Yeehaw!
Saddle up and let's mosey on down to Texas for the penultimate round of the 2012 season.
(Okay, that's quite enough of that...)
If it wasn't for the fact that Red Bull and Vettel have all but tied both titles up, this would be one of the most exciting ends to a season for a while.
What we should have had is two or three drivers on approximately level points heading to an unknown circuit, which by all accounts looks like it's going to be a challenge for even the best drivers. Turn one in particular is a blind left at the crest of a hill, which could either make or break the race.
Instead, what we have is a dominant Red Bull who need just four points to take the Constructors' title and Sebastian Vettel who only needs to outscore Fernando Alonso by 15 points or more over the next two rounds to take the Drivers'.
The wheels have come off at McLaren with yet another retirement for Hamilton when leading comfortably at Abu Dhabi; this time due to a faulty fuel pump. McLaren have prosecuted a dreadful campaing this year; without doubt they should have been in a position to take both titles and instead they are unlikely to even be runners up in both.
Where did it all go wrong?
Renault scored their first victory of the season with Kimi Räikkönen. Apparently it was "nothing to jump around about" so we'll say no more.
Mercedes had another race to forget with both cars finishing outside the top 10. Again. One has to hope that this is not a precursor to next season's performance and the redesigned car will be a lot more competitive. They may be able to hang on to fifth in the Constructors' but that will be dependent on how many points the Sauber drivers squander, of which Pérez has been doing an admirable job since he signed for McLaren.
Force India and Williams are in their own private battle in both championships but the Force Indias are in the driving seat (thank you, I'm here all week) and look as if they will just have the edge.
Sadly, for another year, the three "new" teams still occupy all of the bottom places. Caterham had an opportunity during last week's race of attrition to jump Marussia into 10th place, which they currently hold thanks to Timo Glock's 12th place finish at Singapore, but Kovalainen was overtaken in the closing stages. The really sad part is I can't see this ever being any different; the step change in performance required to breach the gap just seems to be unattainable.
For those who haven't seen the circuit, this is the view from the start-finish straight to turn one:
Here's an onboard lap:
Galahad's circuit write up is here: http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-of-the-americas/
Burgers, weak beer and popcorn are available from the concession stands (OK, OK, I'll stop now
)
Saddle up and let's mosey on down to Texas for the penultimate round of the 2012 season.
(Okay, that's quite enough of that...)
If it wasn't for the fact that Red Bull and Vettel have all but tied both titles up, this would be one of the most exciting ends to a season for a while.
What we should have had is two or three drivers on approximately level points heading to an unknown circuit, which by all accounts looks like it's going to be a challenge for even the best drivers. Turn one in particular is a blind left at the crest of a hill, which could either make or break the race.
Instead, what we have is a dominant Red Bull who need just four points to take the Constructors' title and Sebastian Vettel who only needs to outscore Fernando Alonso by 15 points or more over the next two rounds to take the Drivers'.
The wheels have come off at McLaren with yet another retirement for Hamilton when leading comfortably at Abu Dhabi; this time due to a faulty fuel pump. McLaren have prosecuted a dreadful campaing this year; without doubt they should have been in a position to take both titles and instead they are unlikely to even be runners up in both.
Where did it all go wrong?
Renault scored their first victory of the season with Kimi Räikkönen. Apparently it was "nothing to jump around about" so we'll say no more.
Mercedes had another race to forget with both cars finishing outside the top 10. Again. One has to hope that this is not a precursor to next season's performance and the redesigned car will be a lot more competitive. They may be able to hang on to fifth in the Constructors' but that will be dependent on how many points the Sauber drivers squander, of which Pérez has been doing an admirable job since he signed for McLaren.
Force India and Williams are in their own private battle in both championships but the Force Indias are in the driving seat (thank you, I'm here all week) and look as if they will just have the edge.
Sadly, for another year, the three "new" teams still occupy all of the bottom places. Caterham had an opportunity during last week's race of attrition to jump Marussia into 10th place, which they currently hold thanks to Timo Glock's 12th place finish at Singapore, but Kovalainen was overtaken in the closing stages. The really sad part is I can't see this ever being any different; the step change in performance required to breach the gap just seems to be unattainable.
For those who haven't seen the circuit, this is the view from the start-finish straight to turn one:
Here's an onboard lap:
Galahad's circuit write up is here: http://cliptheapex.com/pages/circuit-of-the-americas/
Burgers, weak beer and popcorn are available from the concession stands (OK, OK, I'll stop now
)
... will bring back punters next season... to get 60k / 80k / 120k through the gates for three days shouldn't be a challenge ... also have to remember that Texas is a relatively cheap state to eat, drink and sleep in... (except eating and drinking at the track of course)...
). It did seem like the track produced close combat through the whole field and it took a bit of luck and a lot of skill to get to the flag. Hoping that the proposed change in tyres for next year doesn't hurt this as to me this race has shown what F1 should be like 
