Colin O’ Hanlon
1. Sebastian Vettel is one of the greats
Unstoppable, dominant, imperious, all these words aptly describe Sebastian Vettel’s form this season. This humble kid from a small German town has made Formula 1 look like a piece of cake in 2011. Records have continued to fall this season, he now holds the title of the youngest ever double world champion, most poles in a season and most laps led. All this was achieved on grid containing four other world champions, quite impressive. In a season when the FIA tried to make the sport more unpredictable, it seemed that Vettel was reading from a different script. The question now is how much more can this 23-year-old achieve in a career that’s barely begun.
2. Formula 1 drivers extracurricular activities limited
On February 2 at pre-season testing in Valencia the Lotus-Renault of Robert Kubica sat atop of the time sheets, impressing everyone in the pitlane. Kubica, the heir apparent to Felipe Massa seat at Ferrari for 2012, was in confident mood as expectations for a good season were raised. Four days later whilst driving in a rally in Northern Italy Kubica barely escaped a horrific accident, indeed the Pole was lucky to keep his hand. Kubica’s incident sent out a major warning to his compatriots, with teams now less willing to leave their star men put themselves in unnecessary danger.
3. Hamilton’s annus horribilis
Despite three excellent victories, Lewis Hamilton will not want to think of 2011 for a long time. The season has been the 2008 world champion’s worst year by far in the sport. Each race weekend seemed to have a headline about Hamilton’s latest discrepancy. Incidents such as crashing with Pastor Maldonado and Felipe Massa (all six times), sacking his father as his manager, calling the FIA racists, talking with Red Bull in Canada, getting beat by his team-mate and breaking up with his pop star girlfriend Nicole Scherzinger left Hamilton with a scowl rather than a smile on his face come Sunday afternoon. His win in Abu Dhabi could be the turning point he so desperately needs, another season like this would destroy him.
4. Button is at his best
Ironically as teammate to Hamilton, Jenson Button arguably drove better than in his title winning 2009 season. Button entered a team built around Hamilton but it looks as though it’s now gone the other way. His easy, relaxed attitude has won him many friends within the team who now see him as the undisputed number one. The high point of the season was certainly an emotional win at Suzuka in front of Japanese fans who now claim him as one of their own, particularly poignant after the terrible earthquake that hit the Island nation earlier this year. Button will start next season as second favourite, and if McLaren provide him with the car there’s no reason to think he can’t add to that solitary title.
5. Massa’s last chance
Another man with a disappointing season, Felipe Massa has fallen by the way of his 2008 title rival Lewis Hamilton. Massa has had a depressingly poor season, continuing to struggle against his esteemed teammate Fernando Alonso. Massa has failed to recover from his near fatal crash in Hungary two years ago, a lack of speed and confidence has effected the Brazilian greatly. Partaking in the comically dangerous set of crashes with Hamilton has done him no favours and he now needs a hugely impressive 2012 to have any hope of a future in the sport.
6. Drop Bahrain
F1’s decision not to go to Bahrain was widely applauded, though one that many felt came too late. The country, in the midst of civil unrest, is due to host a Grand Prix in April. Formula One has always been a highly political entity, though risking the safety of all those involved in the sport by going to the country would be a massively careless act by Ecclestone. Many drivers and team principles have spoken against the race being held while people are being killed or arrested from protesting against King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa regime. To avoid a truly embarrasing and potentially dangerous incident, the race should be dropped.
7. Pirelli have been a success
The Italian tyre manufacture has brought a whole new tactical side to Formula One. Pirelli was as one commentator said, the rookie of the year. The opening races of the season in particular proved to be spectacular thanks to this fast wearing tyres. Credit must go to Paul Hembery, the CEO of Pirelli, who listened to the team’s instructions and saw where the sport could be improved. Although as the season went on they made the tyres more durable (as people began to associate degrading tyres with Pirelli) the compounds continued to do more for the sport than Bridgestone did in 13 years. Well done.
8. DRS and KERS work
While Pirelli seemed to be accepted with open arms, DRS (Drag Reduction System) and Kers (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) both faced criticisms. Many regarded the use of both as artificial, indeed many ex drivers claimed it ruined the skill in overtaking. However as the season progressed the two systems generally made racing more exciting, twice breaking records for most over takes in a Grand Prix. Perhaps the greatest effect the systems had on the sport was making F1 more watchable for the neutral in a year that was dominated by one driver.
9. Bernie breaks the States
In recent years the F1 circus has popularly integrated itself within the lucrative markets of Asia, providing a massive windfall in comparison to days when the sport was based primarily in Europe. For as long as he has been in the sport Bernie Ecclestone has looked to the golden shores of the USA as a market that has been left wasted. Several attempts were made, though each failed more spectacularly than the last. It appears now that for 2013 the sport will have two races in America. New York, the race that Bernie always dreamed of and in Texas which, for the time being appears to be a doubt due to a contractual agreement with F1.
10. Michael Schumacher is slowly improving
The seven times world champion has seen his best and worst moments of his comeback to the sport this season. A terrible, mistake laden weekend in Turkey led to rumors that the German was finished with the sport. However a terrific drive in Canada, which was almost rewarded with a podium, proved that ‘Schumi’ could still deliver. While comprehensively beat in qualifying by Nico Rosberg, Schumacher performed much better in the races making up an impressive 42 places so far this season. The 42-year-old has one year left on his deal and while it looks doubtful that he will extend the deal, a win is a must in 2012 to prevent his comeback from being classed a failure.
Top Ten Drivers
1. Sebastian Vettel, 2. Jenson Button, 3. Fernando Alonso, 4. Paul Di Resta, 5. Jaime Alguersuari, 6. Kamui Kobayashi, 7. Michael Schumcher, 8. Nico Rosberg, 9. Lewis Hamilton, 10. Sergio Perez
Source: http://feeds.examiner.ie/~r/iesportsblog/~3/ej3WH2yEL68/post.aspx
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