An amateur’s guide to photography and taking F1 photos

This year’s British Grand Prix was my first ever live Formula 1 race, and a chance to see how I could fare with some half-decent photographic equipment in my hands.

I was fairly happy with the photos I took, but in no way did they compare to proper professional photos. Still, it was a seriously fun experience, and I thought that I’d write a relatively basic guide to shooting F1 cars for enthusiasts.

Disclaimer

Like I said, I’m only an amateur/enthusiast photographer, so don’t take this article as absolutely essential guide – there’s thousands of better motorsports photographers out there.

My personal favourite F1 photographers are Keith Sutton and Jamey Price. If you wanted a more complete F1 photography guide, take a look at their shots for inspiration.

Camera gear

It’s fairly basic, but also essential that you know your gear before heading off.

For newcomers or general amateurs, a basic point-and-shoot is all you’ll need or want. The most important thing is that it’s easy to understand and use, as well as having some decent shooting quality. My personal preference is the Canon Powershot G series, but they’re a bit pricey. A Panasonic Lumix DMC is good as well.

However, bear in mind that point-and-shoots will lack in quality, especially when zoomed in. If you’re looking for sharp images, then you should move on to DSLRs.

A low-end DSLR will set you back around €400+ for the body only, then you have to look for a suitable lens. If you want to spend less, take a look at a used Canon 450D or equivalent. Personally, I use a Nikon D3100, which is fine, but not particularly sharp.

The more important aspect is the lens you’ll be using. The general consensus is that your telephoto lens’ focal length should exceed 200mm at the very least. I used a Sigma 70-300mm (€150), and that was plenty to get close-ups while sitting in the stands.

Newcomers may be confused at to why some telephotos like mine only cost €150, while there are 70-200mm lenses on sale for over €1000. For advanced users, focal length isn’t the main issue – it’s low f-stops (aperture) and maximum sharpness. I’ll get into this technical aspect later.

Still, my main piece advice for amateurs and budding enthusiasts is the same – bring more memory cards and batteries than you can handle. You’ll want to take as many pictures as possible, and to have your camera run out of space/battery in the middle of the day isn’t something you want to experience.

Practice, practice, practice

I’ve been practicing photography for over 2 years now, and I still can’t exploit the full potential of a low-end DSLR. This is something you’ll want to minimize before heading to a race, as you need to know exacyly how your camera is going to perform.

The best move you can do is practice using your camera as much as possible, even if it’s a point-and-shoot. Having spent a lot of my time shooting badly-lit local gigs, I was caught out with the amount of light available at the race weekend, and it showed in my Friday photos.

Taking pictures of moving objects is a good way to get used to the camera. While doing this, it’s best to fiddle around with a few options on your camera’s manual mode setting, namely ISO, shutter speed and f-stop (aperture).

ISO is a dead acronym, formerly used to describe how sensitive a reel of photo film would be to light. The higher the ISO, the brighter the picture, but at the expense of “grainy” images. In bright daylight, grain isn’t as noticable, but if it rains or gets darker, you’ll notice fairly quickly how your images deteriorate. With digital cameras, ISO now refers to how sensitive the actual camera sensor (in the camera body) will be.

Shutter speed refers to how long the lens shutter stays open. If the light is good, you’ll be shooting F1 cars at 1/200th of a second and quicker. If your picture is too bright, increase shutter speed (eg, to 1/320th), and if it’s too dark, slow it down, to say 1/100th of a second.

The third factor is, to me, is the trickiest – the F-stop. The f-stop, or aperture, refers to how much light is taken in by the camera while the shutter is open. If you are running a high f-stop (eg. f/8), your images will have less light, but the focus is sharper, and more of the photo frame will be in focus. A lower f-stop (f/2.8) will allow for much brighter pictures, but it will be trickier to get the subject into focus.

Applying technical knowledge into photos

If you’re new to the photographic experience, you should probably skip this one – it’s best to master the basics first.

Utilising the shutter speed, f-stop and ISO of a camera will help you perfect a photograph – far better than the camera’s auto mode. However, in order to make your photos stand out from the crowd, you may want to get a little artistic.

If you’re used to your camera, and have a decent lens, you should be able to get a nice stable, sharp shot of an F1 car, disregarding composition of the picture. But, many of your shots will end up looking the same this way.

My favourite F1 photos are of the car in perfect focus, but the background blurred perfectly, to give the viewer a true experience of the sheer speed. Technically, this is quite difficult for beginners and sometimes intermediates, because you’ll have to apply technical knowledge of the camera in a different manner.

To blur your shots, select a much slower shutter speed (eg. 1/25th), and raise your f-stop accordingly to balance out the light. When taking the shot, you’ll have to pan the camera with the moving target, keeping the car in the exact same spot in the frame at all times. I struggle to master this technique, but if you can pull it off, it makes for a very nice shot indeed.

Photo composition

This section is much more broad, since all good photographers express their photos differently.

If you’re happy that you can get the light balance correct in a photo, and can make different types of shots using different techniques, then you can move on to composition.

However, how you line up your shot, and how you execute it, is completely up to you. Personally, I try to get as low as possible, to make the F1 car appear more important and intimidating, but this is nearly impossible from the middle of a grandstand.

Taking a general admission space at an F1 race is also another way to go, but then you’re restricted to a certain style of shot, so you’ll have to keep moving around to keep your shots interesting.

The high-end F1 photographers are the ones to look to for the best composition inspiration. Putting the F1 car out of focus, or at the edge of the shot, can make for some stunning pictures, but this is best left to the experts.

At the end of the day, composition is best learned with experience – learn the basics, shoot the types of pictures that you enjoy, and go from there.

Other advice

• Don’t spend all of the weekend behind the camera – enjoy the view and the noise!
• Try to take pictures of the atmosphere as well, it makes it much more enjoyable looking back
• Try to review your photos in the evenings, and see what makes a good photo.
• Increased work brings rewards in photography. Try different things and see how your work improves
• Better gear does not equal better photos. If you don’t 100% know why you need the new Canon 1DX, you don’t need it.

About me

I shot the 2012 British Grand Prix on a Nikon D3100, a 50mm and 70-300mm, and lots and lots of SD cards.

My half-decent shots from the weekend are available here.

Opnion – Grosjean ban sets a proper precedent

Much has been said of Romain Grosjean’s dangerous move on Lewis Hamilton, and the swift and unforgiving penalty issued afterwards.

Some have argued that the penalty is inconsistent with penalties issued to other incidents, and they would be correct. Pastor Maldonado causing a deliberate crash in Monaco springs to mind, where he was only handed a grid penalty.

Others claim that this crash must be used as the basis for all other penalties in the future. Fernando Alonso’s lucky escape has reminded us of how dangerous such incidents can be.

Personally I agree with both arguments, however I think that the problem is far more wide-reaching than many have realised. The fact that Grosjean and Maldonado, two of the newest GP2 rookies, continue to cause crashes is a huge cause for concern.

The drivers of GP2 and other feeder series all share the same sentiment – that they must push the rules to the maximum, and push the other drivers to the limit, in order to make progress, in both the race and their career. This kind of reasoning often results in huge, unnecessary accidents, as demonstrated this year in Monaco:

In that video, Dimitry Suranovich decided to keep on driving, despite having no rear wing on his car. He braked earlier into the chicane, and Conor Daly powered into the back of the GP3 machine, causing a huge crash and a near fatality, as the marshals post was almost wiped out.

Incredibly, Daly was awarded a 10 place grid penalty, while Suranovich walked away scot free. Aside from the sheer stupidity of the decision itself, the problem is this: if GP2 drivers are allowed to drive dangerously in their feeder series, then they will probably continue that in F1.

I’m not the only one who feels this way – Ferrari principal Stefano Domenicali urged the FIA to improve driving standards in lower formulae series:

"In my view, the most important thing is looking at the behaviour of drivers. It has 
to start in the championships before Formula 1.

You see it too often in the other series that drivers are very aggressive and try to 
do something almost over what it is possible to do, so it is important to be very 
strict since they start racing and then they will arrive in F1 in a better condition 
for that."

So far, Grosjean has been involved in 7 first-lap accidents out of 12 races. Pastor Maldonado has received 9 penalties, and deserves a few more, in my opinion. However, neither of them has been handed anything more than a 10 place grid penalty – until yesterday.

I fully support the decision to ban Grosjean from Monza, as it is the only way the stewards and FIA can lay down the law. If a rugby player interferes in a scrum or ruck, for example, he is sin-binned and forced to sit out a portion of the match.  The same should apply to F1 – if a driver clearly breaks the rules in a dangerous manner, they should be made to watch from the sidelines.

I’m almost certain that Romain will learn more from this ban than any other grid penalty or paltry fine. The same should apply to Maldonado as well, seeing as he has never learned from his previous penalties.

Perhaps this first-lap crash was a hidden blessing for the sport. As well as all of the drivers escaping without injury, it has forced many to look again at today’s driving standards, and to see how F1 can be made safer in the future. If the stewards can crack down on irresponsible driving from now on, then Formula 1 can set the standard for safer motorsport in the future.

2012 half-way driver rankings: 2nd – 1st

In the last of 4 articles, I rank the 24 drivers from the 2012 season so far in terms of their performances.

After the three previous articles, we are left with Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. Without delay, here is the final post:

(Note: I can’t post any pictures for the moment because of my useless internet connection, sorry about that)

2nd: Lewis Hamilton

Previous ranking: 6th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Wonderful passes in China and Germany were a demonstration of how good a driver he is.”

2012 has seen a new evolution in Lewis Hamilton – no longer is he getting caught up in unnecessary crashes, or off-track whingeing. His pace is further improved, and with a new consistency, he may be able to finally make his way back to the top.

In the opening races, what surprised me the most, amidst the action-packed racing, was Hamilton’s consistency. Three third-places in three races didn’t set the world on fire, but allowed him to slowly move up the standings. He then began to suffer from a series of misfortunes – none of which were his fault – and he has not been able to recover his championship position yet.

He has, though, been able to show us why he is such a feared driver. He remained calm to pass Fernando Alonso in Canada, taking a well-overdue victory, then decisively held back the Lotuses in Hungary. Nothing dramatic, just well-disciplined racing.

His form against Jenson Button is as impressive as ever: 9 times he has qualified ahead of Jenson, by over 0.4 seconds on average. He keeps this pace into Sunday, beating his fellow Brit 7 times so far, and unsurprisingly holds a good lead in the championship.

Hamilton is the only driver to get into Q3 for every single qualifying session so far this year, and that speaks volumes.

1st: Fernando Alonso

Previous ranking: 1st out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “While his championship challenge failed to materialise, he pushed maximum performance out of a lifeless car, and put that Ferrari where no other driver could.”

The last time I did this review, I was unsure whether to put Alonso or Vettel at the top. There is no such doubt this time.

Roll back to Australia, and you can see how dreadful a car the F2012 is. I am adamant that no driver in the field could control it – not even Alonso, who his the grass and spun into the gravel in Q2. Nevertheless, he survived, and managed to beat the Lotuses and Saubers in the race, a seriously impressive drive.

Despite the horrible car, it only took one more race for Fernando to take control of the championship. Where other drivers faltered, he powered through the soaked Malaysia track, luckily holding off the charging Sergio Perez. Since then, Alonso’s fearsome pace has been undeniable.

I can only describe his thrashing of Felipe Massa as a total massacre. He has out-qualified the Brazilian in every single quali session. He has beaten Massa in every single race this year. He has spent all but 15 laps ahead of the other Ferrari. All of this has combined to make Alonso the undeniable leader of the Ferrari team.

He has been willing to take risky strategies to win more races. He took tyre gambles in Canada and Silverstone, and though neither fully paid off, they displayed his fighting spirit. It took until the final few laps for the Spaniard to surrender the lead in Montreal and Britain.

After his initial struggles, he has been able to compete in Q3 9 times, compared to 4 times by Massa. Despite an incredibly inferior car, he has been able to pull out a 40-point lead in the championship, the most astonishing feat I have ever seen in my time watching Formula 1.

With this season, I has absolutely no doubt that we are in a golden age of F1. We have some of the best drivers ever seen in this sport’s illustrious history, and leading them all is this spirited and incredibly talented Spaniard. At this stage, for Alonso never to get a third title would be a tragedy.

2012 half-way driver rankings: 7th – 3rd

This is the third of 4 posts, ranking each driver so far in 2012.

After eliminating Michael Schumacher and Jenson Button in the previous post, we are now down to the top 7 drivers in the field (in my opinion). Without any more delay, here is the 7th placed driver:

7th: Nico Rosberg

Previous ranking: 4th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Nico has cleanly and consistently been taking points finishes by the truckload.”

After his impressive performances in 2011, Rosberg has again delivered this year, with a first win. However, a faltering Mercedes may crush his charge for more success this year.

However, the gap between him and Michael Schumacher is reducing, with the 43-year-old regaining traction with every race. While he has more points, this is mostly down to Schumacher’s horriffic reliability. Oddly enough, Rosberg has only beaten him in a race once this year, largely due to the same reason.

In qualifying, the two are very close in terms of Q2 and Q3 appearances, but Nico has often pipped him in terms of actual qualifying position. However, it is clear in most races that Rosberg cannot hold onto his position, losing out to most of his rivals by the first stops, and never being able to fight back.

Much of this is down to the Mercedes car, whose strengths have been surpassed by other teams, and whose weaknesses are truly crippling Rosberg’s talents. In short, while he may have won a race this time, it’s the same old story for Rosberg – a great driver held back by an unpredictable car.

6th: Romain Grosjean

Previous ranking: N/A

Review from previous ranking: N/A

After being dropped at the end of 2009, Romain Grosjean is back, and has hugely impressed me with his remarkable pace and raw talent.

The start of the season saw many unforced errors – he collided with Pastor Maldonado in Australia, then took out Michael Schumacher in Malaysia. However, he has been on fire since then, taking his first fastest lap only two races later, and two excellent podiums.

His fight back to the front in Britain was similarly impressive, and he qualified second on the grid for Hungary. There is no doubt that this young driver is a future Grand Prix winner – it would be a travesty if he didn’t.

Unlike Rosberg, his Lotus car isn’t half as tempermental as the Mercedes, which means that he has no excuses to up at the front every race. However, like his teammate Raikkonen, he has let a possible win slip through his hands, failing to capitalise in Hungary when he had the fastest car on track.

Is this excusable? Yes, but not for much longer. Grosjean is already consistently out-qualifying his teammate, and only needs to improve his very poor starts (-26 total so far) to lead races. After that, we will see if he is world champion material.

5th: Kimi Raikkonen

Previous ranking: N/A

Review from previous ranking: N/A

The Iceman is back, and is as fearsome as ever. Without even as much as a sound, Raikkonen has sneaked his way into the battle for the world championship, and is at the forefront of Lotus’ charge for its first win.

So far, I would liken his performances so that in 2003 – very calm and collected, and nothing dramatic. That time, he came within a few points of the title, and in 2007 won that championship in the same manner. He has accumulated 5 podium finishes out of 11 races so far, and even without a win is within 50 points of the lead in the championship.

He has committed a few faults along the way – a mistake in Australian qualifying leaving him 17th, and miscalculcating his tyre’s lifespan in China, meaning he lost 10 positions in a single lap. However, overall he has been hugely impressive, and I am tipping him as the dark horse for the 2012 title.

4th: Sebastian Vettel

Previous ranking: 2nd out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “The absolute perfect team/car set-up cannot last forever, and when it slips away, Vettel’s talent will be severely tested.”

The start of 2012 saw this test, and it certainly has brought interesting results. Vettel may have performed very well, but his attitude has been revealed as tempermental to say the least.

Given the circumstances, a win in Bahrain was impressive, and Vettel has been at the front of the field since. He has been willing to run risky strategies in China and Canada, and has done well compared to teammate Mark Webber. He has out-qualified the Aussie 6 times, and spends the vast majority of the races ahead of the other Red Bull.

An alternator failure in Valencia has been the only fault outside of his control, where a certain win was ripped out of his hands. Still, his race finishes have been very consistent, with 3 podiums and only 2 finishes outside the top 5.

However, what is most interesting about his season so far is his unnecessary attraction to incident and controversy. In Malaysia, Sebastian caused a needless clash with Narain Karthikeyan, then called the HRT driver a “cucumber” afterwards, which is as ridiculous as it is funny. After his retirement in Valencia, both he and the team slammed the decision to call out the safety car (which may have caused the car failure), rather than simply admit defeat. After being penalised in Germany, he branded the penalty as “stupid” and claimed his move was “fine”.

It is this  arrogance that bothers me – Vettel is still completely sheltered by his team, who feel the need to protect and defend him at every possible opportunity. He still has to develop as a driver, and I feel he can’t do that while he’s in the same team as Helmut Marko. Having said that, Germany aside, his racecraft has been championship material, and he is well in contention for a third title.

3rd: Mark Webber

Previous ranking: 8th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Webber has been completely annihilated by Sebastian Vettel in every single sector this year [...] he struggled massively at starts [...]  his racecraft was hit-and-miss as well.”

Mark Webber has overcome his massive problems from 2011, but has more obstacles to overcome before he will ever win a title.

On the face of it, Webber’s having his best season yet. After a consistent string of 4th places, while his enemies faltered, followed up by two excellent victories, has slammed him into the championship battle. He has cured his terrible starts (average 0 places lost/gained on lap 1), and has overcome his struggles on the Pirelli tyres.

He is finally holding up against his teammate – out-qualifying him 5 times, and being able to race side-by-side on track for a change. His pass on Vettel in Malaysia proved that he has not fallen behind like in 2011.

However, his problem this year is his starting positions on the grid. Webber has already been knocked out of Q1 once, and Q2 twice. Even when he gets through to Q3, he very rarely goes any higher than 4th. It is this poor qualifying form that holds him back in the races.

Once he starts up far enough, he can thrash his opponents – holding back 5 drivers in Monaco until the chequered flag proved that. But it still doesn’t occur enough, and this may well be Mark’s achilles heel if the running gets tough later in 2012.

2012 half-way driver rankings: 14th – 8th

In the second of 4 posts, I will judge the 2012 drivers based on their performances so far this season.

Drivers knocked out in Q1 (so to speak) included Felipe Massa, Daniel Ricciardo and Pastor Maldonado. Here is the second round, including a few more big names…

Nothing massively convincing from Senna, but still better than Maldonado

14th: Bruno Senna

Previous ranking: 17th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Bruno’s impact has been unconvincing to say the least.”

It might seem a surprise to put Senna ahead of his more celebrated teammate, but the small gap in the points standings is more than compensated by considerably more intelligent driving.

In only his second race for Williams, he stormed through the field in treacherous conditions to finish 6th. He inherited points-scoring positions after teammate Maldonado was handed post-race penalties.

Despite this, a lack of raw pace is apparent. He has only out-qualified Maldonado 3 times, with an average deficit of over half a second. While Pastor stormed to victory in Spain, he had crashed out in qualifying and retired from the race. He has only reached Q3 once, compared to the Venezuelan’s 7 times.

At the end of the day though, if you were to ignore the one-off result in Barcelona, then Senna has performed much better against Maldonado than many would have thought. Also, Bruno hasn’t been involved in half the accidents, and still spends the majority of his racing laps ahead of his teammate. Rather quietly, he is the more complete driver of the Williams team.

A decent start from Hulkenberg

13th: Nico Hulkenberg

Previous ranking: 11th out of 27 (2010 final)

Review from previous ranking: “Several poor showings may not have helped him, but nevertheless I would have thought that Nico should have stayed on [with Williams].”

After a rather pointless year out of the sport, Nico Hulkenberg is back, and has already proved himself a worthy adversary to last year’s hotshot rookie Paul di Resta.

Judging by the stats, both drivers are incredibly well matched. Neither has the edge in either qualifying or race results, although Di Resta has been able to achieve slightly higher finishing positions on times, which has given him the lead on points.

Hulkenberg’s finishing positions, while not dramatic in any way, are still more consistent though, and this is a considerable advantage to have. On more than a few occasions Nico has finished in 11th or 12th places, so with a bit of luck he could have closed up the 10-point gap between the two.

So far, it is almost too close to call, but I think that Paul has a slight edge over Nico at the moment. However, this could change at any time, and I am looking forward to see how the young German retaliates in the second half of 2012.

It’s been a mix of highs and lows for Button

12th: Jenson Button

Previous ranking: 3rd out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “The balance of power ha[s] shifted at McLaren, and Button is now comfortably ahead of his teammate in all areas.”

To say “how things change” doesn’t begin to analyse Button’s predicament – his on/off season has shown that even the best drivers can be thrown off course.

Yes, it is very easy to point out his crushing win in Melbourne, or his return to form in Germany, but his atrocious form a quarter way through the season says it all. In some races, Jenson was displaying Felipe Massa levels of rubbish. In Monaco for example, a complete drop-off in pace allowed him to be humiliated by Kovalainen’s Caterham.

This complete lack of pace continued on into Canada, where he qualified 10th and finished 16th. In his home race, he was unable to make any impact on the frontrunners, only barely scraping a point.

It’s hard to believe that this is the same driver who cakewalked the first 7 races of 2009. He has only out-qualified teammate Hamilton twice, and only by sheer pace once. The gap between them in qualifying is nearly half a second, which demonstrates how off the ball he has become.

We know that Button can demolish the entire field when he is on form. The problem is that his driving style simply doesn’t suit the 2012 Pirelli tyre compounds, which require high tyre temperatures through the corners. Jenson’s smooth entry and exit into corners means that his McLaren simply slides around the racetrack.

It’s a harsh ranking, but I don’t think that so far in 2012 we can rank him amongst the high-level drivers.

Aside from Silverstone, remarkably consistent pace for Di Resta

11th: Paul di Resta

Previous ranking: 10th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “It still amazes me that Paul di Resta is in only his first year in F1 – his form makes him look like an experienced veteran.”

Like 2011, Paul di Resta has shown unremarkable yet consistent pace, which has allowed him to creep up the driver’s standings.

As I said earlier, there is little between Di Resta and teammate Hulkenberg in either qualifying or the races, the only difference being is Paul’s higher finishing positions. Di Resta’s weakness seems to be his poor starts – so far he has lost 10 overall places on the first lap.

However, he has proven himself to be rather flexible with tyre strategies. This has allowed him to run 1-stop tyre strategies in several races so far, netting him 7th place in Valencia.

Points-wise, he still has a slight advantage over Hulkenberg, but a single race could change that. Therefore, Di Resta will still need to up his game through 2012 if he is to remain on top at Force India.

Kobayashi races as well as always

10th: Kamui Kobayashi

Previous ranking: 14th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Overall, it was a decent season, but improvement is still necessary.”

Like Senna, Kobayashi’s season has been rather overshadowed by the performances of his highly rated teammate. Still, Kamui has shown that he is a force to be reckoned with.

As always, he has proven himself to be able to battle with the big boys, as proven in Spain when he passed both Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg in daring moves. He once said “If I feel I can overtake I just do it” and this is as true as ever.

Despite teammate Perez taking much of Sauber’s glory in Malaysia, Kobayashi has out-qualified him more frequently. In qualifying, where Perez hasn’t gone better than 14th since Spain, Kamui has been able to break into Q3 three times so far this season – not bad for a midfield car.

Despite differing results, I would still regard both Sauber drivers as being nearly equals in talent. While Kamui doesn’t have a sixth sense for tyre management like Sergio does, he makes up for that with commendable pace and brave overtaking manouvers.

Rookie errors from a 43-year-old is unheard of in F1

9th: Michael Schumacher

Previous ranking: 5th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “It’s been more than improvement for Schumacher – he has seriously upped his game, and pushed Nico Rosberg in nearly every way”

After only a few races I began to feel very sorry for Michael Schumacher – this season’s woes have mostly been technical-related, and generally have been out of his hands. Generally.

The problem is that a 7-times world champion should not be making rookie errors. Slamming into Senna in Barcelona, and a howler of a mistake at the start in Hungary were the main examples.

Despite this, the 43-year-old is still showing promising pace. He took an excellent pole position in Monaco, took his first podium in 6 years in Valencia, and in many races has upsetted the established order. Mainly because of technical faults, he has been unable to mount a championship challenge.

Coupled with this, the Mercedes W03 car seems to be falling away from the frontrunners. With this, Schumacher may have to settle for aiming to catch up to his teammate, Nico Rosberg. So far, he has been on par with his fellow German, and has performed much better in recent races.

We may not see Michael after the 2012 season, so keep your eyes peeled, lest we see the return of the Schumacher of old.

Several fantastic drives has put Perez closer to a Ferrari drive

8th: Sergio Perez

Previous ranking: 7th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “The fact that he is already being lined up for a Ferrari drive is a signal of his prowess.”

In recent days, Sergio Perez has made his desire to drive for Ferrari clear. Does he deserve it? Absolutely.

Perez became one of my favourite drivers within a few races of 2011, and his admirable form has continued on to this season. Obviously, his best to drive to date came at Malaysia, where a fantastic drive nearly earned him his first Grand Prix victory.

Apart from this, he took another podium only 5 races later, and drove well in Germany to seal a great weekend for Sauber. He also recorded the fastest lap in Monaco, nearly 3 seconds faster than the frontrunners – although it must be noted that they were held up by a conservative Webber.

Compared to Kobayashi, Sergio has done well. They are neck-and-neck in terms of qualifying and race results, and Perez nips ahead due to having 14 more championship points.

The only downside so far is that his car has a magnetic attraction to Pastor Maldonado’s. This has resulted in two crashes so far this year, and has cost him several points. However, this is of no fault to Sergio, and he has performed admirably in a midfield car.

2012 half-way driver rankings: 24th – 15th

As I’ve done for a while now, every 6 months I do a quick review of each driver and his performances in that season so far.

The reviews are based on qualifying performance (particularly vs. teammate), race finishing position (+ vs. teammate), fastest laps, number of penalties, and relative form.

So without further ado, let’s start with drivers ranked from 24th to 15th…

Another disappointing season for Karthikeyan

24th: Narain Karthikeyan

Previous ranking: 26th out of 28

Ranking from previous review: “The only shining moment [2011 Indian GP] in a dull and uninspired season.”

Not much was expected of Karthikeyan after a disappointing 2011 season, and not much is what we got.

Narain has been completely out-performed by Pedro de la Rosa in every single aspect of the 2012 season. He has been out-qualified 11 times out of 11, by an average of 0.8 seconds per race. Race pace is similarly awful, with 15th and 18th places the only time he moved above 21st.

The one decent performance so far has been at the Malaysian Grand Prix, where he made the bold call to take on wet tyres at the start. As the rain hammered down, Karthikeyan was able to punch above his weight, and moved up to 5th for a brief moment. I feel he was innocent in his clashes with both Button and Vettel – it was a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Still, there is little to suggest that Karthikeyan should be in Formula 1 – apart from a sponsor’s paycheck, of course. It says a lot of HRT to accept the paycheck rather than the driver.

 

De la Rosa can achieve little in such a poor car

23rd: Pedro de la Rosa

Previous ranking: 19th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “I believe that he won’t make much impact in such a poor car  - and knowing HRT, he’ll likely get replaced halfway through the year.”

It seems I’ve lost my 100% record for predicting De la Rosa’s future – he hasn’t lost his job just yet, and is making a small impact at the back of the field, considering it is all he can do.

In such a dire car, you can’t expect miracles, but Pedro has managed to perform rather consistently. As previously stated, he has out-qualified Narain Karthikeyan at every single race so far, and has spent the majority of his race laps in front of his teammate.

His only fault was not being able to match Narain’s progress up the field during brief stages of the Malaysian Grand Prix, when a tyre gamble gave HRT an opportunity to move up the grid.

Despite this, he has performed well, and deserves to be retained for another while. But this may mean nothing, as we all know from before.

 

LIttle from Petrov to suggest he can beat Kovalainen

22nd: Vitaly Petrov

Previous ranking: 16th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “A podium in Australia was undoubtedly the standout moment of the year, but there wasn’t much to talk about after that.”

Like 2011, there was nothing awful, but nothing spectacular either to speak of for Petrov.

If there was ever an opportunity for Caterham to challenge the midfield, it was always Heikki Kovalainen who took the honours. Petrov has been out-qualified 9 times out of 11, albeit by a smaller margin than most other drivers.

While Vitaly tends to finish the races ahead of Heikki, he still has led less laps ahead of Kovalainen than vice-versa, as the Finn remains ahead of Petrov for the majority of the races as well.

Vitaly has only qualified in 3 specific places so far this year – 18th, 19th and 20th. As I said before, this is nothing awful, but Kovalainen has been up in the dizzying heights of 16th and 17th consistently, and Petrov rarely challenges his more experienced teammate.

If he doesn’t step up his game, he runs the risk of becoming a fully-fledged pay driver.

 

An average performance so far for Pic

21st: Charles Pic

Previous ranking: N/A

Review from previous ranking: N/A

Not the average backmarker driver as many had expected, Charles Pic has impressed in his debut year so far, and has put a good deal of pressure on established teammate Timo Glock.

On 4 occasions has Charles been able to out-qualify Glock, by small margins. In the races, Glock is able to claw back this deficit quite often, but not without a bit of resistance, as the rookie has spent nearly 150 race laps ahead of his teammate.

Before him, Lucas di Grassi and Jerome D’Ambrosio were much the same, however, and they were not able to hold onto their drives the following year. Assuming Marussia will act the same this year, Pic will have to up his game if he expects to be in F1 in 2013.

 

Despite his talent, Glock has not extracted the Marussia’s full potential

20th: Timo Glock

Previous ranking: 22nd out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “We all know Timo deserves better [...] next season looks like a similar struggle.”

As expected, there has been no dramatic change in fortunes for Glock – he continues to struggle to make an impact in a hopeless car.

There is, as always, data to show he has the potential to do so much more. Despite a few slips, he enjoys a comfortable lead over Charles Pic in both qualifying and the races. At race starts, he gains on average 2.4 places, and has gained 22 places in total on opening laps this year.

That is the best record of all F1 drivers so far – the Ferraris, renowned for their good starts, have only gained a total of 17 and 18 places respectively.

Unfortunately, that’s as far as it goes. While he is able to make waves on the first lap, with such a poor car, he cannot hope to keep up to the midfield, or even the Caterhams.

There is nothing left for Glock to achieve at the back of the grid. Marussia may well be pleased with Timo, but I highly doubt that he is pleased with the car. A bold move is required by the German in order to save his career.

 

The two new Toro Rosso drivers are little better than the old ones

19th: Jean-Eric Vergne

Previous ranking: N/A

Review from previous ranking: N/A

Toro Rosso opted to ditch Sebastian Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari for a new pair of rookies, but to be honest, I’m not sure why they bothered.

Jean-Eric Vergne, in particular, has been particularly unimpressive, with a dismal qualifying record being his main weakness so far. On average, he starts in 17th place, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo on average being 13th.

A silly and needless move against Kovalainen in Valencia did nothing to improve his reputation. He has been eliminated in Q1 6 times, while Ricciardo has been into Q3 twice, compared to none for the Frenchman. On the plus side, his race pace is more impressive, with Vergne often finishing one position ahead of Ricciardo.

However, the qualifying gap to his teammate is over half a second, an astronomical amount for someone trying to defend his place in Formula 1. I think Toro Ross (effectively Red Bull) should obviously give them more than a year to prove their worth, but so far I have been unimpressed with Vergne’s performance.

 

An average race for Pastor Maldonado

18th: Pastor Maldonado

Previous ranking: 25th out of 28th

Review from previous ranking: “The 2010 GP2 champion has given no reason as to why he deserves to be in Formula 1, relying solely on a substantial paycheck by his fellow Venezuelan backers.”

It’s arguable whether Maldonado should be so far down the rankings. On one hand, he has some serious pace – the Spanish Grand Prix proved that. There’s no doubt that the Venezuelan driver has the talent to make it big.

But, on the other hand, he drives like a complete thug. And that’s why I have absolutely no respect for him.

It’s hard to keep count of the crashes – losing 6th on the last lap in Australia, taking out Perez in Monaco, crashing into De la Rosa (Monaco), slamming into the Wall of Champions, taking out Lewis Hamilton in Valencia, taking out Sergio Perez (again), and last but not least hitting Paul di Resta in Hungary. That would be impressive, but this isn’t Destruction Derby.

At this point, a Maldonado fan might bring up any other good performances he had, but there’s the problem – there isn’t any. And with that, Pastor has a lot of work to do if he wants to improve his destroyed reputation in Formula 1.

 

Massa can barely amount a challenge to Force India, never mind his teammate

17th: Felipe Massa

Previous ranking: 18th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “Every single year, we are promised a return to form by the Brazilian, and every year is a let-down.”

Business as usual for Massa, then. I cannot understand the people who say that 4th place in one solitary race is acceptable – his teammate is pulling out a lead in the world championship as we speak.

While Alonso took control in Malaysia, Massa was 97 seconds down, and close to being lapped. It took him 4 races to score a single point, by which time Fernando was sitting pretty on 43. First-lap clashes aren’t even a surprise in 2012. The list of negatives just goes on and on.

And like Maldonado, he has had practically no plus sides. He performed decently in Silverstone, until you consider that his teammate was still ahead of him up the road. His qualifying record is abysmal – he has only reached Q3 4 times, hasn’t out-qualified Alonso once, and loses out by an average gap of 0.6 seconds per session.

In a championship-leading car, Massa lies 14th, in between a Force India and a Williams. How Ferrari continue to justify his performances by continuing to keep him on board is beyond me.

 

Kovalainen was persistent as always

16th: Heikki Kovalainen

Previous ranking: 11th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “He absolutely demolished his teammate in every sector.”

2012 has been less of a cakewalk for Heikki Kovalainen, but nevertheless he continues to impress with consistently good performances.

Partnered with Vitaly Petrov, Kovalainen still has the upper hand in all areas. He is leading in qualifying by 9-2, and achieved Caterham’s best performance to date with 13th in Monaco. He has also been behind the driving force to reach the midfield, reaching Q2 on two occasions so far.

Overall, the stats are good as usual. However, Kovalainen’s future really hinges on how much more progress Caterham can make. Despite their pluckiness, they have repeatedly failed their ambitious goals (Consistently reaching Q2, scoring a point), and surely this must be beginning to wear on Heikki.

There have been a few occasions where he has been able to keep up with the Toro Rossos, but surely this isn’t enough to satisfy his desire to race at the front again. Kovalainen is doing all he can – now it’s up to the team.

 

Ricciardo has performed slightly better than Vergne so far

15th: Daniel Ricciardo

Previous ranking: 20th out of 28

Review from previous ranking: “I feel he can succeed where Buemi and Alguersuari failed.”

The second of the new Toro Rosso signings, Ricciardo hasn’t underperformed, but has still struggled to cement his place in Formula 1.

His qualifying pace is quite commendable – beating Vergne 9 times out of 11 so far, with an average margin of over half a second. He has only been eliminated from Q1 once, and has progress to Q3 twice. Not too shabby.

In the races is where the faults start to appear. He has lost an average of 3 places per race on lap 1, which is by far the worst in the field. Being located at the back end of the midfield, this is what is holding back Ricciardo’s race pace.

I feel it’s unfair to compare the two drivers in terms of points – both have only been in the top 10 only once each, after all. However, I think that if Ricciardo can get to grips with his starts, then he may emerge as the dominant force of the Toro Rosso team.

From the stands: British Grand Prix

I’ll remember this year’s British Grand Prix as the first ever F1 race I visited. Even casual fans have heard of the calamitous weather that struck Silverstone and much of the UK last weekend, so clearly it wasn’t the most optimal start to my fanaticism.

Still, it was a fantastic experience, and a trip I can absolutely reccommend to any Formula 1 fan.

I thought I would describe my experiences at the circuit with a more detailed than usual article, possibly to serve as advice for first-time spectators next year.

Friday

We (me and my dad) stayed in Northampton for the weekend, taking a bus from the bus station at 8 every morning. Sounds simple enough, right?

Not so on Friday. After spending nearly an hour in a seemingly endless traffic jam, one man told the bus driver to turn off the motorway, and take the back roads instead. It worked, and half an hour later we were trudging our way through mud to the circuit.

We had turned off a few metres before the end of the junction, and if we had stayed on the main road, we would have been caught in the infamous 6-hour jam that caught up thousands of fans, and even some F1 personnel. Disaster avoided by millimetres.

The classic F1 cars are a different world compared to modern machines

We arrived at the circuit slightly late, and my first hearing of an F1 car was over half a mile away from the track. It wasn’t any bit quieter though, as the screaming V8 engines rattled the insides of my eardrums (note: you must bring earplugs). The sound is something you can never get used to – as it approaches, it’s innocently quiet(ish), but as it blasts past, the exhausts blast out 18000 rpm of unbridled screaming. Awesome stuff.

For Practice 1, we sat at Woodcote corner, which was excellent for watching the cars accelerate out of Luffield, and power all the way down to Copse. As a budding amateur photographer, I moved down to the standing section at the bottom of the grandstand, but after a few minutes was asked to move back by the stewards. In hindsight, I was probably blocking someone’s view!

The F1 cars did limited running on Friday, but it doesn’t seem that way from the spectator’s point of view. As long as there’s a few cars out on track, there’s plenty to keep you entertained. We watched GP2 practice and Historic F1 from the same spot, and moved on after lunch.

One of my favourite shots from Friday

For Practice 2, we moved on to the International Pit Straight. FP2 was notable for having very little on-track action, but again we were entertained, this time by the entire grandstand, aided by the Club stand, performing half-mile mexican waves during the wait. The Marussia mechanics eventually came out of their garage, and applauded us for keeping up the atmosphere.

Kamui Kobayashi was a joy to watch – he threw his Sauber around the corners lap after lap, and earned himself a cheer every time he went around. By far the bravest of the drivers in very challenging conditions, and I’ve earned a lot more respect for him.

In terms of traffic, it was by far the worst day. Once back in the hotel, we heard about the horror stories of being stuck in 8-hour jams, and of F1 engineers not being able to get to the track. It’s a complete joke – no matter how much Richard Phillips pretends to apologise, his organisation of the race was a farce, and he must be held accountable. This has been going on for years, and fan facilities are still on par with something you’d see at Glastonbury.

Saturday

Alonso and Hamilton battle it out – the best moment from the weekend

For Saturday, we started off back at Woodcote, as we got held up in traffic again, and had to run to the nearest grandstand before Saturday practice began. We saw Sergio Perez run wide onto the grass (missed by the cameras I think), and plenty more on-track activity.

For qualifying, we made the brave choice to move to an open grandstand at Stowe – a very bad call from myself. Within minutes of Q2 we were completely soaked, and with no umbrella between us, we hid underneath the scaffolding of the stand, as it’s design allowed us (and some marshals!) to shelter from the rain.

This went on for far too long

With the red flag thrown, it was a miserable hour-long wait for the sky to clear. Listening to the chatter on Radio Silverstone was entertaining enough, but soon lost its charm. We raced over to Club corner, and somehow found the last 2 seats in the covered area, a spot of magnificent luck.

Even better was the sights we saw in the rest of qualifying. Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso went wheel-to-wheel battling for clear track, and Alonso shoved his way around the outside of the McLaren – an absolutely fantastic and unnecessary move.

Colletti goes thundering through the standing water

Nico Rosberg went clattering into the gravel, soon followed by Romain Grosjean, who was beached and ended his day prematurely. Hamilton earned a roar of support every time he went past, but it wasn’t enough for him to challenge the frontrunners. I was very impressed by Webber’s pace, but ultimately Alonso was deservedly on pole.

We stayed put for GP2, which started under the safety car. This went on for far too long, as the track was visibly drying before racing got underway. Luckily, the next two safety car appearances only lasted for a lap each, so it didn’t slow down the action too much. Luiz Razia was very impressive, passing many cars right in front of us. Fabio Lemer was well in control of the race, and should have won, but unfortunately strategy ruined his day.

There was nearly a nasty crash when Stefano Colletti plowed straight through the standing water on the grass, and nearly clashed with another car on the exit of the corner. Luckily, he regained control of the car and continued on.

GP3 was viewed from Abbey corner, which I wouldn’t reccommend as much as the others. It’s not bad, but you only can see the beginning of the Village sequence, and can’t even see down the pit straight or even half of the pit lane, as half of it is lowered.

The race was relatively uneventful, aside from one wheel-to-wheel battle, when it occurred to me how insanely close these cars were battling. You have to see it with your own eyes to understand how brilliant these drivers are, to not smash their cars into the barriers at every pass.

Sunday

Paul di Resta had another off on Lap 2, unknown to the cameras

Despite the doomsday reports from Sky News, the weather stayed put, and the traffic somehow managed to calm itself. It was lucky for both the fans and Silverstone managing director Richard Phillips – another farce like Friday and he would have been forced to step down.

We had grandstand tickets in Becketts, one of the finest corners in modern F1. The views are unbeatable – you can see all of Becketts, the Village sequence, the Wellington straight and even a tiny bit of Stowe. There was a screen opposite the corner, and staying tuned to Radio Silverstone kept us in the loop.

In the GP2 sprint race, there was very nearly a horrible accident. After one of the Marussia Manor cars got beached on a kerb, the marshals ran out to move the car, but astoundingly the safety car wasn’t called out. Another car approached the corner, and in his haste to slow down, span and nearly wiped out everyone involved. Far too close a call.

In the F1 race, Felipe Massa earned a cheer for holding off Sebastian Vettel through Becketts. Lewis Hamilton did extremely well in his first stint, staying with the frontrunners despite being on inferior tyres. Taking the lead for a solitary lap, as well as duelling with Alonso again, was a joy to watch.

Paul di Resta had a puncture, as seen on TV, but his second lap after his pit stop was even more dramatic. He spun halfway through Becketts, and limped back to the pits, his race well and truly over.

Hamilton and Button applaud the fans

The first half of the race was a complete blur, with passes and overtakes enough to keep us all entertained. The second half was less exciting, but the strategic battle up front was mesmerising. Webber and Alonso thrashed their cars in and out of Becketts lap after lap, the gap changing by milliseconds every time.

Eventually, Webber pushed his way into the lead with a few laps to go, earning another roar of approval from the crowd. Personally I would have preferred an Alonso victory, but Webber is fine too!

Afterwards, the marshals let everyone onto the track after half an hour, after they had a chance to clear up fire extinguishers from their posts – or so they told us. Many I heard from were disappointed they couldn’t get in sooner, and were unable to watch the podium celebrations. Still, we walked part of the track, and picked up some tyre marbles as souvenirs. They’re really odd to look at, being shredded bits of rubber and all, but it was nice to keep a bit of an F1 car with us.

Review

It was a fantastic weekend, and I can reccommend the trip for anyone, but this track isn’t without its downfalls. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a fabulous circuit, and a joy to see and hear the cars, but the surrounding infrastructure is absuloutely pathetic.

Being one of the greatest racing tracks, I’d love to push it as the one and only racing venue to go to, but European F1 circuits are so much more modernised and accessible. Walking to the track – everyone has to do it, no matter how you get there – is a shambles, with more mud than anything else. Tiny sections had temporary walkways, but that was it. You’d find better organisation at a garden fete.

If you”re going to go, dress like you’re going to Glastonbury, and I’m not joking. I wore normal shoes, and left the track every day completely soaked as a result. Wellies are in the majority at Silverstone, not the tiny minority like I initially thought.

Once you get past the rubbish infrastructure, it’s an unforgettable experience, though. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.

Advice

• Wear boots or wellies for footwear. Nothing else will do.
• Earplugs may not be 100% necessary, depending on your sensitivity and where you’re standing, but you can’t leave such a massive risk. Bring plenty of spares, as you may need to loan out some as well.
• If you’re looking at taking decent-quality photos, take a telephoto lens with at least 150mm of focal length. I used a Sigma 70-300 DG for all my photos, and they came out much better than I would have expected. I brought a 50mm prime as well, but had no use for it.
• For grandstands, I reccommend Club or Becketts as my favourites. Close behind is the International Pit Straight. All of these have the great atmosphere, views, and sound that you would expect. Stowe is good for only one corner – you can’t see down to Club.
• Avoid the food around the track. You can probably tell why.
• Bring coats and umbrellas, no matter how good the weather looks, we’re talking about British weather here!
• Enjoy yourself, this may be a once in a lifetime experience, and you’ll want to get the most out of it. For Friday and Saturday, pick some grandstands, and watch the cars fly by. For Sunday, if you’re using a General Admission ticket, there’s still a few good spots even at 9 or 10 in the morning, so keep an eye out. The Hangar Straight is extremely close to the track, and fairly scant of supporters compared to other corners.

Canadian Grand Prix to be subject to protests?

A sickening poster showing the protestors’ complete disrespect for Zanardi

After the furore of the Bahrain Grand Prix, F1 has again become subject to protests, this time from a Canadian students group.

The student group CLASSE has already forced the cancellation of an open day next Thursday before the Grand Prix weekend. Circuit organisers claimed they had received “direct threats” of protests to cause disruption of the event, and it was abandoned for safety reasons.

Furthermore, threatening emails have been sent to around 100 people who bought Grand Prix tickets online:

"If you intend to use a car, know that your road may be barricaded. If you want to 
stay in a hotel, know that we may enter it. If you seek to withdraw money from a 
bank, know that the shattering glass may sting. If you plan on watching a race, 
know that your view may be obscured, not by exhaust fumes but by the smoke of the 
fires we set. Know that the evacuation order may not come fast enough."

Obviously, there may or may not be credibility to these statements, but it is worrying nonetheless.

On the Sunday of the Grand Prix, a protest is being planned at the Berri Metro Station in Montreal, the only metro which will serve the race. To make matters worse, the poster promoting the demonstration shows Alex Zanardi’s horrifying CART crash from 2001, in which he lost both of his legs.

This has absolutely no relevance to F1 whatsoever, and only serves to show the sickening ignorance of some of the protestors.

This uproar does have a cause, but it has absolutely nothing to do with motorsport. Students have been voicing their disapproval at raised tuition fees (an extra $325 per year) for some time, and it has recently turned into periodic demonstrations. Emergency legislation was passed to curtail the demonstrations, but students say it infringes on their right to protest.

This rasises one important question: If this has nothing to do with Formula 1 – and it doesn’t – then why are they targeting race-goers? There appears to be some convoluted logic from the protestors’ side, I feel.

We will have to wait and see if these threats are actually carried out. However, it sets a dangerous precedent – F1 has already been targeted for political reasons, and it would do well to avoid such a conflict here.

Monaco GP analysis: Historic season can only get even better

With 6 different winners in 6 different races, we have never before seen such a varied an unpredictable grid. Every race, there are 7 or 8 drivers in with a chance of winning, and nearly as many are in the battle for the championship.

This time last year, we were already becoming certain who was running away with the title. In 2012 however, there is no doubt that it is shaping up to be one of the closest seasons in history.

Heroes to zeroes, and vice-versa

For Felipe Massa, criticism is due where it’s due, but praise equally so. Under massive pressure from the Scuderia after a dismal start, the Brazilian impressed by keeping Fernando Alonso honest on the streets of Monaco.

His pace may have been complimented by Alonso’s conservative driving, but it is still a massive improvement from what we have seen so far.

It’s clear what Ferrari want from him – good, but not great, performances. A driver who can pick up points where Alonso slips, but is otherwise content to finish 5th or 6th. A few more races like Monaco, and Felipe’s season will be back on track.

Pastor Maldonado, meanwhile, has completely wiped out his form from Spain. A thug-like swipe at Sergio Perez in practice left him near the back of the grid, then the Williams driver punted Pedro de la Rosa at the start, ending his race.

It’s hard to imagine that the same driver took the top step of the podium only two weeks ago.

Reputation is a fragile thing in Formula 1, and Pastor may have gone and thrown his away with a single burst of anger. Like the BBC F1 crew commented, to use your car as a weapon is nothing less than disgraceful. After years of safety campaigning, the FIA has thrown it away by allowing such reckless behaviour to go on.

McLaren continue to throw away valuable points

Yet another shocking race for the McLaren team

Only a quarter of the way into the season, and it is clear that even single points are precious for the frontrunners. With a single race win covering the top 5, the title race could go to the wire.

In such circumstances, McLaren’s dismal form makes them stand out even more. Starting the season with one of the fastest cars, repeated mistakes and slip-ups have cost the team in nearly every race.

Monaco was no exception – Lewis Hamilton was livid after his team lost him a place in the pit stops. He was not informed of Sebastian Vettel’s searing pace up front, and subsequently dropped behind the Red Bull. He claimed afterwards that he could have pushed and stayed ahead, if he was told the information.

He has gone on and stated: “We haven’t had a grand prix weekend where something hasn’t gone wrong” which pretty much sums it up for McLaren.

While Jenson Button’s failures this weekend were largely his fault, Hamilton was frustrated by everything around him, and suffered as a result. It’s so early into the season, and the title may already be slipping away.

Meanwhile, at Sauber…

Just another normal start for Kamui Kobayashi

At the start of the Monaco GP, replays showed Kamui Kobayashi having a more frenzied start than usual. After being clipped by a flailing Romain Grosjean, the Sauber was launched into the air, before bouncing back onto the tarmac, nearly knocking Jenson Button into the barriers in the process.

The replays made it seem spectacular, but the photo attached even more so. That alone was why this extra section was added!

Hamiton’s penalty: Was it fair?

The smile has surely slipped from Hamilton’s face after his disqualification

Lewis Hamilton’s most recent penalty has drawn as much controversy as you’d expect. The Brit’s demotion to 24th on the grid has ruined his chances of a probable victory, over a fuel issue which probably wouldn’t have cost him pole.

However, others have argued that the penalty was fair – after all, this isn’t the first time McLaren have under-fuelled their car.

Let’s have a look at both arguments…

For

On one side, rules are rules. FIA Article 6.6 deals with how fuel samples are carried out, and it clearly states that “the car concerned must first have been driven back to the pits under its own power.”

Clearly, this was not the case. While Lewis stopped on track with enough fuel for the sample, he should have been forced to go back to the pits like everybody else – and this would have caused him to drop below the limit.

Furthermore, it soon became clear that McLaren were not being completely honest with the media over the incident. After qualifying, Martin Whitmarsh stated several times that the stoppage was not fuel-related, which obviously turned out to be completely false. The problem was identified after Lewis left the pits, and management surely must have been immediately alerted to the situation.

Their behaviour in this case should not have earned them extra punishment, but still reflects very badly on them as a team.

Against

At the end of the day, a very simple argument may be the best one – a 23 place grid drop is extremely harsh for such an infringement.

The extra fuel in Hamilton’s car to bring him back to the pits would have slowed him down slightly, but nowhere near enough for him to lose pole position, as he evidently had it in the bag.

Others claim that since the incident occurred in Q3, the penalty should only drop him out of the top 10 and no further. This would make more sense, as the drivers knocked out in Q2 clearly suffered no loss from this debacle, and therefore shouldn’t gain a place.

Personal opinion

I feel that, at the end of the day, rules are rules. It certainly is a harsh penalty, but in no way unfair.

The half lap of fuel that was required cost him about 0.05-0.1 tenths of a second on his flying lap, well below the gap between him and Pastor Maldonado, but this makes no difference. Whether a car is 1 tenth or 10 seconds ahead, it doesn’t matter – all drivers should have to abide by the same rules.

Put it this way: If Michael Schumacher – in his domination years - qualified 0.5 seconds ahead of anyone else, while using an illegal fuel mixture that gave him an extra 0.1 seconds, does that make it acceptable? Of course not. It’s not a perfect example, as Lewis or the team clearly weren’t trying to break the rules in such a manner, but the fundamental point remains.

If McLaren/Hamilton want fair treatment from the FIA, then they will have to deserve it. All 24 drivers should abide by the rules in the correct manner, and if one breaks the rules, they should be punished accordingly, no matter how insignificant the incident. Look at Sauber – a tiny rear wing radius issue caused them to be thrown out of qualifying in Australia 2011, and they deserved it.

With such a tight and unpredictable 2012 grid, McLaren should know better than to get caught up in such petty incidents – it may cost them the title.