Vettel, the youngest triple World Champion ever! |
Rollercoaster.
Emotional. Chaotic. Thrilling. Heart-breaking. Crazy. Momentous.
Nerve-wracking. Unbelievable. Dramatic. Intense. Extraordinary. And Funny (thank
you, Kimi!). There are not enough superlatives nor indeed words to adequately
sum up yesterday’s incredible race at Interlagos, truly the Track of Kings. This
race will go down in the annals of F1 history as One Of The Greatest Races Of
All Time. A magnificent end to an epic season.
Cover me I’m
going in. I may be some time.
Having
saturated my brain with every second of the epic build-up – flicking wildly
between the two channels (when the adverts came on or the presenters just
started getting on my nerves which took about 10 seconds in the case of Simon
Lazenby), I was pretty much a nervous wreck by the time Martin commenced his
trundle down the pitlane. Not sure why I was feeling so emotional. Perhaps
because it has been such a stupendous season, or I was channelling the extreme
tension of the imminent Alonso v Vettel showdown or it was the last time I
would ever see Schuey in a F1 race. I have just loved this season so so much
that I was practically sobbing to think this was the final #MartinsGridWalk of
The Season and we had now properly reached the Endgame. This beautiful,
incredible season was about to end, we would be without F1 for FOUR whole
months and on its return, the F1 landscape would look very different. End Of An
Era.
Weather forecast - fiction or fact? |
But back to
#MartinsGridwalk (and I’m now armed with a 3 shot expresso so emotions are in
check) and Martin told us Friday’s track temperature had been 55°c and today
(race day) it was now 25°c. A 30°c difference – what could it all mean?
Actually no one told us. The BIG news was that the weather looked ok and all
those daft people who thought it would be ‘all about the weather’ were
completely, utterly, totally wrong.
Mark Webber as
ever was on hand for a word. Apparently it was a cool track which was good as
the McLarens were quick in the hot conditions so they’re going to make the
McLarens work for it and be crafty around the stops. Thanks Mark.
Mark: Why does your car never have problems? Seb: Ask Adrian. At least you don't have to wear this dumb hat. |
Weather update: Martin told us he could
feel spots of rain coming down. Did no one notice the big black clouds earlier?
Even the 5 year old had spotted them.
Time for a chat
with Nelson Piquet. He said Alonso and Vettel had both done a good job and it
was difficult to say who would win (thanks Nelson for those insightful words).
He then cryptically mentioned he had a big job on in Brazil. Er right you are.
Martin was still stalking Jenson Button but JB was deep in conversation with
his physio, Mikey Muscles. Maybe they were just shooting the breeze but kind of
odd to be chatting with your physio of all people moments before a race.
Nelson back in the carefree days of youth |
Weather update: It was now spitting with
rain. Not just drops but actual SPITS. Someone alert NASA, this could be a
Situation.
Martin killed
some time by talking to Sam Michael of McLaren who also gave us a weather
update. There was no weather front coming through, they expected a light shower
but would be able to stay on slicks. Finally, we heard from JB who was aiming
to win the race, didn’t know what was going on with the rain and he didn’t care
about the championship (ie. because he
wasn’t going to win it ever again).
Martin asked
Bernie was he excited (hello, have you EVER seen Bernie look excited) and he
said it was just another race and he hoped there was no rain and had actually
tried to stop it (hidden subtext: he is
God – because that joke isn’t old already). Adrian Newey didn’t want to be
interviewed because as the husband said he didn’t want to speak to any humans. It
was funny at the time but then I was also in an emotionally fragile place at
3.55pm on Sunday.
We then
literally stumbled upon Rob Smedley sending a text (cue hilarious ‘illegal’ text
joke) but it turned out he was texting his wife and when asked to give her a
message to the camera, he said ‘I love you’. How gorgeous is Rob Smedley. More
please, next year.
Rob Smedley - Massa's engineer and all round lovely guy (bit like Massa really) |
So
the Brazil grid lined up as follows*
*Basically
irrelevant after the first lap
1.
|
Hamilton
|
2.
|
Button
|
3.
|
Webber
|
4.
|
Vettel
|
5.
|
Massa
|
6.
|
Hulkenberg
|
7.
|
Alonso
|
8.
|
Kimi (uh-oh)
|
9.
|
Rosberg
|
10.
|
Di Resta
|
And
It Was Time For the Start and Go Go Go...!
Massa
had a great start and nearly took 2nd place but Button just squeezed
him out. Vettel had a SLOW start. He was so frigging slow that he caused Kimi (right
behind him) to suddenly brake meaning Kimi had to take evasive action by
heading off track on a small detour. Maybe Kimi would have just done this
anyway. See later.
And
then we had a DRAMATIC AND POTENTIALLY TITLE-DECIDING INCIDENT. Vettel still driving
like a nervous 17 year old turned in from a wide position right across Bruno
Senna. The two cars made contact causing Vettel to spin and Senna to plough
into Perez. Shall we guess which two drivers of the three had their race
abruptly terminated? Clue: Not Vettel. Red Bull radioed to say they couldn’t
fix the damage and he just had to stay out there.
Lets play spot Vettel. He is in the car pointing a different way to everyone else! |
Meanwhile,
perhaps heartened by the carnage behind him, Alonso brilliantly took Webber and
then, less surprisingly, Massa to move into 3rd place. There was
then some marvellous defensive driving from Felipe to shield Alonso from the Red
Bull of Webber.
Race as it stands: Vettel
22nd, Alonso 3rd
Title
as it stands: Vettel 273, Alonso 275 - Alonso wins
Nico
Hulkenberg was suddenly the man to watch – he was charging around Interlagos
and passed Webber for P4 on lap 4. Then suddenly on the next lap, Alonso went
OFF THE TRACK. He messed up his braking and the Hulk shot past. Alonso rejoined
and battled fantastically well to keep Webber (just) behind him! Massa was
doing an awesome job as Alonso’s wingman, managing to somehow keep the huge
traffic jam of cars behind him and protect Alonso into the bargain.
We
then heard that Schuey had pitted. What already? For crying in a bucket. Then
on lap 7 there were crashes left, right and centre. First, Grosjean clipped the
edge of the white line and went hurtling off at turn 11 and then Webber got hit
by Kobayashi. Conditions were starting to get very treacherous out there.
Lovely jubbly.
Ferrari Doom Alert: On lap 8, we saw that Vettel was all of a sudden now up to 8th place!!!!
Er would someone like to keep us posted on the FOURTEEN places that Vettel in his damaged car appeared to have made
up in about 5 laps. Some might say that there was an argument to make that DRS
makes overtaking too easy, unless perhaps Vettel is really the New Senna. Hey silly
me, that’s Maldonado! Button was really hassling Hamilton for the lead (I bet
Hamilton never thought Button would be anywhere close to him when JB signed for
McLaren…still that’s another story). They swapped the lead a couple of times
then on lap 8, Button seized the lead of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Ferrari
Doom Alert: Vettel was now up to seventh. I think in real time, I may have
passed out at this point.
Button charging down Hamilton |
Race as it stands: Vettel 7th,
Alonso 4th
Title
as it stands: Vettel 279, Alonso 272 - Vettel wins
Schuey
had pitted again and had gone onto hard tyres apparently. What!? It is RAINING.
Has Mercedes not noticed all the people sliding off all over the place.
*Despairs*. I have noted that Ricciardo and Vergne crashed around this point –
there are no further details as with the greatest of respect, did it really
matter?
On
lap 9, Webber was sent into the pits as the Red Bull Guinea-Pig to try out a set
of inters. Then on lap 11, the Important Pitstops began in earnest. Hamilton,
Vettel and Alonso all came in and also went onto inters. The two title
contenders, Alonso and Vettel, slotted back in at 12th place and 17th
place. Button who just excels in these 50/50 unpredictable conditions stayed
out and I wrote down ‘Hungary 2011’ which of course JB won. Just saying. So
race order following the pitstop merry-go-round was 1. Button 2. Hulk 3.
Hamilton 4. Massa and 5. Vergne (who was still going….well who knew?).
By
lap 14, Alonso was P6 and Vettel was P10. Alonso scorched past Vergne and then
Massa for 4th place and Vettel was now up to P6. So basically this
race was turning out to be an endless saga of Vettel falling to the back of the
grid and making up 12 positions every few laps! Totally, utterly bonkers and spare
a thought for Christian ‘Pepe’ Horner who looked on the verge of a nervous
breakdown on the pitwall.
How stressed was Christian Horner feeling? Or Pepe as I like to think of him! |
Race as it stands: Vettel 6th,
Alonso 4th
Title
points haul as it stands: Vettel 281, Alonso 272 - Vettel wins
Meanwhile
the Hulk was having an absolutely BLINDER. Previously on my blogs, I have raved
about the huge potential of the Hulk. Really think McLaren missed a trick there
opting for Perez over him. The Hulk was powering down behind Jenson putting him
under extreme pressure for the lead and on lap 18, he did just that. The Hulk
actually took THE LEAD OF THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX.
Vettel
was now in 5th place (no need for ‘as it stands’ – just ever more
likely he would win the title) and was now just 3 seconds behind Alonso. Newey
was busy staring at a photograph of Vettel’s damaged car. In the way that some
people love fine art, I feel that Adrian in his spare time just wanders around
car showrooms looking at exhausts.
Exhaust-Land (it probably won't catch on) |
Brundle
said he had never commentated on an opening 20 laps of a race like this one.
You’re not wrong, Martin and try having a 2 year old in the room asking you to
open up the Tellytubbies app every 5 seconds. Time for some more IMPORTANT
PITSTOPS. Hamilton in, Alonso in and Vettel in – all going onto dry tyres
(presumably Mercedes were calling in Michael for some wets – sorry, not funny I
know). The upshot of the pitstops was that Alonso still led Vettel.
Race as it stands: Vettel 5th,
Alonso 4th
Title
points haul as it stands: Vettel 283, Alonso 272 - Vettel
wins (spotting a trend here?)
Lap
21 and Rosberg had sustained a puncture and the 5 year old noticed TO HIS
HORROR that Schuey was 20th and in last place. And a lap down. FFS
and other related swearword abbreviations. Mercedes must surely be one of the
worst teams EVER in the history of F1 in terms of points return for millions
spent. The one silver lining of Schuey’s retirement is that he will never ever
have to drive that clapped out rustbucket of a car again.
We
heard that Vettel’s exhaust outlet was damaged. Like that matters in an Adrian
Newey Indestructible Machine. And there was absolutely stacks of debris
everywhere out on track. Alonso radioed in to report this and with lightning
quick speed, it was decreed time to bring out the SAFETY CAR. No truly great
race is complete without the appearance of the Safety Car. Bizarrely I have
noticed that ‘Safety Car’ often trends during races. How much can one say about
a Safety Car? Maybe it’s the shock of seeing a Mercedes actually able to move
at a reasonable pace without shredding its tyres every 5 seconds.
Debris everywhere. Time for Alonso to call Charlie Whiting... |
Anyway
never have I been SO glad to see a Safety Car as I was seriously losing the
plot. Button and Hulk used this interval to nip into the pits and all the
lapped cars were able to unlap themselves including Schuey. Mercedes, hang your
heads in shame, this is what you have reduced Michael Schumacher to.
On
lap 30, the Safety Car was in and it was Go Go Go. Again. At the restart,
Vettel, Webber and Kobayashi were three abreast coming down the main straight
and predictably Webber freaked out, ran wide and bombed back down to 14th
place.
The
race order was: 1. Hulk 2. Button 3. Hamilton 4. Alonso 5. Kobayashi and 6.
Vettel. Lewis was absolutely flying and passed Button for 2nd place.
Then (so not in the script), Kamui and Alonso swapped places a couple of times.
Meanwhile Vettel, driving the serene drive of someone who is in an Adrian
Newey bulletproof car knows he only has to finish in the top 7 (unless
Alonso wins the race – unlikely given the two McLarens and the Hulk were in
front of him unless….), happily let the chomping-at-the-bit Massa through for 6th
place.
An early prototype of the Red Bull RB8 |
In
contrasting fortunes for two Brits, Lewis was setting a succession of fastest
laps and Paul Di Resta was attempting to drive around Interlagos sideways. Hey
Paul, have a word with your team-mate…he’ll give you a few pointers.
Race as it stands: Vettel 7th,
Alonso 4th
Title
points haul as it stands: Vettel 279, Alonso 272 - Vettel
wins (yawn)
Weather update:
There was drizzle in the air. Please god no, all the drivers have only just
gone back onto slicks.
Kimi
and Schumacher were meanwhile rolling back the years and having an amazing
battle for 10th place. The cars were side by side, a hair’s breath
apart as they battled for three corners before Kimi fought his way past. What
is it with those two? They have never-say-die racing just hard-wired into them.
Kimi and Schuey - one last battle to savour |
Weather update:
It was raining quite a lot. Alonso was really starting to lose pace and Lewis
was making huge inroads into the Hulk’s lead. Webber had a moment (not a good
way – usual schoolboy error etc) and Petrov randomly spun. It was getting very
tasty out on track. Lots of shots of the Weather Monitor of Doom. Vettel was
told more rain was coming and Rosberg was told the rain would end soon. Hmmmm,
Mercedes or Red Bull…who would you believe? Crofty told us all he knew was that
there was a 100% chance of weather. Cheers, Crofty.
Lap
49 and Hamilton took THE LEAD OF THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX after the Hulk had a
spin. Then suddenly, on lap 53, Vettel came into the pits to move onto the
option slicks. We saw a big crack in the floor of his car from that exhaust
damage. Yeh, you’re just teasing us now.
We
suddenly caught sight of Kimi going down a random road that wasn’t part of the
track. Say what?! Turned out to be an escape road which had a dead end so he
did a quick spin (in his hugely expensively assembled F1 car) and rejoined the
race via a small grassy field. You’d have to be on some pretty super-strength
blood pressure tablets if you worked for Lotus. Kimi and Grosjean to contend
with. Blimey.
In the Parallel Universe of Kimi... |
From
this point my notes descend into gibberish but bear with me. The end is nigh!
Lap
55 and A HUGE DRAMATIC INCIDENT. The Hulk in trying to pass Lewis on the
inside, lost control and skidded on a wet area of track, crashing into the race
leader. HAMILTON WAS OUT OF THE RACE. And this meant that Button took THE LEAD
OF THE BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX. Strewth. But more importantly, it meant that
ALONSO WAS LEADING THE DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP. I don’t have the ‘as it stands’
numbers but just trust me.
And there endeth Hamilton's career at McLaren |
Vettel
then careered into the pits for a set of inters and none of his mechanics were
ready for him. He lost 12 ‘Formula 1’ seconds which equates to about 12 hours
of normal time unless you’re in an Adrian Newey car.
THEN
A HUGE MOMENT on lap 56 as Alonso nearly crashed his car into the barrier.
Oddly, out of all the numerous dramatic moments of the race, my decibel output was
the loudest at seeing this. My hysterical shouting caused the 2 year old to
burst into tears and the husband had to explain that ‘Mummy wasn’t cross just a
bit overwrought’. As the rain got heavier, Alonso bolted into the pits and
whacked on a set of inters and rejoined in 4th place.
Weather update:
New rain was developing and would last for round 20 minutes (oh until the end
of the race). New rain hey?
Mercedes forecast says sun. Everyone else's says rain |
Lap
58 and the race order was 1. Button 2. Massa 3. Alonso 4. Hulk (drive-through
penalty pending) 5. Webber and 6. Schumacher. WHAT!?! How was Schumacher 6th
and AHEAD OF VETTEL. I know its been a crazy race in the rain and all that
but…oh yes, the rain. Of course. Never bet against the Rainmeister in the wet. Then
I remember it was Schuey’s last ever race. Sobs a silent tear.
Race as it stands: Vettel 7th,
Alonso 3th
Title
points haul as it stands: Vettel 279, Alonso 275 – Vettel wins
SCREAM!
We had a sighting of Owen Wilson in the Ferrari Garage. This means we have a
Repeat Random Celebrity at a Race. You may remember Owen from such races as the
Malaysian Grand Prix at the start of the season where he BLANKED the minor F1 deity
that is Martin Brundle. Owen, you may have been to 2 whole F1 races but you are
still dead to me (probably an inappropriate thing to say in the case of Owen
Wilson but anyway).
Owen Wilson - nice to see he makes time for Bernie |
Weather update:
Rain was continuing to fall and teams started getting the full wet tyres ready.
Button was asked if he was happy on his tyres and he said ‘Roger’. How very
WW2.
On
lap 62, Alonso took Massa for 2nd place and yet this still meant
that Vettel would win the world title by one point. No matter anyway as on lap
64, Vettel passed Schuey (with little resistance) for 6th place. To
be fair, Vettel was now lapping (in his broken car with a cracked floor…go
figure) a whole second faster than anyone else. So all done and dusted.
BUT
NO. There was still time for Schuey and Kobayashi to have a lively scrap for 7th
place resulting in Kamui taking a spin. And also there was still time for the
forgotten man (for a reason) of Force India, Paul Di Resta, to crash quite
spectacularly. The race was yellow-flagged and out came the Safety Car on the
final lap which was all very anti-climactic but a suitably surreal end to a
craz-eeeee race.
So here are the results from the Brazilian Grand Prix 2012:
1.
Button – Never bet against
this guy in wet weather conditions. Superb race and his win means he amassed
more points than Hamilton in their 3 years together at McLaren.
2.
Alonso – A fantastic, gutsy drive as
we would expect from such a fine driver.
3.
Massa – Some real wingman heroics
and he really found form at the end of 2012.
4.
Webber – Yet another 4th
place for Mark Webber to add to the collection.
5.
Hulkenberg – An incredible
performance!
6. Vettel – He won’t care that he’s not
on the podium as he is the TRIPLE WORLD CHAMPION.
7. Schumacher – All things considered
(ie. his rubbish car) a wonderful result and great he finished in the points in
his final race.
8.
Vergne – I confess to knowing little
of his race story but 8th is pretty darn good.
9.
Kobayashi – Is it really farewell?
This guy so deserves a drive next year.
10.
Kimi – Not a vintage race but still
Mr Reliable (arf) in the points again.
11. Petrov
– Hugely significant. This meant that Caterham finished ahead of Marussia in
the constructors which in turn means a huge £££ prize for Caterham.
Jenson Button - winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix 2012 |
And
so we have a new triple world champion (the youngest one ever) and turns out he
is German not Spanish. Lets salute the mega-talented Sebastian Vettel, only the
3rd driver in F1 history to win three consecutive titles (after
Fangio and Schumacher). The moment where Schuey embraced Vettel in parc ferme
felt very symbolic. Very much a changing of the guard. In contrast, Alonso’s
shell-shocked and devastated expression was heart-breaking. That’s the two
sides of sport laid bare. Here’s the final breakdown of points.
Schumacher congratulating Vettel |
The end of the dream |
Drivers Championship:
1.
Vettel 281
2.
Alonso 278
3.
Raikkonen 207
4.
Hamilton 190
5.
Button 188
6.
Webber 179
7.
Massa 122
8.
Grosjean 96
|
Constructors
Championship:
1.
Red Bull 460
2.
Ferrari 400
3.
McLaren 378
4.
Lotus 303
5.
Mercedes 142
6.
Sauber 126
7.
Force India 107
8.
Williams 76
|
And
so the world of F1 bids farewell to the Legendary Michael Schumacher. Other
drivers who may be following him out the door are Kamui Kobayashi (unbelievable
after his podum at Suzuka), Heikki Kovalainen, Bruno Senna, the entire HRT Team and F1’s
resident bad boys, Grosjean and Maldonado, are not yet confirmed for 2013.
And we thank you, Michael! |
So
the curtain falls on an incredible season – we’ve covered a lot of ground since
Melbourne back in March. A big shout out to the husband for pushing me (it took
a lot of persuasion!) into starting my blog at the start of the year. I have
love love loved blogging about this season and meeting so many amazing F1 fans.
I’m going to sign off now before I get too emotional…
And,
as they say, I guess that’s a wrap. Well for this season at least! I’ll still
be blogging through the dark days of winter to keep the withdrawal symptoms at
bay. First up, the coveted A Dash of Eau Rouge F1 Oscars for 2012…coming soon…!
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