Lap 54 No problem with the McLaren apparently, it seems Hamilton was
being held up by traffic which he has now cleared. Vettel needs to play this
safe and I imagine the engineers are warning him not to try anything on
Hamilton.
Lap 53 Right lets go back to the fron of the race and Hamilton remains
in the lead bu there’s not much in it, just 1.5 seconds. Vettel is
however0.5 seconds faster at the moment. What do they have in store for us?
Three laps to go.
Lap 52 lock up for Grosjean but the good news is he recovered AND he’s
just four laps from getting through a race without an incident! And wow!
Team-mates battling each other let’s go back to the Williams cars in 9th and
10th and Senna will be furious to have seen Maldonado overtake him, the
Venezuelan came right up the inside. Brilliant to watch
Lap 51 rumour has it that Senna is going to be without a drive next
season. That surprises me if anything form a financial point of view but
then again there are several seats still up for grabs next year.
Note to Vettel from Ed McFarlane:
“Speed = Distance/Time, therefore, in a race, the car in front is faster
than the car behind it. Did no one teach Herr Vettel physics?”
Lap 50 Senna and Hulkenberg battling at the back of the points places,
yo-yo-ing from 8th to 9th but for now the Force India car is holding on.
What are we surprised by today then? Mercedes? Can’t say I am they clearly
gave up on this season in the summer and will be putting all their focus on
2013. Have to say I’m surprised Sauber aren’t challenging more and in a
pleasant surprise, I think the Williams duo have been very impressive.
Lap 49 Hamilton remains over a second ahead of Vettel but I would have
expected a bigger gap to have been opened up by now.
Lap 48 Button told tyres are in a good state and to push push push to
the end of this race. Eight laps to go then and Massa is 4th in front of
Button, Raikkonen, Grosjean, Hulkenberg, Senna and Maldonado who complete
the points positions.
Andrew Holgate saddened by Schumacher’s race today…
“Seeing Schumi down in 14th is like seeing a boxer out of retirement
getting a pasting by the younger man.”
Lap 47 11 laps to go and Button told that Massa is just up the road. I
think there’s four seconds between them as the moment so never write off
Button in these situations. Alonso in a good position really, he has no
chance of catching Hamilton and Vettel so a safe and sensible drive will
bring him a podium place and a continued shot at the title. Ferrari
calculated this race very well.
Andrew Priest’s team and team-mate:
Can’t decide between Williams or Lotus as they are the most improved teams
this season. As for my No 2, I’d have Rubans B. He’d iron out the kinks in
my driving.
Lap 45-46 now Hamilton is by no means guaranteed this win, Vettel has
just posted his fastest lap of the race after being pipped for the lead. The
Red Bull 1.2 seconds behind and Hamilotn is very vocal on the radio with his
team, he’s desperate for one more win with McLaren before he leaves. Further
back now there’s a great battle going on between Raikkonen and Button and
they’ve been fighting for 5th for a few laps now and having gone wheel-to
wheel, Button takes it but I don’t think that duel is over either! Phew!
Catch your breath!
Lap 44 Right Hamilton leads from Vettel and Alonso is third. Thank you
McLaren, keeping the season going. With Vettel in second Red Bull will still
take the constructors’’ title this afternoon. McLaren response to Vettel’s
complaint is very simple, they see no problem with the overtake at all. If
am honest i can’t see any problem except a grumpy Vettel got beaten on
straight-line speed!
Lap 43 and hang on, Vettel’s furious with the overtake and is saying
Hamilton got too close and it was a “silly over take,” the word
ridiculous was used I think. Let’s get a replay. If things remain like this
then, Vettel will have a 13 point lead in the championship.
Lap 42 Massa now fastest man out there and the speed from the Ferrari’s
is certainly impressive. Forget that, HAMILTON OVERTAKES VETTEL! That
was brilliant, the speed Hamilton had on that straight line was sensational
and McLaren lead the race. Vettel saw him coming but could do nothing to
stop that!
Lap 41 Hamilton gets within touching distance of Vettel but he’s used
all his KERS! Not this time round then but it’s not going to be long…
brilliant! But again the Red Bull responds and Vettel goes fastest yet again
with a 1:40:83
Lap 40 I want to correct something I said earlier when Webber retired.
As things stand, Red Bull will clinch the constructors’ championship this
afternoon. Problems for mercedes and both drivers have been told they will
need a two-stop race. In fairness Schumacher’s probably just chuffed to
still be on the track!
Lap 39 Very nice move from button on Grosjean just slipping past him on
the inside and the Frenchman did not see that coming. Vettel pulling away a
little more now but Hamilton’s still in the DRS zone. Defending well though.
Lap 38 The gap between 1 and 2 then is 0.7 seconds. A little further
back, Maldonado has just broken into the top 10 and so the points while
right at the back is the usual suspects. It’s not been a good week for HRT
has it? Up for sale and riding at the back of a GP…again
Lap 37 Hamilton told to save KERS for one lap so he can use it all a
little later to make the move on Vettel. As things stand in this race the
gap in the title race would remain 10 points between Vettel and Alonso.
Button told he needs to overtake the traffic in front of him as he is by far
and away the faster car. Really good race for him so far given his starting
place.
Lap 36 Button emerges just in front of Grosjean but the Frenchman
overtakes and so the McLaren is 7th but crucially for Ferrari, Massa is
ahead.
Lap 35 Vettel rattled and Hamilton is using KERS to get closer to the
Red Bull and he’s almost going up the exhaust! This is set to be a fantastic
battle! Vettel responding with the fastest lap of the race, 1:40:97. Button
pits and he’s the last of the cars to do so.
Lap 34 Right, myself and a reader have a placed our bets, I am backing
Hamilton to overtake Vettel on lap 45, he’s gone for 51. What do the rest of
you think? Will it even happen? Behind the front three then we have Alonso,
Ricciardo, Massa, Grosjean, Rosberg, Hulkenberg and Senna in the points.
Lap 33 Di Resta pits for the second time this race after damaging his
wheel s when he spun on turn 19, that’s the second incident to a car there
this afternoon. Hamilton almost at DRS distance again
Lap 32 so at this stage of the race it’s just Button and Rosberg that
have not pitted. Vettel now starting to come across some traffic, gap
between him and Hamilton is 1.7 seconds, this overtake could be on! That
said, Hamilotn’s taking too long to overtake Timo Glock and is not making
life easy for himself
Lap 31 Hamilton told the tyres that they took off the car during the
pits stop are good so there’s no reason to hold back on this set. Foot down
go challenge Vettel come on, let’s liven up the front a little.
1 Vettel 2. Hamilton 3. Button 4. Alonso 5. Ricciardo 6. Raikkonen 7. Massa
8. Grosjean 9. Rosberg 10. Hulkenberg
Lap 30 Havent’ really mentioned the Mercedes drivers today, Rosberg
who’s not impressed a huge amount in the second half of this season is in
the points but not doing anything remarkable back there while his team-mate
Schumacher is even further back. Button racing Massa it seems given radio
message. McLaren assure him his pace is very good, he’s only interested in
where the Ferrari is.
Lap 29 Button doing very well in 3rd place chasing his team-mate and
with Alonso in his rear views but he is yet to pit.
Lap 28 Raikkonen driving very well in 6th place but it seems he may
have had a problem with his exhaust during his pit stop. He was spinning his
wheels during the stop and as such the team didn’t know whether or not to
drop him…hence it taking 6.2 seconds.
Ed McFarlane on his team and team-mate:
“Marussia, since Graham Hill said you meet a better class of gentleman at
the back end of the grid, and as a team mate, Pedro Diniz, he seemed like a
good bloke.”
Lap 27 Massa pits but he’s not got the same level of pace yet and is
struggling to get near Ricciardo in 5th who’s having a great afternoon so
far. And it’s got worse for the brazilian as he slips to 7th behind
Raikkonen.
Lap 26 this race has been brilliant so far! Are you enjoying it?
Hamilton is now 1.9 seconds behind Vettel, just no consistency to the
McLaren car’s form. Raikkonen wants his team to inform him on the radio as
to the Toro Rosso’s movement. Funny that, two weeks ago he didn’t want
anyone talking to him remember?
Mark Webber: “Button told Alonso is on new tyres and could be
struggling to warm them up so he has to make the move and take advantage of
the clean air in front of the Ferrari. ”
Lap 25 Raikkonen pits and he needed a good stop if he wanted to stay
ahead of Alonso but the Lotus team are slack and it’s over six seconds.
Alonso takes a place and goes 5th and chasing Button who’s now the fastest
man on the track.
Lap 24 Hamilton makes a move on Raikkonen in 2nd and he takes it and
now the hunt for Vettel is on again. Very tidy move from the McLaren.
Lap 23 Button told Alonso is on new tyres and could be struggling to
warm them up so he has to make the move and take advantage of the clean air
in front of the Ferrari. Massa told he needs to keep going, Alonso
struggling on the hard tyres. These hard compounds taking a while to get
into the swing of things if you remember how Button’s race started. Button
overtakes Alonso and the Ferrer did nothing to defend that.
Lap 21-22 Alonso pits and it’s really poor from the Ferrari team, right
rear tyre causing problems and they were struggling to get it off! That’s
not tragic but it’s not great news for Alonso. Button and Perez duelling for
7th and 8th and it’s next year’s McLaren line up and experience has
prevailed. Vettel’s pits and I’m not sure the car even stopped! That’s the
fastest pit-stop I’ve ever seen!
Lap 20 Alonso’s turned wide at turn 19 but he got himself straight fast
enough. Vettel now 3.2 seconds ahead, if you remember just a few laps back
Hamilton was within the DRS zone, that’s how much his car is struggling now
and he pits.
Lap 19 Vettel’s car is identical to Webber’s so the leader is not in
the clear here. Massa goes fastest 1:42:93 and hang on a moment, Hamilton’s
car is slowing down significantly now and I would assume his tyres are
giving in a little earlier than anticipated.
Lap 18 That’s not only a huge blow for Webber but also for Red Bull as
they still haven’t clinched the constructor’s championship. Right then, no
title for Vettel or Red Bull as things stand. Massa told if he can keep
going like he is he’ll get on the podium…and not sure about that I don’t see
how he’ll over take Hamilton and they certainly won’t let him go ahead of
Alonso.
Lap 17 Alonso being told something in Italian and my limited knowledge
twinned with the words DRS and Vettel suggests he is just having an update
on the front two. Bad news for Webber in his Red Bull, KERS has failed and
that’s going to infuriate him. It’s not the first time this season by any
means and expect Alonso to take third soon, Oh he has! I think the failure
is terminal, Webber’s out of the race!
Lap 16 Looks like we have our first retirement of the afternoon and
it’s the Toro Rosso of Jean Eric Vergne and I think it’s down to steering
failure. A safety car here will be ideal for Hamilton and a nightmare for
Vettel. Yellow flag situation at the moment
Lap 15 0.9 seconds now the gap between Hamilton and Vettel and the
latter is rattled by this, I’ll be honest I’m a little surprised by it! The
Red Bull’s dominated everything this weekend, what’s going on! 296 kph is
Vettel’s top speed compared to Hamilton’s which is 313kph
Lap 14 Sauber the next team to bring a driver in and Kobayashi pits.
McLaren tactics team now trying to figure out how to get Button past Senna
and into the top 10. Hamilton told the “window or target pit” is open. I
wouldn’t imagine he will come in until around lap 22
Lap 13 Raikkonen finally gets the overtake, forcing Hulkenberg to take
the inside line and just nipping past him on the left. Wonderful move from
the Lotus driver. Welcome to the race Jenson Button, he’s now making all the
sector timers go purple and by quite a significant amount!
Lap 12 Raikkonen and Hulkenberg battling and every turn they are taking
the 5th spot from each other but goodness me this is great defensive driving
from the Force India, well done, the young German showing just why he’s off
to a bigger team next season. Massa told he is “killing” his rivals with his
speed and warned that he’s about to enter the Hulk v Raik battle
Mr Holgate, I agree:
“I like this track. Racing all over the place. Turn 1 is superb.”
Lap 11 Hamilton now just half a second away from being in a DRS zone to
make a move on Vettel, brilliant car…then again it looked good in Abu
Dhabi and we all know what happened there. Massa driving well also, he
started in 11th afterc the gearbox change and he’s up to 7th now having just
made a move on Di Resta.
1-10 Vettel, Hamilton, Webber, Alonso, Hulkenberg, Raikkonen, Di Resta,
Massa, Perez, Senna
Lap 10 “Purple every sector, fastest man out there” HAmilton
told and he really is flying he’s taken half a second off Vettel’s lap.
Seems there is a problem with Grosjean’s car as he’s just pitted and will
emerge at the back.
Lap 9 problems now it seems for the Williams of Maldonado who has lost
almost all the grip on his tyres, his team-mate Senna meanwhile just made a
great move on Schumacher. I’m sitting here tutting and shaking my head at Mr
Grosjean who has lost even more places and he’s doing it on the same corner
nearly every lap.
Lap 8 Hamilton gaining ground on Vettel he’s shaved three tenths off
the gap in the last two laps. Hamilton told he is doing an “excellent job”
and is the fastest driver on the track. Things looking better for Button
who’s warmed his car up now, he’s just overtaken Grosjean.
Lap 7 And turn 19 takes it’s first victim, it’s been talked about all
weekend. Grosjean spins out and it’s cost him a lot of places but he is
still in the race. The Frenchman now is struggling has he possible damaged
the car because his race speed is really slowing down.
Lap 6 So much over taking going on I’m afraid I can barely keep up,
these corners in Austin are so wide there’s so much scope to nipping a
cheeky position. Button’s now taken the position from Maldonado, fifth
time’s a charm! Also a great duel going on further up between Hulkenberg and
Grosjean, the former the victor for now.
Lap 5 McLaren on the radio to Lewis Ahmilton: “Fantastic job Lewis, gap
with Vettel down to 2.5 we can catch him.” Meanwhile his team-mate is
still struggling and he’s chasing the Williams’ down in 13th, tyres really
struggling to warm up and oh dear, he’s wheel-to-wheel with Maldonado…a
sentence to make many drivers shudder!
Lap 4 Replays show just how good Alonso was at the start, well done the
Ferrari engineer that suggested the gearbox change. As I said at the start
of the blog it would enable him to go into the first turn in 4th and he did.
And now Hamilton has made the move on Webber again and this time takes it
and is riding in 2nd, has he got enough to go faster than Vettel?
Lap 3 DRS enabled and no we’ll start to see even more overtaking.
Vettel’s lap time is 2.6 seconds faster than Alonso’s, that’s quite
unbelievable. Hamilton’s pace takes him past Webber but it’s only for a
matter of seconds as he went way wide on the turn and the Aussie reclaims
the place. Probably would have been forced to yield anyway but this McLaren
is flying!
Lap 2 Schumacher loses a spot then with young German Hulkenberg taking
5th off his hands and that will prove to be a very important move for him.
Hamilton finding very good pace and clearing himself from Alonso behind him
in 4th. Grosjean miraculously has managed to get through the first lap
without causing an incident but he comes SO CLOSE to contacting with
Schumacher! Phew that was lucky!.
Lap 1 Vettel gets a decent start and Webber goes wheel to wheel with
Hamilton and he gets past and Alonso comes up and into 4th! Fantastic for
Ferrari that move worked tremendously. Terrible first lap though for Jenson
Button he is way back in 16th!
1-5 Vettel, Webber Hamilton, Alonso, Schumacher
A final word from our man Tom Cary in Texas:
“Classic bit of 11th hour Formula One intrigue over in Austin. The
whole paddock feverishly discussing the moral conundrum raised by Ferrari’s
decision to break the seal on Massa’s gearbox. I was just next to Alexander
Wurz in the Gents and he wasn’t too sure about the ethics of it all. “Not
really in the spirit of the regulations,” he murmured before dashing
off. Anyway, it’s happened now and we have a hell of a start in prospect.
What chance Alonso being taken out by his new neighbours on the grid? I have
a feeling the title race will go on to Brazil. Either way, great atmosphere
here.”
All cars on medium compound tyres except for Button and Rosberg (hard)
How they start:
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
2nd row
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
3rd row
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India)
4th row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus)
5th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
6th row
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
7th row
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
8th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
9th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
10th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)
11th row
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
12th row
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT)
18:56 as a footnote to the Vettel/Alonso race for the title, the German
will become only the third driver to win three consecutive titles if he does
it today. Right, race time and boy do i hope this race is as good as Abu
Dhabi!
18:54 permutations and predictions then. If Vettel wins the race and
Alonso is no higher than 5th, Vettel wins the title. He will also win the
title if he finishes 2nd as long as Alonso does not better than 9th and 3rd
place finish for the Red Bull driver will secure the championship but only
if Alonso fails to score. I don’t think Vettel’s going to win the title
today, I think that move by Ferrari will prove pivotal to keeping the race
going all the way to Brazil next weekend. I’m going for Vettel Alonso and
Raikkonen on the podium. Note to Hamilton, keep your eyes on the rear
mirror, Grosjean’s behind you!
18:48 And a word from Vettel from the grid:
We start o the right side so that gives us a good chance. It’s steep to
turn one and it’s wide then so we should be fine. Not much to feel about it
it’s their business. Even if it does [annoy me] what’s the point in getting
annoyed?”
18:44 It’s going to be a tough start this afternoon for anyone lower
than 6th I think, and one man that’s none too happy with where he is placed
is Jenson Button. Here’s what he had to say yesterday:
It’s a pity to start so far back because the car is fun to drive around
here, and I love the first sector. Turns two to nine are fantastic. So now
we’ll see what it’s like at turn one in the middle of the pack. It’s going
to be tricky. I was there a couple of races ago and it didn’t end well for
me – hopefully it won’t be the same – so we’ll see what we can do. It’s
going to be a long day because it’s not that easy to overtake here,”
added Button. It doesn’t mean we can’t overtake as the pace of the car is
pretty good. We’re not as quick as Red Bull, but I don’t think there’s
anybody else quicker than us other than them, so we can still have fun.”
Here’s what the grid girls look like in Texas…
Let me bring you a little more information about the track, here’s the
Circuit of The Americas in numbers:
•Venue: Circuit of The Americas, Austin, Texas
•Circuit length: 5.516km/3.752miles
•Laps: 56
•Race distance: 308.896km/191.165miles
•Number of corners: 20 (11 left/9 right)
•Tyre compounds to be used: hard/medium
•Overtaking chance: Into turns 1, 11 and 12
•Estimated lap time: 1min 37secs
•Gear changes per lap: 58 (race = 3248)
Here’s what our F1 man Tom Cary had to say on that via Twitter:
If you do have to prove there’s problem with gearbox to change it would
alter nature of clever v cynical debate..fabricating problem would be
cynical. raises plenty of talking points. Clever? Cynical? Both? Any
different to Red Bull in Abu Dhabi starting SV from pit-lane and changing
set-up? And do these sorts of shenanigans alienate would-be US fans, bearing
in mind tyre fiasco at Indy in 2005? #f1
18:25 The only man that can deny Vettel his third consecutive title
this year is Alonso and boy are Ferrari doing as much as they can to get him
climbing the ranks after lights out. The Spanish driver had a poor
qualifying session yesterday and was down to start the race in 8th but will
now move to 7th because the team have “suddenly” had to replace
Felipe Massa’s gearbox which as we all know incurs a five grid penalty so
he’s dropping from 6th to 11th. The advantage is now that Alonso is not
starting the race on the dirtier side of the track. To prevent Vettel
winning, he must finish 4th or higher.
The decision from Ferrari to go ahead with this gearbox change has really
split opinions on Twitter, some saying it’s fair game and a good decisions,
others saying that while it’s not breaking any rules it is not sporting. I
think it’s a great move by Ferrari, they have a title at stake and will do
anything to win it though it’s going to being them a lot of negative
publicity…what do you think? Drop me an email and let me know.
18:18 Again I bring you records and stats surrounding our defending
world champion who I don’t think will clinch the title today…I am probably
wrong and I suppose it’s me hoping more than believing he wont wrap things
up today as everyone loves a season that goes down the final race…don’t we?
Anyway the German driver is today racing his 100th GP. In his 99 races to
date Vettel’s record is not too shabby having been on pole 35 times and
taken the chequered flag on 26 occasions, along with 19 other podium
finishes
18:10 Today’s race takes place at a £250million facility just outside
Austin, Texas, in the Circuit of The Americas. It’s the 19th and penultimate
race of the season and the title is still up for grabs with Red Bull’s
Sebastian Vettel 10 points clear of Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari.
If you missed qualifying or practice this week and are yet to see much of the
new track then check out this flying lap and you’ll see what the driver have
to contend with.
18:00 Good afternoon/evening/middle of the night F1 fans and welcome to
my penultimate live blog of the season! Last season the sport welcomed India
to the calendar, today the F1 family opens its arms out to another new
track, yes F1 is back in the States and let’s hope that it’s a case of 10th
time’s a charm for the sport which returns after a five year absence having
struggled to charm the crowds over there. Riverside, Sebring, Watkins Glen,
Dallas, Detroit, Las Vegas, Long Beach, Phoenix and Indianapolis have all
played host at some stage over the past 60 years though with little success.
1st row
Sebastian Vettel (GER/Red Bull)
Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren)
2nd row
Mark Webber (AUS/Red Bull)
Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Lotus)
3rd row
Michael Schumacher (GER/Mercedes)
Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Force India)
4th row
Fernando Alonso (ESP/Ferrari)
Romain Grosjean (FRA/Lotus)
5th row
Pastor Maldonado (VEN/Williams)
Bruno Senna (BRA/Williams)
6th row
Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari)
Jenson Button (GBR/McLaren)
7th row
Paul di Resta (GBR/Force India)
Jean-Eric Vergne (FRA/Toro Rosso)
8th row
Sergio Perez (MEX/Sauber)
Kamui Kobayashi (JPN/Sauber)
9th row
Nico Rosberg (GER/Mercedes)
Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/Toro Rosso)
10th row
Timo Glock (GER/Marussia)
Charles Pic (FRA/Marussia)
11th row
Vitaly Petrov (RUS/Caterham)
Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/Caterham)
12th row
Pedro de la Rosa (ESP/HRT)
Narain Karthikeyan (IND/HRT)