The 2013 season just flew by, didn’t it? After 10 months, three winter tests and 19 races and three winter tests, we now get to reflect on what a stunning year it has been for Formula 1 and look ahead to what will be a dramatically different series when the 2014 cars are unveiled next January.
We haven’t had the unpredictability of 2012 or a title battle that went down to the wire, like 2010, but the final 19 races of V8 engine era have thrown up plenty of surprises, a lot of domination and some truly edge-of-your-seat moments. Here’s part one of my season review.
It all started in late February when the paddock re-grouped for the car launches and 12 days of winter testing, four at Jerez and eight at the Circuit de Catalunya. Here, we got our first glimpse of a possible running order for the year to come as teams prepared for the first race of the year.
The season opener for the 64th Formula 1 season, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, was far from straightforward after rain caused chaos in qualifying. The second and third sessions were postponed to Sunday morning, where Sebastian Vettel ominously took pole position from Mark Webber.
However, the Red Bull drivers couldn’t maintain their positions as Kimi Raikkonen powered to victory after a tense strategic battle with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. The result came as a slight surprise but it was great to see the Lotus team start the year on the right foot. It was an impressive drive to finish 12 seconds clear of Alonso and Vettel. Webber finished in sixth place after an unsurprisingly terrible start.
McLaren had ended the 2012 season with two race wins. However, it was the complete opposite in 2013 and was disastrous from the very beginning. Jenson Button and Sergio Perez could only finish ninth and 11th and the results wouldn’t get much better as the season progressed. Adrian Sutil was one of the stars of the race on his return to F1, briefly leading and coming home in seventh place.
Malaysia hosted round two of the 2013 season, which was – in my view – the most dramatic race of the season. Sebastian Vettel took victory after ignoring his team’s now famous ‘multi 21’ command to stay behind team-mate Mark Webber, who I feel deserved to win. It provided fireworks both on and off track – there was so much to write about. We also witnessed team orders from the Mercedes team as Nico Rosberg was told to stay behind team-mate Hamilton and secure a 3-4 finish.
After the impressive result in Australia, I was disappointed to see the Lotus drivers down in sixth and seventh. McLaren had a terrible race, as did Alonso after an uncharacteristic error in the slippery – and quite rare in 2013 – wet conditions on lap one.
Lewis Hamilton’s season looked to be on the up after qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. He took pole position but couldn’t hold on to the lead for long, losing out to both Ferrari cars on lap four. Alonso never looked back and dominated the race to take his first win of the year. Raikkonen recovered to second despite a, quite frankly, terrible getaway from the grid. Hamilton dropped to third by the chequered flag as Mercedes’ tyre woes became apparent. Button’s two-stop strategy worked well for fifth place and Daniel Ricciardo really impressed in seventh place, maintaining his grid position.
Vettel completed a near perfect race at the Bahrain Grand Prix to become the first driver of the season to win multiple times. Unusually, the podium line-up was the same as the last race in Bahrain with Raikkonen and Grosjean showing the strong pace of the Lotus and its ability to preserve the delicate Pirelli tyres in second and third. My driver of the day, though, was definitely Paul di Resta. He, like Grosjean, only pitted twice and just missed out on his maiden podium. Still, fourth was a great result for the Scot. Perez finished in sixth place but came under fire for his aggressive overtakes, which were great to watch but could have proved costly for the team.
From the Bahrain desert, the F1 field travelled back to Spain and the Circuit de Catalunya for the first European race of the year. All 11 teams brought considerable upgrade packages to Barcelona but it was still the two Mercedes’ cars who dominated on Saturday afternoon. But, once again, they couldn’t stay at the front in race trim. It was a terrible race to sixth and 12th for Rosberg and Hamilton.
In contrast, Alonso took his second win of the season and an emotional one in front of his home crowd. Felipe Massa’s third place brought hope to Ferrari fans and Raikkonen’s consistency continued with another trip to the podium. It wasn’t the most exciting race but it did provide one of the overtakes of the season, courtesy of the race winner. Alonso’s pass on both Raikkonen and Hamilton around the outside at turn three on lap one was perfectly executed and proved to be a crucial move.
Five races down and there was a tie at the top of the drivers’ standings. However, neither driver started from the front row for the jewel in Formula 1’s crown: The Monaco Grand Prix. Rosberg took pole position from his team-mate Hamilton and led from start to finish, despite pressure from the Red Bull duo, two safety car periods and a red flag. The latter was caused by a clumsy crash between Max Chilton and Pastor Maldonado at Tabac that dislodged the TECPRO barrier.
The break in proceedings enabled drivers to change tyres and repair damage. It was an impressive drive from Sutil to finish in fifth after some strong overtakes, particularly on Alonso at the Grand Hotel Hairpin. Raikkonen finished in 10th after a clash with Perez, who was forced to retire due to damage. ‘Testgate’ also came to light just prior to the race start, arguably the biggest story of the season.
From the drama of the Circuit de Monaco, the circus headed west to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel made up for his last lap mistake in 2011 to dominate once again, winning by a staggering 14 seconds and lapping everyone up to Rosberg in fifth. Alonso displaced Hamilton late in the race to finish as the runner-up. Jean-Eric Vergne put in a strong performance to finish in sixth.
Valtteri Bottas starred in the wet qualifying session and started the race in third. I had my fingers crossed for a top 10 finish but the dry conditions meant he dropped to 14th by the chequered flag. The race was marred by the death of track marshal Mark Robinson.
The British Grand Prix was - quite literally - the most explosive race of the season after a number of high-speed tyre failures at the historic Silverstone circuit. Lewis Hamilton should have, in my view, won the race but a puncture dropped him to fourth place. Still, it was an impressive recovery drive from the Brit on home turf. Button, rather disappointingly, failed to finish in the top 10 after struggling with tyre wear in the closing stages.
The race was won by Hamilton’s team-mate Rosberg who controlled the race brilliantly despite pressure from Webber. However, he did luck in to the result after taking over from the sister Mercedes and Vettel’s Red Bull when they both experienced problems.
The Nurburgring returned to the calendar to host the ninth round of the season. It was another Mercedes pole position but the Red Bulls soon moved into the lead after the lights went out. It wasn’t the usual dominant display from Vettel though, as Raikkonen had an impressive race and finished just one second clear of the German by the chequered flag. Grosjean put in another mature drive to round out the podium.
After several near misses and some dominant displays in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton finally won his first race for Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He started from pole position and drove a faultless race to secure his debut win of the season. Raikkonen and Vettel finished 10 seconds further back and completed the top three on the podium.
Grosjean could have challenged for a spot in the top three but a drive-through, which I felt was a little harsh, and a time penalty for two separate incidents during the race dropped him to sixth. Button drove another mature race on a different strategy to finish in seventh place and Maldonado picked up Williams’ first point of the year.
The first half of the 2013 season was full of drama, explosive on-track action and off-track fireworks. What we witnessed in the final nine races of the year was something truly special.
What were your highlights from the 2013 season? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
See part two here: http://bit.ly/18fpDPg
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| (c) Sahara Force India F1 Team |
We haven’t had the unpredictability of 2012 or a title battle that went down to the wire, like 2010, but the final 19 races of V8 engine era have thrown up plenty of surprises, a lot of domination and some truly edge-of-your-seat moments. Here’s part one of my season review.
It all started in late February when the paddock re-grouped for the car launches and 12 days of winter testing, four at Jerez and eight at the Circuit de Catalunya. Here, we got our first glimpse of a possible running order for the year to come as teams prepared for the first race of the year.
The season opener for the 64th Formula 1 season, held at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne, Australia, was far from straightforward after rain caused chaos in qualifying. The second and third sessions were postponed to Sunday morning, where Sebastian Vettel ominously took pole position from Mark Webber.
However, the Red Bull drivers couldn’t maintain their positions as Kimi Raikkonen powered to victory after a tense strategic battle with the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. The result came as a slight surprise but it was great to see the Lotus team start the year on the right foot. It was an impressive drive to finish 12 seconds clear of Alonso and Vettel. Webber finished in sixth place after an unsurprisingly terrible start.
McLaren had ended the 2012 season with two race wins. However, it was the complete opposite in 2013 and was disastrous from the very beginning. Jenson Button and Sergio Perez could only finish ninth and 11th and the results wouldn’t get much better as the season progressed. Adrian Sutil was one of the stars of the race on his return to F1, briefly leading and coming home in seventh place.
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| (c) Getty Images |
After the impressive result in Australia, I was disappointed to see the Lotus drivers down in sixth and seventh. McLaren had a terrible race, as did Alonso after an uncharacteristic error in the slippery – and quite rare in 2013 – wet conditions on lap one.
Lewis Hamilton’s season looked to be on the up after qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. He took pole position but couldn’t hold on to the lead for long, losing out to both Ferrari cars on lap four. Alonso never looked back and dominated the race to take his first win of the year. Raikkonen recovered to second despite a, quite frankly, terrible getaway from the grid. Hamilton dropped to third by the chequered flag as Mercedes’ tyre woes became apparent. Button’s two-stop strategy worked well for fifth place and Daniel Ricciardo really impressed in seventh place, maintaining his grid position.
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| (c) Pirelli Media |
From the Bahrain desert, the F1 field travelled back to Spain and the Circuit de Catalunya for the first European race of the year. All 11 teams brought considerable upgrade packages to Barcelona but it was still the two Mercedes’ cars who dominated on Saturday afternoon. But, once again, they couldn’t stay at the front in race trim. It was a terrible race to sixth and 12th for Rosberg and Hamilton.
In contrast, Alonso took his second win of the season and an emotional one in front of his home crowd. Felipe Massa’s third place brought hope to Ferrari fans and Raikkonen’s consistency continued with another trip to the podium. It wasn’t the most exciting race but it did provide one of the overtakes of the season, courtesy of the race winner. Alonso’s pass on both Raikkonen and Hamilton around the outside at turn three on lap one was perfectly executed and proved to be a crucial move.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The break in proceedings enabled drivers to change tyres and repair damage. It was an impressive drive from Sutil to finish in fifth after some strong overtakes, particularly on Alonso at the Grand Hotel Hairpin. Raikkonen finished in 10th after a clash with Perez, who was forced to retire due to damage. ‘Testgate’ also came to light just prior to the race start, arguably the biggest story of the season.
From the drama of the Circuit de Monaco, the circus headed west to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix. Vettel made up for his last lap mistake in 2011 to dominate once again, winning by a staggering 14 seconds and lapping everyone up to Rosberg in fifth. Alonso displaced Hamilton late in the race to finish as the runner-up. Jean-Eric Vergne put in a strong performance to finish in sixth.
Valtteri Bottas starred in the wet qualifying session and started the race in third. I had my fingers crossed for a top 10 finish but the dry conditions meant he dropped to 14th by the chequered flag. The race was marred by the death of track marshal Mark Robinson.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The race was won by Hamilton’s team-mate Rosberg who controlled the race brilliantly despite pressure from Webber. However, he did luck in to the result after taking over from the sister Mercedes and Vettel’s Red Bull when they both experienced problems.
The Nurburgring returned to the calendar to host the ninth round of the season. It was another Mercedes pole position but the Red Bulls soon moved into the lead after the lights went out. It wasn’t the usual dominant display from Vettel though, as Raikkonen had an impressive race and finished just one second clear of the German by the chequered flag. Grosjean put in another mature drive to round out the podium.
After several near misses and some dominant displays in qualifying, Lewis Hamilton finally won his first race for Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix. He started from pole position and drove a faultless race to secure his debut win of the season. Raikkonen and Vettel finished 10 seconds further back and completed the top three on the podium.
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| (c) Octane Photographic |
The first half of the 2013 season was full of drama, explosive on-track action and off-track fireworks. What we witnessed in the final nine races of the year was something truly special.
What were your highlights from the 2013 season? Let me know on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.
See part two here: http://bit.ly/18fpDPg
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