Long Relationships End
The final
race in Brazil saw Mark Webber compete in his last F1 race. What a performance
it was from Webber too, as he stormed to a brilliant second place. How
different it could have been for Mark, not just in this race but it his whole
career. He had his usual sluggish start, but came back at both Mercedes and
Fernando Alonso's Ferrari. A possible win was there for Webber as well, had he
not have to queue behind Sebastian Vettel. The fear of a safety car saw Vettel
pit and, had Red Bull told Mark, he could have done an extra lap and surely
come out in the lead. It would have been a fairytale ending for Webber but, as
usual for him, it didn’t quite work out for the popular Australian. He can be
proud of his career for Red Bull, and the fact that in his final race he was
still challenging at the sharp end of the grid would give him great
satisfaction. I really hope he has a successful career for Porsche because he
deserves it. I've said before he deserved better treatment from Red Bull; he
was just unfortunate that their blue eyed boy happened to be his team
mate.
An eight year
relationship has also ended with Felipe Massa signing off his Ferrari career
with a 7th place finish at his home event. It could have been a
fairytale ending for Massa as well had it not been for a soft drive through
penalty. Has was driving a solid race in fourth when he was given a penalty for
crossing the white line at pit entry. Personally, I think it was a ridiculous
penalty. We see race after race, driver after driver, not respecting the track
limits and gaining an advantage in doing so, and nothing is ever done. So for
Massa to cut the pit lane entry a bit further down than normal, and get a
penalty, I thought was harsh; he couldn’t possibly have gotten an advantage. Yes,
he was warned about it but still, I don’t see the advantage that he could have
gained. I think what makes things worse, well for me anyway, was that Alonso
was willing to move over and let Massa onto the podium. A nice gesture from
Alonso after all Massa has done for him since 2010. I sincerely hope that
Williams can produce a good car for 2014, and give Massa a chance to fight near
the front again in F1. He will be a fantastic team leader and I wish him all
the best.
Doomed From The Start?
When Sergio
Perez was announced at McLaren last year, I found myself asking why? Surely
there are better drivers on the grid? So when the news broke that he was to be
replaced by Kevin Magnusson for 2014, I wasn’t really surprised. If you look at
Perez’s F1 career with Sauber, yes it was impressive at times but overall, he
didn’t look like a top team driver; at least not yet. I do believe that in a
few seasons time, if he is able to stay in F1, he will be ready for a drive in
a top team.
Unfortunately
for Perez, his one season at McLaren may have cost him a top team drive in the
future. In fairness to Perez however, this McLaren has been one of the worst
I've seen, which hasn’t helped his cause. He out qualified Jensen Button 10-9
over the season as well, but when it comes to the race, Button has outperformed
Perez, even though Button hasn’t been anywhere near his best this season.
Ultimately I think Perez will still be in F1 next year, possibly back at Sauber
or even Force India. The short marriage at McLaren may have made Perez a
stronger driver, or it could have hit him harder than it appears.
R.I.P V8 Engines
The end of
the 2013 season also saw the final race for the 2.4 V8 engines that have served
F1 since 2006. Since the introduction of these engines, five different
Driver’s World Champions have emerged from as many manufacturers. To add to
that, five out of the seven Driver’s Championship battles have been decided at
the final race of the season, including the incredible final races in Brazil in
2007 and 2008 where Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton became champion. Let’s
not forget in 2010 as well, where Sebastian Vettel began his F1 dominance by
winning the title in the final round in Abu Dhabi. Seven manufactures have made
engines during this eight year period (Renault, Ferrari, Mercedes, Honda,
Cosworth, BMW, and Toyota) and three have dominated in this time span. Ferrari,
Mercedes and Renault have won every single race since 2006 with the exclusion
of just two. That is an incredible 145 wins of out 147. The two exclusions
being the Hungarian GP in 2006 where Jenson Button’s BAR Honda won and the 2008
Canadian GP where Robert Kubica’s BMW Sauber took the top step. The dominance
is set to continue in 2014 as these are the only engine manufactures participating
next year, until Honda makes its return in 2015. The question is how will the
1.6 liter turbo engines for next year have an impact on the racing? There are
many critics of the new engines, however there were many
critics when the V10 engines where scrapped in 2005 and look how well the V8’s
have done since their introduction. Only time will tell if these engines will
be a hit as well. 
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