It’s going to take a miracle to stop Sebastian Vettel winnng his third world championship in a row now. After winning in Korea last weekend, he could wrap it up before Brazil at this rate. Maybe in Austin, Texas? The Americans would like that; as far as we know he’s the only F1 driver to have appeared on US late night television in the last decade.
Right at the moment it needed to up its game, McLaren has once again lost the plot, as well. Jenson Button was out on the first lap having managed to get hit by both Saubers. Not his fault, but what was he doing starting in the middle of the pack, where it can get messy? Paying the penalty for a bodged strategy in qualifying, basically. And, if the BBC is to believed, Lewis Hamilton started the race with the possibility of a one-stop strategy, and ended up stopping three times and finishing 10th. He started third, can we remind you…
Ferrari looks like it sorted its second driver problem with Felipe Massa once again showing he has still got it. Well most of ‘it’ anyhow. Fast, but never a challenge to Fernando Alonso. That’s what Ferrari wants. We guess that means both Force India drivers will be staying put, although that didn’t stop Nico Hulkenberg putting in a mighty weekend. Careful there Paul…
The empty seats now look to be at Sauber, with Perez having already signed for McLaren and Kobayashi having blown away any residual goodwill he might have generated with that podium in Japan. He’s messy, but we’ll miss him. Sauber also need to be careful though; under the direction of its ex-engineering director James Key, Toro Rosso looks to be on the move. Two cars in the top 10. Both ahead of McLaren.
So while Vettel is on track for the triple crown, the big question is this: what the hell happened to Webber? After that mighty qualifying lap, Vettel squeezed into the lead by the first corner, and that was that. Did Webber get an unfair wrap being on the dirty side of the track?