The Week's Rumour Mill

Ross Brawn's movements are the subject of much debate, but lips remain sealed.

With the 2013 season over just three days ago, the rumours are still rife through the sport...

• Nico Hulkenberg is said to have given up on the Lotus deal and signed for Force India, according to German newspaper Auto Motor und Sport. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Adrian Sutil's wife was seen to be talking with Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn in the paddock at the Brazilian Grand Prix, possibly hinting at a move for Sutil to Sauber. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• More on Sauber; Monisha Kaltenborn and Peter Sauber are considering selling the Swiss team: "Plan C is a sale, and reputable investors from the USA are said to be interested," said the report from Auto Motor und Sport. More (German) >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Maldonado is said to have "come to an agreement" with regards to a drive next season, but is coy about who with. The report from F1Today also comments on the likelyhood that Adrian Sutil will move to Sauber, as hinted by the meeting of Kaltenborn and Sutil's wife. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Sergio Perez is reported to be joining Hulkenberg at Force India, and consistent Brit Paul di Resta is said to "almost certainly be leaving F1". More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Fernando Alonso has been ranked lower down than Marussia's Max Chilton in The Guardian's alternative driver rankings for 2013. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Ferrari are going to abandon the pull-rod suspension layout for 2014. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Pirelli are said to be putting plans in motion to perform winter tests in December using 2013 cars in an effort to be ready for 2014. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Luca di Montezemelo has spoken out about the idea of Horner taking over from Bernie Ecclestone, should anything come of his trial for bribing German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky in order to facilitate the sale of the sport, stating that the concept is "a joke". More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Ecclestone is still vocal about his opinion that the move to V6 turbo engines for 2014, and maintains that it's "a bad idea". More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Jenson Button does his best to allay fears that Mclaren may become a midfield team as a result of their poorest overall season performance since 1980, with a best performance of 4th. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Ross Brawn has been linked with a sensational return to the prancing horses. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• And finally Mclaren have opened their doors to Google's StreetView, allowing people to explore their facility through their web-browser. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
  Despite Brawn's future in the sport subject to debate, little is known about his movements; Some have mentioned Williams as a potential, others have mentioned Ferrari, and some have said he'll simply walk altogether. We will have more on this story as it develops.
  
  
  Article by Chris Kinsman
  MyF1World Journalist.

The Brazilian Grand Prix - Race

The stage was set. It was the final race of the season, for some it was the final race at their respective teams, for Cosworth it was their final race for potentially a long time, for the 2.4 litre V8's it was their last race in the sport's history, and for one man it was the last race of their career.

A thrilling qualifying session had concluded with Vettel on pole, with fellow countryman Nico Rosberg completing the front row. Just behind was Fernando Alonso after an inspired qualifying performance, with Mark Webber lining up fourth for the final time. Fifth was Lewis Hamilton, who seemed a little downbeat after qualifying, with Romain Grosjean just behind. Seventh was the ever-keen Daniel Ricciardo, looking to show he's the right man to be replacing Webber at Red Bull, while in eighth was team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne, the man overlooked for the sought-after seat. Ninth was Felipe Massa, looking to do his country proud in his last race for Ferrari, and rounding out the top ten was Nico Hulkenberg, who didn't seem to be on form this weekend.

Sunday morning came, and the weather had cleared; whilst the skies remained grey, the temperatures were cool but importantly the track was dry, to relief of some but to the upset of others. The most notable potential benefactors were Mclaren and Force India, who had predicted a dry race and opted to sacrifice qualifying pace by running a lower downforce configuration in hope. As the lights went out, the two Red Bulls made fairly mediocre starts, with the two Mercedes cars profiting; into the first corner, Nico Rosberg took the lead with Lewis Hamilton taking advantage of a boxed-in Fernando Alonso, moving up into third. One man with a lightning start was Felipe Massa, moving up from ninth to fifth in the short run before the first turn. The field passed through the Senna 'S' without incident. On the way into turn three, Rosberg found himself under threat from Vettel, while just behind Alonso was looking to challenge Hamilton. With neither finding a way through, the field steamed up the hill into the fast right-hander of the Curva do Laranjinha, Vettel was once again trying to find a way past Rosberg, with Hamilton having to defend hard from Alonso, who had managed to pull up alongside the Englishman on the outside. Through the infield section, Alonso was really pushing to give Hamilton a hard time, braking late to try and find a gap to get alongside Hamilton's Mercedes.

As the first lap drew to a close, Vettel was pulling alongside Rosberg on the right, whose performance was suffering due to the high wing levels they had run to cope with the changing conditions the day before, and for salt in the wound, Alonso was alongside Hamilton as the four cars crossed the line. Vettel had managed to gain the lead around turn one, with Alonso on Hamilton's inside; it a was battle Hamilton wasn't going to win, and after being squeezed a little to the outside, the Englishman slots in behind, delegated back to fourth. The poor line through the corner meant that Webber had managed to significantly close the gap, closing right in on the Mercedes gearbox. The Australian pulled to the left but ran out of steam on the entry to turn three, allowing Hamilton to retain the place, but the poor corner entry line compromised Hamilton's exit speed, allowing the Australian to pull up alongside once more on the inside of turn four before they climbed the hill side by side. In a brave move, Webber hung on around the outside, slowing closing the door and taking fourth.

By lap the end of lap three we'd seen our first casualty; Romain Grosjean's Renault engine decided it didn't want to wait until the end of the race for its farewell and failed on the way up the hill towards the start/finish line. The consequence of this was a thick white cloud of smoke, presenting a real hazard for competitors behind. Sensibly, yellow flags were waved as the rest of the field passed through the cloud, with drivers having to slow dramatically in order to pass through safely. It was said that the failure was due to a ruptured oil line. Moments later, Rosberg was under pressure from Alonso in third on the run down to turn three, with the Spaniard taking to the outside to complete what looked to be an easy pass for second. At this point, Webber behind was looking ever more menacing.

On the seventh lap, Webber had managed to pull alongside Rosberg into the first turn, taking the outside line and sweeping past the Mercedes in another seemingly effortless move. The Mercedes were in trouble; their higher downforce configuration, which had been proven to work well earlier in the year, was really putting pain to them, with Rosberg and Hamilton running fourth and fifth respectively.

Meanwhile further down, Adrian Sutil was passed by Gutierrez into turn three, putting him out wide. With the slow resulting exit speed, Gutierrez' fellow countryman Perez unexpectedly managed to sneak alongside Sutil, taking him somewhat by surprise; the pair touched wheels with Perez gaining the upper hand, almost literally, from Sutil, who decided to gesticulate from his cockpit. Perez's team-mate Button was also putting in an inspired performance, seeming to make light work of Daniel Ricciardo down to turn three, taking eighth in the process.



On lap thirteen, Webber challenged Alonso across the start/finish line, carrying a notable speed advantage, pulling alongside Alonso on the inside; the pass was completed before the first corner, with Webber now up into second place and looking particularly handy at this phase of the race. Meanwhile Sergio Perez was continuing his charge, pulling off a great move against Valtteri Bottas for tenth.

Lap twenty four, and Webber was first to pit out of the Red Bulls, but typical of Webber's luck it was slow; the left rear wheel was slow to go on, costing Webber roughly three seconds which was costly enough to put him back behind Alonso by a second. Six laps later, Alonso's team-mate Massa, in his last race in red, was under investigation for crossing the hatchings on the entry to the pitlane, which in an effort to increase safety, was made a no-go area by Charlie Whiting only that morning. The pit-lane at Interlagos has always been a grey area, with it falling directly on the racing line and the potential for accidents always there, with some incidents already having happened in the practice sessions. Shortly after, in a battle with Gutierrez, Bottas almost repeated the feat, with Gutierrez opting to swap from the outside to the inside for turn one. The two banged wheels, and were lucky that there wasn't an accident, let alone damage. Gutierrez was seen to be at fault, perhaps showing a little too much aggression, squeezing Bottas to the outside.

On lap thirty one, Rob Smedley, Massa's race engineer got on the radio to the Brazilian to warn him about the pit entry, while Bottas continued to go backwards, this time at the hands of Maldonado, passing in much the same way that Gutierrez had a lap before, thankfully minus the contact. It wasn't looking to be quite the same weekend for Bottas that it was a week ago. Two laps later, Massa had learned his fate and had received a drive-through penalty for his crime, to which he showed his displeasure towards the FIA on the radio back to Smedley. Massa chose to ignore Smedley's request to serve the penalty at the end of lap thirty three, instead opting to serve it a lap later.

Twelve laps later, something strange happened; Vettel slowed notably, and began to allow drivers to unlap themselves; first was Adrian Sutil into turn one. No one could understand quite what was happening, but the team showed no concern. The gap back to Webber was largely unaffected, standing at about twelve seconds.

Four laps later and disaster for Lewis Hamilton; The Williams of Valtteri Bottas inexplicably chose to draw alongside Hamilton's Mercedes on the outside on entry to turn three. With Bottas clearly unsighted, Hamilton proceeded to move across the circuit to assume the racing line. The two cars collided, putting pain to Hamilton's race, causing a puncture and unscheduled pit-stop. The pain was far worse for Bottas; the collision caused major damage to the left-rear wheel, completely separating the rubber from the wheel, and as the car spun out of control, it caused notable damage to the floor, with possible damage to the left-rear suspension. The car came to rest post-incident and brought out the yellow flags, as it was in a precarious position on the run-off area. To make matters worse for Hamilton, he was given a drive-through penalty for his part in the collision.

This lead to an interesting consequence; Webber had been called in to pit, but in the wake of the accident, Vettel was called in as a matter of urgency as Red Bull predicted that the safety car would be called out whilst Bottas' Williams was recovered. The crew simply weren't ready and took a bit of time to get Vettel's tyres out and removed from their blankets. Webber, who was initially called in as part of his strategy, was only twelve seconds behind, and upon arrival in the pits, Vettel was still there, holding the Australian up. After Vettel was released, Webber made his stop and came out with only half the time separating him from Vettel that was there before.

Lap sixty one, and the threat of rain loomed large; no one could be sure whether it would hold off before race-end. Charles Pic had a right-rear suspension failure, leading to a scary moment coming out of turns three and four. He attempted to get his Caterham up the hill, but ran out of momentum before coming to rest a short distance off the circuit on the left hand side. This was a little precarious, and of course prompted yellow flags. His car was cleared fairly promptly and racing resumed. Four laps later and Maldonado had had a coming-together with the Torro-Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne; the Frenchman made a move to pass into turn one and was occupying the inside line alongside the Venezuelan, but Maldonado proceeded to turn into Vergne and the two made contact, with Maldonado coming off the worse. In his efforts to rejoin, he nearly collected now fourth-placed Jenson Button, who was having a fantastic season finale in a year he'd rather forget.

As the race drew to a close, it looked as though the weather was going to hold off, and Vettel was still leading from Webber and Alonso, with the Australian making his round of the circuit for the last time. All the while, Webber was attempting to disconnect his HANS device. Vettel crossed the line as victor, with team-mate Webber around seven seconds adrift - Alonso rounded out the top three. During an emotional in-lap for Webber, he did something we rarely see in F1; he removed his helmet whilst touring round, waving to the adoring crowd as he went. The podium was indeed an emotional affair, and a great way for Webber to finish his career; he may not have won that day, but he took home a trophy and snatched fastest lap from Vettel. As the podium celebrations began, Webber managed to trip over the bottom step of the podium, which perhaps served to prove: If Webber didn't have bad luck, he'd have no luck at all.

Final Classification

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time/Gap
1.	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	1hr 32min 36.300
2.	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	+10.452
3.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari	+18.913
4.	Jenson Button	Mclaren Mercedes	+37.360
5.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	+39.048
6.	Sergio Perez	Mclaren Mercedes	+44.051
7.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari	+44.110
8.	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	+64.252
9.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	+72.903
10.	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	+1 Lap
11.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	+1 Lap
12.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	+1 Lap
13.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	+1 Lap
14.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	+1 Lap
15.	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	+1 Lap
16.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	+1 Lap
17.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	+2 Laps
18.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	+2 Laps
19.	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	+2 Laps
20.	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	Suspension
21.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	Accident
22.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	Engine

With the season now over, and the new technical regulations coming in, the V8's had sung for the last time, and in what was an almost ceremonial affair, the teams revved them up until they exploded, consigning them to the history books in the process. The teams can look ahead to 2014; the challenges ahead are daunting, with many teams of course already having turned their attentions to them. New technical regulations are of course leading to mass speculation as to what 2014's cars may look like, as well as the newly-located exhaust outlets, putting an end to the 'coanda war' of the last four years. We will no doubt see new flashes of inspiration and ingenuity, as well as the flash of exploding V6 turbos, but one thing's for certain; we're in for one hell of a year.


Article by Chris Kinsman
MyF1World Journalist.

The Brazilian Grand Prix - Qualifying

With the two previous practice sessions troubled by rain, it was looking set to be a great qualifying session.

It was always going to be an emotional affair, with fairwells being said to Felipe Massa from Ferrari, Sergio Perez from Mclaren, Pastor Maldonado from Williams, Daniel Ricciardo from Torro Rosso and of course Mark Webber from Red Bull and the sport in his final qualifying session in Formula 1.

We also say goodbye to an initially unwanted but ultimately lovable old friend; the 2.4litre naturally-aspirated V8 engine. Brought in to replace the screaming V10's of the 90's and early-mid 2000's, the Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying is the last time we will hear these V8 engines in anger, as well as it being the last time an engine will exceed 15,000rpm for potentially a long time. May these engines rest in peace, with the high-pitched concerto marking the end of an era.

QUALIFYING 1:

The weather forecast showed that the conditions should remain relatively constant, although this wasn't to be...

 The conditions were such that intermediates were the order of the session, with some dry patches developing around the circuit. Because this was the last race of the year, people were a little more care-free with their engines, allowing their drivers to queue for longer at the end of the pit-lane than usual. Hamilton was heading the queue in front of the two Caterhams, with Kovalainen not far behind. In an effort to make the most of the conditions, Bianchi forced his way out in front of Kovalainen, pushing the Finn towards the pit-wall in haste. 

Hamilton topped the time-sheets early in the session. Red bull held off for a couple of minutes after the green light before venturing out, which initially looked to be a mistake, with the track only getting wetter. Vettel managed to stay within a tenth of Hamilton, while Webber was held up by Alonso on his first quick lap, putting him near the dropzone, however he managed to pull it together and get back up into provisional 9th place

A few minutes in, the intensity of the rain increased, and for a while it looked as though the best of the conditions had passed. Few managed to improve; most attention was of course to the latter-midfield places at the cusp of the dropzone, with Gutierrez and Vergne looking in danger at points during the session. Grosjean found himself held up by a wandering Marussia in the middle sector, signalling his disapproval with a hand gesture, whilst team-mate Kovalainen was held up by van der Garde, and then later held up by Charles Pic, hampering Kovalainen's efforts to get convincingly clear from the dropzone. Eventually Kovalainen managed to get away from the bottom 6, but not by much, getting up to provisional 14th. 

During the typical lull before the final hot laps of the session, with around 7 minutes to go, Gutierrez made the most of the clear track, staying out but not improving, remaining a little over a second down from his personal best.  The rain intensity dropped with around 4 minutes remaining, but the damage to most was done; Both Vergne and Gutierrez improved, for Gutierrez it wasn't enough, and he was out of qualifying for the weekend, joined by Maldonado, who had been pushed down by Vergne's advancement. 

Drivers Eliminated:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
17.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	1m 27.367s
18.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	1m 27.445s
19.	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	1m 27.843s
20.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	1m 28.320s
21.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	1m 28.366s
22.	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	1m 28.950s

QUALIFYING 2:

The Mercedes both head the way at the end of the pitlane, with Rosberg in front of Hamilton, a good half a minute before the green light. The rain was constant, but showed potential to worsen, so it made sense to get a lap in the bag just in case. 

With around 12 minutes remaining, Vettel set the early pace with a 1:26.515, a tenth clear of Nico Rosberg, with another four-tenth gap to Lewis Hamilton. Shortly afterwards, Webber, despite seeming to have little grip, displaced Hamilton, moving him down to 4th. 

Two minutes later, as the rain steadily fell, Adrian Sutil showed signs of struggling through the Senna 'S', having a bit of a tail-out moment. To the team's relief, he managed to regain control. Kovalainen also had a bit of a moment, getting two wheels on the grass through the Curva do Laranjinha, but again managing to keep his head. Moments later, Di Resta got crossed up on the way into Bico de Pato, confirming speculation that Force India were running a lower downforce configuration in the hope for a dry race the following day. 

Ferrari's form in the last few races has been lacklustre, reinforcing the opinion that the team's focus has shifted to 2014. Halfway through Q2, Alonso and Massa were in provisional 6th and 9th respectively, seemingly struggling for traction on corner-exit.

Hulkenberg found himself in provisional 16th before entering the pits for some fresh rubber. Around two minutes later, Lotus had their two cars queued in the pitlane to fit fresh rubber, ready for a renewed assult with the belief of heavier rain approaching the circuit. With four minutes remaining, Vettel managed to pull a further half a tenth clear of Rosberg, while Felipe Massa managed to pull himself up to 6th with a good first sector. 

Hulkenberg, with his fresh tyres, improved on his time but not by much, putting himself up into the provisional top ten. With two minutes to go, Romain Grosjean surprised by putting his car on provisional pole by a notable three-tenths. 

By this stage, both the Mclarens were in trouble having opted to run lower downforce, with Perez and Button occupying 14th and 15th respectively, ruing the decision to save tyre through the course of the preceding practice sessions. The rain intensified, and it was looking bleak; first to cross the line was Jensen Button, who failed to improve. At almost the same moment, team-mate Perez made sure he wasn't going to improve by giving it too much, dipping a wheel on the kerb through the exit of turn 5 and putting his Mclaren into the wall. a smashed front wing and badly damaged right front and rear suspension was the net consequence. This brought out the yellow flags and effectively ended the session.

Drivers Eliminated:

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
11.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	1m 27.456s
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	1m 27.798s
13.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	1m 27.954s
14.	Jenson Button	Mclaren Mercedes	1m 28.269s
15.	Sergio Perez	Mclaren Mercedes	1m 28.308s
16.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	1m 28.586s

QUALIFYING 3:

The start of Q3 was delayed as the marshals cleared the wreck of Perez's Mclaren. As they did so, the rain got heavier, drenching the track and delaying the session further. By the start of the session, the track had been allowed to drain but was still treacherous enough to need the wet tyre.

This time it was Red Bull who were most impatient, with both Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel first to queue. The Torro Rosso, figuring that Red Bull might know something they didn't, sent out Daniel Ricciardo to complete the queue. Once the green light was given, Hulkenberg followed the trio out less than half a minute later. 

Webber was first to cross the line with a 1:29.215, with Vettel following and knocking nearly half a second off. Grosjean decided not to complete his lap and immediately pitted for intermediates; Red Bull followed suit shortly after. Rosberg and Hamilton managed to sandwich themselves between the two Red Bulls, with a 1:29.021 and 1.29.181 respectively. 

A mad rush for intermediates ensued, with both Mercedes and Ferrari double-stacking their drivers. There was a fear that Grosjean had made the switch too early, with the possibility of wearing out the intermediates before they'd be at their best. He immediately went quicker by over a second with a 1:27.773, with Webber following and beating Grosjean by a tenth, only for Vettel to then cross the line with a full second in his pocket, setting a 1:26.479. Rosberg managed to split the Red Bulls with a 1:27.555, only for Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to surprise with a 1:27.539, pushing Rosberg down to third. 

As the flag dropped, first over the line was Grosjean, who didn't manage to improve on his time and stayed in provisional 6th. Rosberg, not to be outdone, then managed to knock another half a second off Alonso's time to get into 2nd. Webber in his last qualifying session in Formula 1 was unable to improve and stayed in 4th. Massa couldn't match his team-mate's pace and was sitting in 9th. Hulkenberg, who had held pole position here previously in similar conditions and an inferior car, was seemingly in difficulty, unable to get within a second of Massa's time and languishing in 10th.

The final classifications were:

Top Ten

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
1.	Sebastian Vettel	RBR Renault	1m 26.479s
2.	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1m 27.102s
3.	Fernando Alonso	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 27.539s
4.	Mark Webber	RBR Renault	1m 27.572s
5.	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1m 27.677s
6.	Romain Grosjean	Lotus Renault	1m 27.737s
7.	Daniel Ricciardo	STR Ferrari	1m 28.052s
8.	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR Ferrari	1m 28.081s
9.	Felipe Massa	Scuderia Ferrari	1m 28.109s
10.	Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber Ferrari	1m 29.582s

Q2 Knockout

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
11.	Heikki Kovalainen	Lotus Renault	1m 27.456s
12.	Paul di Resta	Force India Mercedes	1m 27.798s
13.	Valtteri Bottas	Williams Renault	1m 27.954s
14.	Jenson Button	Mclaren Mercedes	1m 28.269s
15.	Sergio Perez	Mclaren Mercedes	1m 28.308s
16.	Adrian Sutil	Force India Mercedes	1m 28.586s

Q1 Knockout

Pos.	Driver	Team	Time
17.	Pastor Maldonado	Williams Renault	1m 27.367s
18.	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber Ferrari	1m 27.445s
19.	Charles Pic	Caterham Renault	1m 27.843s
20.	Giedo van der Garde	Caterham Renault	1m 28.320s
21.	Jules Bianchi	Marussia Cosworth	1m 28.366s
22.	Max Chilton	Marussia Cosworth	1m 28.950s

The race looks to be an exciting one; mixed conditions, the top three occupied by three different teams. Changeable weather conditions, an Australian hungry for a last hurrah in the sport, with the fast charging Grosjean and Hamilton behind. It's looking to be a real thriller.



Article by Chris Kinsman
MyF1World Journalist.

The Week's Rumour Mill

A lot of recent talk has been about the potential movements of Nico Hulkenberg, with numerous rumours about his future circulating...

So this week in the F1 paddock, there have been a few things people felt the need to talk about...

• Ross Brawn has denied there is any friction between Lewis Hamilton and the Mercedes team after disagreements during Sunday's United States Grand Prix. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Outgoing McLaren driver Sergio Perez has made the bold statement that joining a back-marking team is something that he doesn't want to consider, "because I have a lot to offer and going to a team like that would basically make my career stall." More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• On the subject of Sergio Perez, going back to his home continent with a move to Indycar hasn't been ruled out. More>>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Davide Valsecci, understandably disheartened by Lotus' recent decision to overlook him as a potential stand-in for Kimi Raikkonen is now considering his future in the team carefully. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• As part of Formula 1's now frantic 'musical chairs' situation, Di Resta has faced up to the possibility he might actually be left without a seat in the coming year. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Pastor Maldonado has further backtracked on his claims that the Williams team had sabotaged his qualifying efforts at the United States Grand Prix, admitting that the heat of the moment may have got to him. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Despite Red Bull Racing being in possession of one of the most talented people in the pit-lane (I mean Adrian Newey), Ross Brawn believes Red Bull's chances of maintaining its dominance of F1 over the long term will be hit by the departure of key aero chief Peter Prodromou. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Ferrari's James Allison believes that Ferrari have made the necessary changes within the team in order to return to championship-winning form in the coming years. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Allison's cautious optimism might not be enough to convince Stefano Domenicali, who sees it as absolutely vital that they have a potential title-winning car in 2014. More >>
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• And of course Hulkenberg, who is being pulled this way and that in respect of a race seat for the coming season, had offers from front-runners Lotus and his old team Force India, but Sauber seem to have now more actively joined the tug-o-war, saying that they would gladly retain him if he so chose. However Hulkenberg is holding out as long as he can afford to in an attempt to secure the empty Lotus seat. More, and More, and More >>

We wait with baited breath to see how some of the more immediate rumours pan out...


Article by Chris Kinsman
MyF1World Journalist.

Race Round-up: US Grand Prix, Austin.

In what has been a fairly processional run of events of late, Austin came through and gave us a comparatively exciting reminder as to why we love this sport.

There was high emotion, both anger and elation, thrills, spills and good close racing all the way down the field.
For starters; Vettel secured his eighth successive victory, surpassing the record of seven wins held by Alberto Ascari from 1953 until it was matched by Michael Schumacher in 2004. Whether we like it or not, we're witnessing history. Webber sadly had to settle for third, after Frenchman Romain Grosjean was the self proclaimed 'better man', taking the opportunity to show his ability as a number one driver by the scruff of its neck and really showing what he can do.

The race wasn't without incident; on the opening lap, Pastor Maldonado, who was already of the firm belief that Williams had sabotaged his car, and Adrian Sutil, who is fighting for his career, were running close down the back-straight, ending in contact, which sent Sutil into the barrier at hight speed, as well as damaging Maldonado's front wing, for which he was black-and-orange-flagged. 

Sutil, when asked about the incident post-race, said "On a very big straight, with a lot of space left and right, for some reason I got a hit on the left tyre in the middle of the straight and lost the car... It was very shocking. You'd never believe something like that, but it happened. There was no reason to be so close. I was on my line and I didn't do anything different... I was staying straight with my steering wheel and to the left and right there was a lot of space. I don't understand why someone then hits you." Sutil even went as far as saying that despite efforts he's made to talk to Maldonado, "I've tried it several times, but he's on a different planet."

This brought out the safety car for the first time ever at Austin, and once it had received the call to come in, Vettel backed the pack up in such a way that many onlookers deemed to be excessive in an effort to get one of his usual safety car launches.

Bottas was a man out to show he means business, qualifying strongly, more than a second clear from the unceremoniously departing Maldonado, claiming his first points by the end of the race finishing in a very respectable 8th position.

"It is a great day and I am very happy for the team. We have finally got some points for me as well, four points. We did a really good job today, the strategy, the race start, the pitstop, everyone from the team did such a good job so I really felt that we deserved it."

Hulkenberg showed us yet again that his form isn't just a flash in the pan, firmly sticking himself in the shop window as Formula 1 plays its biggest game of musical chairs for decades. However it was more than just his on-track exploits that had the rumour mill turning.

It has been said that Ferrari, locked in a fierce battle for second in the constructors championship, had paid future employee Kimi Raikkonen to move his scheduled back operation forward, eliminating him from the last two races of the season. It has also been said that Ferrari paid Sauber in order to pay Hulkenberg, who had been scouted by Lotus as a replacement for the Finn, and who also, up until that point, had been fairly free to do as he pleased as Sauber had broken their contract by not paying him. After Hulkenberg had been paid, the contract was then back in effect, stopping Hulkenberg from accepting Lotus' tempting offer. It has since been speculated that Hulkenberg, growing tired of waiting for the Lotus-Quantum deal to materialise, is instead drafting up papers with Force India for the 2014 season.

Lotus, not to be outdone by the prancing horses, overlooked the skilled but inexperienced Davide Valsecci and instead filled the seat with another Finn; Heikki Kovalainen, who was more than happy to take the wheel and prove his metal having been out of a race seat for almost a year. Kovalainen impressed in qualifying, managing to stay within six tenths of team mate Grosjean, despite a disastrous race that saw him drop down to an eventual 14th. Lotus remained impressed, and will be retaining him for the final race of the season.

Lewis Hamilton was his usual indecisive self, telling Peter Bonnington, his race engineer, on the radio that '[managing the tyres is] what I'm doing man - just let me focus' as well as 'I'm trying to' when told to maintain pace, then contradicted himself a little by saying 'I need you to give me some feedback, man! About tyre temperatures...', but despite this seemed pretty pleased with his 4th place and cares not for the driver's championship.

"Definitely, definitely, I'm very, very happy. Just happy for the guys and happy to have gone forward [in the race]. I'm always talking about staying where I am or going forwards and so really happy with that.The team did a great job - the car was night and day difference to what it was in Abu Dhabi. So I'm pretty sure the new tub [chassis] helped." 

When asked about the driver's championship, he said "It doesn't mean anything. Plus the guy that was in third is not even racing, so it doesn't mean anything to me,"

Hamilton later apologised to Bonnington, stating that “The poor guy has come on the radio and then I come back at him. I will always say sorry. I will tell him he did a great job, but it is the heat of the moment, man. Stuff does not come out like ‘hey buddy, just give me a little moment here’. It’s like you are holding on to a bull and it’s like ‘give me a frickin’ second’.”

For the Mclaren duo, it was a race to forget; with Button starting in a lowly 16th, who managed to work his way up into 10th place, with a masterful piece of overtaking against future Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo. Sergio Perez, the man being turfed out by Mclaren next season to make way for Kevin Magnussen, was locked in an exciting battle with Alonso during the middle phase of the race, but could only finished where he began in 7th place.

For Sauber and Torro Rosso, it was a bitter-sweet weekend; for Sauber, Nico Hulkenberg had managed to stick his car right up at the sharp end in qualifying, which couldn't be matched by team mate Esteban Gutierrez, who initially qualified 10th but was then moved down to 20th after a careless bit of driving during qualifying earned him a ten-place grid penalty. In the end, Hulkenberg sadly went backwards a couple of places, ending up in 6th, whilst Gutierrez, despite making up some places had his race ruined by Jean-Eric Vergne on the last lap; while trying to overtake Vergne through turn 13, the Frenchman turned in on Gutierrez, briefly launching his Sauber into the air and into a spin. Gutierrez recovered to finish 14th, but was later promoted to 13th, after Vergne received a 20-second time penalty added to his overall race time, dropping him from 12th to 16th. 

Many saw the penalty to be fairly superficial, with Vergne having lost nothing other than a few places on the classifications board, and believed a fine or reprimand would have been a more effective penalty. 

As for Vergne's team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, he managed to put in a solid performance, starting and finishing in 11th place, with some skilled wheel-to-wheel action with Button. His performances of late are showing that he may give Vettel a little grief next year.

Towards the back, it was relative business as usual, with the two Caterhams and Marussias rounding out the field; Max Chilton managed to continue his finishing streak, set to break a record by finishing every race in his rookie season, which may provide further impetus in his efforts to secure a seat next year, which are rumoured to be going well. Jules Bianchi once again showed himself to be one to watch in the future, finishing ahead of both Caterhams and team-mate Chilton.

So as the Formula 1 circus moves onto Interlagos, we could be in for a real treat; granted it won't quite hold the same levels of suspense that it did in previous years, but it may well spring a few surprises. With it being the last race in Australian Mark Webber's eventful and strong career, one hopes it will serve as the perfect platform for F1 to bid a fond, final farewell to everyone's favourite straight-talking Aussie.


Article by Chris Kinsman
MyF1World Journalist.