Belgian Grand Prix – The Race

This race blog would not be complete without the obligatory picture of Eau Rouge!

With impeccable timing (in other words usual last minute headless chicken panic) I was still in the middle of making homemade pizzas* just as the lights went out and so pressed pause on the Sky streaming.

* Any implied reference to being some kind of Annabel Karmel super-mum are totally and utterly misleading. It was one of many bribes (that by and large failed) which were designed to keep the sprogs happy during the race while I flew solo due to the husband jollying it up at The Oval.

Twenty minutes (and a decimated kitchen) later, I pressed play only to discover it was lap 14 and Vettel was leading the race. So on top of a mild OCD freak out at the state of my kitchen, I’d been given mahoosive spoilers. Still if nothing else it looked like there had been some serious action in the first few laps. So lets press play...

Time For the Start and Go Go Go...! A clean start for Hamilton and Vettel, a great start for Button and a terrible start for Webber. Plus ca change. And on the first lap, Vettel passed Hamilton with ease demonstrating some blistering straight line speed. Oh good – clearly the Red Bull has been further improved during the summer holidays that Adrian Newey obviously doesn’t take. I could WEEP. Still by only lap 2, Alonso was already up to 5^th.

There's Vettel and (scrolls back some distance) there is Hamilton. Sigh.

Lap 3 and already a warning to Vettel to save his tyres. Presumably because the car is so ridiculously superior that they needn’t push it to the limit. Alonso finally took Button on lap 4. So Fernando from 9^th on the grid was now 4^th. In total and utter contrast, Max Chilton was running last from 16^th on the grid. Next in the firing line for the Alonso Tornado was Rosberg and sure enough wham bam, Fernando was now 3^rd.

So the Big Unknown Quantity was whether the drivers would be one-stopping or two-stopping. Taking a wild (and probably wrong) stab in the dark, Kimi would probably be one-stopping, possibly Button and Vettel/Hamilton would be two-stopping. Or maybe Vettel would park his Red Bull, have a leisurely picnic and then rejoin the race in the lead before winning the Grand Prix. I used to make similar jokes about Michael Schumacher but then I loved Schumacher so that was all ok.

Can I have a picnic shot? Great lets have a picnic shot!

In the least surprising sentence I have typed all week, life wasn’t going well for Grosjean – he was passed by Perez (in a move of questionable legality) and then Massa on lap 8. And to make life worse for Grosjean, his team-mate Kimi shot past Hulkenberg to move into 8^th place. We were told the steward at today’s race was Derek Warwick. Apologies for the slight name-dropping which I don't often do but I had the privilege of meeting Derek at Brands Hatch last year – what a thoroughly good guy and most unphased by the lunatic 4 year old who was accompanying me at the time.

Derek Warwick back in the day at the 1984 US GP in Dallas

Massa pitted on lap 10 and was almost clattered in the pits by Hulkenberg. And the pit floodgates were now well and truly open. And Sergio Perez duly got clobbered a penalty for forcing Grosjean off the track. A small and indeed rare victory for Romain. Lap 14 and Alonso pitted, along with Webber and Perez. Vettel pitted the following lap and naturally it was a supersonically fast pitstop with no unsafe release, no pitlane speeding and no exit into the path of Bad Driver Maldonado. Bah.

Alonso and Hamilton were having a feisty scrap for 3^rd but Hamilton could not hang on to his position. I’m guessing Lewis was not a happy bunny in that cockpit (and even poor Dad Hamilton looked on the verge of a breakdown). Overtaking was taking place everywhere –Rosberg on Grosjean for 5^th, Webber on Grosjean for 6^th and down in the nether regions of the field, Massa on Gutierrez for 10^th. All sounds fantastically exciting except in a weird way it really wasn’t.

If we thought Spa was dull, what will the Korean GP do to our senses?

Button eventually pitted on lap 18 but could he make it all the way to the finish? Meanwhile Vettel was leading and increasing the gap between himself and Fernando Alonso <cross face> So at the halfway point the order was 1. Vettel 2. Alonso 3. Hamilton 4. Rosberg 5. Webber 6. Button.

Quite freakily there was a long period of time during which the cameras followed Massa and Kimi (the thought just occurs to me that maybe the camera man or producer fell asleep). And just as I was wondering if we would ever again see a different couple of cars on our screens, Kimi went to pass Massa, suffered a brake failure and Shock Horror Kimi retired from the race – his first retirement in 39 races. It had to come to an end some day but all the same boo schmoo.

Kimi, as enthused as ever about the upcoming post-race briefing.

There was an intense 5 way scrap for 11^th involving Maldonado, Gutierrez, Sutil, Di Resta (how how how was Di Resta that low down from 5^th on the grid) and Hulkenberg. What could possibly go wrong?! Cue big crash between Maldonado and Di Resta and a shedload of debris and carbon fibre everywhere. Replays showed it was contact between Maldonado and Sutil that ploughed the Williams into the path of Di Resta. Whichever way, Di Resta will not be happy but to be fair he isn’t happy most of the time anyway.

Alonso pitted on lap 29 and Vettel came in two laps later and came out back in the lead. Save Me Now. Crofty tried bless him to inject some excitement into the fact that Alonso had set the fastest lap of the race but really only the heavens opening and dumping an avalanche of rain would liven things up. Button was being moved back to Plan A (a two stopper?) and we saw a Weather Monitor of Doom which told us no rain was expected in the next 30 minutes. Bugger.  On lap 35 Button pitted and rejoined in 6^th spot.

No rain at Spa today. Big fat boo.

Webber was still stuck behind Rosberg and could not find a way to get past which probably explains why Vettel has won 3 world championships and Webber will be racing in Porsche next year. Maldonado was duly slapped with a penalty for causing the Force India collision. Poor old Claire Williams – another utterly crud weekend at the office.

Four laps to go and Vettel had a 11½ second lead. A podium of Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton looked almost certain (unless biblical rain arrived). The only real battles were going on between  Rosberg/Webber and Grosjean/Massa and Perez/Ricciardo. There was a little warning from the team for Vettel to stay within the car and within himself – remember the final lap at Monaco that was two seconds faster than anything else he’d done. He has definite flash git tendencies.

And as the chequered flag fell, Vettel took his fifth victory of his increasingly dominant season. He has now passed 2000 laps leading in Formula 1 races. A stunning yet relatively depressing achievement.

I feel like we've been here before.

Here are the results from the Belgian Grand Prix 2013:

1. Vettel – Another crushingly dominant win. Weeps silent tears.


2. Alonso – Brilliant climb up the points from 9^th on the grid. But cannot seem to reel in the Red Bull.


3. Hamilton – Might be disappointed after taking pole but yet another podium for the Silver Arrows.


4. Rosberg – A good, solid outing.


5. Webber – See Rosberg.


6. Button – He loves Spa and is managing to consolidate his position as best of the rest (ie. behind Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes) but that first podium of the season is proving very elusive.

So not a vintage race. Not sure what it is but rarely when Vettel wins do I feel we have had a sensational race. Dominant driver in a dominant car do not great races make. For all my banter about the Blonde Bombshell (Sebastian), of course it isn’t his fault – he is just doing his job fantastically well. But all in all this season is a bit meh so far.

Just ONE more race in Europe remaining – how did that happen? I’m going to throw one out there and say that Monza will be a blinding race! Why, because I can and we’re sure owed a showpiece race or two this season. A flimsy argument but here's hoping I'm right!

Belgian Grand Prix – Qualifying

This cover photo is for Rich (the other one!)

Formula 1 is back. Much rejoicing in Power Towers. We arrived back from the West of Ireland at midnight last night (or is that technically this morning?). Now that’s impeccable timing. And now for something unusual (!), a big shout out to the husband who drove around 700km in one day yesterday. Next year I might enter him for the Le Mans 24 hour race!

Long weekend in Le Mans anyone?

So home just in time for the best race of the entire F1 season. Okay maybe not necessarily always the best race of the season (although it often is!) but it is indisputably the greatest track in F1. The evocative names of Eau Rouge, La Source, Blanchimont, Malmedy and Stavelot just literally send shivers down my spine. The day Spa gets dropped from the F1 calendar is the day that F1 dies.

I also remembered at some stage in the 15 hour journey back home that I never managed to do part 2 of my mid-term review. Blame it on holidays, small children and having to YouTube endless clips of Mr Bean and Usain Bolt (pretty much his two heroes – go figure) – all of which meant my blogging opportunities were next to zero. I’d even painstakingly worked out grades for the remaining 12 drivers which will probably make me a laughing stock when Bottas (who got a C minus) wins the Belgian GP!

So what occurred at qualifying for the Belgian GP?

Q1 – The main talking point was the truly awful weather that had arrived just in time for qualifying. Oh we like very, very much. All of Europe has had the best summer in years but you can rely on biblical rain to dump out of the sky in good old Spa-Francorchamps. Cue lots and lots of camera shots of weather monitors of doom.

One of the reasons why F1 fans love rain and crazy weather conditions is that it mixes everything up nicely and makes the performance differential of the various cars less apparent. And whatd’ya know…Giedo van der Garde finished Q1 in 3^rd, Jules Bianchi in 11^th and Max Chilton in 16^th. Yes that would be two Marussias (yes really!) and a Caterham into Q2.

Brilliant day at the office for Giedo!

So out of Q2 were: 17) Pastor Maldonado, 18) Jean-Eric Vergne, 19) Daniel Ricciardo (not a qualifying performance inclined to make Christian Horner pick up the phone to Daniel’s people) 20) Valtteri Bottas, 21) Esteban Gutierrez and 22) Charles Pic.

And so to Q2 – Ferrari were looking quick. Red Bull were looking quick and Mercedes were looking quick. And to throw another hat (helmet?) into the mix the Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen topped the session with the fastest time.

Will they won't they be team-mates next year?

With seconds remaining, Massa climbed up to 6^th from the dropzone and and just as I dismissed his chances of escaping, Button rocketed up to 5^th. Hamilton looking oddly lacklustre literally just made the cut by a few thousandths of a second. But crucially (and no spoilers intended…er much), he was still in the mix.

Ending up in the Dreaded Dropzone were: 11) Nico Hulkenberg, 12) Adrian Sutil, 13) Sergio Perez, 14) Giedo Van Der Garde, 15) Jules Bianchi and 16) Max Chilton.

And now folks it was Showdown Time and heavy rain was falling again. Nine different polesitters in the last nine races. And this is why we love Spa.

Di Resta was the only driver to come out inters while all the rest trundled out on slicks. Well could this be one of the best gambles in the history of gambles by Force India. Possibly. And the rain starting tippling down. Cue all the other drivers rushing back into the pits to whack on some inters with Rosberg telling his team they needed to get back out there as soon as possible.

And Di Resta was the first to set a time at 2:02:332. This was surely the benchmark time as the rain fell more heavily. But brilliantly it wasn’t raining that hard on all the circuit just on some of it. This is why we love Spa (part 254). As we followed Massa around in torrential rain, Brundle announced that Di Resta looked to have pole position sewn up. Rosberg grabbed second and elicited a ‘wow’ from Brundle mainly because in the same period the likes of Alonso were setting times ten seconds slower.

So with SECONDS to go, the top three in the championship were going to line up on the grid in 8^th, 9^th and 10^th. This meant that somehow Jenson Button in his tractor of a McLaren had out-qualified Vettel, Kimi and Alonso. Or had he? Nooooooo the rain was easing off and now the track was drying. Gotta love that Ardennes weather!

Lewis in action at Spa

Rosberg sensationally grabbed provisional pole but ominously the Red Bulls were still out on track in the drying conditions. Webber went fastest, Vettel went fastest and AT THE DEATH none other than Lewis Hamilton seized pole position. What an absolutely tremendous qualifying performance from Lewis which surely has to rank right up there with his most treasured poles. This is his 4^th pole position in a row.  Last British driver to get 4 poles in a row? Answers in a tweet please! Lewis promised earlier in the week to hunt his rivals down one by one. Well this is a good start.

So this is what the top ten for tomorrow’s race looks like:

1. Hamilton


2. Vettel


3. Webber


4. Rosberg


5. Di Resta


6. Button


7. Grosjean


8. Kimi


9. Alonso


10. Massa

I can’t actually put it any better than Martin Brundle who tweeted: Fascinating grid for tomorrow's F1 race. Plenty out of position compared with their true pace, both faster and slower. Don't miss it ‪#SkyF1

I might be flying solo with two kids tomorrow (as the husband watches no cricket in the rain at the Oval) but nothing on earth will keep me from watching this potentially epic race with the Twitterverse for company. Coffee, valium, heck even alcohol are at the ready. Cannot freaking wait!

Mid-Term Report for the Class of 2013

Next weekend sees the return of the F1 roadshow for the second and deciding half of the season. Maybe its just me but I’ve found the rhythm of this season very disjointed. Partly its all these random 3 week gaps that they keep chucking into the calendar. 3 week gaps are totally understandable when jumping from the Argentinian GP to the Nürburgring (showing my age) but somewhat unfathomable when they are between the German GP and the Hungarian GP. The reasons are no doubt convoluted but ultimately something to do with £££.

And now we’ve all had to endure a four week break which has seemed like a freaking eternity. I get that drivers need downtime and all the teams need quality family time but everyone has their limit of how much Mister Maker they can withstand before they are found weeping and rocking themselves in a corner. I need a Grand Prix to watch and badly. I remember seeing an interview with Rocky (Vettel’s engineer) who said his three young children weren’t remotely interested in his job and that was how he relaxed. Well I bet after four weeks of Mr Tumble and non-stop fights over Absolutely Everything Under The Sun (or maybe its just my children), Rocky has his bag packed for Spa already. Its only through the perfect alignment of one child having a nap (after exhausting herself with an hour long tantrum because we weren’t having pasta for lunch) and the miraculous discovery of a Roald Dahl film on the Sky + box in our holiday cottage that I’ve even had the chance to dust off the old blogging shoes!

*smack*

11 races done. 9 races to go. And 3 of those 9 races will be so death-defyingly dull that I will only be able to keep myself awake by mainlining coffee while ranting about the pointlessness of the Korean GP on Twitter. Unless of course Anyone But Vettel is winning in which case the race might be vaguely salvaged. But in that mix of remaining races we have the utterly glorious and phenomenal Belgian Grand Prix at the greatest track in the world followed by fast and furious Monza before ending off the reason with a return to the Circuit of The Americas (which put on such a blinding inaugural race last year) and the final showdown at Interlagos. That’ll do me nicely!

But before we gear up for Spa, lets look at how the class of 2013 is getting on so far…first up in this blog I’ll run my beady teacher eye over Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus and Mercedes.

Red Bull

Vettel: The 38 point lead speaks volumes. The Red Bull was much faster off the blocks this season compared to last year and Vettel has duly won 4 of the 10 races so far with an additional 3 podiums. Once again he has delivered brilliantly for his masters (despite the multi-21 naughtiness at the Malaysian GP). Grade awarded: A+

Webber: Poor old Mark. Saddled with the team-mate from hell and bosses who barely remember his existence. Not all his fault but 3 podiums are scant return from a car as superior as the Red Bull. Grade awarded: B

Ferrari

Alonso: Another driver who has barely put a wheel wrong but unlike Seb he is stuck in a deeply unimpressive Ferrari. I’m actually amazed to remind myself he has got 2 wins and 3 podiums. The last two races were considered to be total disasters by the world at large but he actually came home in 4^th and 5^th. Hardly abysmal but certainly not title-winning form hence the blood-letting at Ferrari (and they are so very good at blood-letting – see Pre-Schumacher Years). Grade awarded: A-

Massa: Oh dear. One podium in ten races is shocking. Granted the car is uncompetitive and he has had poor reliability but still. Grade awarded: C-

McLaren

Button: Remember all those jokes and comments about Hamilton destroying his career by leaving McLaren for Mercedes. Ouch. Could anyone have really expected the McLaren to be THIS bad? What has happened? Button hasn’t even come within a sniff of a podium and has not seemed to be enjoying it all this season. Overall he has done better than his team-mate but they both must be hoping for a gargantuan leap in car performance come the second half of the season. Grade awarded: B-

Perez: Admittedly stuck in a rubbish McLaren it has been a big ask for him to show the flashes of potential and flair we saw last year. After a very shaky start he seemed to find his mojo in Monaco of all places where he drove like a demon enough for Kimi to declare he should be punched in the face. Praise of sorts in a way. The jury is still out. Grade awarded: C+

Lotus

Raikkonen: After his sensational comeback the million dollar question was whether he could blow everyone away again. In a way he has in terms of consistency and his freakish ability to master the tyres better than anyone else. Just the 1 win in the opening race of the season but has notched up a mighty five 2^nd places since then and lies 2^nd in the championship. He has now broken Schumacher’s record of consecutive points finishes to boot. Lotus will be lucky to hang on to him for next season. Grade awarded: A

Grosjean: Two podium finishes (two more than Button and one more than Massa) and a never-ending stream of grid penalties, drive through penalties and time penalties (not all deserved). However, the last two races have seen a resurgence in form so much so Lotus have had to implement team orders. Grade awarded: B

Mercedes

Rosberg: Remember when Mercedes were rubbish. Well they aren’t any more. Many (but certainly not everyone) predicted that Nico would be left for dead by his new superstar team-mate, Lewis Hamilton. Boo sucks to them. Nico has had an excellent season in a car that is by no means the real deal yet. Two wins although some slightly erratic form in other races. Grade awarded: A-

Hamilton: New season, new car but Lewis is as volatile, mercurial and fast as ever. But hey who wants a dull driver? Certainly not Mercedes. Lewis has racked up 1 win, 3 podiums and only in one race (Spain) has he finished outside the top 5. For all the gnomic outpourings on Twitter, Lewis is doing the business at Mercedes and is an impressive 4^th in the championship. Should Mercedes nail the issue with the tyres, Lewis could make the championship very interesting. Grade awarded: A-

So all hail the class swot, Sebastian Vettel. Next time round, a cold, hard look at the dunces in the class!

Will it be 4 titles?

Hungarian Grand Prix – The Race

This one is for Nicole...Nicole are you here...Nicole...papa...wibble

Previously on F1, Lewis Hamilton got pole and Sebastian Vettel won the race. So naturally my heart did not leap with joy to see Vettel starting on the front row of the grid alongside Lewis Hamilton who had plonked the Mercedes on pole yet again. Even Lewis said it would be a miracle if he won but Hungary has a habit of being unpredictable. And we like unpredictable races, mainly because that generally means that Anyone But Vettel wins (which sadly doesn’t happen very often).

Anyway fast-forwarding wildly on to #MartinsGridWalk and yep as we had been forewarned several thousand times it really looked like a scorcher out in Budapest. First up a quick chat with Sutil (well eventually) who brought to us the jawdropping news that it will be a long race. And a hot race. Challenging. Cars have dry ice on them. Yadda yadda. Cool sunglasses though!

Martin had a special little gadget thing which told us the track temperature was 48 degrees. This is somewhere around the most oppressive heat that I’ve ever encountered in all my life which was in Alice Springs. What a hell-hole of a place for all sorts of reasons but mainly the heat and the flies. Maybe an ice-pack vest makes all the difference.

Hell on earth

Jenson told us its hot but hey we’re in Hungary and it should be good fun and strategy should be interesting. Martin asked what are you doing with tyres? Jenson – I forgot to ask! He’s too cool for school that guy.

Martin spoke to someone called Sam Worthington who I’ve never even heard of. He is an actor apparently and he is Australian. Surprising lack of recognition given my encyclopediac knowledge of actors from Neighbours. Just IMDb’ed him and he’s been in Avatar, Terminator Salvation, Clash of the Titans etc. I’ll stick to Neighbours thanks.

A quick but hugely insightful chat with the Master of the Dark Arts himself, Adrian Newey who told us in agonised tones the cars are right on the limit of what they designed cars for. Everything is on the edge. The start isn’t the problem but its what happens when temperatures build, eg. long pitstops can cause problems. Its fair to say Adrian obsesses a lot about actual problems, potential problems, even totally unlikely problems. I’m intrigued at what Adrian will do in the F1 summer break – surely he doesn’t go on an actual holiday. He might actually short-circuit with boredom in a French market somewhere. I love Adrian really but just wish he’d stop working for Red Bull!

Adrian - to be fair it probably beats a French market

Final word was inevitably with Bernie Ecclestone who Martin instantly annoyed by referring to him ‘cutting a deal’ with the Hungarian GP organisers to hold races there for the next few years. Bernie preferred the term ‘made an arrangement’. The latter sounds more sinister if you ask me but no one is asking me so lets leave it there.

Time For the Start (and the lights sensibly went out very quickly given the cars were about to spontaneously combust) and Go Go Go...! A VERY sluggish start from Vettel but somehow he clung onto second. Oh yay. Replays showed some very aggressive driving from Vettel to keep Grosjean behind him and in my book it was almost weaving but being the sainted Vettel we will not hear a word of criticism. Rosberg was mounting a challenge on Grosjean but had the two Ferraris all over him and Nico under pressure went wide. Then as he rejoined the track, he was hit by Massa, sustained some damage and starting sliding back down the field.

A mental start to the Hungarian GP

So the very early front order was shaking out as Hamilton, Vettel, Grosjean, Alonso, Massa and Kimi. Alonso’s declared aim for the race was to finish ahead of Vettel. Good luck with that one Fernando. By lap 6, Grosjean was catching Vettel who was starting to really struggle with the tyres. Also having a mare (actually way more of a mare) was Rosberg who was all over the track before locking up and flat-spotting his tyres. We heard that Massa had lost his end-plate. Of course he had. Its almost back to Ferrari Disaster Days.

On lap 10, the race leader, Hamilton came into the pits and he slotted back into the field inconveniently behind Jenson Button who was on the same compound tyre (as Crofty told us in dramatic fashion but…er…the McLaren and Mercedes aren’t really competing in the same league so whatever). On lap 12, Vettel pitted and he came out behind Hamilton AND Button. Small rejoicing in Power Towers. Crumbs of comfort and all that. Then it was the turn of Alonso to pit so we had now a Lotus 1-2 running order up front. Meanwhile Vettel could not get past Button who was defending absolutely brilliantly (god bless you Jenson) and Grosjean was joining the fray behind them. Webber was now leading the race and had yet to stop.

Vettel was told over the radio that he needed to drop back to cool the car and he asked the team to check his front wing which he had clattered in a failed attempt to pass Button. Grosjean was all over the back of Seb’s car but was unable to make a move stick. As I remarked to the husband I just don’t think he has the cojones to take Vettel. Button was told ‘we are in the window’. So two-stopper then. We heard Adrian Sutil was out due to a hydraulic leak. Poor Adrian who was having a decent race – his luck has been terrible this season. Pretty much ‘bad luck Johnny’ proportions. The old farts will get that reference.

Johnny on a good luck day!

Kimi had now set the fastest lap of the race. Presumably he had just received confirmation that some money had just been transferred into his bank account! There was now a very nice gap building up between Hamilton and Vettel. A fierce battle for 3^rd was in full swing between Button, Vettel, Grosjean and Alonso. It was fair to say that Button was changing the race fortunes of quite a few drivers.

Ker-ching!!

The race-leader, Webber finally pitted after 23 laps – an impressively long first stint. Presumably he now thinks the car was less a crock of shite than he did yesterday. That post-qualifying interview was simply brilliant and Ferrari think they have problems with Alonso’s attitude!

Finally after 13 long laps, Vettel passed Button on lap 24 and suddenly he was taken by Grosjean and Alonso too. He sustained wing damage from the ****ing Lotus (JB’s words). Its fair to say Button was not happy with Grosjean. Again. In came Grosjean to the pits and brilliantly he rejoined just ahead of….Jenson Button. Grosjean put a fabulous move on Massa (hmmmm but he didn’t manage to do it on Vettel did he?). My 6 year old has told me to put in my blog that ‘Grosjean was a little bit cheating because he went on the grass’. You’d never think his favourite driver was Michael Schumacher would you? I need to toughen him up some more!

Gratuitous Schuey photo!

On lap 32, Hamilton pitted after a 21 lap stint (tyres on a Mercedes car not falling off a cliff shocker – who knew?) and he took Webber on the outside two laps later for 3^rd place. Vettel and Alonso went into pits together and Vettel came out behind Button. Again. He must be sick to death of the sight of the McLaren exhaust.

Remember that ‘fabulous move’ by Grosjean on Massa. Turned out he was given a drive through penalty for leaving the race track. Did the 6 year old complain to the race stewards? Well in my opinion that was extremely harsh and unwarranted. Yes, he’s had some very rash moments (for which by and large he has been penalised) but I think drivers are exploiting his ‘careless driver’ reputation. Most drivers leave the track at that point and no one gives a toss.

Just when I was wondering when the wheels were going to come off Hamilton’s Mercedes (well not literally – actually yeah maybe literally thinking back to the British Grand Prix), he set a new fastest lap and was two seconds clear of Mark Webber. Vettel was gaining on Kimi now in 3^rd place by a second a lap. Just Stop It Now. Kimi darted into the pits on lap 43 for his second (and final) set of tyres. If anyone can make them last Kimi can.

Does anyone recognise this man?

Anyone remember Valtteri Bottas? Shortish guy from Finland? Drives for Williams? He pulled over on lap 45 in a slightly inconvenient spot (ie. the start-finish straight!) but luckily no safety car which-would-play-into-Vettel’s-hands was needed. Grosjean had a very slow stop and was back into the path of Button. What is it with those two?!

Hamilton came in for his final pitstop on lap 51 and had an entertaining little skirmish with Webber for P2 but executed a brilliant move to re-take second place. So with just 15 laps to go, Hamilton was 7.4 seconds behind Vettel but the Red Bull had yet to stop again.

On lap 55, Vettel pitted from the lead – Moment of Truth Time. Lewis Hamilton was now leading the race. The Mercedes team radio asked him could he move to a different setting? "Hey man I'm trying to drive here. I'm happy with the way the car is." Don’t vex the man who is about to win his FIRST race for you. Surely you know how fragile he is.

There were thousands of Finns in Hungary to support Kimi.

Kimi and Vettel were now engaged in a big fight for 2^nd place. Less than a second between them. Webber was on the charge but still a good few seconds behind Vettel. Dammit – before the end of the season I really want to see a good old ding-dong battle between Mark and Seb for position, preferably in a title-deciding race for Seb <maniacal evil laugh>

Rosberg was out of the race – his engine just blew up emitting gallons of smoke. The 6 year old was very concerned as to be fair were probably all of Lewis Hamilton’s race team. Still good news (and there’s been precious little of that all season) for Maldonado who now had moved into the points.

Webber received a radio message of ‘fail 22 fail’. Hey? Cor they love their secret codes at Red Bull don’t they. Christian Horner as the new James Bond anyone? The 6 year who is currrently obsessed with secret codes wrote this down in his book. It is possible it might be incorporated into a story at some stage in Year 2.

The name's...

With two laps to go, Vettel had a good luck and tried a move around the outside of Kimi who was having none of it. What an awesome defensive driving display! Vettel wasted no time in whinging over the radio that Kimi didn’t give him enough room. Duh – how outrageous of the driver who is IN FRONT OF YOU not to yield and immediately give you track position. Like the pandering limpets they are (to Vettel anyway – obviously Mark can go hang) they promised to “get onto Charlie”. Get. A. Grip.

Final lap for Hamilton on the verge of a stunning first win for Mercedes. Meanwhile Kimi was giving EVERYTHING to keep Vettel back behind him right to the bitter end. And Lewis Hamilton crossed the line to win the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Lewis winning the Hungarian GP

Around the same time in a commentary box overlooking the Hungaroring, David Croft exploded into a million pieces. Here are the results from the Hungarian Grand Prix 2013:

Crofty and Brundle, a pretty good double act (actually I'm being serious!)

1. Hamilton – Brilliant drive from start to finish and some phenomenal racecraft to take his maiden win for Mercedes. Wow he really likes Hungary – 4 wins in 7 races. Taking nothing away from Lewis, I’m not sure it was the greatest passing ever seen in the history of the sport but we all know that Niki Lauda is prone to moments of hyperbole!


2. Kimi – An amazing result to hang onto 2^nd in the face of unrelenting pressure from Vettel. Very few other drivers in the current field could have managed the same feat.


3. Vettel – Gave his all and when he looks at the latest championship standings he’ll be pretty pleased with life. Bah.


4. Webber – Considering the qualifying disaster, a very good result.


5. Alonso – You cannot level any criticism at Fernando for another tenacious drive but really 5^th might as well be nowhere.


6. Grosjean – An eventful race but a good result given the time lost for various penalties.

So we are half-way through the season. How did that happen? I never thought I’d say it but I am hugely grateful to Mercedes injecting some excitement into the season – all the more remarkable because it was so unexpected after last year’s dismal end for the Silver Arrows. Lets just thank the lord that some others drivers like Rosberg and Hamilton are taking some race wins and partly putting the brakes on the Red Bull Juggernaut that otherwise would be rocketing off into the distance to Fourth Title Glory. It will be fascinating to see if Mercedes can maintain their upwards trajectory in the 2^nd half of the season – if they have finally nailed their tyres problem (and given they coped with 50°c heat in Hungary that would appear to be the case) then they could really chuck a curveball yet in the 2013 championship.

Happier times (a long time ago!)

Since the race all hell has been breaking loose! Sure it’s the Silly Season where all sorts of daft rumours usually fly around especially with now races to write about but one thing’s for sure – all is NOT well at Maranello. Alonso has finally spat out his dummy with yet another season of trying to make an under-performing Ferrari compete with Red Bull. And can you blame him. Apparently Di Montezemolo provided each engineer during a meeting on Monday with a knife, along with an invitation to put it between their teeth when thinking how to tackle the second half of the season. Its an interesting motivational tool although you might think slightly risky in a workplace where tensions are running pretty high. I’ve worked in places where knives would have been a really bad idea! Alonso has been duly slapped down and was told that “all the great champions who have driven for Ferrari have always been asked to put the interests of the team above their own”. Er like Prost who famously called his Ferrari a truck. Athough he was sacked shortly afterwards. Ferrari would do well to remember that Alonso dragged last year’s diabolical car almost single-handedly into contention for the championship and but for Vettel’s bizarrely indestructible Red Bull (that kept going despite crashes and spins), he should have clinched the title for Ferrari in Brazil. The point that he fails to grasp is that Alonso has just turned 32 and the clock is ticking on the remaining years left that he has to win more titles. The last Ferrari World Champion was Kimi Raikkonen. A veritable lifetime ago. And lest we forget, Di Montezemolo booted him out in 2009 and paid him NOT to race for Ferrari in 2010.

The last Ferrari world champion.

So we have rumours linking Alonso to Red Bull, Kimi to Red Bull, Kimi to Ferrari (really?), Ricciardo to everyone. Where will it all end?

Hostilities will resume at Spa-Francorchamps in a few weeks time.

Bring it on!