Sebastian Vettel wins Abu Dhabi 2013 F1 Grand Prix

Sebastian Vettel win’s his 7th consecutive Grand Prix

It was another dominant performance by Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull who started from second position but could easily take the lead in the first lap.


Mark Webber was about half a second slower than his teammate and finished second. Mark Webber was heard complaining over radio about his Kers. Pat came the reply “It’s a bit empty at the moment, we will charge it”. The team knew that Webber’s KERS is empty, however they waited for him to inform that KERS is not working. Without KERS, it was clear that Webber had a slow start and Vettel could easily overtake him.

This year has been pretty bad for Webber as his car has consistently failed in most of the races. In hindsight, he may regret deciding to driving this year again with Red Bull after so much of bad blood between him and Red Bull as his teammate Vettel was the preferred driver in Red Bull.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes who had started in third position appeared to snatch the second position. However, he finished 2.8 seconds behind Mark Webber. Romain Grosjean of Lotus finished in fourth position 1.1 seconds behind Rosberg.

Fernando Alonso finished a further 32.1 seconds behind Grosjean and in 5th position. Alonso was a massive 67.1 seconds behind the winner Vettel. One can gauge how far the Ferrari has fallen behind Red Bull. So it was no wonder that Alonso couldn’t compete for the world championship.

Paul di Resta brought some good news for Force India as he finished 10.9 seconds behind Alonso and finished in 6th position. He made a one stop strategy work for him and came home in 6th position.

Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes who had a problem in his car during qualifying could only finish in 7th position ahead of Felipe Massa in 8th.

Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus was earlier excluded from the qualifying results as the stewards deemed his car floor to flex beyond the permissible limit. Lotus though argued that the floor of Raikkonnen’s car was flexing more because the car hit a kerb, however, those arguments didn’t cut any ice with the stewards. Accordingly, Raikkonen was sent back to the field. However, Raikkonen immediately stopped after starting the race as he appeared to have hit the back of a caterham car and damaged his car. Given that Kimi Raikkonen hasn’t been paid a single euro by Lotus, and has threatened to stop driving the remaining three races, Abu Dhabi race may be the last time Kimi is driving this season.

Abu Dhabi 2013 F1 Results

1. Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull

2. Mark Webber        Red Bull

3. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes

4. Romain Grosjean   Lotus

5. Fernando Alonso   Ferrari

6. Paul di Resta          Force India

7. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes

8. Felipe Massa          Ferrari

9. Sergio Perez           McLaren

10. Adrian Sutil         Force India

11. P. Maldonado      Williams

12. Jenson Button     McLaren

13. E. Gutierrez          Sauber

14. N. Hulkenberg     Sauber

15. V. Bottas               Williams

16. D. Ricciardo          Toro Rosso

17. J. Vergne              Toro Rosso

18. G. van der Garde Caterham

19. Charles Pic           Caterham

20. Jules Bianchi        Marussia

21. Max Chilton         Marussia

Retirements in Abu Dhabi 2013

Kimi Raikkonen         Lotus

Mark Webber on Pole in Abu Dhabi

Mark Webber scores Pole in Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Mark Webber of Red Bull in his last race at Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix became only the third person to score a pole position apart from Vettel and Hamilton, when Hamilton spun in the final sector and brought yellow flags. That was his 13^th pole position in F1 races.

Mark Webber’s team mate Sebastian Vettel who has already been coronated as the 2013 F1 champion in the Indian Grand Prix settled for 2^nd postion.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes came ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton in P3. Hamilton would be surprised at his rare spin and had to be content with his P4 position.

Kimi Raikkonen, who had considered withdrawing from the Abu Dhabi race due to payment dispute with Lotus raced to a P5. He was followed by Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber in P6.

Romain Grosjean of Lotus qualified in P7 followed by Felipe Massa of Ferrari in P8. Interestingly, Massa’s teammate Fernando Alonso of Ferrari couldn’t even qualify in the top ten. Alonso settled at P11.

Sergio Perez of McLaren qualified in P9 whereas his more experienced teammate former world champion Jenson Button could only qualify at P13.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso qualified in P10. Daniel will drive instead of Mark Webber in the Red Bull car next year. Daniel Ricciardo’s team mate Vergne qualified in P14.

We have to wait and see if Mark Webber faces another car failure or Red Bull decides to alter his strategy to give his teammate Sebastian Vettel the upper hand as it has done this entire season.

Final Standings in Abu Dhabi 2013 F1 Qualifying

1. Mark Webber        Red Bull

2. Sebastian Vettel    Red Bull

3. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes

4. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes

5. Kimi Raikkonen     Lotus

6. Nico Hulkenberg   Sauber

7. Romain Grosjean   Lotus

8. Felipe Massa          Ferrari

9. Sergio Perez           McLaren

10. Daniel Ricciardo  Toro Rosso

11. Fernando Alonso Ferrari

12. Paul di Resta       Force India

13. Jenson Button     McLaren

14. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso

15. P. Maldonado      Williams

16. V. Bottas               Williams

17. E. Gutierrez          Sauber

18. Adrian Sutil         Force India

19. G. van der Garde Caterham

20. Jules Bianch         Marussia

21. Charles Pic           Caterham      

22. Max Chilton         Marussia

Sebastian Vettel wins Indian GP and 4th crown

Sebastian Vettel wins the Indian Grand Prix and his 4th World Championship on the trot

Sebastian Vettel started from the pole on soft tyres. It was predicted that his teammate Mark Webber who had qualified 4th in the medium tyres may have a better strategy as the soft tyres were supposed to barely last for a lap or two in this circuit. Pirelli had advised that their soft tyres will last a maximum of 15 laps and the medium tyres 35 laps.

Sebastian Vettel started from the pole and moved into the lead. Felipe Massa squeezed through to the second position ahead of the two Mercedes cars of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

However, Vettel surprised everybody and pit on lap 2 to change to medium tyres. He then drove through the field overtaking other cars. Meanwhile, Mark Webber had taken the lead and was setting fastest laps with the medium tyres. However, Vettel soon caught up with Mark Webber and even took over the lead from him. Mark Webber's race came to an abrupt end when he was asked by his engineer to park his car due to an alternate failure. Webber has been facing this problem in virtually every race this year whereas Vettel doesn't have this. We will never know the actual reason, however many believe that Red Bull doesn't want Webber to win.

Fernando Alonso appeared to hit Webber from behind in the first lap and had to pit for a new nose. He couldn't overtake other cars like Vettel did suggesting that his car probably didn't have the pace. He finished out of points in 11th position.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes was pretty happy to score a podium position as he came 2nd. His team mate Lewis Hamilton, who started in third position struggled and finished in 6th position.

Romain Grosjean had missed the cut and qualified in 17th position. He however did well to finish in the podium position. Infact his team mate Kimi Raikkonen who was in the contention for a podium position pitted on the penultimate lap (lap 59) and hence dropped down and finished in 7th position. Kimi however had the satisfaction of scoring the fastest lap of the race with a 1:27.679 in the last lap (lap 60).

Felipe Massa of Ferrari would be a happy man as he came in 4th. This performance of his may get him a drive next year with either Lotus or Williams. His performances in the second half of this year suggests that he merits to stay in a good time next year.

Sergio Perez who started just ahead of his teammate in 9th position at one time was running in second position and finished in 5th. He could overtake Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis Hamilton who were struggling with their tyres. Perez's team mate Jenson Button had to make 4 pitstops and was classified as 14th.

Force India scored points with both their cars as Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil finished in 8th and 9th positions. Daniel Ricciardo who will replace Webber in the Red Bull car scored the final point as he finished in 10th position. He was two seconds ahead of Alonso.

Pastor Maldonado was 0.6 second behind Alonso and finished in 12th position. Jean-Eric Vergne was a lap down and finished in 13th ahead of Jenson Button, Valtteri Bottas, Max Chilton and Jules Bianchi.

Sebastian Vettel was crowned the 2013 drivers World Champion with his win at the Indian Grand Prix. He did some elaborate dougnuts with his car after winning the race. This resulted in his team being penalised 25,000 euros, a small sum to pay for the celebrations.

Final Standings in India Grand Prix 2013

1. Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull
2. Nico Rosberg          Mercedes
3. R. Grosjean             Lotus
4. Felipe Massa           Ferrari
5. Sergio Perez            McLaren
6. Lewis Hamilton      Mercedes
7. Kimi Raikkonen     Lotus
8. P. di Resta               Force India
9. Adrian Sutil            Force India
10. D. Ricciardo         Toro Rosso
11. Fernando Alonso  Ferrari
12. P. Maldonado       Williams
13. J. Vergne              Toro Rosso
14. Jenson Button      McLaren
15. E. Gutierrez         Sauber
16. Valtteri Bottas     Williams
17. M. Chilton            Marussia
18. J. Bianchi             Marussia

Retirements in Indian Grand Prix 2013

Nico Hulkenberg
Mark Webber
Charles Pic
Giedo van der Garde

Vettel consolidates lead with Singapore F1 win

Sebastian Vettel wins Singapore F1 Grand Prix 2013, consolidates lead

Sebastian Vettel had lost the lead in Singapore F1 Grand Prix 2013 for a few moments during the start, but regained it and won it to consolidate his lead.

As a consolation, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari came second. The star of the race is perhaps Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus, who despite starting at 13th position due to a bad back, finished in third position. Knowing fully well that lotus is not paying him his salary and having agreed to move away to Ferrari from next year and still driving on paining killing injections to finish third is a monumental achievement.

Nico Rosberg of Mercedes who had started second, finished at P4. His teammate Lewis Hamilton finished in 5th and suffered a near fatal blow to his championship hopes. Hamilton may not admit it, however, his hopes of winning the 2013 F1 drivers championship is now as good as walking on Mars without a space suit. Hamilton is now 96 points behind vettel with only 6 races to go.

Felipe Massa of Ferrari who had qualified his teammate Fernando Alonso, finished sixth. Jenson Button of McLaren finished seventh. Button's teammate Sergio Perez finished at eighth.

Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber finished 9th and was followed by Adrian Sutil of Force India in 10th

Results of Singapore F1 Grand Prix 2013

1. Sebastian Vettel                Red bull

2. Fernando Alonso               Ferrari

3. Kimi Rainkkonen               Lotus

4. Nico Rosberg                      Mercedes

5. Lewis Hamilton                  Mercedes

6. Felipe Massa                      Ferrari

7. Jenson Button                    McLaren

8. Sergio Perez                       McLaren

9. Nico Hulkenberg               Sauber

10. Adrian Sutil                     Force India

11. Pastor Maldonado          Williams

12. Esteban Gutierrez           Sauber

13. Valtteri Bottas                 Williams

14. Jean-Eric Vergne             Toro Rosso

 15. Mark Webber                 Red Bull

16. Giedo Van der Garde      Caterham

17. Max Chilton                     Marussia

18. Jules Bianchi                    Marussia

19. Charles Pic                       Caterham

Retirements in Singapore F1 Grand Prix

Paul di Resta                          Force India

Romain Grosjean                   Lotus

Daniel Ricciardo                    Toro Rosso

Vettel wins Italian Grand Prix 2013

Sebastian Vettel wins from Pole in Monza

Sebastian Vettel continued the tradition of drivers starting on pole winning the Italian Grand Prix. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari came second with 5.4 seconds behind. Vettel’s teammate, Mark Webber of Redbull came third with 0.8 second behind Alonso.

Both the Redbull cars of Vettel and Mark Webber apparently had very less fuel and were asked to shortshift during the last few laps. However, they finished the race in 1st and 3rd positions.

The bad luck of Vettel’s opponents continued, with Kimi Raikkonen having to pit in the third lap for a new nose and tyres and ultimately finished at P12 without points, vapourising his championship hopes. Vettel’s other opponent Lewis Hamilton had a slow puncture and was asked to pit by his team in lap 12. However, Hamilton couldn’t hear it and then came to the pits in lap14 after he was shown the message manually through the boards. Hamilton despite setting the fastest laptime of 1:25.849 in Lap 51 had to do 2 pit stops and finished in 9th position.

Felipe Massa who had started ahead of Fernando Alonso, didn’t offer much resistance when Alonso overtook him in lap 7 and finished in 4th position. Massa was 3 seconds behind Mark Webber. Nico Hulkenberg of Sauber who had surprisingly started in P3, finished in 5th position. Hulkenberg finished 0.9 seconds behind Massa. Nico Rosberg of Mercedes finished in 6th a further 0.6 seconds behind Hulkenberg.

Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso finished in 7th position at 21.3 seconds behind Nico Rosberg. Romain Grosjean of Lotus – the only lotus to be in a points position this weekend – finished in 8th position 0.8 seconds behind Riccardo. Grosjean managed to hold on to his position despite Lewis Hamilton mounting a big attack on him. Hamilton finished in 9th barely 0.3 seconds behind Grosjean.

Jenson Button of McLaren finished in 10th and the last points paying position.
There were two retirements in the race. Paul di Resta of Force India retired in the opening lap and Jean-Eric Vergne retired in lap 15.

Results of Italian Grand Prix 2013

1. Sebastian Vettel                Redbull

2. Fernando Alonso               Ferrari

3. Mark Webber                    Redbull

4. Felipe Massa                      Ferrari

5. Nico Hulkenberg               Sauber

6. Nico Rosberg                      Mercedes

7. Daniel Ricciardo                Toro Rosso

8. Romain Grosjean               Lotus

9. Lewis Hamilton                  Mercedes

10. Jenson Button                 McLaren

11. Kimi Raikkonen               Lotus

12. Sergio Perez                    McLaren

13. Esteban Gutierrez           Sauber

14. Pastor Maldonado          Williams

15. Valtteri Bottal                  Williams

16. Adrian Sutil                     Force India

17. Charles Pic                       Caterham

18. Giedo Van der Garde      Caterham

19. Jules Bianchi                    Marussia

20. Max Chilton                     Marussia

Retirements in F1 Italian Grand Prix 2013

Jean Eric Vergne Toro Rosso
Paul di Resta Force India