Hungarian GP 2015

Hamilton Implodes as Vettel Takes Victory

Lewis Hamilton said he had "a bad day at the office" as he slumped to a 6th place finish after a poor showing at the Hungarian GP, which was won brilliantly by Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel. Dani Kvyat scored his first ever podium finish in 2nd, followed by the 2014 winner, Daniel Ricciardo. Fernando Alonso scored McLaren's best finish of the season, coming home in 5th ahead of Hamilton's Mercedes. It was a fantastic race from start to finish with action all over the circuit; but the major talking point from the race was Hamilton's poor performance. For the first time that I can remember, he looked like a distinctly average racing driver. All season, fans have seen him drive like a true champion, with all those years of experience under his belt. His performance in Hungary however was littered with errors throughout; from his first excursion across the gravel which saw him drop to 10th early on, to his collision with Daniel Ricciardo, which resulted in front wing damage for Hamilton. Hamilton's afternoon got worse before it got better, as he received a drive through penalty for the incident with Ricciardo. Only a puncture for team mate Nico Rosberg near the end of the race, again after a collision with Ricciardo, meant Hamilton finished ahead of his championship rival and extended his championship lead to 21 points going into the summer break. 

Whilst all of this was happening, Vettel scored his second victory of the season after a truly brilliant drive from the second the lights went out. His start was fantastic and he was leading the race into the first corner, and never really looked in trouble from there. He has often been questioned over the last 18 months about his ability in a car that isn't the most dominant on the grid, like the ones he had during his time at Red Bull, but for me his performance in Hungary should silence those critics.

Red Bull stood out for all the right reasons during the race, with their cars coming home 2nd and 3rd. Both drivers put in brilliant performances after poor starts. Kvyat dropped as low as 13th at one point and looked like he was going nowhere. Ricciardo also dropped from a 4th place start down into 9th as well. The Red Bull package worked really well around the tight and twisty Hungaroring, where the engine power output isn't as important as it is at other circuits. This can't take anything away from either driver as Kvyat's drive was brilliantly clean coming through the field, and Ricciardo's speed was evident throughout as he was putting in fastest laps and closing down both Mercedes at one point. His bravery on the brakes at turn one was also something to admire. He was coming from such a long way back for some of his overtakes and making them stick superbly. Granted, his collision with Rosberg came from one of these gutsy attempts, but it didn't stop him from claiming another podium in Hungary.

Kimi's Poor Luck Continues

It was a tale of two stories for Ferrari at the Hungarian GP, as Kimi Raikkonen had another disappointing weekend as the pressure mounts on the Finn for 2016. All season, it has been Vettel scoring the big points for Ferrari with two victories and a few more podiums. Raikkonen on the other hand has had an indifferent time this year. He has scored podiums yes, but the consistency that Vettel has been delivering hasn't been there from Kimi, something that is putting doubts over Kimi's drive at the team next year.

Raikkonen was having a strong weekend in general in Hungary, even leading the race at certain stages through pit stops ahead of him. The team were nailed on for a one-two finish as Kimi looked reasonably untroubled in second place before a technical issue caused him to fall back through the field, eventually causing him to retire from the race. His bad luck streak has hit a hat-trick now after his accident in Austria, which saw him retire and a bad tyre call in Britain. For Kimi to stay at Ferrari next season, his luck has to change after the summer break and he will have dug extremely deep and shown the talent which saw him win the 2007 World Championship.

How Many More Chances For Maldonado?

The Hungarian GP saw Lotus' Pastor Maldonado receive a hat-trick of penalties during the race. The penalties were for pit lane speeding, overtaking under the safety car and a collision with Sergio Perez. Maldonado may be a race winner in F1 but for me, he has had way too many chances in the sport, and I think it is high time that he was replaced at Lotus. His career has been overshadowed by incidences and high profile collisions, most notably with Lewis Hamilton at Monaco in 2011 and in Valencia 2012. His crash at Bahrain last year with Esteban Gutierrez, where he managed to flip the Sauber, was another incident that stood out. He has retired from 6 out of the 10 races this season which in all fairness, not all were down to him crashing the car. A hat-trick of penalties in one race though is a bit extreme, and for incidents that he as an elite racing driver shouldn't be incurring. Pit lane speeding and overtaking under the safety car is something you would expect to see from a rookie, not a driver with 4 seasons under his belt. Personally, I believe if he didn't have his oil money backing, Maldonado wouldn't have been in F1 long enough to win a race let alone be in the sport for 4 full seasons.

F1 Says Farewell to Jules Bianchi

I couldn't write this without mentioning the untimely passing of Jules Bianchi and the tribute that was paid to the young Frenchman at the Hungarian GP. It had been a very difficult week for everyone involved with the sport and it was clear to see from the start of the weekend. The minutes silence that was held before the start of the race was a fantastic touch from everyone involved. The scene of all twenty drivers stood round in a circle with their racing helmets in the middle with Jules' taking centre stage is something that will stay in my mind for many years to come. It was fitting tribute to Jules that the race was such a fantastic spectacle for the fans and all the teams and people involved. #CiaoJules

Jules Bianchi 1989 - 2015

This is possibly one of the most difficult and emotional things I've ever written, but it is only fitting that I do an entry on Jules Bianchi, who tragically lost his life last Friday after a nine month battle with serve head injuries sustained at the Japanese GP in October last year. Tributes have been flooding in all weekend from drivers past and present to express their grief at the loss of a friend, colleague and a true racing talent. It had been 21 years since Formula 1 had a death due to a racing accident, and this tragedy has reopened the huge debate about safety in the sport. There is no doubt that the sport is as safe today as it ever has been, but this accident has highlighted that there will always be an element of danger in F1. This entry is will have a look at his too short racing career and what could have been for the young Frenchman.

Jules' family name oozes motorsport history, with his uncle Lucien winning the Le Man 24 Hours race in 1968, and also making 17 GP starts. Further back in the Bianchi family tree, his Grandfather Mauro tasted success in GT racing. Jules' career began by racing karts at age 5 and enjoyed much success. He made the step up to racing cars in 2007, where he won the Formula Renault 2.0 French series on his first attempt, scoring five wins in the process. He made a smooth transition to Formula 3 the following year, finishing 3rd overall in the F3 Euroseries, where he won two rounds, plus the prominent Masters race for ART. He remained at ART in 2009 and scored eight victories to take a comfortable championship victory. The stand out event for Jules that year would be that Ferrari had been keeping a close eye on him and he was eventually signed up to their F1 young driver program.

2010 saw Bianchi step up again, this time to GP2, Formula 1's main feeder series. This is a series where the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Romberg and Romain Grosjean, to name a few, have graduated and became successful Formula 1 drivers. Bianchi raced in GP2 Asia during the winter of 2009 to prepare for the main series. He finished 3rd overall failing to take a victory, but 3rd overall in your rookie season where the competition is so fierce is nothing to be ashamed of. A characteristic of Bianchi was seemingly his loyalty and honesty, and this was seen in 2011 where is started his 4th year with ART. He finished second in the shortened four round GP2 Asia championship, which was won by Romain Grosjean. Grosjean also beat Jules to the title in the main series, which saw him given another chance in F1 with the Lotus team. Bianchi ended up finishing 3rd overall again after Luca Filippi had a brilliant second half to the season. Bianchi's season yielded one victory at Silverstone and constant points finishes, but ultimately he never recovered from a poor start to the year which saw him crash out in Spain and Monaco.    

Despite being beaten, Ferrari still supported the young Frenchman, giving him further F1 experience in 2012 along with Force India, who gave him 9 free practise sessions over the course of the season. On top of this, he was competing in the Formula Renault 3.5 championship with Tech 1 Racing. It was a year of frustration for Bianchi from the first race right down to the last. He lost his second place debut result and 18 valuable points due to a technical infringement. Jules went into the final double header of the season leading the championship, but fell behind rival Robin Frijns in the first race. In the final round, Bianchi showed his talent and race craft by pulling off a brilliant move on Frijns, only to be taken out by Frijns a few corners later. Unfortunately for Bianchi, the stewards punishment wasn't enough to hand him the title from Frijns. 

2013 would see Bianchi finally make the step up into F1. Again, frustrations would hamper Bianchi's start as he was in the running to join Paul di Resta at Force India after testing for them during the winter. However, during the final pre-season test, the team announced that Adrian Sutil would be the second driver. This left Bianchi without a drive until Luiz Razia's sponsorship package fell through, opening up a drive with the team that Bianchi took up. It wasn't the car that would show his true ability, but that didn't stop him showing glimpses of how good he was. In just his second drive for the team in Malaysia, he finished 13th, which eventually meant the team would finish 10th in the constructors championship, and be given vital financial rewards. Throughout the year, he constantly out performed team mate Max Chilton and a true star was clear for everyone to see. Not surprisingly, the team retained Jules for 2014 and he was also performing tests for Ferrari, who had become Marussia's engine supplier. Undoubtedly, the highlight of his short F1 career was the 9th place finish in Monaco last year, giving Marussia there only points in F1. Jules' performance was brilliant that day; yes he was helped by retirements, but that can't take away the fact that he was so quick on the day. His season was going as well as he could have hoped after the points in Monaco, until that fateful day at the Japanese GP. Adrian Sutil's Sauber had crashed heavily, and a recovery crane was on the scene to recover the vehicle. This would be the crane that eventually took Jules' life. Bianchi lost control of his Marussia and collided with the crane. Sadly for every F1 fan, this would be the last time we would see this talented driver behind the wheel of an F1 car.    

Jules was destined for fantastic things in F1 but now unfortunately, the world will never see his true potential. He showed just how good he was in a poor, underpowered car, and he also showed stunning pace when testing for Ferrari in 2014 at Silverstone in place of Kimi Raikkonen. His points for Marussia in Monaco last year are the sole reason the team now known as Manor are racing this season. The GPDA will now be looking into new safety measures to ensure that the sport keeps on being as safe as physically possible, and becoming safer still. The only way I can really end this is #RIPJules #CiaoJules