Honda’s comeback proves F1′s new engine formula is working already

The return of Honda as an engine supplier to Formula 1 is very welcome news. Even better is the expectation that more suppliers will follow, and cause a greater variety of engine combinations on the grid.

In recent years, we have seen the number of companies supplying power units drop all the way down to 4 – Mercedes, Renault, Ferrari and Cosworth. The latter of these is reducing its involvement with the sport, with Caterham and Williams having switched to Renault power in the last few seasons. Now only supplying Marussia, it is very clear that they will most likely not survive the switch to the V6 engines next year. To have only 3 different types of engine on the grid for too long would be a disaster for the sport.

However, this Honda deal has revitalised the engine market. With Renault upping the prices for their turbocharged units next year, teams like Lotus, Williams and Caterham might be encouraged to switch to the Japanese company from 2015 onwards.

Other manufacturers such as Audi and Volkswagen have previously expressed interest in returning to F1, and it’s always possible that we’ll see more suppliers arrive in the next few years. All of these signs clearly indicate that the FIA’s new engine formula is already proving to be successful.

The FIA’s aim was to encourage large manufacturing corporations back into the world of F1, while also presenting a new technical challenge that keeps the teams on their toes. While it remains to be seen how the on-track racing is affected by these new changes, I believe that the new engine suppliers will provide a huge boost to Formula 1′s credibility and excitement in the coming years.

Pirelli tyres don’t need changing – the rules do

This weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix saw much criticism for the way the teams held back for much of qualifying, almost afraid to put any type of wear on their tyres.

This continued through to race day, where drivers’ strategies revolved solely around getting rid of the troublesome option tyres as quickly as possible, then managing the primes for the rest of the race.

It’s a worrying scene, and only fuels many arguments that Formula 1 is only racing at 90% power, what with the increased emphasis on tyre conservation in recent years. From the teams’ points of view, there is nothing else they can do – if staying in the pits for the first 5 minutes of Q3 is the best tactical option (or all of Q3), then they must make that call, unpopular as it might be.

Pirelli have therefore come under fire for their high-degradation soft compound tyres, which only allow a handful of flat-out racing laps. However, this is exactly what they were instructed to create when they entered the sport. I feel that the adjustments necessary to fix the current tyre problem must be made by the FIA.

Obviously we can’t just revert to the days of rock-hard tyres and “cruise control” races – that would completely undermine all the improvements that have been made to the racing in recent years. However, in my opinion, changing the regulation on the Q3 tyres would encourage drivers to get out on track more. The rule that states that drivers must start on the tyre they qualified on, for example, is completely detrimental to the racing, and should be scrapped.

If this were to be removed, drivers would be more willing to push for the absolute best lap times on their Q3 laps, and it would also introduce more strategic options on race day – starting on the prime tyre would be much more feasible.

Similarly, it might also be worth having a look at the dual compound rule, which states that both the option and prime compounds must be used during a dry race. Again, this would diversify tyre strategies and reduce emphasis on conserving the option tyres.

I still think that F1 is currently in a fantastic position at the moment, with a massively talented grid of drivers, closely-fought title battles and plenty of on-track excitement, but there’s always improvements to be made. Improving the regulations behind the Pirellis would be a welcome boost to both the drivers and fans.

How has F1 changed in the last 10 years?

I started watching Formula 1 in 2003, which is as fine a season to start with as you can get. Since then and the end of the 2012 season, legends have come and gone, and the sport has undergone massive changes – some for good, some not.

So how exactly has the sport evolved over time, and how does it compare to the widely-regarded classic season of 2003?

Positives

Amplified Racing

The 2012 season saw an astounding 1,135 overtakes across the entire year, compared to a measly 303 in 2003. This can be partially attributed to the refuelling ban 3 years ago, which eliminated many “overtaking in the pit lane” scenarios. In 2010, overtaking figures doubled from the previous year, when huge aerodynamic changes failed to make passing any easier.

However, the rest is down to the controversial DRS system. It has divided fans since its introduction, but the one thing about it that cannot be debated about it is its effectiveness, doubling once again the number of overtakes from 2010.

But how much does this impact on F1′s “purity”? Diehard fans will argue that DRS removes any challenge for the chasing car, and any opportunity to defend for the car in front. This is true in situations where the DRS zone is oversized (see Canada), but I still feel that DRS overall has improved the racing in recent seasons. Despite a notable amount of easy overtakes, it has removed the risk of being stuck behind a slower opponent for an entire race.

Horrendously boring races, particularly in Hungary a few years back, are a thing of the past. The loss of fuel-dependent qualifying means that the racing on Sundays isn’t correlated to how much fuel you ran with on Saturday. Compared to my first season, I can safely say that better overtaking is a huge positive today.

Better steward transparency

The best example of poor stewarding in the past was Spa 2008, where Lewis Hamilton saw a brilliant victory snatched away because of a questionably illegal overtake. Juan Pablo Montoya famously fell foul of the stewards in his years at Williams, coincidentally when Ferrari had a rather firm influence in the FIA department.

This hasn’t been totally fixed, but is much better than it used to be. The addition of a retired driver to each stewards’ panel has added more appropriate punishments to driver infringements than before. Consistency is also more visible, with standard drive-through penalties being dealt out as a “one size fits most” policy. The re-introduction (or re-use) of the stop/go penalty has been used as extra punishment for more serious offences.

Race Control isn’t perfect, but I’m much happier with stewards’ decisions now than I was 10 years ago.

More top-notch drivers

Back in my day, we had one great driver – Michael Schumacher. The mere mortals within McLaren and Williams would try their futile best to beat him, but victory for the scarlet red was an inevitability for a few seasons.

Put simply, we have none of that these days, which is only a good thing for the sport. Total domination like what we saw in 2004 was threatening to drive F1 into the ground, and the turnaround from this danger has been more than impressive.

Up to 2012, we had no less than 6 world champions battling it out on track at any given time, a first in F1 history. Now that the formerly mighty Schumacher has retired, we are left with 5 champions, as well as 5 other race winners, and another 4 or 5 drivers raring to take the top spot of the podium.

Of our current roster of drivers, Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton can all be considered to be top-class drivers. Even in different cars, their brilliance continually shines through, and has led to some wonderful championship battles in recent years.

Last year, we had an astounding 8 different race winners, compared to only 5 in 2004. Unpredictability has boosted Formula 1 hugely over the past decade.

Negatives

Car beauty

The spate of rule changes over the past few years have come at a price. Poster-grade F1 cars are in short supply these days, with out-of-proportion front and rear wings, and unsightly nose steps.

2003 is a great reference for this point, because the Ferrari F2003-GA is a perfect example of how an F1 car should look – a flawless balance of aerodynamic and mechanical artistry.

Today’s cars aren’t all a horrific bunch, but they’re a far cry from works of art. Liveries are less clean than the past, with a vast array of sponsor’s logos used to keep the team financially afloat.

I’m struggling to see how it would be possible to clean up F1 cars’ image with impending rule changes for 2014, so perhaps we’ll be kept waiting for another truly beautiful F1 car a while longer.

Cookie-cutter race tracks

Without trying to get lost in the nostalgia-fueled argument 0f “old racetracks are better than the new ones”, there’s a lot to be said for poor-quality racetracks that were built in the past few years.

Take Bahrain as a classic example. Derided by fans, drivers and journalists alike for being generic, uncreative and overall boring, it fails year after year to produce edge-of-the-seat racing, and the fact that the race was used as a propaganda tool for the Bahraini government (UniF1ed campaign) is just icing on the cake.

Abu Dhabi is no better, and Valencia is just a generally poor racetrack. Other new circuits in China and Korea have failed to gather much praise either, leading to claims that new F1 tracks are generic and lack originality.

There is some truth to these claims, and the FIA would be smart to avoid over-reliance on a certain Mr. Tilke’s input on future racetracks.

In conclusion…

I’m not going to sit on the fence for this one – I much prefer F1 today than to what it was 10 years ago. I can sit down next Sunday without having a single clue who’s going to win, and that’s the single best thing I can imagine for the sport. Cookie-cutter circuits I can get over, and an F1 car’s beauty is irrelevant at 350km/h.

I’m confident that F1 is in a great period right now – not quite a golden age, but not too far off. We can only hope that the 2013 season can in any way match up to 2012…

Bizarre driver market reveals F1′s growing struggle

The ousting of Luiz Razia at Marussia came as a surprise to me, as I had distanced myself from the mostly baseless rumours going round the paddock. However, it still wasn’t a total shock, as the strange driver market we have seen this year has shown that Formula 1 has a huge problem with its finances.

In the past, it would be unheard of to see a competent midfield team – Force India – take until February to announce their driver line-up, in the middle of testing season no less. But that’s exactly what they did, and the decision was made with money in mind. Granted, Sutil’s a good driver on merit, but he was clearly bringing more money to the table than Jules Bianchi.

HRT have folded, with even the prospect of two pay drivers failing to hold up their sinking ship. Sauber have dropped fan favourite Kamui Kobayashi in favour of sponsor-laden Esteban Gutierrez, who surely can’t contribute to the team as well as Kamui had done.

All of this makes it abundantly clear: the majority of F1′s teams are struggling financially. Only the “Big 5″ appear to be comfortable, in particular Mercedes, who have been offering “telephone number salaries” in order to steal talented engineers from other leading teams.

I’m no expert on Formula 1′s complex financial workings, but even I can tell something’s badly wrong when half the grid are turning to pay drivers to keep afloat. As well as making F1 look bad in the press, it’s also a warning that the sport may fail to bring forward some of tomorrow’s best talent, if so many teams are focusing on survival only.

There are fixes, of course, but the vast majority of them stem from Bernie Ecclestone, who will of course be unwilling to budge an inch when it comes to finance. The 82-year-old built his fortune on tough negotiations and maximising revenues, and he isn’t going to stop now just because one driver got replaced over another.

But where does it stop? At what point will Ecclestone realise that the sport and its lower-tiered teams are being very slowly drained of its financial future? I fear that Formula 1 is heading towards a pivotal point in its future, where the needs of the many will go up against the wants of the few. Which way it’ll go is of course anyone’s guess, of course.

What to look forward to in 2013

Unfortunate as it is, but it is now time to consign the brilliant 2012 season to the history books, and look forward to the next. Will the 2013 season deliver as many thrills and spills?

Let’s have a look at some of the things that could make the 2013 season great:

Continued competitiveness at the front

As Sebastian Vettel searches for his fourth world title on the trot, double world champion Fernando Alonso attempts to win his first title since 2006.

Meanwhile, Jenson Button will try his best to lead a reshuffled McLaren team to glory, while Lewis Hamilton will settle into Mercedes and attempt to push the team to the front of the grid.

Ferrari, despite their vocality on every single issue in F1, have struggled in recent years, and look to a resurging Felipe Massa to improve the team’s chances at a constructor’s championship.

The 2012 season saw one of the closest and most competitive grids ever seen in the sport, and with little change in the rulebooks for 2013, most of the teams at the front should be able to continue racing for wins. It is likely that Red Bull will continue to have one of – if not the – most competitive cars on the grid, and it will be fascinating to see who will try to topple them.

I estimate that up to 5 teams will have a shot at the title for next year, and that’s good news for F1.

An ever-improving Lotus team

Despite a huge increase in fans and supporters in 2012, Lotus’ actual season was a disappointment. They lost out on opportunities for victory in early races, and only an inherited win for Kimi Raikkonen in Abu Dhabi spared their blushes.

To put it simply, the team too often failed to exploit the fantastic race pace of the E20, and single lap pace was lacking. This must improve for 2013 if the team wishes to challenge for the title.

Romain Grosjean will be looking to recover from a terrible second half of last year, and will be doing his best to turn excellent pace into actual finishing results. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen will presumably continue as the team leader, and should be able to reap rewards from the Lotus’ fantastic reliability and (hopefully) improved pace.

Considering how close Raikkonen got to the title this year, even before his win in Abu Dhabi, then Lotus are a serious force to be reckoned with this year.

Can Hamilton’s move reap rewards?

One of the most controversial news stories of last year was Lewis Hamilton’s surprise move to a struggling Mercedes team. There will be massive pressure on the Brit to transform the team into a title-winning squad.

That’s an odd statement though, as the team won their previous title only back in 2009. A slump in form in 2010, coupled with a series of underperforming cars, has held them back since. So what does Hamilton bring to the table? Awesome speed and a newfound maturity certainly helps.

Partnered with karting teammate Nico Rosberg, Mercedes now has one of the most exciting driver duos in the sport. Which driver ends up on top is anyone’s guess, but either way, 2013 will be a defining season for both drivers.

A more unpredictable Q1

The exit of HRT will either come as a disappointment or a relief to fans, but their demise has resulted in a much more exciting prospect for Q1 in qualifying.

With the 3 new teams taking up 6 of the 7 drop zones up to 2012, Q1 has been one of the few uneventful parts of an F1 weekend. However, with one less team at the back of the grid, the midfield teams now have a much bigger risk of being knocked out in the first part of qualifying. This also applies to the frontrunners, who will have to push harder to avoid being caught out.

Overall this will result in better competitiveness and more exciting racing in Q1. It also raises the prospects of slower cars being caught out by the 107% rule, as the frontrunners may be forced to take on the option tyre in this session, raising the bar for the teams behind.

Small DRS rule change – big consequences

A minor change to the technical rulebook in 2013 has stated that the DRS device can only be used in its designated zone during practice and qualifying. While it seems unnecessary, looking closer into the matter will show what consequences this has.

By lowering emphasis on DRS in qualifying, teams will no longer give their cars longer gears to benefit from the DRS, only to see that benefit slide away in the race.

This will also provide a boost to Ferrari, whose F2012 struggled in regards to rear stability when braking and disengaging DRS at the same time. For some reason, when the DRS flap deactivated, it failed to provide sufficient downforce for a split second, meaning the car would lose grip when braking for corners in qualifying.

This problem dogged the Ferrari team for all of last year, but it will no longer be an issue in 2013. Hopefully this means that they can improve on their poor qualifying form, and actually challenge Red Bull and McLaren on Saturdays.

Goodbye to stepped noses?

Stepped noses proved to be a flop with fans in 2012, many of whom engaged 100% nostalgic capacity and bemoaned the look of the current generation of cars.

Thankfully, the FIA has introduced an optional panel, to be fitted to the cars’ nosecones to eliminate these controversial steps. Before 2012, a safety measure meant that the front of the nosecone was to be lowered – but the rear was to remain the same height. This is what caused the controversy in 2012, and it’s good to see the matter finally come to a close.

For the record, I didn’t actually mind the stepped noses – the initial surprise is the only thing bad about them.

Hulkenberg and Sauber – a step up or sideways?

Force India described Nico Hulkenberg’s switch to rival team Sauber as a “step sideways”, an opinion shared by more than a few in the paddock. Can Hulkenberg prove them wrong?

Nico is one of the finest talents in F1, finishing off the 2012 season with a series of brilliant drives. In only his second season, he has taken a pole position, and nearly took a shock win in last year’s season finale. However, his performances in 2013 may be limited by what Sauber can produce.

But we’ll have to wait until March to see how the Hulkenberg/Sauber combination works. Nico has the potential to be a race winner and world champion in the future, so this is a hugely important moment in his career.

2012 final driver rankings: 3rd – 1st

In the last of 4 articles, I rank the 25 drivers from the 2012 season in terms of their performances.

This final section deals with Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, and Kimi Raikkonen – but in which order? Let’s find out…

3rd – Kimi Raikkonen

Previous ranking: 5th

Previous quote: “Overall he has been hugely impressive, and I am tipping him as the dark horse for the 2012 title.”

While he was unable to keep up the pressure for the world title, Raikkonen did a hugely impressive job this year, establishing himself as one of the sport’s finest drivers.

Victory could have come as quickly as his third race since his return, but Kimi initially appeared rusty in racecraft. This cost him a well-deserved win, and was his only major flaw across the entire year.

If it wasn’t for his tyres falling off the cliff in China, he would have finished every single race in the points. Not spinning and making a slow recovery in Brazil would have meant that he would have completed every single racing lap in 2012. These are very impressive feats from a driver only just returning to the sport.

Kimi only got more impressive as the season progressed. He took three podiums in a row from Germany to Belgium, then a string of good finishes kept him within striking range of Alonso and Hamilton. A worthy win followed up in Abu Dhabi, but it was too late to keep him in contention for the title battle.

Raikkonen appears perfectly at home within Lotus, a team that actively encourages his laid-back behaviour. Is it a match made in heaven? I think it might just be.

2nd – Lewis Hamilton

Previous ranking: 2nd

Previous quote: “2012 has seen a new evolution in Lewis Hamilton”

Hamilton’s 2012 title challenge will go down as a failure, forgotten within only a decade or two. However, this doesn’t do justice to what was a magnificent flourish in form for Lewis.

From the offset, he was quick. He deserved wins immediately, but luck was not on his side – being passed by Button in Melbourne, Alonso and Perez in Malaysia, and crucially, a series of disastrous pit stops.

McLaren are entirely to blame for Hamilton losing the championship. Once they had sorted out their horrifically slow pit stops, the car began to fall apart. Technical failures robbed Lewis of good results in Germany, Korea, Singapore and Abu Dhabi.

Nevertheless, we were able to see how good a driver he really is. Outstanding victories in Canada, Hungary, Italy and USA were a joy to watch – when the team and car allowed him, Lewis was unstoppable. After announcing his move to Mercedes, he was freed from the shackles of a restrictive contract, and the next few seasons will show if he is legend material.

Will 2013 yield any results at Mercedes? I doubt anything will come just yet. But it will be hugely interesting to watch – if Hamilton can transform the team like Schumacher did to Ferrari, he will go down as one of the best drivers of the modern era.

1st – Fernando Alonso

Previous ranking: 1st

Previous quote: “For Alonso never to get a third title would be a tragedy.”

To put it simply, Alonso’s performances this year have been nothing short of astounding. I would even suggest that this is the best season performance we have ever seen from a Grand Prix driver.

By pre-season testing, it was already clear that the Ferrari was several seconds off the frontrunner’s pace. Yet Fernando managed to drag the car into 5th by the first race. When the opportunity arose in Malaysia, he grabbed it and never looked back. He battled tooth and nail with Pastor Maldonado in Spain, never giving up despite the Williams’ speed advantage.

At no point in 2012 did Alonso have the fastest car. Yet he managed 3 wins and another 10 podiums, more than any other driver on the grid. If it wasn’t for crashing out on the first laps of Spa and Suzuka, he could have taken 9 podium positions in a row.

His determination and raw speed throughout the season cannot be underestimated. It is something of  miracle that he found himself battling Vettel until the final lap of Brazil, but he somehow pulled it off. A mere 3 points separated him from the greatest championship victory in the history of the sport.

Fernando has already said that he can never recreate this season’s performance again, and to an extent I believe him. In 9 years of watching F1, this was the closest thing to perfection I’ve ever seen.

Top 10: Overtakes of the 2012 season

Like the previous year, 2012 was a fantastic season for overtaking. Without further ado, let’s have a look at the best passes of the 2012 season:

10th – Sergio Perez on Lewis Hamilton, Japanese Grand Prix

Perez eliminated himself from the Suzuka race later on with an ill-judged pass on Hamilton at the same corner. But his first move was brave, albeit slightly clumsy.

The Sauber came from miles behind at the Turn 11 hairpin, threw his car into the corner, and just about made it stick.

9th – Lewis Hamilton on both Toro Rossos, Spanish Grand Prix

An overtaking article wouldn’t be complete without Lewis Hamilton. Recovering from a disastrous 2011 season, he immediately set out to prove that he is one of the finest drivers on the grid.

Arguably his best pass was on Ricciarado and Vergne in quick succession in Barcelona:

8th – Kimi Raikkonen on Nico Hulkenberg, Grand Prix of America

Nico Hulkenberg performed admirably in the second half of 2012. But he was left completely helpless when Kimi made a ruthless move around the outside in Austin.

Passes like these are very underrated – the sheer level of bravery and confidence required is unparalleled.

7th – Romain Grosjean on Lewis Hamilton, European Grand Prix

Despite the (justified) criticism of Grosjean’s antics this year, he remains a fiesty racer when the opportunity arises.

His best move of the year was this ballsy pass on Hamilton, where he refused to budge and forced the McLaren off the racing line.

6th – Fernando Alonso on Romain Grosjean, European Grand Prix

Before this season, who would have guessed that the Valencia street circuit would throw up one of the best races of 2012?

Another great pass from that race was Fernando Alonso’s incredible move around the outside of turn 1. It’s even tougher than it looks –  the exit barriers of that corner close in rapidly, so even a few kp/h too many, and you’re in the wall.

5th – Kimi Raikkonen on Paul di Resta, German Grand Prix

Raikkonen spent several laps behind the Force India before he made a proper attempt to overtake. But it was well worth it.

After attempting to undercut Di Resta exiting the Spitzherhe, he dived around the outside of the following corner, and muscled his way through.

4th – Kimi Raikkonen on Michael Schumacher, Brazilian Grand Prix

Raikkonen and Schumacher were back to their old antics in Brazil. At the same corner, Raikkonen squeezed past Michael on the race of his first retirement in 2006.

This time though, it was around the outside, and not a millimetre of space was shared between the two. Just look at that photo, and that tells you everything you need to know.

3rd – Kimi Raikkonen on Michael Schumacher, Belgian Grand Prix

As you can tell, I’ve hugely enjoyed Raikkonen’s performances this year. He’s been absolutely outstanding all year – but more on that in another post.

This time, he bravely shot down the inside of Schumacher’s Mercedes entering Eau Rouge. It wasn’t as brilliant as Mark Webber’s similar move last year, but still very commendable.

2nd – Felipe Massa on Bruno Senna, Singapore Grand Prix

After a miserable start to the season, Massa picked up his game hugely.

The first sign of Felipe’s comeback was in Singapore, where an incredible slice up the inside of Bruno Senna netted him an extra place. Bonus marks go for the dramatic slide entering the corner. Awesome stuff.

1st – Nico Hulkenberg on Lewis Hamilton & Romain Grosjean, Korean Grand Prix

While the Korean Grand Prix wasn’t a standout race, it brought one of my favourite passes from one of the best upcoming drivers on the grid.

Hulkenberg has been brilliant in the final few races of 2012, and this move was icing on the cake. After waltzing past Grosjean, he proceeded to barge his way alongside Hamilton, and then shoved his way past entering the next corner. Brilliantly calculated, and fantastic to watch – a classic overtake.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many videos of the pass online. This is the best I could come up with.

Top 10: World championship battles: Part 2

In the second of a two-part series, I look back on 10 of the best battles for the F1 world championship.

This post deals with the seasons 1989 to 2010:

1989 – Alain Prost vs Ayrton Senna

The Senna/Prost conflict got into full swing in 1989 by the second race, with Senna breaking a pre-race agreement between the two, and tearing away to win the race.

This ultimately ended in a season of tense racing and heated exchanges between the two, and more than a little mental warfare going on behind the scenes. Prost was disgusted at Senna’s tactics trhoughout the year, that he quickly announced his transfer from McLaren, and threw away his winner’s trophy at Monza.

Several engine failures for Ayrton had scuppered most of his chances for the title, but battled away to close the gap to 16 points with 2 races to go. Then Suzuka happened.

After taking pole position by an unbelievable 1.7 seconds, Ayrton’s lead was erased at the start, as Prost sliced past his teammate. It took Senna over 45 laps to reel in the Frenchman, but nevertheless he tried a move at the final chicane. Alain saw it coming though, and swerved into the side of Senna, taking both cars out on the spot.

It appeared as if Prost’s move hadn’t worked – Senna was given a push start, and rejoined the race. However, immediately afterwards, he was controversially disqualifed by the FIA for cutting the chicane after the crash, despite being stationary for over 30 seconds.

Both the crash and the FIA ruling remain one of the sport’s most hotly debated topics to this very day.

1994 – Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill

Michael Schumacher burst onto F1′s scene with a passion and determination that has rarely ever been surpassed in sporting history. However, his sheer drive to win pushed him towards some more-than-questionable manouvers.

1994 saw Benneton initially blast away from the rest of the field, with new tech changes allowing Schumacher to win the first 4 races in a row. In fact, from the first 7 races, Schumacher had won all but 1 of those events – and finished 2nd in that one.

What nearly destroyed his title ambitions was a mixture of his questionable tactics and his team’s pursual of victory. The Benneton team was accused of illegaly modifying their cars’ fuel filters, but avoided race bans for the matter. However, their car proved to be too low to the ground in Spa, and Schumacher’s win was rescinded.

Another one of Michael’s wins was taken away when he refused to serve a stop/go penalty and black flag at Silverstone. These bizarre actions allowed Damon Hill to capitalise, taking 3 wins in Michael’s absence, and closing the gap to just a single point by the final race in Adelaide. What happened next is still hugely controversial to this day.

Schumacher led the first half of the race comfortably, until a clip with the wall allowed Damon to get alongside entering the Flinders corner. The Benneton driver turned in sharply, smashing into the side of Hill, and then careered into the barriers. Despite retiring from the race, the damage was done – terminal wishbone damage ruled Hill our of the race and title hunt.

Despite being one of the most unsporting moves ever seen in F1, there was no penalty, and Schumacher was delighted with his first ever championship. But he tried the same stunt three years later…

2000 – Michael Schumacher vs Mika Hakkinen

While the last two title battles mentioned had sour endings, the 2000 season saw one of Formula 1′s most beautiful and memorable championship conclusions.

Two mechanical failures in the first two races severely hampered Mika Hakkinen’s third title attempts, but a successful mid-season campaign had put him within 6 points ahead of Schumacher with 4 races to go. Spa saw the best demonstration of Mika’s abilities, with one of F1′s most memorable overtakes – overtaking both Schumacher and Ricardo Zonta into Les Combes.

However, with three races to go, a catastrophic engine failure while chasing the Ferrari threw a spanner in the works. The title was Schumacher’s to lose.

In Suzuka, light drizzle across the afternoon created a tense and exciting race, and it was Michael who pipped Mika that day, to take one of the most emotional victory celebrations ever seen in F1. They had gone 21 years without a driver’s championship, but Ferrari were now back on top.

2008 – Felipe Massa vs Lewis Hamilton

2008 was wildly unpredictable in the first half of the season, as shown after Silverstone where Lewis Hamilton, Felipe Massa, Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica were all separated by 2 points.

The second half of the season saw Massa emerge as Hamilton’s challenger, although both drivers were rather inconsistent throughout the year. As well as a terrible start to the year, Felipe had by far the worst race of his career in Britain, spinning 6 times en route to 13th. Hamilton, meanwhile, had bizarre crashes in Bahrain and Canada, and a needless incident in Japan.

However, the dust soon settled, and the duo found themselves separated by 7 points entering the final race in Brazil. Nobody could have guessed how close the title battle would go.

Massa completely dominated the race, and cruised to victory. Hamilton, needing 5th to win, found himself passed by Sebastian Vettel with only 2 laps to go, and fell to 6th. Cue the most intense 2 laps of F1 history – in the changing conditions, Lewis slashed 6 seconds off the lead of the slowing Timo Glock, and overtook him on the final corner of the final lap.

Ferrari, having started celebrating when Massa crossed the line, were completely devastated. It was undoubtedly one of the most unforgettable moments in F1 history.

2010 – Lewis Hamilton vs Jenson Button vs Mark Webber vs Sebastian Vettel vs Fernando Alonso

An astonishing 6 different drivers led the 2010 world championship, and 4 of them were still in contention by the final race. A late comeback by Sebastian Vettel provided a dramatic twist to one of the best title fights ever.

Early reliability issues hampered Red Bull, allowing McLaren and Fernando Alonso to get the jump on the clearly faster team. A mid-season surge from Alonso saw him lead the championship from Korea, despite being nearly 50 points behind only 7 races beforehand.

Added to this was a fascinating inter-team rivalry at Red Bull, where suspected driver favouritism angered Mark Webber. A clash between him and Vettel in Turkey was dismissed as a racing incident, but it fractured the team all year long.

Jenson Button quietly dropped out of the title hunt in Brazil, leaving Hamilton, Webber, Alonso and Vettel to tussle it out in Abu Dhabi. Despite being the top two in the championship, both Alonso and Webber struggled, getting stuck in 7th and 8th for the entire race.

Before the race, Ferrari had written off Sebastian’s chances of title success, instead focusing on tactically restraining Webber. Having completely overlooked the younger Red Bull driver, Vettel romped to victory to snatch one of the most unlikeliest title wins in recent times.

Top 10: World championship battles: Part 1

After the fantastically entertaining end to the 2012 season, perhaps it’s time to look back and see how 2012 compares to some classic seasons in F1′s history.

Part 1 of this article deals with the 1958-1981 seasons:

1958 – Mike Hawthorn vs Stirling Moss

The 1958 season was an amazing spectacle for several reasons. The first two races were won by the rear-engined Cooper team, spelling a new revolution in F1 car design. Sheer driver talent was able to out-pace the fastest cars on the grid, as shown by Stirling Moss. And Bernie Ecclestone entered into qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. I’m not joking.

After switching teams in Monaco, and retiring from 2nd place after a duel with Hawthorn, Moss was able to take his first win of the season in Zandvoort. However, a series of engine failures scuppered his charge, and allowed Mike to draw equal to his compatriot in the standings.

Silverstone proved to be a definitive race of that year – despite battling with all his heart, Stirling’s Vanwall ruled him out of a home victory.

A dominate drive in Portugal – by an astonishing 5 minutes – gave Stirling a chance, but a gearbox failure in Monza ended all hopes.  To this day, he is regarded as “the best driver never to win a world championship” for this very season. He did enter the final race with a chance of victory, and did everything he could to secure it – another crushing victory and fastest lap – but Hawthorn’s 2nd place sealed his fate.

1961 – Phil Hill vs Wolfgang von Trips

1961 saw the introduction of the 1.5 litre engine formula, which hugely benefited the Ferrari team, allowing them to win their first every constructor’s championship. Stirling Moss was still able to showcase his talents though, holding off the clearly faster Ferraris in Monaco to take his only win of the season.

After that though, the battle was clearly between teammates Phil Hill and Wolfgang von Trips. For the next two races, these two drivers finished 1-2 with less than a second between them each time. Still, they weren’t just battling with each other – Hill had a spectacular 20-lap battle against the Lotus of Lim Clark at Zandvoort.

At Reims-Geaux, when Von Trips retired with an engine failure, the race was Hill’s for the taking. 16 seconds in the lead, he spun at the Thillois chicane, and then clashed with Stirling Moss, ruining any chances of victory. Amazingly, despite his car being in the middle of the track, Hill jumped out and push-started his Ferrari 156, running over his own foot in the process. Despite his sheer bravery, he lost the chance to finish in the points, and the two were still separated by only a point.

Von Trips led home Hill at Silverstone, to sneak back into the lead of the championship. However, it proved to be his last ever Grand Prix victory. Moss prevented a Ferrari win in the “Green Hell” of the Nurburgring, but the team still secured an easy constructor’s title. But, the hopes of an incredible climax to a year-long driver battle were cut short, when Von Trips was killed in a crash at Monza, handing the win and championship to Hill.

Ferrari were devastated, and pulled out of the last race out of respect. It was a horrible ending to what should have been Ferrari’s greatest year in Formula One.

1964 – John Surtees vs Graham Hill vs Jim Clark

1964 saw a strange points system ultimately decide the world championship, where the title winner hadn’t scored the most points.

Here, Graham Hill had scored one more point than John Surtees, but since only the top 6 results were counted, a 3rd placed finish in Silverstone for Surtees swung the title back into his hands. Hill, on the other hand, took 1st and 2nd more often, but not 6 times. Jim Clark, meanwhile, was all set to win the championship without the points system, but the final race of the season put pay to that.

One of the most dramatic title conclusions ever took place in Mexico City, where Hill (39 points) led Surtees (34) and Clark (32 points) entering the weekend. Having dominated the whole weekend, Clark claimed pole position, and sailed into the distance during the race. Hill was battling with Lorenzo Bandini for 3rd place, but the Ferrari driver slammed into the back of Hill’s cooper, causing him to spin. A cracked exhaust crippled his car, causing him to drop down the order, and seemingly out of the championship.

On the second last lap, the title was in Clark’s hands, before his engine seized and his Lotus slowed to a halt. The title swung back into Hill’s favour… but not for long.

Realizing the situation, the Ferrari team furiously signalled to Bandini, telling him to slow down and allow teammate Surtees past. The Italian did so entering the final lap, and Surtees inherited 2 extra points, leapfrogging him over Hill by a single point.

If it was done today, it would be called ugly, unsporting and unfair – and rightly so. But as Ferrari have proved to this very day, they will do anything to their drivers to win the championship.

1976 – James Hunt vs Niki Lauda

1976 was the year that Tyrrell entered their bizarre 6-wheeler, which remains the most controversial F1 invention ever. It also saw the now-legendary battle between James Hunt and Niki Lauda, which threw Formula 1 into the modern era.

The season began with Lauda absolutely crushing the opposition – 4 wins and 2 second places from the first 6 races spoke for itself. At the time, Hunt’s second career victory in Spain was rescinded in controversial circumstances, with the FIA stating that Hunt’s car was too wide after the race. McLaren counter-claimed that this was due to the rear tyres expanding, and the win was handed back – 2 months later.

Following a win in France, Hunt was disqualified again in Silverstone. A red flag stopped the race on lap 1, and Hunt rejoined the race in the spare car, which was illegal at the time. Ferrari has lodged the appeal to the FIA, despite the fact that one of their drivers had done the same thing.

This time, the victory was gone for good. Lauda had gained 18 points from the post-race decision, and was now a near-unassailable 23 points ahead of the McLaren driver. However, the championship was turned on its head at the Nurburgring, where a massive high-speed crash for Lauda nearly ended his life, and shocked the paddock to its core.

Ferrari withdrew from the following race out of respect, and the focus was on Hunt to reduce the points gap. He delivered, with a 4th place and victory in Niki’s absence. Once the Ferrari driver had recovered from his horrific crash, the deficit was only 2 points.

In the following races, Hunt thrived while Lauda struggled. Niki’s troubled became crystal clear after the penultimate race at Watkins Glen where, after fighting to stay 3rd, Lauda removed his helmet to reveal a balaclava soaked in blood.

In the final race of the season, torrential rain and fog caused huge concern amongst the drivers, particularly Lauda. Nevertheless, the race was started, but the title battle had a huge twist – Lauda coasted back to the pits, claiming “My life is worth more than a title”.

This left Hunt needing only 4th to secure the championship. He was leading the race with 13 laps to go, when a drying track worked to the advantage of the cars behind. A disastrous tyre failure forced James to pit, dropping him to 5th. He chased after the drivers ahead, and with only 3 laps to go, swept past Alan Jones and Clay Regazzoni to win his only world championship.

1981 – Alan Jones vs Jacques Laffite vs Carlos Reutemann vs Nelson Piquet vs Alain Prost

The title says it all – this was the first championship ever to have 5 drivers battling for the title with two races to go. It also saw an astonishing 7 different race winners in only 16 races.

The season began in fraught circumstances. The Concorde Agreement was only signed 10 days before the first race, without which many teams would have not entered. Goodyear dropped out as tyre supplier in the preceding December, so drivers struggled massively in the opening races adjusting to the new Michelin rubber. A late ban on side skirts meant that the cars were changed immensely throughout the year. All of this led to an unprecedented amount of unpredictability.

Added to this was an inter-team rivalry, as Carlos Reutemann refused to hand the lead over to Williams teammate and team leader Alan Jones in Jacarepagua. Jones not showing up on the podium signalled a fraught relationship between the two from then on.

The Spanish Grand Prix that year saw an intense battle fought between 5 drivers, as Gilles Villeneuve held them all off for one of his greatest victories, and his first in 2 years. However, he was unable to participate in the 5-way title battle, which whittled down to three drivers by the final race.

Entering the race weekend, Reutemann led Piquet by a single point, with Laffite another 6 points off. At the start of the race, Carlos immediately began to suffer from a failing gearbox, slipping to 5th by lap 2. An ill-handling car meant that Laffite was unable to keep up with the frontrunners, and he slid out of contention.

Piquet held 5th place, which initially appeared as if it wouldn’t be enough. However, Reutemann’s gearbox proved to be decisive, with the Argentinian dropping to 8th with only 7 laps to go, handing the title lead back to Piquet. The two points for 5th place would be enough – if he was able to stay there.

The oppressive heat and anti-clockwise nature of the Caesar’s Palace track was torturing the drivers, and Nelson’s head was visibly rolling about in the cockpit. He just about made it around the final laps, but had to take 15 minutes to recover from heat exhaustion before taking the podium. Piquet’s struggles meant that the title was undecided until the very last corner – but it wasn’t the last time that this happened.

Part 2 of this article will be up soon.

Are tarmac run-off areas ruining F1 tracks?

The Autodromo Carlos Pace in Interlagos, Brazil, has undergone several changes ahead of this year’s Brazilian Grand Prix, which of course hosts the finale to this year’s gripping title battle.

However, those changes include a complete neutering of the classic “Senna S” – otherwise known as turns 1 and 2. In short, the grass to the right of turn 1 has been replaced with tarmac run-off, allowing displaced cars to re-enter the track easily.

The problem with this is that is shoots down most chances of a dramatic start to the Grand Prix. Any cars that make a mistake at turn 1 will be easily able to rejoin the action with little to no penalty.

More modern F1 tracks are lambasted for having too much run-off area, so are these tarmac car parks dampening the appeal of F1 circuits?

The argument for tarmac run-off

To start, tarmac run-off isn’t in any way the death of Formula 1. While it comes with its disadvantages, there are several aspects that have led to its widespread introduction.

Safety, as always, is key in F1, as the sport continues to excel in protecting the lives of its drivers. Gravel traps are notorious for causing F1 cars to flip, as their centre of gravity is too low. In other cases, the car will not slow down enough before it hits a barrier.

Grass features in nearly every F1 circuit (real or artificial), but it too comes with its dangers. In the wet, grass turns into a complete deathtrap, as drivers will find themselves helpless as they aquaplane straight off the track if they make a single error. Where grass features next to the white line in the braking area of a corner, it can completely spin a car if a wheel leaves the track.

Tarmac run-off eliminates all of these issues. In situations where a car snaps sideways, the driver would be able to correct a potential spin, and rejoin the track without too much lost time. It tends to slightly reward “enthusiastic” driving, as drivers won’t be punished as much for pushing hard during a stint.

Damaged “purity” of Formula 1

Irate nostalgic fans will be quick to bemoan new tarmac run-off areas, complaining that they dilute F1′s appeal, are too accommodating to mistakes, and don’t punish the drivers enough.

It is a fair point. With too many run-off areas, we wouldn’t have as many dramatic exits from Grand Prix, or near-crashes, such as Lewis Hamilton’s close shave with the barriers in the dying laps of Belgium 2010.

The legendary circuit of Spa, while still incredibly challenging, has had its appeal reduced somewhat, with many corners now supporting huge run-off areas for the sake of promoting better racing. Pouhon is the best example, with the run-off area even bigger than the area of the entire corner sequence itself. It’s disappointing to see drivers make an error in the corner, slip wide, then rejoin a few seconds later as if nothing had happened.

This isn’t restricted to just old circuits. The Shanghai International Circuit hosts enormous run-off sections at every single corner, and it shows. They’re ugly, over-effective, and push the fans away from the track itself. On television, newer viewers will struggle to locate the actual racing line itself, with vast expanses of tarmac in every direction.

Does this mean that it’s a bad racing circuit? No, but it does it no favours.

A possible compromise? Abrasive surfaces at Paul Ricard

The Paul Ricard circuit uses abrasive metallic strips to slow down cars – the future of F1?

With the New Jersey Grand Prix delayed until 2014, rumours have surfaced that the Circuit Paul Ricard in France is to host a once-off F1 race next season. I had a look at the circuit in detail, and noticed how the designers had compromised between run-off areas and punishing drivers.

Paul Ricard features visually distinctive red and blue abrasive run-off zones, which punish mistakes dearly, as well as preventing cars from heavy crashes. In the picture to the right, the blue-striped area will slow the car down moderately, allowing the driver to rejoin the track with little danger. However, small tungsten strips in this section will also damage the user’s tyres as a result, providing a deterrent to leaving the track.

The red-striped areas behind will destroy any set of tyres, providing the maximum level of grip to slow a car before an impact with the barrier. Any F1 car that ran over this section would immediately be forced to pit for a new set of tyres, similar to how gravel traps will ruin the rubber on any set of Pirellis.

Is this the compromise that F1 may be forced to make? It’s certainly a good idea, but I can’t see it being implemented into every circuit – the cost of the tungsten run-off is apparently too high for most tracks to utilise.

However, it appears to pose an excellent balance between punishing mistakes and allowing drivers to race aggressively.

What do you think? Should abrasive run-offs be implemented to appease both sides of this argument?