The 2013 Season

[Il_leone]

Schumacher in sportscar whilst fast was still erratic... he even deliberately ran Derek Warwick off the road in quali and would not apologise and all the senior Merc drivers had to step in as peacemakers. It was not long after Warwick's brother being killed at Oulton Park

 

[teabagyokel]

The Q1 story of the season:

 

[teabagyokel]

Congratulations Vettel and the Bulls again.

 

[RasputinLives]

Job well done for Vettel and Red Bull. How easy would the constructers come if you'd had a decent second driver?

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives Do you consider Ricciardo a decent 2nd driver then ?

 

[RasputinLives]

I'll wait until mid way through 2014 to answer that one.

 

[Il_leone]

RasputinLives so will we all unless he starts banging wheels at the first race with his teammate - Is it Australia which might be an extra incentive

 

[Bill Boddy]

So Webber is a poor driver because his alternator gave up whilst he was in a strong second place? Not his first mechanical problem by any means, KERS anyone?.

Or is he a poor driver because he has bad starts which the team have admitted was down to them?

 

[RasputinLives]

No he's a bad 2nd driver because he has provided no challenge to his team mate whatsoever in 3 years and two decent drives when the car is at its best are no cover up for how poor he's been.

 

[Bill Boddy]

Webber has had more than his fair share of problems, when he is trouble free he provides a good backu to Vettel. Isn't that what a number two driver should do?

 

[RasputinLives]

Sorry I don't think so. I don't think he's been near enough Vettel in the slightest since 2010 and I don't buy the conspiracy stuff on car breakages.

 

[Il_leone]

Vettel 35 wins to Webber 9 wins in 5 years they;ve been together

now if you compare interteam rivalry their records usually fairly even

Senna vs Prost 14 v s 11
Hamilton vs Button 10 vs 8
Mansell vs Piquet 11 vs 7
Alonso vs Hamilton 4 wins each
Raikkonen vs Massa 8 vs 9 wins ( Spa win for Kimi does not count because Felipe was not racing)

I know Mark has his fair share of bad luck and team politics involved but surely the win ratio must be smaller between the two if he gave Vettel a good fight

Only worse records in teammate dominance were

Schumacher vs Rubens 49 wins vs 9 wins

Senna vs Berger 16 vs 3

Schumacher vs Irvine 16 vs 2
----------------------------------------

DC's record in wins to Hakkinen was 10 to 20 wins as teammates

Sorry but Webber has had 5 years with the best car and that is longer than anyone gets to prove their top dog except the very best

 

[Blog Zbod]

Would anyone other than Hesketh taken a risk with Hunt? Without the little teams f1 wouldn't exist.

Every team has to start somewhere.

Vanwall occupies a very short and undistinguished paragraph in the sport's history, yet if not for the two years they kept Sir Stirling Moss engaged in the sport, he might have sought another career.

 

[Greenlantern101]

With the WDC and WCC decided 3 races before the end of the season this has to be one of the worst years in F1.

Its only saving grace was the close racing before Silverstone. In many ways this is a season of 2 parts the fun unpredictable races before Silverstone after which Pirelli were forced to change the tyre construction. And the second half of the season where Pirelli have run the 2012 spec tyre which has given Redbull total domination. Something Adrian Newey openly admitted in an interview on Sky.

So with Pirelli and Redbull doing there best to ruin F1 we are left with only the battle for 2nd in the constructors to stir our interest for the remaining 3 races. Lotus looks like the car on form but with what looks like a break down in relations it seems as if all assistance from Kimi will be half hearted. It could be very close between Lotus,Mercedes and Ferrari come the end of the season. Its just a shame that we are having to fane interest in leftovers to maintain our interest in the rest of the season.

With Sebs domination over the last 4 years I have not felt this down and unenthusiastic about F1's future since Schumacher and Ferraris dominance. I can only hope that we don't have 3 more WDC for seb still to come and that next years regulation changes push Redbull down the performance table. I do however fear that hope is misplaced. Newey has a way of capitalising on regulation changes and I fear in 2014 the Redbulls will still be up front and dominating.

Hope for a better 2014 is what I am clinging on to. If we get another dominant season from Redbull I may have to do something drastic like start watching football instead.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree with the above on who was trying to their best to ruin F1. It was Red Bull being very pushy over the tyres, there were two issues, one with the kevlar and the other with the longevity of the treads. Unfortunately the FIA agreed to Pirelli changing both when by their rules they should have only allowed the first. I'm still going to give you a like for the overall post though.

 

[ZakspeedYakspeed]

At the start of the season an un-named pit-lane source said that but for the 2013 spec Pirelli's the RBR would be lapping the field each race ... and when the Silverstone Pirelli debacle occurred, which forced the switch back to the 2012 spec, you get half way to that early prediction ...

Congratulations to Seb, Newey, RBR ... as painful as it can be to the casual F1 fan watching such dominance, you have simply blown the doors off all concerned ... again

2014 ... I think will be a "retirement-fest" ... and I am not talking about a Schumacher return ... new powerplant + fuel restrictions = uncertainty ... whoever has the most economical engine least prone to explode wins ...

 

[Bill Boddy]

Even Newey is going to have a job to heat the tyres up from the exhaust. I wonder if that two seconds faster on the first lap will still happen.

 

[Blog Zbod]

At the start of the season an un-named pit-lane source said that but for the 2013 spec Pirelli's the RBR would be lapping the field each race ... and when the Silverstone Pirelli debacle occurred, which forced the switch back to the 2012 spec, you get half way to that early prediction ....

I'll see if I can find the reference but I read just in the last couple of days one of the other team's engineers saying the RB9 produces 130-140 points of downforce but the best of the rest make 80-90.

 

[Fenderman]

Seb' and Red Bull have once again done the job. Congrat's for that. There can be no dispute that the Red Bull is one of the greatest F1 cars ever. It has thrumped its contemporary opposition.

However, I'm starting to think that with what F1 has become today it should take a leaf out BSB's book and create a three round, end of season shoot out for the drivers title. The only differences being that the top four (maybe five) scorers would face off driving identical cars provided by someone else like Sauber. If Seb' (or anyone else for that matter) clocked up multiple titles under those conditions I would have no hesitation in calling him one of the greatest F1 drivers to date. Right now I won't. I also can't in all honesty call the 2013 version of F1 anything other than average.

For those unfamiliar with the British Superbike series, they have crazy method of resolving the riders title (see below). The top six in the championship have a three race "title fight" with a weird scoring system that is meant ensure the title fight goes to the end of the season:

From: http://www.britishsuperbike.com/bsb-guide/rules-and-points.aspx (Note the text I underlined made bold)

Quote: The MCE British Superbike Championship points system is designed to create a crescendo of competition towards the end of the season to minimise the chances of anyone securing the title before the final event of the year. This revolutionary concept was introduced for 2010.

Main Season

Standard format of 25 points for a win, then 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 are awarded for each of the races from the opening nine events. Riders then drop their worst two scores.

The Showdown

From this point on, the top six riders in the championship standings (only) become the 'Title Fighters' for the final three events. Each Title Fighter begins The Showdown with 500 points, plus additional points for each podium position they obtained in the Main Season: 3 for a win, 2 for a second, and 1 for a third.

The standard points scoring format from the Main Season then continues for The Showdown, with all points scores from the final seven races counting. End quote

To be honest I'm not that enthused by the BSB system because I personally think that this years' runner up, Shaky Byrne, was robbed!

 

[F1Yorkshire]

It's a similar system in Rugby League. Leeds have had some shocking seasons but pulled it together in the play offs and brought the title home. It would come down to who can handle the pressure on the final races. Would still end up with a Vettel victory though.