THE 2013 BRITISH GP, also Pirelli’s 250th as an official F1 supplier, will be a race to remember and forget for years to come. The ‘forget’ part first: the race saw its first change in leadership due to an unfortunate tyre failure, something which I have written about quite worriedly in the past columns. I mean we ultimately do not want tyre failures to decide the outcome of races and the Championship, we would love to see the drivers battle on-track!
The ‘remember’ part: the race saw multiple tyre failures within a span of a few laps leading many to believe that it was dangerous to go racing under those conditions. While my mind shifted back to the 2005 United States GP (held at Indianapolis) where Michelin’s rubber wasn’t durable enough to withstand the cornering forces, the situation in Silverstone was far worse, because the cars were racing on the limit while the failures took place. Hamilton, Massa, Vergne, Gutierrez and Perez were the drivers who faced tyre blow outs at racing speeds while Vettel and Alonso were the few drivers who reported that they escaped similar fate due to pitting at the right time.
FIA’s Race Director Charlie Whiting declared post-race that he almost considered ‘red flagging’ the race on safety grounds due to the unpredictable and unsafe tyre blow-outs that the drivers faced. It is important for all stakeholders in Formula1 to remember that such GPs mar the image and safety of the sport and should never repeat again!!
Championship leader Sebastian Vettel suffered from a rare dose of ill luck as his RB9 came to a halt due to a transmission fault whilst in the lead. His key rivals Alonso and Raikkonen made the most of this misfortune by finish P3 & P5 respectively and reducing their overall points deficit. Vettel still leads though with a comfortable 21 points. Eventually, Rosberg clinched victory followed closely by Webber, who recovered well after a disastrous start and a lucky Alonso.
On the Constructors’ Championship front, Mercedes, who suffered from tyre woes early in the season,overtook Ferrari for 2nd place. While the jury is out on their breach of regulations with their ‘secret’ tyre test with Pirelli and a subsequent reprimand, the Brackley based team has done well to convert their pole positions to race wins in the last few races. The battle between Ferrari and Mercedes road cars has been well documented and it will be interesting to see who wins it on the F1 tracks!
Sahara Force India considers Silverstone as their ‘home away from home’ and chose this GP weekend to make a few announcements regarding team’s commercial partnerships with TW Steel (who launched a co-branded watch) and with Varlion as the team’s Official Lifestyle Partner.
The team mirrored their off-track progress with a double points finish in the race. Adrian Sutil finished a hard fought P7 followed by Paul Di Resta in P9. While Adrian’s race was straightforward and was probably affected by a safety car period caused by a car failure, Paul’s race was affected after the FIA found his car underweight for the qualifying session. As a result, he started P21 on the grid but managed to make the most of his race to finish a credible 9th. It was the third GP in a row where the British driver fought from the bottom of the grid to finish in the points!
The total of 8 points sees Sahara Force India strengthen 5th position in the Constructors’ Championship, crucially ahead of Mclaren (by 22 points) who failed to score points two successive races in a row. In all my years of having followed Formula1, I can’t recollect when this occurred last! Also, there were reports this weekend that Mclaren have moved focus to the 2014 car which further plays into the hands of India’s only F1 team who are still chasing the elusive podium!
On the driver front, Mark Webber announced his retirement from Formula1 (not surprisingly) and a subsequent move to Le Mans with Porsche. Given Red Bull Racing’s treatment and a personal dip in form, his decision comes at the right time and like with every vacancy created in a top team, there are multiple driver names doing the rumours. Raikkonen is tipped to partner Vettel in 2014, which many see as unlikely, however, Ricciardo and Vergne could also be promoted from the ‘B’ team (Toro Rosso) to fill in the Aussie’s cockpit.
Also, the Sahara Force India duo and their performances have been impressive till date, will they be under consideration too? Or will a quick Hulkenberg in his under-performing and yet-to-shine Sauber get lucky? Your guess is as good as mine, but the silly season of F1 driver movements has just about started. And will Massa follow Webber’s foosteps…?
With the German GP only next week, look out for some interesting data on the F1 TV contracts up for renewal in the coming year and a possibility of watching the sport via an official online streaming channel in my next week’s column.