“The championship is more difficult of course but I am never going to win a championship like that when normal things break. But I will come back, keep pushing, keep attacking and try to win in Texas.”
There are no friends among drivers in F1
Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen do the chummy, best pals act very well at Ferrari. They talk about their games of table tennis. They even do the odd impression of each other.
But when it comes to racing there can be no friends in this sport. Challenging Raikkonen after the second restart, Vettel darted left, then right, before squeezing his way down the inside. The Finn had nowhere to go, taking avoiding action.
It was a firm but fair move by Vettel, but hardly the actions of one friend toward another. And that is exactly how it should be. As much as drivers tell you they are friends out of the car, on the track there is no such thing.
Red Bull have played a poor hand
You can argue about the good of Formula One all you like – from looking across social media it seems very few people have much sympathy for Red Bull – but the team have badly miscalculated the situation. Their attempts to get a competitive engine for 2016 have been cack-handed at best.
They criticised Renault so severely over the past two years that their relationship has become intolerable. The French manufacturer is as a result unwilling to keep supplying the team.
The approach to Mercedes was botched. The German giant were willing to listen but heard little back and then firmly shut the door. And by the time all this had unfolded, it was very late in the day for Ferrari to respond (Red Bull’s public posturing hardly helped their cause).
It has all left them teetering on the brink of exit, with few friends in the paddock.
Without a Mosley at his side, Ecclestone is ineffective
It is not inconceivable that a decade ago Bernie Ecclestone would not have allowed the Red Bull situation to reach a crisis. Ecclestone and Max Mosley, then FIA President, would have found some way to bully one of Mercedes or Ferrari to supply an engine to Red Bull. They would threaten a punishingly rule tweak or something of that nature to bring everyone into line.
Now, without his trust partner in crime, Ecclestone is rendered powerless to solve the crisis singlehandedly. Where has Jean Todt been this weekend? Regard for him among team principals is at rock bottom.
It can be very easy to yearn for the days of Ecclestone and Mosley. After all, it had its flaws, and Mosley was not exactly a popular man in the paddock. But they managed to get things done. An inactive FIA President is not what the sport needs.
Russia is not without its challenges
It should not come as a surprise given we have hammered the country with sanctions, but the teams have their own troubles settling in here. Items which they could not bring in include: PG Tips, brown sauce, Weetabix, and any quantity of meat.
The TV broadcasters are also on edge because should President Putin and his entourage go anywhere near one of their cameras, then they could block the feed from that camera. It is highly localised so would not interrupt the entire broadcast, but could have affected the grid walk.
As it was, the President did not arrive until the parade lap, being taken for a tour of the paddock by Ecclestone.