Monday 15th September 2008
Sebastian Vettel's victory heralds the birth of a new superstar...
A New Superstar Is Born
After last Sunday's sinister controversy and behind-closed-door machinations, victory for the infectiously-joyous Sebastian Vettel and the renamed Minardi team was the sweet tonic to Spa's harsh gin.
In another mad, mad race, Vettel's performance was the solitary act of sanity. The start-to-finish manner of his victory is worth emphasising because, while F1 has witnessed plenty of unexpected victories before, few have occurred from pole position. Vettel didn't just display skill in Monza, he also demonstrated the temperament and composure of a champion.
The next one may be a long time coming, but this will be just the first of many victories. A star is born with a very special talent.
Toro Rosso Are Competitive
To further underline the point that this was not a fluke victory for either driver or team, take a glance at the fastest laps charts for the two previous grands prix. In Valencia, Vettel set the sixth-fastest lap time with team-mate Sebastien Bourdais repeating the feat in Belgium. On both occasions, the only drivers setting a faster lap time were in a McLaren, Ferrari and BMW.
So What A Shame That Vettel Is 'Only' At Red Bull Next Year
Yet F1's 'loss' in the short-term may prove Vettel's gain in the long-term.
Partnering Mark Webber represents another progression in his development and, with the exception of the possibly-vacant second seat at BMW, the hardest challenge available. As the youngest-ever driver to win a grand prix in the sport's history, time is on Vettel's side and no harm - and plenty of gain - will be done by a prolonged apprenticeship.
That was the path taken by Fernando Alonso who debuted for Minardi at the age of 20 and then spent 2002 completing lap after monotonous lap as Renault's test driver. One of the reasons why Lewis Hamilton attracts so much antagonism is the feeling that, having jumped straight into a McLaren without even completing a year's tour of the test circuit, he never served his time.
Hamilton Is F1's Most Valuable Asset
Supporters of Kimi Raikkonen, Robert Kubica, Fernando Alonso and even Felipe Massa will presumably still argue that their man is still the number one driver in the sport. What is indisputable, however, is that Hamilton produces more excitement, more drama, and more controversy than any other performer in F1.
He Is Also F1's Best Driver In The Wet
If the F1 season was held in the winter months then Lewis Hamilton would be unstoppable. Such is his superiority in the wet that he was probably the only driver in attendance this weekend who was praying for rain. Whatever their driver allegiance, a F1 fan cannot claim to be a F1 driver if he did not enjoy the sight of Hamilton charging through the field in Italy.
Raikkonen Must Have Had The Wrong Set-Up
The contrast between Hamilton's confidence and pace in the rain and that of Kimi Raikkonen was staggering. And as Felipe Massa proved, it wasn't as if the Ferrari was undriveable in the wet.
Only when the track dried, to whatever the bone of tarmac actually is, did Raikkonen finally set competitive times. It was almost as if his Ferrari was set-up for dry conditions - but how could that be the case given that it rained all weekend and bucketloads were predicted for Sunday? Even Raikkonen was perplexed afterwards: "Sometimes it works and sometimes not, and we don't really have an explanation about why it doesn't work, and why the tyres work sometimes."
Raikkonen's inability to fathom an efficient set-up for his car is a manifestation of his contempt for the technical aspect of the sport and a substantial flaw in his package that can no longer be ignored. If Massa drove like Raikkonen drove this weekend then his detractors would once again be questioning his position in the team. Raikkonen's status as World Champion is providing him with an immunity from criticism that his current form of 29 points from ten races does not warrant.
McLaren Will Want To Know Whether Ferrari Spoke To Charlie Whiting
Having stressed that they were assured not once but twice by race control that Hamilton's move past Raikkonen in Belgium was acceptable, McLaren's appeal against his retrospective ban is likely to make particular stress on the advice given by Charlie Whiting. But the matter is anything but straightforward. In conversation with reporters at the weekend, Max Mosley, the FIA President, indicated that Whiting's opinion was not only irrelevant but his evidence inadmissible.
"McLaren should not have asked Charlie Whiting whether Lewis had done anything wrong and he should not have answered," Mosley, a trained lawyer lest we forget, insisted. "When rain came down on one of the fastest circuits in the world, with most of the cars on dry tyres, it was a very dangerous situation. If there had been a spin and a collision between two cars, it would have been a nightmare. That is something none of our safety procedures can deal with.
"Charlie was in one of the most highly pressured situations, so teams should not ask and he should not answer, because he is not in a position to give even the beginnings of a considered opinion. His responsibility was to see that nobody got killed."
Those remarks could deal a hefty blow to McLaren's hopes of overturning the stewards' decision. But the issue will take another twist if it confirmed that Ferrari ordered Felipe Massa surrender his place to Nico Rosberg in Monza after he cut the chicane upon the advice of race control...
Bourdais Is F1's Unluckiest Man
Sebastien Bourdais has plenty of luck. The only problem is that it is all bad.
Last Sunday, he began the penultimate lap of the Belgian GP in a well-earned third place. Courtesy of some opportunistic pit-stops by the drivers behind him, he crossed the line in seventh. This weekend, he failed to make it off the grid after the anti-stall in his Toro Rosso failed. For the second time in seven days, he must have finished a race close to tears.
F1 Doesn't Do The Simple Things
This column has remarked previously with considerable incredulity at the repeated inability of F1 teams to produce a reliable two-way radio system. Incredulity this weekend, however, was reserved for the absence of a reliable weather forecast. Rain in the second-half of the race, eh? Err, off with those wet tyres and on with the intermediates then.
At least they were consistent in their inaccuracy. Lewis Hamilton's disastrous decision to begin the second segment of qualifying on intermediate tyres was, Ron Dennis revealed, based upon a radar communication that the rain would ease. He had barely had he left the garage when the heavens opened and unloaded their liquid cargo.
Weather forecasting is evidently a difficult science to master. Which makes it all the more perplexing that F1 teams are determined to rely on technology when a much more reliable and simpler method would be follow the example of Dave Richards, the former BMW boss, and send a helicopter upwind with the instruction to report on what was coming next.
Pete Gill
Source : Planet F1
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