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2013 Indian GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Indian Grand Prix

In the unlikely event you haven’t heard the news, Sebastian Vettel is now a four time Formula 1 world champion, thanks to his Indian Grand Prix victory. There’s no surprises that Nico Rosberg and Romain Grosjean didn’t attract too many questions in the post-race press conference; it’s not every day a guy wins four titles in a row.

Before you get to the transcript of the post-race press conference a few words from Mark Webber (DNF) and Daniel Ricciardo (P10).

Mark Webber: “Obviously I’m pretty disappointed with today’s race, but there is not much I can do, the alternator went wrong with very short notice so we had to stop straight away. It’s tough because we did a lot of things right this weekend, but I’ve got a smile on my face as I could not have done any more.

“Well done to Seb on his Championship and also to all the Team; to get a fourth title is amazing. It’s been a great job by the whole team to achieve the title four years on the trot and it has once again set itself as the benchmark for the others.”

Daniel Ricciardo: “I am pretty pleased with today’s performance, even if during the race I thought we were looking better than a tenth place finish, especially after the first stint went well and the pace was looking good. It seemed as though we could have matched Sutil and Di Resta, so there’s a little bit of disappointment about the fact I couldn’t get past them and get a couple more points. Generally, I am pleased with what I did in the car and now we move on to Abu Dhabi, where we have a lot of support, so I hope we can give them a good result next Sunday.

“Vettel? Phenomenal! Particularly since the summer break, when he grabbed the title and never let anyone else look at it.”

[Pic: Lotus F1 Team/LAT Photographic]

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Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Indian GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Indian Grand Prix

It’s just too easy for him isn’t it. So it would seem from afar at any rate.

Sebastian Vettel has cruised to victory at the Indian Grand Prix and in doing so secured his fourth consecutive world championship. He’s just 26 years old and while he has his fair share of detractors noone can take away what he has achieved. It’s quite remarkable.

From pole position, Vettel established an early lead; 2.4 seconds by the end of Lap 1. It was clearly a case of how far for the Red Bull ace. He took a small risk by pitting early to rid himself of his soft compound tyres but then showed his class by carving his way through the field to re-establish a race winning position.

Despite a messy start, suffering light contact with both Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, Mark Webber spent quite a bit of time leading the race. His different tyre strategy giving him an early edge over the other drivers around him. The plan was to establish a strong enough gap over Vettel to keep the lead. On this day, again, Vettel was unstoppable and his victory proved to be a formality. However, Mark was driving well and was on track for a comfortable second place.

Unfortunately for Mark he was instructed by his team to retire on account of an alternator problem. Vettel received a few warnings, as well, but he still posted quick laps and managed to win the race by almost 30 seconds over Nico Rosberg.

Even with Vettel’s huge achievement the drive of the day goes to Romain Grosjean who fought his way to P3 after the disappointment of starting from P17. His growing maturity has been one of the stories of the latter half of the season.

Daniel Ricciardo drove a long first stint, running as high as third and may have had eyes on a better result than the P10 he managed. That said he’ll be pleased with his efforts after he managed to hold off Fernando Alonso in the closing laps to grab a championship point.

And not much else really matters from tonight’s race because, deservedly, it’s all about Sebastian Vettel. His win secured a fourth constructors’ title in succession for Red Bull as well. Instead of returning his car to parc fermé, Vettel chose to entertain the crowd with a series of donuts on the main straight. Is there a better way to celebrate a record-breaking dual championship result?

It’s worth noting at the mid-season break, after the Hungarian Grand Prix, Vettel lead the championship title race by 38 points over Raikkonen. Handy, but not insurmountable. Fellow world champions Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton were also in touching distance. Since then, though, Vettel has won the ensuing six races and his unbeatable championship lead is now a staggering 115 points.

Vettel joins Juan Manuel Fangio, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher as the only men to win four world titles. By some margin Vettel is the youngest man to achieve this record. The rule changes of 2014 may well upset Red Bull’s on-track dominance, making a fifth title harder to predict. But you sense a fifth world crown, and perhaps more, will come before he retires from the sport.

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Romain Grosjean expected to take Lotus lead

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

Romain Grosjean’s late season form has impressed team bosses in the Lotus garage. It’s expected the team will take up its option to keep him on their roster for 2014, with the ongoing speculation about Lotus’ financial security the only barrier at this time.

Lotus Team Principal and head of Grosjean’s management team, Eric Boullier, says confirmation should come soon. “Romain already has a contract with us for next year, but it is not a fixed contract—Lotus has to take the option or not. We have to do it in a few days’ time, so we will see,” he said.

Boullier is also pleased with the development of the 27-year-old Frenchman, adding: “We first wanted him to establish himself like the driver he is now, but on top of this, since Kimi announced he is leaving, it was up to him to step up—and he is doing it.”

Alan Permane, Trackside Operations Director, is also impressed with what he’s seeing from Grosjean. “He has that belief in himself that he can do it, and the Japanese GP will have done him the power of good,” Permane said. “To lead a race and pull away from Red Bulls and even to be mixing it with them is brilliant, especially when you look the fourth placed person is 30 seconds down the road.”

Assuming Lotus can get their seemingly ever precarious finances sorted out it’s expected Nico Hulkenberg will race alongside Grosjean in 2014, after Kimi Raikkonen’s return to Ferrari.

[Source: Autosport | Pic: Lotus F1 Team/LAT Photographic]

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2013 Japanese Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

On the surface Sebastian Vettel’s win at the Japanese Grand Prix looked to be a solid victory crafted with determination and a solid strategy. The conspiracy theorists out there would suggest Red Bull’s decision to keep Vettel on a two-stop strategy, while switching Mark Webber to a three-stopper, was all about providing an opportunity for Seb to forge a win from third place, while harming Mark’s chances of a first win for season 2013.

Certainly, Vettel’s own radio calls late in the race asking the team to keep Mark away from him would lend support to that theory. But former Red Bull driver David Coulthard is having none of that, suggesting if it were true that Mark would be telling the world all about it.

All we can do is wonder what would have happened if Mark was able to bully his way past Romain Grosjean with the effectiveness which Vettel did. Instead, it took Mark seven laps to find a way around the Lotus driver by which time any chance of a challenge to Vettel’s lead had been lost.

Which means our regular F1 pictorial update gives us yet another opportunity to look at that bloody finger!

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2013 Japanese GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Japanese Grand Prix

After missing out on the win at today’s Japanese Grand Prix, Mark Webber explained he started the race on a two-stop strategy, but the team switched him to a three after his first stop.

“I think we tried to race Romain at the start and then in the end we switched to the three,” Mark said. “So I was the meat in the sandwich, trying to beat Romain on a two and then all of a sudden we decided to do a three. I was a little bit surprised. I asked was it the right thing to do because I felt we could get to the lap we were looking to get to.”

Daniel Ricciardo reflected on his drive-through penalty, which he says cost him a points finish. “I am disappointed not to have scored some points today, because I am convinced I was heading for the top ten, which would have been an encouraging result, after struggling with the balance of the car on Saturday,” he said.

“We started on the Hard tyre and after I made a good start to move up two places, it was looking good as I passed Bottas on the track and moved up the order as those on the Medium pitted ahead of me. I was moving up the order again after my first stop and then I made a move on the outside of Sutil at the 130R and got past him. But after that, I ran wide onto the grass, which lost me a bit of time. Sadly, the Stewards decided I had gained an advantage by going off the track and had to take a drive-through penalty, which of course ruined my race.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Japanese GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Japanese GP

Oh how all of Australia wished Mark Webber could convert his pole position into a race win at the Japanese Grand Prix today. Yet, just as Stuart MacGill’s cricketing talent was never fulfilled thanks to the presence of Shane Warne, Webber had to once again watch, seemingly powerless, as his teammate went on to craft another grand prix victory. Mark left to content himself with second place.

Both Red Bull drivers made clumsy starts from the front row and the Lotus lead-driver-in-waiting Romain Grosjean took the opportunity to take the lead into the first corner from P4. In the melee of the start Vettel clipped Lewis Hamilton’s left rear. Hamilton had made a good start too, but his race was ruined after the subsequent puncture and damage to his floor of his Mercedes AMG eventually sent him into retirement.

The rest of the field was left to fight over the scraps as the leading trio got down to the business of winning the race. A mix of strategies—Webber, three stops; Vettel and Grosjean, two stops—meant we spent the bulk of the race waiting for Mark’s final pit stop so we could finally see what would happen next.

Grosjean left himself the longest final stint on his tyres and after Vettel emerged from his final stop behind the Lotus driver his task was to overtake as soon as possible in order to build a lead in anticipation of Webber’s closing pace in the last few laps. True to form Vettel got the job done, forcing his way past Grosjean without losing too much time.

Webber entered the pits in the lead, with the gap back to Vettel closing by the lap. But with a brand new set of prime tyres, and close behind Grosjean, he had 10 laps to overtake the Frenchman and set about chasing down Vettel. What Vettel made look easy, Webber made look hard. He eventually did get past Grosjean, but with just two laps left in the race, the damage was done and Vettel cruised to a seven second victory.

Daniel Ricciardo had an anonymous race and finished in P13, one place behind Jean-Eric Vergne. Daniel’s race was affected after he ran wide on the exit of 130R overtaking Adrian Sutil. The race stewards said he gained an unfair advantage by running off the circuit and issued him with a drive-through penalty. Elsewhere not much else happened.

Today’s win is Vettel’s fifth in a row since the mid-season break and his ninth race win of the year. Fernando Alonso’s fourth place was enough to delay Vettel’s championship party for a couple of weeks until the teams reassemble for the Indian Grand Prix.

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2013 Korean Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Korean Grand Prix

While even his fellow drivers may be booing Sebastian Vettel’s latest win at the Korean Grand Prix, the race itself is under threat. Partly because of poor attendance and also due to the promise of a bumper 22-race calendar that nobody wants. One thing is sure, Mark Webber has plenty of fans in Korea, as you’ll see in the pics below.

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2013 Korean GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Korean Grand Prix

One of the nice things about a grand prix held at a more convenient time for those of us following Formula 1 from the southern hemisphere is that we can follow the post-race activities in real time. That means you can read the press conference transcript before you go to bed.

Before you do, here’s what the Aussies had to say. Mark Webber first: “The incident with Sutil was obviously the end of my race today. It was in Turn 3 on the restart, everyone bottles back up and I was looking for a big exit on the next straight to use some KERS on Daniel (Ricciardo) and the Williams. Then Sutil, I don’t know what happened, but obviously he hit me from the inside and that was that.

“There was quite a lot of damage at the back of the car and I hope it hasn’t gone towards the chassis—we will have to see before the next race. Before that I was very happy with how I drove and we’d got back to a very good position before I got the puncture. After the Pirelli tyre failure on Perez’ car, I was very lucky to miss the tread of the tyre that came off and then unbelievably I managed to get a puncture from going through the debris.”

For his part Adrian Sutil has both escaped penalty from the stewards and said sorry to Mark: “At the restart I lost the rear of the car under braking for turn three. I really don’t know why because I was not braking late and the car just snapped. I hit Webber so I apologise for ending his race. It’s a disappointing end to the race because I believe there was still a chance of a point.”

And Daniel Ricciardo: “I think we did all we could today in the race. I had a decent first stint and tried to run as long as possible on the Prime tyre. The car wasn’t perfect but it was good enough to be in a points position with a few laps to go and I was hanging on nicely to ninth.

“It’s déjà vu, as I had the same scenario here last year, when I came down to Turn 3 with a few laps to go, I braked and the car immediately shot to the left. That time it cost me one place. Once I got out of the cockpit this time, I could see there was a mechanical problem at the front left corner. Personally, I was really pleased with my performance in the car today. Maybe we didn’t have a top ten car but I was able to fight in the top ten. But for myself and the team it’s frustrating to get no reward. Now all we can do is look ahead to Suzuka.”

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean GP

Sebastian Vettel wins 2013 Korean Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel’s charmed run has continued at the Korean Grand Prix, where he has just collected his fourth consecutive race win. The Red Bull champ won by just over four seconds from the Lotus duo of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean.

Vettel is very much on track to secure his fourth world title, his winning margin masks the comfort with which he won. Although he was helped by a pair of Safety Car periods, which extended his tyre life and brought the field together in what was a bizarre race at times.

The first Safety Car came out on Lap 31 after a severe flat spot into Turn 1 from Sergio Perez preceded a spectacular failure to his right front tyre on the main straight. An unlucky Mark Webber, who had just rejoined the track after pitting for new tyres, was the first on the scene and he picked up a puncture after having nowhere to go except over the debris left behind from Perez’s McLaren.

In effect the need to come in for new tyres ruined Webber’s race after he was making good progress through the field following his start from P13 due to his 10-place grid penalty. Alas, worse was to come.

On the first lap after the race restarted Adrian Sutil lost control under brakes into Turn 3 and spun putting his rear tyre into the sidepod of Mark’s car. Almost immediately Webber’s car caught fire and his race ended in flames for the second grand prix in a row.

In the aftermath of that event a fire marshal’s vehicle entered the track and interrupted the race before the Safety Car was deployed. There was potential for a nasty incident but thankfully, the fire marshal escaped incident. We suspect whoever was responsible for sending that car out on track won’t be working at an F1 race again anytime soon.

Once racing resumed we were treated to some first class action, sadly none of if centred on the first three and the two Lotus drivers were unable to challenge Vettel for the victory. The rest of the field, though, was fighting desperately for position and the action was exciting right to the end.

Unfortunately, it was a bad day for the Aussies with Daniel Ricciardo retiring from the race while he was in ninth position with only three laps to go. It’s not clear why Daniel had to park his car off to the side of the circuit.

Nico Hulkenberg drove a masterful race to finish P4, holding off Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg.

Grosjean made a good start to earn himself P2 on the opening lap with a good move on Hamilton and he probably deserved better than P3 today. Although we’ll never know what might have been if the Lotus pairing were able to run longer on their tyres, it’s expected they might have given Vettel a tougher fight for victory.

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2013 Singapore Grand Prix in pictures

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Sunday night lights! We bring you another mega-gallery of images from the world of Formula 1, this time from under the lights of the Singapore Grand Prix. For the third race in a row Sebastian Vettel dominated the weekend and further tightened the screws on securing a fourth straight championship.

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2013 Singapore GP: Post-race press conference

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

After winning the Singapore Grand Prix with ease Sebastian Vettel faced many questions about his lead in the championship and was once again asked if he dislikes being booed.

Fernando Alonso was praised for his never say die attitude and Kimi Raikkonen’s sore back became a pain in the neck, such was the amount of questioning he suffered.

As we know the two Australian drivers had races they’d rather forget. Daniel Ricciardo crashed out before half-way and Mark Webber’s engine failed on the final lap.

“I think I did pretty much everything I could today,” Mark said. “We had pace in the car when we needed, we managed the tyres and made a very good undercut on Nico, I was really happy with that lap. Then six laps from the end, the guys were getting worried about the car.

“So, yeah, it’s annoying but someone’s had a tougher day than me somewhere and that’s the way it goes. I was having to short shift, but then, unlike Monza, we started to lose a lot of power. We were just trying to get home at that point but then on the last lap we caught fire.”

Daniel wasn’t looking for excuses to his early race exit. “The crash was my error, trying to make up for lost ground,” he said. “At the start, my car just seemed to sit there without moving off the line. It was very frustrating to lose so many places right away. I think I went down five places from ninth on the grid to fourteenth.

“In the second stint, my engineer came on the radio and said ‘the pace is good, keep pushing.’ I was aware that for the pace we had, we were not doing too badly and maybe at the end I was just trying to get too much out of it and made that mistake. It’s a delicate corner with not much run-off and I went too deep into the apex. I then braked a bit harder, locked a wheel and went into the wall. It’s not a mistake I’m used to making. I will learn from this.“

The full transcript of the post-race press conference featuring the first three drivers can be read after the break.

[Pic: Red Bull/Getty Images]

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2013 Singapore GP: Qualifying report

2013 Singapore Grand Prix

Sebatsian Vettel has once again shown his and Red Bull’s dominance over the rest of the field by claiming pole position for tonight’s Singapore Grand Prix. The three-time world champion played with his contemporaries by choosing to set just one flying lap in final qualifying (1:42.841) and despite some tense final moments it proved enough to give him P1.

Vettel has been quick all weekend and is chasing a third successive win at Marina Bay, so claiming pole was no surprise. However, Mark Webber wasn’t happy to have qualified fourth (1:43.152), behind Nico Rosberg (Mercedes AMG, 1:42.932) and Romain Grosjean (Lotus, 1:43.058).

“I’m a bit disappointed to be fourth,” Webber said, “It’s quite tight and there were some good lap times being set. We’re on the second row, it would have been better to have been on the front row, but it’s a long race tomorrow and we can do something from there. We’ve got a very good race car. It was hard to match Seb in the last sector; he’s always been strong in Turns 20 and 21.”

Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes AMG, 1:43.254) will start from the third row, with Felipe Massa (Ferrari, 1:43.890) alongside him. We’re quite sure Fernando Alonso (Ferrari, 1:43.938) won’t be quite as amused as us to see he will start the race behind his teammate, from P7. Although, we’re also quite sure Fernando will finish the race ahead of Massa.

Esetban Guiterrez (Sauber) was the star of Q2, comfortably getting himself into the final qualifying session. But he figured his job was done and he did not set a time in Q3 and will start from P10.

Daniel Ricciardo (Toro Rosso, 1:44.439) once again edged his car into Q3. He’ll start from ninth, three places ahead of teammate Jean-Eric Vergne.

“That was not an easy session and we had to work harder here to get to Q3 than we did in a few other races where we have managed it,” explained Daniel. “I was a bit disappointed not to get a little bit more time out of my lap in Q3, with Jenson a couple of tenths ahead and it would have been nice to get that.

“As for the race, the guys who went out in Q2 might have a little bit of a tyre advantage, so let’s hope that doesn’t have too much influence tomorrow. We will race as hard as we can and hope to stay in the points.”

Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus) was perhaps the surprise of qualifying, missing out on Q3. He’s down in P13 and can put his woes down to a bad back apparently.

The full transcript from the post-quali press conference can be read after the break.

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