This is unquestionably a worry for McLaren, as it follows the trend of their
dismal 2013. Development has traditionally been one of the team’s key
strengths, but for whatever reason that trait has gone missing. After China,
Ron Dennis’s pre-season prediction that they would win races this year seems
a little premature.
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Seb’s stunning speed has gone missing
Many Formula One fans take a bizarre pleasure in Sebastian Vettel’s travails.
In some sports people find it unsettling, almost disturbing when the
dominant force begins to lose their grip (Roger Federer and Tiger Woods come
to mind). But not so in the case of the 26-year-old German.
There is no doubt that many have been waiting for years to evaluate the
four-time champion in an uncompetitive car (although it seems largely that
Red Bull just have a top speed issue). So far, this re-evaluation – which
Fernando Alonso warned of at the end of last year – is not going well.
Daniel Ricciardo has outperformed Vettel (he finished 24 seconds ahead in
Shanghai), and the German is even struggling with tyre wear; curious
considering he was the first to truly master the Pirellis when they were
introduced in 2011.
Sebastian Vettel v team-mate after four races
2014: Sebastian Vettel (33); Daniel Ricciardo (24) * (42, if
disqualified Australia result included)
2013: Sebastian Vettel (77); Mark Webber (42)
2012: Sebastian Vettel (52); Mark Webber (48)
2011: Sebastian Vettel (93); Mark Webber (55)
You can hear the mocking ‘I told you so’ from his doubters already.
So should we begin to question Vettel’s greatness? Short answer: no. Ever so
slightly longer answer: not yet.
Four races are not enough on which to reassess a driver’s entire career. For
the last two seasons Vettel did not have the most stunning start, but once
he adapted himself to the car and the car to his liking, he gradually became
unstoppable. However, if the current pattern were to persist throughout this
year then that would spell trouble for the German, no matter how good we
think Ricciardo is.
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Rosberg needs to win again for the good of the championship
Lewis Hamilton effectively has a 100 per cent record in 2014. Apart from
Melbourne, when he retired due to a mechanical failure, he has won every
race, yet still trails by four points in the championship.
On current form the lead will be his after the next race in Spain.
It’s strange to suggest that the man leading the standings, Nico Rosberg,
needs to up his game, but for the good of the championship he does.
At the moment it is 3-1 Hamilton, in both qualifying and the race. In two of
those races – Malaysia and China – he has won by nearly 20 seconds.
Rosberg has driven well, no doubt, but the Briton has been a class above. He
has even managed to manage his tyres and his fuel more capably; an area he
was expected to struggle.
As Brits, we all love to see Hamilton winning, particularly after seeing the
same fluffy-faced German win for the last four years. But we like to see
Hamilton pushed to the limit as well as beaten from time to time. Over to
you Nico.
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Alonso’s allegiance lies with Domenicali
Aside from a superb, typically dogged drive to third, Fernando Alonso revealed
a lot about the internal situation at Ferrari over the weekend.
It did not help Marco Mattiacci that when he arrived in the paddock on Friday
he did not take off his sunglasses. I mean, you would barely even know the
sun existed in the Shanghai paddock, with the polluted, smoggy sky.
But then his star driver did not exactly provide a ringing endorsement.
In the main press conference on Thursday Alonso cut a downcast figure. He is
usually incredibly serious, but on this occasion he just seemed closer to
grumpy. The Spaniard also decided to mention that he had not spoken to
Mattiacci yet, he did not know at that point whether he would be in
attendance, before waxing lyrical about how great a man Stefano Domenicali
is, and describing their annual skiing holiday together.
After the race he went on to dedicate his podium – Ferrari’s first of the
season – to Domenicali, adding that the team had him to thank for anything
they achieved before July.
While it was in many ways in fair comment, it suggests Mattiacci is going to
have a hard time winning much of the team over.
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F1 needs to be in China, but they don’t make it easy
Finally, a slightly more personal observation. This is my first year covering
Formula One, and therefore my first Chinese Grand Prix.
It’s obvious the sport has to be in China. It’s an enormous market for many of
the teams, and the general feeling was the race was significantly better
attended than in previous years. Indeed, from the media centre it was hard
to see a spare seat in the main grandstand.
But the very nature of the country and the venue does not make it easy. First,
there’s the visa. Considering the event is effectively promoting China, it
is mightily difficult to get hold of one in good time, with ludicrous
amounts of bureaucracy getting in the way.
Second, there are issues with the internet. Obviously China does not share the
same degree of freedom we have online. Like it or loathe it, Twitter has
become a tool both for fans and for journalists, and the inability to use it
is less than ideal. (VPNs or virtual private networks can be a way around
this, but the internet signal was not always strong enough to manage). I
struggled for most of the weekend to even get onto Gmail, and other
colleagues had similar frustrations.
Then there is the venue itself. It’s absolutely colossal. The paddock is so
enormous that it’s almost totally devoid of atmosphere. The sheer size of
the place also means you end up undertaking a comically long walk from the
train station to the media centre, through leaky tunnels, fire exits, past
bins, groups of policemen eating their lunch on steps, and so on.
So all in all, it’s a vital Grand Prix, but not exactly what you would call
charming.