F1:Abu Dhabi (Concise) - Vettel Again Comes Up Trumps...

Whassup, bro's!

Having seen the race earlier today on BBC's highlights package on the red button, I'm going to do my best to unpack the action in the newly compacted format I have devised, so here goes...

The only surprise really from qualifying is what happened to Kimi Raikonnen's qualifying, having safely secured fifth position on the grid, an infringement caused by a broken section of flooring was deemed to have been insufficiently explained away. This resulted in a back of the grid penalty for the Finn and the rather strange decision to accept the penalty in that form.

As an alternative, he could have started from the exit of the pit lane. I'm with Eddie Jordan all the way on this one, it was a horrendous mistake to make, though they did seem to believe it would leave him better off. Why? This was because starting from the back of the grid meant the disadvantage would not be as great given that starting from the pit lane would mean that he had to wait until all cars had passed the second safety car line.

Now, that decision for me is what has ultimately cost him because he was navigating the first few corners and, due to poor positional play and the diligence of cars around him, he was forced close to the fencing, a move which saw him then move away but not before contact, I believe, with one of the Caterhams... Oops!

Other than that really, it was a standard day at the office for the most improving driver of the season so far, Romain Grosjean, who narrowly missed out on third place (though track position suggested otherwise, lol!) to Nico Rosberg. His strategy was what unfortunately meant he was on much fresher tires come the end of the race, and though the Lotus team tried their utmost to send Grosjean to the end of the race on a one-stop strategy, it was insufficient and he had to pit again in the closing laps, thus handing the position to Rosberg.

This brings me onto my next point, the differences between Rosberg and Hamilton's cars.

I wish I could come up with a solution as to why it's so up and down for Hamilton yet on the majority of occasions with Rosberg's car, it's working out fine for him. Upon closer examination it looks like it's down to the way Lewis's car interacts with the tires at differing circuits, because I've seen him do much better than this so far this season.

This time he was even beaten by the Force India of Paul Di Resta, but taking nothing at all away from Di Resta's exceptional performance at the race, that just shouldn't be happening. We've seen that they've been consistently meeting the Red Bull's in terms of qualifying (when I say 'meeting' here, I naturally mean they're their closest rivals even if they are consistently able to gap them!).

Something goes wrong for the race then, it has to be or else otherwise why would this be happening?

Both Hamilton and Rosberg are excellent drivers who deserve to be around the F1 circuit (ED - a happy accident, I hope?) for a long time to come and here's hoping to many more battles in the years to come. But there's got to be something that they're all missing out on... my question is this, why are Red Bull able to consistently put in such consistency in terms of tire usage, & general race pace yet the others aren't?

This could be why people have booed Seb Vettel earlier in this season, they were disappointed to see such success after the man's already earned three World Titles so far in his career. People have looked at what Red Bull are bringing to the table and are left thinking "what else is there for anyone else to offer?" and it's upsetting them.

The thing you've got to keep in mind is that all the greatest sporting teams had their moments when their crowning glories were achieved at the pinnacle when a remarkable series of events coincided to see them achieve greatness... Manchester United winning the treble in '98/'99 in football, or who can forget about the Arsenal Invincibles in 2003/2004? Both came at times when they were unplayable during the season resulting in the marathon effort they all put in to make these feats happen!

What about the moment when Bobby Roode became the 'longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion in TNA history? He set a record that until then had been unprecedented, but just kept knocking down the challengers as they were put before him!

Alright, there were far too many screwjobs that he came out on top of, but the point is, he did it, to become the longest reigning champion!

What I'm saying here is that it takes more that one person to make a team great (apart from Roode that is, lol!), all the pieces are there, they just have to put them together in just the right order at just the right time and they reap the success that the likes of Red Bull are now seeing!

Finally then, let me pick out the reigning World Champion for all his efforts as the "Driver of the Day": -

Sebastian Vettel

I didn't put it in my last review, but this is a consecutive "D.o.t.D" win for him, just as it's his seventh in real life and he now equals Michael Schumacher's record of seven consecutive wins in Formula One.

Next time out, they're at Austin, Texas and I've been impressed with how that circuit has been received over by the fans, media and drivers alike so we'll see if Vettel can do it again for an eighth time!

Peace out!


The Lanky Penguin