Brazil race review (Team Mate Wars episode 16)

Wow, what a race! The Brazilian Grand Prix was probably the most exciting race of the season so far with many great drives. Indeed, at the end of the long but eventful race, a champion was crowned in Jenson Button. Of course, I don’t want to go into that too much this entry that is for another time, bur after a champion’s driver, a champion’s season, he was rightly crowned.

But what of this race? Well, there were plenty of talking points that is for sure!

Ferrari

9-Raikkonen-7-Massa-0-Badoer-0-Fisichella

Felipe Massa was back at the race track for the first time since his nasty Hungarian GP qualifying injury all those weeks ago, yet sadly for both himself and the team, he still wouldn’t be driving the car. However, Kimi Raikkonen would be and was targeting a podium and things looked promising after the wet qualifying session. Kimi would line up in 5^th and with his KERS got a great start, getting into 3^rd place and after a fantastic run after the Senna Esses on Mark Webber, but unfortunately hit the back of the Australian and lost his front wing. Then things got worse as after his pit stop, he was briefly set on fire by Kovalainen carrying a fuel hose down the pit lane, thankfully Kimi was unhurt. He drove strong result to 6^th, but disappointing on a race potentially that they could have won at. Giancarlo Fisichella meanwhile, continued to struggle, lining up once again at the back and finishing in 10^th after a strong race.

Summary: Solid but they expected more.

McLaren

10-Hamilton-6-Kovalainen

Despite both drivers dropping out of Q1 in the incredibly wet conditions in qualifying, McLaren looked reasonably and rightly so. They didn’t have a good set-up in the wet with the simple reason that they had a great car for the dry and this was proved with both drivers coming through the field. Hamilton drove an inspired race on one of the rare tracks he has never been on the podium on in his short career, driving from 17^th to 3^rd putting himself in contention for one of the drivers of the season. It would have been interesting to see what he could have done from further up the field although seeing him charge through in the race was one of the main attractions. Kovalainen also drove a solid race, but an unsafe release from the pits, briefly setting countryman, Kimi Raikkonen, on fire saw him take a penalty after the race and drop him to 12^th. Still an improvement from what was originally 16^th on the grid though!

Summary: Impressive drive by both to charge from low grid positions.

BMW

8-Kubica-8-Heidfeld

Like Red Bull last weekend, this was a weekend of contrasting fortunes for the German team as they get ready to quit the sport at the end of the season. Nick Heidfeld struggled in the wet qualifying after briefly being as high as 4^th, but the ever changing time sheet caught him out and he dropped out in Q1, right at the back of the grid. Kubica meanwhile, was seemingly revelling in the conditions being as high as 3^rd place when qualifying was stopped for a long period of time, and briefly seemed to be a pole position contender in Q3 when the session did eventually restart. He would line up in 7^th place, a respectable effort. In the race, both BMWs looked quick with Kubica benefiting from Trulli/Sutil crash and jumping Rosberg at the restart. Heidfeld too seemed to be coming through the pack nicely, until a fuel rig problem meant he ran out of fuel and wouldn’t finish the race. After such a great run before Singapore of having the highest finishing rate, 2 DNFs in 3 races won’t please the German. Kubica was at his brilliant best though, jumping Barrichello and flying, never letting Webber relax and finishing 2^nd, the first podium for BMW since Malaysia!

Summary: Kubica at his brilliant best here.

Renault

14-Alonso-1-Piquet-1-Grosjean

Yes, I’ve given the point to Grosjean this race. Surprising, I know. But with very little to go on for Alonso with him being taken out in a first lap crash, there was no real choice. I was quietly impressed with Grosjean though this race, the French rookie who is still learning every race, seemed to get stuck in and battle really hard with the faster cars. He tried to make it as difficult as he could for people like Button, Hamilton, Vettel and co, but ultimately was passed by them all. He didn’t finish last though, beating fellow rookie, Jaime Alguersuari.m This guy must be looking forward to 2009 being over so he can be some proper winter testing in so he can really learn next year’s car. If, that is, he’s staying for 2010.

Summary: Disappointing weekend with not much to show apart from a second to last.

Red Bull

9-Vettel-7-Webber

Well, it was always going to be a long shot wasn’t it? Or was it? Surely Red Bull will be ruing those few early season mistakes they made that could have lost them both titles. But really, Vettel needed a lot of luck to be able to continue the fight through to Abu Dhabi and sadly for him, it was one of his worst weekends. The qualifying master who has never failed to get through to Q1 so far struggled in the wet (probably the last time I’ll type that!) on a car that was set-up for dry conditions. There was a window to get through when the rain eased, but he had too much traffic in front of him to make the most of it. It was the opposite of last weekend really with Vettel struggling and Webber excelling. After lining up second, he jumped Barrichello in the first round of stops and from there it was really game over. He had to keep Kubica in check, but he never looked likely to lose the race, bringing his race win total to 2 combined with his German win. Vettel had a good race though; another contender for driver of the day coming from 15^th to 4^th and that says it all. A great performance, but understandably dejected after a weekend he knew it got away from him.

Summary: They think it’s all over…..and actually, it is now.

Toyota

6-Trulli-8-Glock-1-Kobayashi

Timo Glock was another driver who’d be watching from the sidelines this weekend after his nasty accident in Japan just a couple of weeks ago. A fracture to a vertebra had been found when further health check ups took place on the German. Therefore, Toyota test driver, who had driven on Friday in Japan when Glock had flu, would finally get a race opportunity and surprisingly but in a good performance. A strong qualifying performance meant he’d line up 11^th on the grid with team mate Trulli in 4^th. In the race though, Toyota were pointless as Trulli collided with Sutil after a few corners, getting close to a fight with the German driver as he was livid with rage. Kobayashi put in a great performance, holding back Jenson Button for many laps and getting in some great battles for position, eventually finishing 9^th. The result was overshadowed a bit for weaving across the track and taking out fellow countryman Kazuki Nakajima, but still a great result and one that surely puts him in contention for a race seat next year.

Summary: Pointless, but great debut for Kobayashi.

Williams

15-Rosberg-1-Nakajima

Williams had strong hopes coming to the Brazilian Grand Prix where after the high results of Japan and Singapore they thought they’d have a good chance. And indeed, for a brief spell of time, it did look very promising, especially in the wet qualifying conditions where Williams with Rosberg, were fastest in the first and second sessions. Indeed, there was even talk that Williams might have their first pole position for many, many seasons if the session didn’t get re-started. Sadly for them, it did, and in the last session, the track started to dry out, by news for a car that was set-up for the wet conditions. Rosberg would line up 7^th and Nakajima 9^th. In the race, it didn’t go to plan though, as after an initial good start for Rosberg, he would retire early into the race with gearbox problems. Nakajima was having a pretty good run, but he too would also drop out as his fellow countryman weaved on him down the straight after the first few corners, meaning he would loose his front ring and skate across the gravel and into the wall. A dangerous move, but no action was taken.

Summary: No points, and two cars that need work before the final race.

Brawn GP

10-Button-5-Barrichello

I have to admit, as I sat thinking about qualifying before the race, with Jenson Button lining up in 14^th place, I thought it would be very unlikely that he’d actually be able to clinch the title at this race, he would seemingly need a miracle or a drive of his life for it to be the case. In a way, he probably did get both as the race being dry was one, and Rubens getting a puncture towards the end of the race was the other miracle, but other than that it was Button’s talent that secured him the title. He drove a brilliant race, overtaking all the time as he charged through the field up through the order to the 5^th place needed. As I say, I don’t want to talk too much about the title until the end of the season, but with this drive he really deserved to wrap it up a race early. Barrichello looked like he’d take more points out of Button after qualifying on pole, but things just didn’t go his way as ever at his home race.

Summary: Both championships done and dusted, a good day at the races!

Toro Rosso

11-Buemi-3-Bourdais-0-Alguersuari

It was a solid race for Sebastian Buemi of Toro Rosso as the team finally got back in the points again after seemingly an age. I believe it was in Monaco that they last scored points with Bourdais, so they’ll be doubtlessly happy with the way that the young Swiss performed, not just in the race, but also in qualifying. Suzuka was embarrassing for Buemi as he crashed multiple times in the qualifying session, but here, in ferocious rain that interrupted the session, he managed to get through to Q3 once again and line up an incredible 6^th place. It seemed unlikely he’d manage to stay with the faster cars in the race though, and indeed after a hectic start to the race, he fell away from the leading group perhaps a mixture of being un-familiar with the track and the car simply not being quick yet. He would finish 7^th, perhaps an achievement in only dropping one place and still finishing in the points, so my point goes to him this week. Jaime Alguersuari on the other hand continued his learning curve and came home last of the classified runners after being involved in some earlier race battles.

Summary: Back in the points for the small Italian team after a great performance by Buemi.

Force India

9-Fisichella-5-Sutil-2-Liuzzi

Force India had a rough weekend at Brazil really, as those memories of those points scored in Spa and Monza must be getting further and further away. The small Indian team looked to get back in the points this time out, and indeed, the wet conditions in qualifying would surely favour them. Sadly, it was the case only for one car as Sutil lined up an impressive 3^rd place, but Liuzzi would start from the back of the grid after crashing heavily in the wet conditions of Q2, badly damaging the gearbox in the rear-wards shunt. In the race it didn’t really get any better with Sutil out on the first lap after a crash with Toyota’s Jarno Trulli meaning he would score no points, so the point for this race goes to Vitantonio Liuzzi climbing from the back to 11^th position, being one of the drivers to gain positions from Heikki Kovalainen’s after race penalty for an unsafe release. Still no points though since Monza and frustrations must be rising as they looked to become a regular points scorer.

Summary: Disappointing doesn’t really sum it up for Force India this weekend.

So, race review for Brazil?

So, what have we learnt? Just how good a track Sao Paulo is. Once again, when people have been criticizing the recent F1 races to be boring, this race came out the blue. This race had it all, action, drama, and once again at Brazil, a champion crowned at the end of the day.  The city might not up to be much and the track might be getting old, but once again, the fans and the drivers were treated to a real action packed race.

Driver of the day? There’s really too many to choose from. Webber, Kubica, Hamilton, Vettel, Button and Raikkonen must all surely be contenders and Kobayashi deserves praise after being thrown in at the deep end to pull out a decent performance. It’ll be interesting to see how he does in Abu Dhabi, a track nobody has been to before.

Race rating? 4 stars out of 5. Easily the best race of this year in my opinion, as I say, it had it all. It seems unusual how year on year this great venue produces some of the best racing of the season, but newer tracks need to be looking at it as a case-study.

Japan race review (Team Mate Wars episode 15)

Only a week after the unusual sights of the Singapore night race, F1 jetted off to Suzuka, for the first time since 2006 that we were back at a track that is widely regarded to be one of the best in the world. Indeed the challenges were evident enough in qualifying in one of the most chaotic sessions in a long time with multiple red flags, one of which befell Toyota’s Timo Glock as he crashed heavily in Q2 meaning he would not start the race. It was great to see him all okay though!

It was expected for Red Bull to dominate and while Sebastian Vettel did just that the entire weekend; team mate Mark Webber suffered a nightmare. Yet all the talk was on Brawn GP. Would they wrap up the constructors’ title and what about the driver’s title? Ultimately neither was to be, but they are still in a strong position to wrap it all up at Interlagos in 2 weeks.

Ferrari

8-Raikkonen-7-Massa-0-Badoer-0-Fisichella

Ferrari never expected to do well at Suzuka this weekend, so perhaps from the outside it was a good result for the Italian team on a weekend where 2 times champion Fernando Alonso was confirmed to drive for next year. Perhaps inspired by this choice, Kimi once again continued his good form of late with a 4^th position, albeit perhaps gifted by the grid penalties that were handed out to his rivals. Raikkonen was still very quick this weekend but couldn’t find a way past the BMW of Nick Heidfeld. Fisichella struggled once again on a weekend that he promised to up his game and even with a terrific battle with Heikki Kovalainen ended when Heikki unceremoniously barged past him on pit exit. With every race that goes by without Felipe Massa to score points in their fight against McLaren in the championship, it looks less and less likely they will be able to keep the Woking team behind them.  You can almost here Stefano Domenicalli crying “Come back soon Felipe!”

Summary: Another strong performance by Kimi as McLaren slowly gains on them.

McLaren

9-Hamilton-6-Kovalainen

McLaren were against the odds this weekend in every sense of the word seeing as they had two drivers who have never driven around Suzuka at all in their short careers. It would be a steep learning curve for them, especially after the dreadful conditions on Friday practice that meant it was effectively a wash out.  Never the less, Hamilton once again put on a strong performance to slot into 3^rd place on the grid and briefly got around Jarno Trulli at the start, but was jumped by the flying Italian come the second round of stops. Problems with his hers unit meant that he was able to attack as he would have normally would have otherwise. Heikki Kovalainen also put on a fighting drive with a brilliant move on Giancarlo Fisichella coming out of the pits, but it seems moiré and more unlikely that the Finn will keep his seat at the Woking based team in 2010.

Summary: A good performance from 2 debutants to the track.

BMW

7-Kubica-8-Heidfeld

BMW are slowly showing the sort of pace they’d have wanted from the start of the season currently, however Suzuka was a bit more of a struggle on a track that never really looked like it would suit their car. Kubica was unfortunate to drop out in Q2 after confusion reigned, but he would gain some more positions as rivals were punished for ignoring the yellow flags. Heidfeld put in a good qualifying performance, but similarly was disrupted by the chaotic session to line up 4^th. He had a quiet race at all times dropping back from the trio of Vettel-Hamilton-Trulli at the start but brought the car home just ahead of the flying Kimi Raikkonen. In out and out pace, Kubica was clearly the faster all race but was unlucky with how the traffic fell for him during the pit stop phase. There was some excitement for him after the safety car though as he and Alonso were right on the rear wing of Button, really attacking him for the last world championship point but ultimately there wasn’t enough time to find a way through.

Summary: A solid but unspectacular weekend for the team.

Renault

14-Alonso-1-Piquet-0-Grosjean

Renault had high hopes coming into the Japanese Grand Prix this year after a great podium finish for Alonso last time out in Singapore. Indeed, Fernando Alonso was the driver who won last year’s Japanese Grand Prix (on merit I hasten to add) albeit at the Fuji circuit. But it didn’t go as planned as Fernando Alonso was yet another driver caught out by the red and yellow flags that plagued the qualifying hour and was punished for speeding in the yellow flag section, earning himself a 5 place grid drop. Perhaps spurred on by the news he would be joining Ferrari next season, it was a good performance by Fernando after an attacking drive to get himself up into 10^th place and being involved in a great tussle with Kubica and Button towards the end of the race thanks to the safety car. Positives for Romain Grosjean too, after the weekend from hell at Singapore, he actually finished the race this time round, a lap down.

Summary: Another great drive by Alonso, but the team had higher expectations.

Red Bull

9-Vettel-6-Webber

It was a race of contrasting fortunes for both drivers this weekend, as Mark Webber, who was already out of the title race coming in to Suzuka, once again suffered terrible look. It all started on Friday morning where he crashed meaning he would need a new chassis, putting him at the back of the grid. In the race it didn’t get any better for him as he pitted numerous times in the opening laps to fix various problems he had. Sebastian Vettel though, still with a slim chance of the title, dominated the weekend from start to finish with pole position and then it was classic Vettel from there, never being headed and completely dominating the race. Whilst the Brawns struggled in the lower point places, Vettel’s 10 points put him right back in a chance to claim the title. It’s a long shot, but Vettel is nearer to Button than Raikkonen was to Hamilton in his title success of 2007.

Summary: A weekend of contrast fortunes for both drivers as Vettel puts himself back in the title fight.

Toyota

6-Trulli-8-Glock (Null vote)

Toyota arrived with high hopes for their home race at Suzuka at the Honda owned track, but things didn’t really go as well as planned for one car. Glock, suffered a fever on Friday meaning no track time and then suffered a heavy crash in the qualifying inflicting a wound on his leg, meaning he wouldn’t race. As ever with The Old Hairpin, fairness is crucial and following the rule of what happened to Felipe Massa on the Hungarian weekend, no point goes to either driver in these circumstances. However, simply I’ll rank Trulli’s performance out of 10. He put in a solid performance all weekend to claim a front row slot and followed that up with a second place after jumping Lewis Hamilton when the pit stops had finished an 8/10 performance from me.  A great result, 2 second places in a row for Toyota whose objective now is to win a race. It’s difficult to call as to whether they’ll achieve that feat in 2009 however with only 2 races remaining.

Summary: Under difficult circumstances, Trulli gave Toyota some cheer.

Williams

14-Rosberg-1-Nakajima

It was a bit more of a struggle for the Williams team this weekend after the great performance of Singapore, but once again Rosberg came through to claim a few crucial points for the team. They were nowhere near as close to winning the race as they were last time out though with Rosberg stuck in a battle with the Brawn GP cars for most the race. He was the biggest gainer of all though from the punishments given out to his rivals after qualifying but never really made much progress up during the race. There was question marks over whether Rosberg had ignored the safety car coming out by setting some of his best sector times immediately after it was called due to Alguersuari’s crash and his pit stop looming. They’ll be hoping for better at Interlagos where they have gone well in recent years and then Abu Dhabi where everybody is unsure as to who will be competitive there.

Summary: Not as strong as Singapore, but points welcome all the same.

Brawn GP

10-Button-5-Barrichello

Qualifying seems to be the weak points in Brawn’s bit to wrap up the titles currently, and this showed once again at Japan. It was not an easy qualifying session by any stretch of the imagination and would later get worse as both cars were put back 5 places for ignoring the yellow flags thanks to Buemi’s accident. But like at Singapore the team had a great save by a double score. It looked bleak at first for Button as he was held up by slower cars and made little progress, but once Sutil and Kovalainen had finished their barging match and Button had some clear air, he was able to score some points, finishing, crucially, just behind nearest rival Rubens Barrichello. Barrichello never really had the pace at all for the race and after being jumped by Kimi Raikkonen at the start was then in dirty air for his first stint and then couldn’t keep up with the Ferrari later on. The fight is still on for Interlagos, but Brawn have a big chance to wrap up both titles there. Whether they will or not remains to be seen…

Summary: Another race, another save after another disappointing qualifying session.

Toro Rosso

10-Buemi-3-Bourdais-0-Alguerusuari

Toro Rosso had one of their rare better weekends here at Suzuka, again, like McLaren, 2 complete rookies to driving Formula One cars around the fearsome track. Indeed, Alguersuari is still learning the car! But all in all it was a weekend of adventures for the team as Buemi was very quick in the wet conditions of practice and indeed again in 3^rd practice on Saturday and in the early parts of qualifying, but then he started crashing into the scenery, first in Q1, damaging the rear wing, and then Q2 on the approach to 130R suffering much more damage and leaving his front wing in the middle of the road. Indeed their was too much damage that even though he has qualified in the top 10, would not take part as the team started an around the clock bit to get the car ready in time. Alguersuari also had positives, getting into Q2 for the first time but getting no further. However, that was the highlight of the weekend as buemi retired after 11 laps and Alguersuari crashed at 130R toward the end of the race bringing some much needed excitement back into the equation.

Summary: Quick in practice, solid in qualifying and 2 DNFs. How did that happen?

Force India

9-Fisichella-5-Sutil-1-Liuzzi

Those 2 races scoring in the points must seem to be getting dimmer in the memory now of Force India who seem to be back to their normal form prior to Spa. A disappointing weekend on all respects and not too much to really report other than Sutil being one of the drivers penalised for ignoring the yellow flags and then getting involved in a spin whilst having a big battle with Heikki Kovalainen. I doubt the team was expecting to be as low down the field come the end of the race when they arrived at Suzuka with the team showing promising pace early on. Sutil had a solid race despite the spin and so did Liuzzi, but you have to admire Sutil for getting stuck in to the action even when there isn’t much to play for. So my point goes to him. Thankfully for him, he stayed away from Nick Heidfeld at all times this race, however I doubt that Nick has calmed down from that incident yet!

Summary: Quiet weekend and not much to report.

So, race review for Japan?

So, what have we leant? Well last week I claimed that Vettel was pretty much out of the title chase, but one race can change everything as we’ve seen here. Sebastian completed a dominant victory, never being headed in the race even when it came to his pit stops; it was a drive of a worthy champion. He’s very much in it, but he needs to hope that Button and Barrichello finish low in the points again to keep the title going to Abu Dhabi.

Driver of the day? You’d be silly to ignore Vettel for sure. A truly dominant victory, lights to flag and for that he gets my vote. However, a worthy mention to Jarno Trulli as well who managed to stay with Lewis Hamilton for the first phase of the race after he was jumped by the KERS equipped McLaren and managed to jump the Englishman after the last stops had taken place.

Race rating? 3 stars out of 5. Nothing spectacular, but quite enjoyable. The infamous Suzuka weather stayed away for race day at least, and we got a straight forward race to see who was quick and who wasn’t. The safety car coming out a few laps to the end provided some excitement too with a terrific battle emerging between Button, Kubica and Alonso.

Fernando to Ferrari

So, after a long wait and many months of speculation later, the grid’s most successful driver, Fernando Alonso, has finally been confirmed to move to the grid’s most successful team in 2010, shunting Finn Kimi Raikkonen out of a Ferrari seat. But was it the right choice?

Well, it’s been coming for a long time, hasn’t it? Not many people were surprised to find that yesterday afternoon the Italian squad finally ended the ever increasing speculation as to who would be driving for them next season. Such has been the rumour mill running over time on this story since, well, 2008. Indeed it came to light that Fernando already HAD a 2011 deal for the Scuderia in his pocket, but Stefano Domenicalli and Luca Di Montezemelo, both Alonso supporters, had fought to bring the deal forward by a year even though Raikkonen’s deal would need terminating a year earlier than signed.

To me it’s a clear step forward. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe that Raikkonen is a fantastic driver, his fantastic run of podiums recently and one world championship clearly show this, but he’s very inconsistent. One race he can be by far the fastest driver in the field, romping away into the distance, but he has a knack of having a mid-season slump when the pressure is off. When the pressure is on though, like this year, and with Massa on the side lines, he was keen to show what he is capable of, especially compared to the disappointing performances of Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella respectively.

Fernando on the other hand, is very consistent even in as bad a car as the R28 and R29 have clearly been in the past couple of years. Indeed with Renault’s future in the balance, if I was Fernando, I’d want to find the fire escape as quickly as possible, and that fire escape is Ferrari. Even so, Fernando racks up the points and the podiums like no other driver in the field and has made no visible mistakes in the last two seasons, a feat his rivals have failed to copy. If Ferrari gets the car right (which they should seeing as they are putting all efforts of the F60 now) then it will be a tantalizing prospect to see Fernando back in a championship capable car since 2007. Ferrari will have a very strong line-up with the combination of Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso, arguably one of the strongest line-ups for the 2010 season. Both are quick, both are proven race winners and both are championship calibre drivers.

Some Tifosi were dismayed to find that Fernando had been signed up to Ferrari pointing to the snafu between the two at “Parc Ferme” after the German Grand Prix in 2007, but Domenicalli insists that the drivers get on well and even Fernando has confirmed so. I doubt we will see any characters flaws in Alonso again like we did in ’07 as he’s living his dream in the moist successful and most illustrious team on the grid.

Fernando to be seems to be the sort of team player role Ferrari has struggled to fill since 2006 when Schumacher retired, and Kimi Raikkonen was never going to be the character to copy that, but Fernando has the desire and the emotion to want to win the championship again, so I think we’ll see a different side of Alonso with this. Alonso led Renault forward to championship victory in 2005 and 2006 and has urged the team to come forward after the difficult week where Renault was found guilty of race fixing last year.

So what about that? Is Fernando, as some have put it, “trouble”? I don’t think so. Sure, he was there in McLaren when the spy scandal broke loose and was there in Renault when race fixing allegations came to light, but Fernando was never directly involved in those. You’d have to be very short-sighted in my view to point to those examples and announce that a similar thing will happen at Ferrari. The Spaniard does carry a lot of excess baggage in that respect from those dark days, but it hasn’t dented his confidence and he is still as eager to succeed and win again as anyone.

This move could herald a great golden age in F1 racing as it could set us up with one of the most exciting seasons in the history of the sport. This is just another key piece in the puzzle to shape how the 2010 grid will look. Alonso was the man who was probably the heaviest hitter in how the grid would shape up, as if this HADN’T happened, I wouldn’t expect many driver/team switches. But seeing as it has happened it will have severe repercussions tight the way through the grid.

I’d expect quite a few announcements to be made in a relatively short period of time now. There is the question of Robert Kubica, the pole, going to Renault to replace Alonso, Barrichello reportedly closing in on a Williams drive to switch places with Nico Rosberg who would move to Brawn and of course, there is still the question of what will Kimi do next? Retire and go to World Rallying or stay in F1 with another team? Well, all indications are pointing to the Iceman returning to McLaren to partner Lewis Hamilton, and when pushed for an answer Matin Whitmarsh, team boss of McLaren, would not give a definite “No” to Kimi joining the team again.

There are still plenty of deals to be done, but it looks like there will be more strong driver/team line-ups than previous years and this could be quite a “Silly Season” this winter. It’ll be fascinating to see how it pans out, because right now it’s like an arcade slot machine trying to predict who will go where.

But hey, there are still 3 races of this incredible 2009 season and a championship still to be settled, so let’s not get too excited too quickly.

Singapore Race Review (Team Mate Wars 14)

For the most part during the run up to the Singapore Night Race, the spotlight had been firmly on Renault and 3 crucial men, Briatore, Symonds and Piquet, as the crash gate story unravelled. One year ago it was just another racing incident, another safety car period and seemingly another race win for two times champion Alonso. But no, Renault was found guilty of one of the worst crimes in F1 history and Briatore handed a life time ban, his career ended.

But during the race weekend the chat stopped and the racing started again after 2 weeks with the spot light on everybody at the impressive Singapore night race. Lewis Hamilton was the man to emerge from the dark after a disappointing end to his Italian Grand Prix.

Ferrari

7-Raikkonen-7-Massa-0-Badoer-0-Fisichella

Singapore was a bad weekend for Ferrari as an incredible run of podiums for Raikkonen of late came to an end under the spotlights. Ferrari struggled to find a set-up right from the off, struggling with tyre graining and general long run pace. Indeed, if there was any doubt over this after the practice session, it was shown clearly in qualifying as Fisichella, still struggling to get to grips with the Ferrari, didn’t manage to get out of Q1 and Raikkonen failed to get out of Q2, the two of them lining up 12^th and 17^th respectively. They struggled in the race as well, as overtaking is difficult in Singapore meaning they didn’t really ever have a chance to score points. Raiukkonen, who gets this week’s point, finished 10^th, whilst Fisichella finished 13^th, perhaps an achievement in itself seeing as so many failed to finish. They’ll be hoping for better at Suzuka

Summary: Ferrari slipping back at Singapore as they cease development on the F60.

McLaren

8-Hamilton-6-Kovalainen

McLaren will be wishing the championship started at Hungary in many ways as McLaren continue to improve and become a force for race victories at seemingly every track Formula One visits this year. It was a track where McLaren were expected to go well at, seeing as they’ve been very quick at all tracks with low speed corner speeds this year. Indeed, after initial question marks over their out right performance after Friday, there were no doubts as to who was the quickest in qualifying. Hamilton was quickest in the 1^st and 3^rd sessions, and even though he claimed pole, people were unsure as to whether he’d have remained there had it not been for Rubens Barrichello’s crash, bringing out the red flag. The day got even better for McLaren as the fuel weights came out as Hamilton was the fastest car on the heaviest fuel load. With the KERS advantage off the start, it really was game over from there on in and even after some pressure from Rosberg and Vettel, Hamilton cruised to an easy victory. Kovalainen once again struggled in the race, being the slowest car in Q1 and struggling in the race to 7^th place. Kovalainen is under more and more pressure at the moment, and it is showing as it looks more likely he’ll be replaced in 2010.

Summary: A better weekend for McLaren after the missed opportunity of Monza.

BMW

7-Kubica-7-Heidfeld

BMW continue to develop their last F1 car in 2009 as the season end gets ever nearer, but sadly, unlike Spa and Monza, BMW’s performance didn’t improve this race. Both cars did get through to the last part of qualifying without any engine issues (unlike Monza) but that was the highlight of the weekend from them from there on in. Heidfeld was found to be underweight after qualifying and after a gearbox change also, would start from pit lane. There was a first for him though, for the first time in 42 races not to finish a race after being taken out by a stupid error from a spinning Adrian Sutil. The German was understandably frustrated and hit out at his compatriot at the end of the race, slamming him to “get a brain”. Kubica suffered no better a race, scoring a point but slipping back from his initial starting position as he was surrounded by faster cars for the majority of the race. Time is running out for BMW to add to their only victory in F1 with 3 races left, and it looks more and more unlikely that they’ll be able to copy that feat. Like Ferrari, they’ll be hoping for a better Suzuka.

Summary: BMW left feeling disappointed after it looked initially like they’d score well this weekend.

Renault

13-Alonso-1-Piquet-0-Grosjean

How’s this for your first week as boss? Your team found guilty of fixing a race, 2 team big team players are banned from F1 and your title sponsor withdraws immediately with just a few hours before first practice. That is what Bob Bell, now the new Renault team boss had to face in this incredibly difficult week for the team, but it was Alonso who gave some cheer for the team, qualifying 5^th place in Q1 thanks to Rubens Barrichello’s demotion and make a brilliant start to be briefly third. Renault was never going to be the fastest car this weekend, and it showed through the race, but perhaps fortuitously, and perhaps ironically, Renault once again benefited from a safety car to give Alonso the momentum to secure a great podium place that he later claimed was for Briatore. Grosjean suffered problems with his brakes all weekend and only lasted a few laps before retiring. Things can only get better for Renault as they look to improve in Suzuka.

Summary:  A fantastic podium for Alonso on a difficult week for the team.

Red Bull

8-Vettel-6-Webber

Many believe it was Red Bull’s last big chance to hit back at Brawn to save the championship at Singapore, but even more believed Red Bull would struggle, like at Valencia, to even score points. But that was not the case as Red Bull showed great pace through the practice sessions and in qualifying with Vettel qualifying on the front row (it was so nearly pole if it wasn’t for a red flag) and team mate Mark Webber in 4^th place. For the third race in succession though, Webber was back to his traditional bad luck as he initially made a good start but was deemed to have overtaken Alonso by going off the road and was ordered to give the place back. Sadly for Webber, Glock was in front of Alonso meaning he had to let both cars through to avoid a penalty and things got no better as later in the race he suffered a brake failure and crashed out, meaning it is now mathematically impossible for Webber to be the 2009 champion. Vettel had a stronger race, and after Rosberg was issued a drive through penalty, really hammered onto the back of Hamilton but then it was his time to take a penalty as he sped in the pit lane and later damaged his diffuser on a kerb. Still a solid result for Vettel though, 4^th place, but it could have been a podium or even a win.

Red Bull: Webber now out of it, Vettel hanging on by a thread.

Toyota

6-Trulli-8-Glock

It was a day of mixed fortunes for the Toyota team as one car struggled and the other picked up a surprise podium. But perhaps it wasn’t the right way round for many people as it was veteran Trulli who struggled, so much so he didn’t make it out of Q2, whilst Glock had an inspired weekend. Okay, so perhaps he was gifted by penalties from Rosberg and Vettel respectively, and yes he wasn’t the fastest car around, but Glock made a great start getting past Alonso who he had started behind, and that cemented the opportunity to get a podium place equalling his best ever result in F1 at Hungary in 2008. It was a real kick up the teeth for Trulli though, as he started 14^th and only finished 12^th, not ideal for a driver whose future in F1 is currently uncertain. Indeed, Toyota’s future is still uncertain as they have apparently told both drivers they no longer need their services at the end of 2009. Is this a sign the Japanese make is on its way out of F1?

Summary: Glock had real pace right through the weekend and the end result showed this.

Williams

13-Williams-1-Nakajima

Williams had really struggled at the last two races at Spa and Monza, their car not suiting the characteristics of those tracks at all, a genuine puzzle seeing as the Williams, in the hands of Nico Rosberg, has been so consistent in performance and nearly all the tracks F1 has visited this year. But at Singapore, it all came good, especially in qualifying where Rosberg lay down a marker in Q2, a magnificent lap, clearly faster than anybody else, even Hamilton could manage. 3^rd was his best qualifying performance since his debut year, but like Vettel, it could have been better if the session had run its full distance. Off the start though, Rosberg made his traditional good get away tog et second place, jumping Vettel and slotting in behind Hamilton and staying with the Brit for most of the first portion of the race. It looked good coming in to his first stop, could Williams dare to dream of their first victory since 2004? No, Rosberg made a small error coming out of the dust covered pit lane exit, bumping over the white line and of course, getting a penalty that would drop him to 14^th place. He would improve to 11^th at the end of the race but it was clear Williams had missed a big opportunity, Rosberg realising this more than anyone. It will be interesting to see however, if Williams can keep up with the leading pace at the remaining races.

Summary: Brilliant pace by Rosberg, but a rookie error cost him big time.

Brawn GP

9-Button-5-Barrichello

How many times will this go on for? Again, Brawn GP looked good in practice, again, they failed to live up to expectation in qualifying (so much so team boss Ross Brawn labelled it as a “disaster”) creating a big opportunity for their rivals. Again the pundits claimed this was the end for Brawn and when the chequered flag fell on race day, who came out stronger? Brawn. Indeed, it looked very bleak for Brawn after qualifying with Button once again failing to get out of Q2 lining up 11^th (thanks to Heidfeld’s pit lane start) and Barrichello 10^th (After a gearbox change demoting him 5 places and a crash in Q3) but Button especially but in a brilliant performance to claim a lot of lost ground on a track that you, by law, can’t seem to over take. He was the biggest climber of the grid at Singapore and takes a valuable point off team mate and chief rival Barrichello and only lost 1 to Vettel. With this performance from the team, it looks more likely as though Brawn will wrap the constructors’ title in Suzuka and Button can take a big leap forward to claiming the title in Interlagos or Abu Dhabi if things go well. We shall see.

Summary: Yet again, a brilliant save from the team on a weekend it looked like they’d struggle.

Toro Rosso

9-Buemi-3-Sutil-0-Alguersuari

I have got so used to writing how Toro Rosso have struggled race on race that it seems strange that I’m actually going to write something positive about them for once. Indeed at Singapore, it was one of the team’s best weekends for a long time with Swiss driver Sebastian Buemi getting as high up as 13^th place in Q2, a great performance and was sometimes as high as 5^th place in Q1. Alguersuari struggled more once again as he still gets to grips with the car and the demands of this particular track, but both drivers had never seen the track before arriving there, and even the simulator back at base does not properly prepare you for the demands of the night race. In the race though, it once again fell to pieces as both cars would retire with braking issues. The point goes to Buemi though for his heroics almost in Q1 and Q2. I doubt if they will have as smooth a race at Suzuka though, again a track neither driver has ever experienced in an F1 car.

Summary: Good pace in qualifying before it went wrong in the race.

Force India

9-Fisichella-4-Sutil-1-Liuzzi

It may be a surprise for some of you to find that this week the point has gone to Italian Antonio Liuzzi even after struggling this weekend on a track he had never seen before. After the heroics from him and Sutil at Monza and also at Spa for Sutil a couple of weeks ago, it was always expected that Singapore would be the weakest of the remaining races for this team as the struggled to get enough down force to be competitive. After the front row of the grid just a fortnight ago, Sutil didn’t even make it out of Q1, Liuzzi saving the same fate, but the team hoped it would be better for the race. Sutil had a solid race and was fighting with the visibly slow Alguersuari and trying to pass him on a track where there really aren’t too many opportunities the two of them sliding around, inches from the wall, creating some great on board shots. But it all went wrong a bit later in the race as Sutil spun after a failed over take of the Toro Rosso and as he tried to spin turn it, he clouted the BMW of Nick Heidfeld, taking him out of the race. This silly mistake taking both cars out of the race and ordering the safety car out on the track means that Liuzzi gets a well deserved point.

Summary:  A blip in the system for Force India as they look to get back in the points at Suzuka

So, race review for Singapore?

So what have we learnt? Just how brilliant the Brawn team really are. Once again it seemed like they’d be in for a bad time yet managed a brilliant save, Button only losing 1 point to Vettel who is nearly out of it any way. The fast sweeping corners of Suzuka should suit the Red Bulls, but with this season’s form book, it’s always difficult to tell meaning F1 is more unpredictable than ever!

Driver of the day? I have to give high comments to Timo Glock who secured his second podium of the year with a quiet drive, staying out of the worst of the chaos and problems for his competitors to help Toyota’s future in F1. But really all top 3 drivers deserve plaudits, especially at such a difficult and long race, Hamilton for basically dominating the race, Glock for getting a surprise podium and Alonso for giving the Renault team some joy after an incredibly difficult week for the team.

Race rating? 3 stars out of 5. The race promised to be an entertaining one with plenty of quick cars in the top 5, but many of the top rivals challenging suffered problems meaning Hamilton had an easy ride home. Suzuka should be very interesting, especially if it rains!