Red Bull claim new record with 2.05 second pit stop in Malaysia

Red Bull Racing have officially completed the fastest pit stop ever seen, with a 2.05 second stop being recorded during the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Mark Webber made his second pit stop on Lap 19 of the Grand Prix, and remained stationary for just over 2 seconds. This breaks the previous record, held by McLaren at the 2012 German Grand Prix, of 2.31 seconds for Jenson Button.

Amazingly, Red Bull managed to break McLaren’s record five times during the Malaysian Grand Prix, although not each pit stop was faster than the one before. They are as follows:

Driver	Lap	Time
Mark Webber	19	2.05
Sebastian Vettel	5	2.13
Mark Webber	7	2.13
Mark Webber	31	2.21
Mark Webber	43	2.26

It is almost certain now that some team – probably Red Bull – will breach the 2-second barrier during this season.

Team orders are ugly and unpopular, but they have to be made – and obeyed

The use of team orders by more than one major team this weekend has left a sour taste with many F1 fans. The fanbase is divided – at Red Bull, there are those who feel Sebastian Vettel should have respected the order to hold position, and those who claim that he should race as hard as he could, regardless of the situation.

In the case of the Mercedes team orders, things are more clear-cut. Nico Rosberg passing fuel-saving Lewis Hamilton would have had no adverse affect on the team’s standing in the championship, and it was a more “pure” outcome – if they weren’t teammates, Rosberg would have passed Hamilton easily.

I fully agree with those who argue that Nico shouldn’t have been held up, and that he deserved to take the podium spot. However, the fact that he still obeyed team principal Ross Brawn shows a degree of respect within the team, something that is not apparent at Red Bull.

If another team orders debate arises at Red Bull, neither driver will think twice about ignoring such an instruction from the pit wall. This might be fun to watch, but it raises huge risks for the team, and can destroy any professional friendship between the drivers and/or their bosses. Sebastian and Mark would do well to avoid a repeat of Turkey 2010 in the future.

Whether the fans like it or not, Formula 1 is a team sport at heart, and the team should always come first. Ferrari understand this, having ironed out any hope of a rivalry between Alonso and Massa in recent years. Meanwhile, the current constructors’ champions are faced with dealing with two ego-fuelled rebels, who will now lock horns on-track at the first opportunity. It doesn’t take a genius to calculate that Ferrari’s system is more consistent and safe.

Vettel’s ignoring of his team’s instructions has unraveled any remaining friendliness between himself and Webber, that much is certain. Compare this to Rosberg’s choice, which has gained him respect within the team, and by Hamilton. If such an issue arises again, both drivers should be able to deal with it in a professional manner which benefits the team. Red Bull have no hope of this.

This isn’t about adrenaline-fueled glory runs, or brazen chest-bashing. It’s about understanding that the team is more important than the individual driver, and how sacrifices should be made for long-term benefits. If a three-time world champion can’t comprehend this, the Red Bull have a serious problem on their hands.

Webber pips Vettel in Red Bull Korean qualifying lockout

Mark Webber caused a minor surprise, beating teammate Sebastian Vettel to pole position for the Korean Grand Prix.

Championship contenders Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso will line up 3rd and 4th, setting us up for an exciting race tomorrow. Jenson Button didn’t make it through to Q3, while Mercedes showed signs of improvement, with both cars getting through to Q3. Here is what happened:

Q1

With the track still dusty off-line, times were still relatively slow. Fernando Alonso’s first flying lap, a 1:39.543, was enough to put him on top.

Continuing on from his good form in Japan, Felipe Massa improved on his teammate’s time by half a second. Narain Karthikeyan had a huge spin at turn 3, “losing the brakes completely” in the braking zone, but was able to move his car out of the way.

Lewis Hamilton struggled with brake locking, but took 3rd after several attempts. After dominating Saturday morning practice, Vettel again set the standard, with a 1:38.2.

Teammate Webber could only manage to get within 2 tenths of the sister Red Bull. The Saubers showed much less pace than last week in Suzuka, and like Williams were forced to expend a set of super-softs to get both drivers into Q2.

Incredibly, despite dropping as low as 16th place, Lewis Hamilton opted not to set another lap time, just scraping through to Q2 alongside Fernando Alonso.

Drivers knocked out of Q1:

18) Bruno Senna – 1:39.443

19) Vitaly Petrov – 1:40.207

20) Heikki Kovalainen – 1:40.333

21) Charles Pic – 1:41.317

22) Timo Glock – 1:41.371

23) Pedro de la Rosa – 1:42.881

Narain Karthikeyan – N/A

Q2

The two Sauber drivers left the pits first on scrubbed supers-softs. A 1:38.901 for Perez and 1:38.594 for Kobayashi briefly put them on top, until Mark Webber went 0.3 seconds faster.

Fernando Alonso was the first driver to get into the 1:37s, but he was instantly beaten by Sebastian Vettel. After a complete lack of pace in Q1, Lewis Hamilton got close to pipping Vettel, but lost several tenths in the final sector.

In the final few minutes, all drivers but Vettel went back on track. However, many fast laps were ruined after Jean-Eric Vergne caused double-waves yellows in the final sector, pulling over to the side of the track.

Amazingly, Jenson Button only took 11th place, losing out on Q3 by 0.005 seconds.

Drivers knocked out in Q2:

11) Jenson Button – 1:38.441

12) Sergio Perez – 1:38.460

13) Kamui Kobayashi – 1:38.594

14) Paul di Resta – 1:38.643

15) Pastor Maldonado – 1:38.725

16) Daniel Ricciardo – 1:39.084

17) Jean-Eric Vergne – 1:39.340

Q3

Despite the light going green at the end of the pit lane, the Mercedes drivers opted to hold at pit exit for half a minute, to improve track position.

Fernando Alonso was first up, setting a 1:37.667, 4 tenths faster than Felipe Massa. Mark Webber got very close to Alonso, while Vettel quickly slashed the fastest time by 0.35 seconds.

Lewis Hamilton was nowhere in comparison, again locking up his front left and ruining his lap. Nico Hulkenberg pitted after his out lap, opting not to set a fast time on his first run.

All 10 drivers decided to go out on track for the final few minutes. Mark Webber was up first, pipping Vettel’s time by 0.074 seconds. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg lost huge amounts of time in the final sector, while Fernando Alonso could only manage 4th position.

After Vettel failed to improve on his last lap, pole position was confirmed for Webber, while championship contenders Hamilton and Alonso line up 3rd and 4th, right behind Sebastian Vettel.

Kimi Raikkonen was a quiet 5th, with Felipe Massa 6th. Nico Hulkenberg decided to set a time at the end of the session, lining up behind  Romain Grosjean. The two Mercedes drivers made it into Q3, but could only manage 9th and 10th.

Japanese Grand Prix practice: Webber back on top, with Hamilton close behind

After two dismal showings, Mark Webber appears to be getting back on top of his game, leading Friday practice for the Japanese Grand Prix.

After extensive re-surfacing on the majority of the track over the winter, the times tumbled throughout both sessions, and a late time on the softer time put the Red Bull on top.

First practice

Lewis Hamilton was the first driver to set a fast lap, and spent most of the session battling against Webber and teammate Jenson Button.

A 1:34.507 was enough to put Jenson on top, with Lewis slotting in 2 tenths of a second behind.

Nico Rosberg’s best lap was good enough for 4th, but he soon pulled over at the Esses with an unspecified technical problem. Despite announcing his retirement yesterday, there was no drop-off in pace from Michael Schumacher, who was only 0.06 seconds off Rosberg.

Local favourite Kamui Kobayashi pleased the crowd with 6th, despite nearly losing the car at the exit of the Spoon curve. Fernando Alonso ran with high fuel loads in the morning, and was 11th.

Giedo van der Garde made his second appearance in a Caterham, taking 23rd, over a second off Vitaly Petrov.

Times from FP1:

 1.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:34.507           20
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:34.740  +0.233   26
 3.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:34.856  +0.349   24
 4.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1:35.059  +0.552   18
 5.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1:35.112  +0.615   20
 6.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:35.199  +0.692   27
 7.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:35.283  +0.776   24
 8.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  1:35.474  +0.967   22
10.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:35.478  +0.971   24
11.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:35.484  +0.977   26
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:35.584  +1.077   24
13.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:35.691  +1.184   22
14.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:35.724  +1.217   21
15.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:36.123  +1.616   19
16.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:36.222  +1.715   25
17.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:36.366  +1.859   23
18.  Valterri Bottas       Williams-Renault      1:36.389  +1.882   24
19.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:37.716  +3.209   17 
20.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1:38.295  +3.788   23
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:38.616  +4.109   25
22.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1:39.043  +4.536   25
23.  Giedo van der Garde   Caterham-Renault      1:39.374  +4.867   22
24.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:39.688  +5.181   19

Second practice

After a fuel-laden run in FP1, Sebastian Vettel was battling at the top again in FP2. He, along with Romain Grosjean, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber all had moments on top of the timesheets.

Paul di Resta caused the first red flag of the weekend, spinning into Spoon curve and hitting the barriers. That move was replicated by Michael Schumacher in the closing stages, with similar results.

Kimi Raikkonen suffered a KERS failure while out on track, disrupting his running and leaving him 14th.

Vitaly Petrov had a scare at Turn 1, after his Caterham’s rear wing came off, but luckily he managed to stop the car without slamming into the tyre wall.

Times from FP2:

 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1:32.493           34
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1:32.707  +0.214   32
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1:32.836  +0.343   37
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1:32.987  +0.494   30
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1:33.093  +0.600   28
 6.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1:33.107  +0.614   35
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1:33.349  +0.856   22
 8.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1:33.499  +1.006   35
 9.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1:33.614  +1.121   32
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1:33.750  +1.257   13
11.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1:33.866  +1.373   19
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1:33.903  +1.410   36
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1:33.983  +1.490   33
14.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1:34.291  +1.798   12
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1:34.300  +1.807   33
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:34.863  +2.370   32
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1:35.080  +2.587   34
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1:35.711  +3.218   41
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1:35.870  +3.377   37
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1:36.194  +3.701   32
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1:36.636  +4.143   28
22.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1:37.342  +4.849   30
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1:37.701  +5.208   35
24.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  N/A                 2

Webber demoted to 11th after illegaly overtaking Kobayashi

Mark Webber is the second driver to fall prey to the stewards today, after being handed a drive-through penalty after the Singapore Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver was deemed to have overtaken Kamui Kobayashi off the track, which became a 20-second time penalty after the race had ended.

The stewards noted a “minimal” use of the run-off area, but it was still enough to earn a penalty:

"Notwithstanding that the distance by which car two left the circuit was minimal, 
advantage was gained hence a breach did in fact occur. Such a breach has 
consistently attracted a drive-through penalty."

Webber has dropped to 11th place, which promotes Sergio Perez to 10th position.

Webber penalised for another gearbox change

Mark Webber will drop 5 places on the Belgian Grand Prix grid – the second time this has happened in three races.

The Red Bull RB8 requires a new gearbox, and since it has not completed the required 5 races, Webber has been dealt yet another penalty. This occurred two races ago as well, when he was forced to change his gearbox in Germany.

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.

Webber to stay with Red Bull through 2013

Webber has turned down a switch to Ferrari

After his recent victory at the British Grand Prix, Mark Webber has announced that he will stay on at Red Bull until at least 2013.

Webber admitted that he had held discussions over moving to Ferrari, but felt that staying with the Milton Keynes squad was the right choice.

Since joinin Red Bull in 2007, Mark has achieved 10 pole positions, 9 wins and 31 podium finishes. He currently lies second in the driver’s championship, 16 points off Fernando Alonso, and 13 ahead of teammate Sebastian Vettel.

In an announcement today, Webber stated:

"I’ve been with Red Bull Racing since 2007 and have achieved nine Grand Prix wins 
during that time. I’m high on confidence at the moment and firing on all cylinders. 
I know the team well and I’m very comfortable here; we have grown together over 
the years and it feels like absolutely the right thing to stay with Red Bull for 
another season.

The team is constantly working hard to improve in all areas and we’ve shown that 
together we can win races. It’s great to be able to make this announcement off 
the back of the win in Silverstone at the weekend and I’m looking forward to 
competing on the edge and pushing myself in every race again next season.

There were discussions with Ferrari, but my decision was to stay here.

Obviously with Seb [Vettel], we’ve worked very, very close together for a long 
period of time now. I think no-one would really have envisaged how long we have 
worked together, so that’s probably been a bit of a surprise.

There are not many team-mates staying together for that long in Formula One, but 
it’s proved to be a successful partnership with both of us working very hard with 
the key technical members of the team. It’s been a potent operation.

We’re still competitive when we hit the track, no question about it, especially 
in 2010 and this year. Last year there wasn’t much racing between Sebastian and 
I, but in 2009, 2010 and this year, there have been some great battles.

That’s been enjoyable for the team, sometimes stressful too as it’s not easy for 
both of us to be at the front and I can understand that, as both of us are 
thinking about ourselves sometimes, but ultimately we know that we need to get 
the cars home and get the best results for us and the team."

 

Webber snatches late win in Silverstone

Paul di Resta’s race is ruined on Lap 1…

Mark Webber has won the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, after taking the lead with only a few laps to go. Fernando Alonso controlled most of the race from the front, but was unable to halt the Aussie’s assault in the closing laps.

…And gets even worse on Lap 2

Sebastian Vettel made progress in his first stint, but lacked the pace to catch his teammate, finishing 3rd. Felipe Massa and Romain Grosjean impressed, while the British duo of Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button disappointed. Here is what happened:

Alonso defended his lead at the start, while teammate Massa moved past Sebastian Vettel. Paul di Resta was hit on the first lap, and pitted to replace a punctured tyre. However, a spin on the following lap ruled him out of the race.

Kamui Kobayashi made a fantastic move around the outside of Romain Grosjean and Jenson Button. Massa attempted to pass Michael Schumacher for 3rd, but slipped wide and lost a position to Vettel instead.

The Ferrari soon found a way past again, and by lap 9 was all over the back of Schumacher again.A few laps later, he pushed his way past at Stowe corner. Further back, Sergio Perez incurred the wrath of Pastor Maldonado, after attempting to pass the Williams. Pastor ran wide, and knocked the Sauber off the track and out of the race.

Massa fends off Vettel at Becketts

By lap 19, Hamilton had still not pitted, and found himself leading the race – albeit briefly. The charging Alonso quickly caught the McLaren, and passed Lewis with relative ease.

Once on fresh tyres, Hamilton found a way past Michael Schumacher for 7th place, following Kimi Raikkonen a few corners earlier.

Romain Grosjean was forced to pit early with a broken front wing, but soon made progress through the field. By lap 35, he passed Jenson Button for 9th place, and was stuck to the back of Hamilton’s McLaren. Effective use of DRS allowed the Lotus through to 8th position.

A bad day was made worse for Sauber, as Kamui Kobayashi clattered into his mechanics at his final pit stop. Several were taken to the medical centre for checks, but fortunately there were no serious injuries.

Up front, the battle for the lead began to materialise. With 15 laps to go, Webber was running on the prime tyres, while Alonso took on the options, which surprisingly the Ferrari struggled on. This allowed the Red Bull to close up on the Ferrari by half a second per lap.

Alonso was visibly struggling on the options, unable to get the tyres into the operating temperature. With 5 laps to go, Mark finally made his move, pushing past the Ferrari on the Wellington Straight, and sailing around the outside of Brooklands to take the lead.

Further back, Bruno Senna and Nico Hulkenberg had an exciting battle for 9th, with the Williams winning out. Hulkenberg ran wide at Copse, allowing Jenson Button to steal a point on the final lap.

The McLarens were disappointed, but thank the fans regardless

Kimi Raikkonen was catching Felipe Massa for 4th place hand over fist, but a mistake on the final lap.

Alonso had no response to Webber, who crossed the line to take his second win of the 2012 season, and his second British Grand Prix win in three years. The Aussie has now closed in on Alonso in the drivers’ championship, and Red Bull have cemented their lead in the constructors’ standings.

Lotus now are ahead of McLaren in the championship, as the Woking squad retreat and analyse what has gone wrong in the 2012 season.

F1 paddock divided over unpredictable season

The unprecedented start to the 2012 F1 season has put F1 in the spotlight for many different reasons. With 6 different winners from 6 races, we still have absolutely no idea who will be leading the championship by the next race.

However, with such excitement comes plenty of controversy, as F1 followers are used to.

Over the past few weeks, complaints have grown about the “unpredictability” of the season so far. Die-hard purists have been disappointed with the topsy-turvy grid order, and some have speculated that this may turn fans away from the sport.

Mark Webber was one of several drivers to note the “random” nature of this season, saying:

"It's very unusual, normally in seasons gone by you had a clear break of people who 
were going to be favourites for the Championship but it's very difficult to know 
which teams or drivers are going to be in the best position with three or four races 
to go.

I think for the fans it's interesting for them, but I don't know if they will get 
sick of seeing so many different winners.

It's nice to have so many different winners but also it's always good to have 
rivals, people fighting for the Championship and having lots of different people 
always fighting."

Interestingly, this comment was made before his win at the Monaco Grand Prix, and he has not repeated this statement since. However, McLaren driver Jenson Button has not backed down, claiming that numerous different winners will turn fans off from the sport:

"Clearly everyone is excited about so many different winners, which initially was 
great for the fans and great for the sport.

But there will come a time when the fans will say, 'So anyone can win a grand prix, 
everyone can lose a grand prix like that?' (snaps his fingers). I think they're 
finding it a little bit strange now."

Button has of course suffered a drop in form in recent races, and has not competed for a race win since Melbourne.

Former world champion Niki Lauda has been the most vocal of all:

"We have been surprised. But if it continues, we’ll lose spectators as the main 
public wants to see world champions winning.

We need two races with known winners and then the crazy stuff can start again."

It should be noted that when he won the world championship in 1984, there were only 5 race winners in the entire season. Also, I feel the need to add that 4 of the 6 race winners so far this season are “known winners”.

However, it has not been all complaining from the F1 paddock. Team principal Martin Whitmarsh attacked what he called the “180 degree change” of opinion from many people:

"If people now say randomness is unattractive, then that is a 180 [degree change] 
from what people felt a few years ago when it was very predictable.

On balance I am sure that people want a lack of predictability. You want to go to 
each event not knowing who is going to win. You want to go through the course of 
the weekend not sure what is going to happen in each session, and you want to go 
through the race not knowing what is going to happen. Every one of our races this 
year has been tremendously exciting."

Pirelli, who are the cause of much of this unpredictability, were adamant that their tyres provide a well-needed shake-up of the F1 grid. Motorsport director Paul Hembery claimed that this type of racing was exactly what the fans wanted to see:

"The vast majority of feedback we get is that people are enjoying the races. At 
the start of the year, if we had said five different winners and five different 
cars then everyone would have suggested you had been smoking something - but we 
have got it.

And I think the vast majority of fans will be pleased to see exciting races. 
Anyone who begrudges Maldonado's win in Spain with Williams is someone who needs 
to get out a bit more, because the whole paddock was delighted. I think for a 
lot of people's views, that is what they want to see."

Obviously, there will be many different opinions on any debate in F1. However, I feel that the most important quote from this debacle comes from Sebastian Vettel, the driver who effectively flattened the 2011 title race. After a processional battle for the title last year, Vettel came out in full support of the 2012 formula:

"If you look back ten years there was heavy criticism of a boring F1 because 
of Michael Schumacher winning all the time. Now we hear F1 is unpredictable 
and a lottery.

You cannot satisfy all of the people all of the time. But I think we have a 
good show, a lot of overtaking, good action now.There is more tension – for 
people who watch and for us inside the cars. I think I like the way it is 
going. However, we have to be careful not to create something artificially."