd=1
😀
If you look on Google Maps, it seems that the Streetview car has actually done a lap of Interlagos and shows this very escape road as being a way back on to the track…
Joe, why do you reckon on Hamilton deserving the win more on the day than, say, Hulkenberg or Button?, who had both been far beyond Hamilton before the first safety car, and were still very much in the running for the win during Lewis’s second spell at the front.
(Also, whilst I agree with the result of the Hulkenberg/Hamilton incident costing McLaren, have you neglected Hulkenberg’s before-and-after track position in the your calculation of the subsequent swing in points?, i.e. perhaps McLaren lost 15 points: HAM 25-to-0, BUT 15-to-25; but Ferrari gained 11 points: ALO 12-to-18, MAS 10-to-15; which would make a swing of 26 points.)
I’d add commiserations to the Enstone team, with Raikkonen completing every race lap of the entire season for them bar the very last one, just a few seconds more than a lap behind Button when the last safety car was called. So near yet so far. Shame the gate was shut (assuming Kimi’s tale regards a 2001 foray is true).
Thank you for your public musings and reportings over another season. Much appreciated.
Because Lewis Hamilton is one of the top two drivers in F1 and he has been very unlucky this year.
Well, on the season’s count, he of course already had (and duly finished with) the second highest win tally, if only fourth on championship points. But he might or might not have been giving one of the top two performances on the day.
I wonder what’s worth more to a driver having missed out on the year’s championship: a high championship placing, or wins in the season? e.g. 2nd in points with 3 wins, versus 4th in points but with 4 wins??
That’s interesting. Top -two-, huh? So which do you consider only #3, Alonso or Vettel? (FWIW, no axe to grind, I don’t have enough insight to split them myself. If I was -pushed-, I’d rate -current- performance as Alo / Ham / Vet, with the proviso that that’s a listing from oldest to youngest, so the potential for further development is probably the reverse)
I can’t believe Hamilton was beaten by Kimi in the WDC. Nothing like an accurate reflection of their relative competitiveness this year. Poor guy.
Oh, and:
>Felipe Massa, who is a driver I admire enormously, both as a racer and a man.
+1 to that. It’s good to hear you say it. I was disappointed at how many people piled on when he was struggling earlier this year. I’m glad he can go into the closed season having unequivocally delivered everything anyone could have asked of him in the title decider. That should silence any critics among the tifosi through the closed season, and help him start 2013 with his head together.
“I can’t believe Hamilton was beaten by Kimi in the WDC. Nothing like an accurate reflection of their relative competitiveness this year. Poor guy.”
I see it as a testimony to the consistent brilliance of Raikkonen throughout the year. Before the season started people seemed to think he was just turning up for the paycheque and was going to get bored, but for me he was the driver of the year.
Kimi, like Alonso, reliably racked up points in a car which had no right to do as well as it did. Yes, Hamilton ought to have been closer to the two main contenders come the end, but Raikkonen drove outstandingly throughout. He finished in the top 5 eleven times this year – one more than Mark Webber and Jenson Button.
Check out my screen name. I’m not intending any criticism of Kimi at all.
On the ‘had no right’ thing, tho’, I wonder a bit. That’s not what Toto Wolff thinks. In fact, this is the first year since 1980 when I can remember the team a) getting half way decent results and b) NOT facing a huge chorus of commentary that the driver outdrove a merely adequate car, which wasn’t all that. (And the 1980 campaign I’m talking about was in F2…)
Warwick, Senna, Schumacher, Alonso…they’ve all driven there, they’ve all done better than expected, and some people seem to think it’s pretty much always been in spite of the car. And, to be fair, they’ve all been poached by teams with bigger budgets, and (apart from Fernando to date) they’ve all achieved more after they left than they ever did at Witney or Enstone.
Actually, I’ve been much surprised how much credit the team seems to be getting, and how (relatively) little Kimi got. The deafening silence in response to his fairly desperate and transparent ‘I’m a WDC, get me out of here!’ messages before being confirmed for 2013 was telling, I thought. Ferrari or Mac could have bought him out of Lotus if they’d wanted to enough, I’m pretty sure. And the man himself seemed to be pretty much begging them to do that. But the response just doesn’t seem to have been there. And, in fairness to Kimi, I am surprised by that.
Hamilton and McLaren had the driver and the car to take both titles this year. It is quite bizarre to look at both their final standing in the tables. Was it all down to bad luck? Look at Jenson. His performance was dwarfed by Lewis and yet he finishes 3pts behind Hamilton.
Yes, this.
Given how well he was drivingnand how consistently quick he was in the car pretty much all year, I find it actually surreal that he finished just behind Kimi and only 3 points ahead of Jenson in the standings. Usually, the luck thing averages out at least somewhat. You get an engine failure, someone else gets punted out by a backmarker. And vice-versa.
Nine times out of 10, I’d argue, if you’re beaten over the year by someone clearly slower, it means that either the car was -fundamentally- unreliable (& your teammate would be having trouble with that too), or you were responsible for breaking it or getting yourself into a load of accidents (not necessarily causing them, but at minimum putting yourself into a place where you were vulnerable to others’ mistakes – poor racecraft). Neither applies to Lewis this year. His driving was the best I’ve seen from him, really intelligent, and altho’ he had loads of unreliability and pitstop trouble, it all seemed to be random odds and ends. It didn’t seem to affect Jenson much, and it didn’t look like the kind of stuff that the driver can influence by being hard or gentle on he car either. I can’t remember the last time a driver was so consistently unlucky while looking so little as if he deserved it
So glad the season ended on such a wow note – even I was gripped!!! Sorry to hear about the phone tho. Really looking forward to all that this break brings you – and to sharing some of the undoubted highlights!
Great to hear a ‘Yay!’ from you Joe ^_^ much thanks for all your top musing and awesome writing this season
So has Petrov secured his seat for next year, after earning an extra 10 million now? Or will it be Giedo, who was 1,5 sec faster in Friday’s practise?
Petrov has won back $10 million and will an additional $10-15 million. Plus he is more experienced. It is not a contest between him and Van der Garde.
Its always about $$$$ eh?
I wondered if Petrov had saved Heikki’s seat, rather than his own.
Who is the contest between, Joe? Or were you speaking rhetorically (and implying Petrov’s going to get the seat?)
Heikki was very down in the mouth in that Sky interview over the weekend. And basically saying he’s not interested in bringing money to the team. At which Bruno’s ear pricked up, I expect.
You can see his point of view – he’s had several years in top teams, not done enough to get any more years in top teams, and Caterham is going nowhere fast. If it’s over now, let it be over.
You may be a Brit living in France, but you obviously know your American breakfast comfort staples – Bravo. Hope you found the good stuff. And thank you for all the great reporting this season.
Joe, did Resta crash his car on purpose as revenge for not being paid by his team? Or is that the ‘dirtiest’ thought of the year.
No. He crashed because he crashed
di Resta put a wheel over one of the white sidelines, what too caused Petrov and Hulkenberg to spin, with little consequences, earlier in the race at Laranjinha turn exit.
Joe, what’s the notional points system used to differentiate between teams with zero points ??
It is down to the highest places. If one has one 11th and two 13ths one beats three 12ths.
Thanks for that & for the work you put into GP+ & the blog, they’re a great insight to the whole F1 world, it’s always interesting to get your views on what’s happening off the track as well as on it.
It’s functionally a medal system.
Thank you for sharing your amazing life and and all things associated with the world of F1. I have followed it all year with great interest and enjoyment so thank you.It is very much appreciated. I hope you can have a much need rest and a enjoy a wonderful Christmas. I look forward to your future posts. Kind regards.
Pic finished just behind Petrov. Very convenient for him, isn’t it, considering where he will be driving next year?
They were fighting tooth and nail.
I don’t understand why DRS wasn’t disabled as the rain got heavier. It made Petrov’s ultimate move on Pic a bit mundane.
Thanks for a great year Joe. Enjoy the break
Thanks for some nice writing. Enjoy the off-season.
Wonderful race drama…
Mixed feelings about the end result… both Vettel and Alonzo deserved to win the title… Throughout, Alonzo showed more heart and will at overcoming disadvantages than I would have thought possible… too bad he finished 2nd, but you can’t say Vettel didn’t win it fair and square…
My greatest pleasure was seeing Massa happy at the end…
Thanks, Joe, for all the good stuff…
The Brazil race was a lot of great things and a few sad ones, but it was also yet another pathetic example of how the FIA’s #1 priority is to help Ferrari win, by any means necessary. It was so obvious the sole purpose of the Safety Car “for debris” was to give Alonso back the 45 seconds he’d lost to Button. Funny how Alonso gets on the radio to complain, and within one minute the SC is out. Any other driver could get on the radio and complain about an incoming nuclear-tipped ballistic missile, and FIA’s response would be nil.
The track workers were hardly out there scrambling to clean up the carbon fiber bits during the SC, were they.
At least NASCAR admits their “Competition Yellows” are contrived baloney, strictly to enhance the show.
And then ….oops! Hulkenberg is also a threat to Alonso, so he gets a drive-through.
I really enjoyed seeing Ferrari lose the WDC despite FIA’s thumb on the scale. FIA’s biased meddling cost McLaren the $10 million in Constructors money much more than Ferrari’s performance on the track.
While I know I should just ignore the crazy conspiracy theorist :
The first safety car also came just after Rosberg had ripped his tyre to shreds on said debris. While you can argue it came too late (for the Rozzer at least) it could have easily been one of the contenders sidelined by poor race direction.
And Hulkenberg lost control of his car and caused a collision, forcing a rival to retire. A drive-through penalty has been the standard response for a couple of years at least.
Q: How many times this season has crash debris caused a cut tire?
A: Several dozen.
Q: How many times (other than Brazil) has this brought out a SC?
A: Zero.
Seems you forgot to watch Valencia this year.
Several dozen? You believe that debris has caused a puncture more than once per grand prix on average? Do you want to think about that?
There is a big difference between having the back end step out on you while in a fair, wheel-to-wheel fight, and moronically punting your car up the inside of a rival hoping that their sidepod will do your braking for you. Until recently the charge has always been ‘causing an AVOIDABLE collision’. Frankly, I think Nico’s drive through was one of the worst stewarding decisions this year. Equating Hulk’s misfortune to the dumb moves that Grosjean has perpetrated is close to slander.
I disagree with you entirely
Fair enough, but from where I was sitting the move was definitely on and Hulkenberg’s execution was pretty good right up until the point he lost the rear. I’m interested that you disagree “entirely”. I’ll admit that the perception of relative quality of stewarding decisions is a personal point of view (what’s your worst this season then?) but your phrasing also implies that you don’t see a difference between being caught out on a slippery track versus going for a gap that was never there. That corner is always a great overtaking place, he made the move nice and early, Lewis saw him coming and gave him plenty of room. In addition, Hulkenburg had nicely tucked Lewis up behind the back marker, quite a canny piece of racecraft. At the point of impact Nico was well ahead of Lewis (his rear hit Hamilton’s front, after all) so clearly this wasn’t a banzai dive with no hope of success. The back end of the car simply stepped out, it wasn’t egregious ‘spinning like a top’ over commitment, just the usual sort of broadside slide that happens on greasy tracks. Plenty of others made the same mistake during the course of the race and got away with it as they weren’t overtaking at the time, Mark Webber’s being particularly spectacular for the amount of time he spent traveling parallel to his axles. Comparing the Hulkenberg-Hamilton situation to the moves made by Grosjean this year, some of whose collisions were more lightly punished (the thump into Perez in Spain and the elimination of di Resta at Silverstone not at all…), seems distinctly harsh and disproportionate. I’d be interested to know whether you believe in the concept of the ‘racing incident’, or whether you believe that cars should never come into contact with one another for any reason and that blame must always be laid.
I agree with JohnCs take on the incident and am curious as to why you apparently don’t. Would you explain it to those of us who are less knowledgeable? Thanks.
“Funny how Alonso gets on the radio to complain, and within one minute the SC is out.”
– Is one minute an eternity in F1 or is it a fraction of a heartbeat?
– There is a delay between the time we hear broadcasted COMMS from the time they’re actually radioed.
Thanks Joe for another good blogging season.
Hmmmm. A midnight plane to Georgia, with no iPhone?. That certainly would take me back to a simpler place and time.
Would be a shame if you’d downloaded ‘midnight plane to georgia’ onto your iphone to listen to on the trip wouldn’t it?
Joe,
Thanks for all this season’s work. Am looking forward to next year.
I found Vettel’s and Horner’s remarks about “dirty tricks” very disturbing, if not completely unexpected. To win both titles and to accuse others of dirty tricks is unbelievable, I can’t imagine what sort of bad losers they would have made if they had lost the pilot title!
I fully agree with Monty when he said back in 2010 that Red Bull should learn how to win!
I am sure that other teams feel the same way about Red Bull
I doubt Renault were too impressed with their badmouthing about the alternator either…
May the suggestion be made to try a Samsung smartphone instead of Apple next time? Much easier to use.
Don’t know why F1 doesn’t do a branded smartphone in partnership with LG.
What do you reckon they could call it? iFOne? Maybe they can have Adrian Newey design it. Guaranteed Apple couldn’t sue then for patents over that genius. The Newey iFOne…for the fast talkers in all of us. Bernie would want one.
Thanks Joe for the entertaining and thought provoking year. I appreciate the fact that you actually read/listen to your blog readers, regardless of how banal their comments are!
Shame there’s not a Beer-with-Joe in Paris over NY to conincide with my upcoming trip. I’d definitely shout you a case.
Enjoy your time off.
Last phone I had nicked, thought to leave it functional overnight. Called the list of the numbers (it was emailing me call recordings also. some of which were, erm, dodgy) and, Bingo! One of them was a probation officer. Sweet revenge!
Out of the blue, which is the only way he ever does turn up – my brother was at the door, just at the formation lap. He’s never watched a race before (which I find hard to believe) and what a choice to be on time for. Better than hanging out with fans, really, to see someone usually utterly imperturbable so enthralled. So not just the race alone, made my day.
Thanks Joe, for keeping a often difficult year connected at the seams. Faith is restored, and it could, for me, so easily have been lost..
Branded smartphones, hmm, who needs to entice users is the new Windows phone ecosystem. They’re surprisingly nice to use, but plain lack the depth of system features users of e.g. older Nokia have come to reply on. A top notch F1 app, integrated with the calendar screen saver, alarms, and all that, and a Sky Go app might go some way to making up for things. They already sell them in lurid colours, so why not team liveries? Nokia mapping is plenty good enough to dial in great track views and get down to traffic updates on race days. (They’ve sold license for this tech to about every car major) And the swipe to change apps thing would be neat for switching between timing, stats and live race, and the Grands Prix encyclopaedia.They could make some revenue by allowing third party channel feeds to be presented. I’d like such a app to also deflect all my calls, with appropriate text messages from race commentary as option: get too many calls “did you see that move by x on y?” I’m sure someone could work out how to fit in twittering and all that, or bring in IRC feeds where the race is discussed. Whilst we’re at it, block all callers not on my F1 nuts list, during the race! All of this definitely could be done, and would be enticing my pennies.
Talking of mapping, I was amused to see, while checking Kimi’s excursion out, that Google Streetview includes the whole Interlagos circuit! Pit lane and some of the access roads included.
And because only on WP8 is Skype a first class integrated application that can run continuously, why not have a open conference channel?
Streetview is indeed awesome, but Nokia’s data acquisition is considerably more sophisticated. Attached to every UPS (or was it FedEx) truck out there, very light res LIDAR, started with a 8BLN acquisition way before mobile mapping attracted anyone else. That’s only what they publicly talk about. It’s the one thing that always impresses when I demo it.
Thanks for another season of quality blogging Joe – Enjoi whatever time off you have. Best, Frederik
Reading the beginning of this post I was left wondering how did you manage to watch and do the lap charts all long the afternoon.
of course the answer is you are a great professional – and a seasoned one, what must have helped!
I hadn’t seen a race like that for a very long time – the kind of which makes spectator at home getting up from chair so many times in the afternoon; and not only regarding the duel thru positions on track between the two title contenders, but so many brilliant displays in the direct duels on track (hamilton x button, schumacher x raikkonen, hulkenberg x hamilton, massa x a lot I dont quite remember now, midfielders in fierce competition).
An exhilarating spectacle, fortunately not damaged by TV direction in this occasion, it seemed.
It was still exciting even on replay screening, hours after, late night here in Brazil.
I will be looking for subscribing GP+ particularly for this race, and reviewing the whole season taking as a golden bonus.
thanks for your work, and feel very sorry you could not make out of BR this time without a material loss; shame on us.
I’d just like to add another voice to the chorus of “Thank you Joe!”, as usual your updates, insight and opinion should be a compulsory companion for any F1 fan, but your travel blogs and ponderings away from your day job are always worth a read too.
Hi Joe,
I only found your blog this year and have found your comments very worthwhile and insightful. One thing has bothered me about this last race in that Filipe Massa I thought drove such a good race defending Alonso’s rear end so well and still ending up third! and yet I didn’t hear or it wasn’t reported that Alonso gave him any credit for the job he did for him. Or have I just missed it?
Enjoy your closed season rest and I look forward to your continuing blogs.
Best wishes
Chris
Joe, a huge thanks for the plethora of never-less-than-interesting updates throughout the year.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the up-for-grabs Lotus seat. Do you think Lotus are genuinely considering other drivers or is it just a case of sorting out contractual details? If the former, how about replacing Grosjean with Kovalainen?
As far as I’m aware, Grosjean isn’t bringing a huge sponsorship deal, so there’s little to be lost in terms of finance; Kovalainen perhaps didn’t outshine Hamilton while at McLaren but he has a decent measure of speed and looks to be a safer pair of secondary hands than wreckless Romain.
Can Lotus afford another year of watching potential 4th and 5th place finishes crashing out due to their own driver’s error?
Riffing off Joe’s reply above that there isn’t anyone else much….
IMO, the issue is that old saying, that an inconsistent or accident-prone driver can learn to be smooth, but a slow(-er) driver can’t learn speed. Can’t remember the original quote, but you get the drift.
There are several competent, dependable journeymen out there who could be relied upon to bring it home and clock up points in a way that Romain can’t, at least yet. Heikki’s perhaps the most attractive and credible candidate.
But Romain looks like he -just might- still turn out to be the real deal. At best, he does seem to be a bit of a slow learner, and there’s a long way to go. But there’s some real promise there. Most of the alternatives are pretty much known quantities. Even Kobayashi doesn’t look like someone who’s suddenly going to stomp on his teammates and establish himself as a championship contender (much as I’d love to see him do so). So it’s tempting to keep risking it, especially if Kimi doesn’t get bored and stays as consistent as he was in 2012.
More likely they would try another young gun rather than a journeyman. My money is on Davide Valsecchi. GP2 champ (as was Grosjean this time last year) and set fastest time for Lotus in young driver test
> More likely they would try another young gun rather than a journeyman.
Maybe. The trouble is that if they’re serious about fighting with the top teams (& I’m not saying that they are), they can’t afford to stick a neophyte in their own car. They have to step up to the point where they get the hot young guys under contract and then fund them for a year with a backmarker to learn the circuits and prove they can make the transition to F1. You don’t have to own the team (Vet at STR). Flav stuck Alonso in a Minardi for a year. But you do have to have the ambition and budget.
Even if they -don’t- have pockets that deep, signing someone like Valsecchi would -signal that- very clearly to the paddock. I doubt Lopez & Boullier would want to do that coming off a good season and having just signed the burn deal.
I just want to say thank you, Mr Saward. There’s nothing else that comes close to your blog and we all appreciate your efforts to keep us informed and updated throughout the year. I hope you enjoy a well earned rest. AQ
merci joe, for another amazing year of letting us experience a little bit of the f1 world. x
Thanks for yet another season of your wonderful writing, Joe. Sorry to hear about the phone.
Joe,
Thank you for a season (and post-season) of great insight into the clockwork of F1, thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog every day.
have fun with the iPhone5
Still one more GP+ to come, no doubt it will be as entertaining as the rest.
I said before that you could still sell it without the practice, qualy or race reports.
The anecdotes alone make it well worth the money.
Since Marrusia has lost so much money in the constructors race, I looked up their main sponsor, Qnet.
They have a very shady past…
Any idea about their long-term viability?
I am told they are fine.
Will Pat S stay on next year do you know? Will he take an (overtly) exec role?
Yes Joe, thanks for keeping us all up to speed this year. Your experience, insight and ability to dodge the rubbish is second to none. Enjoy your down time!
Joe, have you heard anything regarding a potential protest about the video that has come to light showing Vettel passing a Toro Rosso under yellow flags? It seems a lot more clear cut than the Kobayashi incident. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFER0esusF0&
No
There are several videos now in slow motion showing how Vettel passed a car during yellow. Ferrari was asked and declined to protest (for the moment), and Alonso via Twitter took it with oriental philosophy so, who won? Depends on what you think is fair. Joe, what do you think?
I think that if it was missed, it was missed. That is the nature of sport. Sebastian was lucky again, or perhaps there were other elements in the story we do not know. Did he, for example, give the place back later? I don’t know. I have not looked at it but if Ferrari did not complain there must be some reason.
Wasn’t it Kobayashi and didn’t he pit immediately afterwards, so the outcome would have been the same either way?
It’s been reported that they were oil flags (red and yellow) not yellows.
No, there were yellow lights. However the move happened with a green light visible ahead. It was not in any way dangerous nor controversial. To have punished Vettel for that would have been very harsh.
Sorry, I was confusing this move with a completely different one, my mistake.
I was actually going to ask the same question, looks like someone beat me to it.
The video clearly shows that the pass was made under yellows. The question is whether there is scope in the regulations for anything to be done about this, or once the race weekend is ‘wrapped up’ anything that comes to light afterwards is no longer relevant?
You’ve also got to wonder how much it actually matters – it even appears as if the Torro Rosso might have ‘eased’ his path past and you could easily argue that if he hadn’t passed where he did he’d have got past after the corner.
Still, if Ferrari chose to protest, would they get anywhere?
Hamilton was investigated after Fuji in 2007 for causing the Webber/Vettel crash after a fan put a video on Youtube, so there is a precedent for it if Ferrari chose to protest.
There is a slow-motion picture that appears to show a marshall waving a green flag before Vettel completes the pass, although it’s poor quality and quite hard to pick out. The yellow lights on his dashboard don’t go out until after he’s made the move though so it depends what takes precedent really.
Hi Joe,,,why is Lotus taking time to announce their second driver,,,are they looking for options??
good question.
Davide Valsecchi?
No.
Joe, did you get to peek into the Ferrari garage after the race, how was the mood?
No.
Joe, is it right that a team has to finish in the top ten for two years in a row before they can claim prize money?
Yes and no. There are two types of prize money. One which takes two years and which is immediate.
Joe, what you need to do now is to relax on your yacht after a busy season. Eddie Jordan appears to be buying a new one for an estimated £20m, having sold his last one recently to Chris Evans for £5m. It’s a hard life being an ex-team owner isn’t it? Who says there’s no money around? (What – you mean you haven’t got one?!).
Go and have a lie down, I’m sure you’ll feel better!
I hope you are at least treated to a yacht party or two at Monaco!
A paddling pool, blow up dinghy and several large whisky macs and you’ll feel much the same sensation.
Thumbs up for corned beef hash! To 2012, a great showdown, and 2013 🙂
Sad to read the last of Simon Arron’s pieces. Interested to read your name in there!
Yes. It is true. I did tell him that I thought it might be hard to maintain a travelogue throughout a whole season. Still, I am effectively doing that as well…