Rain, Rain, Rain in Brazil........
Friday First Practice Results - 22nd November
Friday Second Practice Results - 22nd November
Saturday Third Practice Results - 23rd November
Having topped both sessions on Friday, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg joined the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Jenson Button in not setting a time in a very wet final practice in Brazil on Saturday morning.
But whilst those four drivers opted to save tyres for qualifying (and others, including Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, severely limited their running), Red Bull’s Mark Webber was amongst those who did some serious running and it was the Australian who emerged through the spray with the quickest time.
After an hour in which it rained hard, then began to dry sufficiently for drivers to switch from Pirelli’s full wets to intermediates, Webber left it late to clock a lap of 1m 27.891s. The Lotuses were his closest challengers as Romain Grosjean improved to 1m 28.195s and Heikki Kovalainen to 1m 28.595s. Behind them, Valtteri Bottas was again impressive for Williams with 1m 28.600s, then came Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber on 1m 28.830s ahead of Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne on 1m 28.921s.
Qualifying Results - 23rd November
Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position in his quest for a record-equalling ninth consecutive victory after completely dominating the final qualifying session in Brazil on Saturday, but in his search for a final victory before retiring from F1 racing, Red Bull team mate Mark Webber will have to deal with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso before he can challenge the new world champion.
There was never any question that Q1 would be wet; the question was how wet. And with more rain imminent Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton went out straight away and in a great piece of opportunism and commitment banged in the fastest lap we would see in the session with a 1m 25.342s. Vettel was out moments later but just came up short with 1m 25.381s, as Rosberg managed 1m 25.556s.
Further back, though Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen jumped from 14th to fifth and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne got himself out of trouble, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Pastor Maldonado and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez all failed to improve. The Australian just got through with his previous 1m 27.209s, leaving the Venezuelan as the first faller on 1m 27.367s ahead of the Mexican on 1m 27.445s and an impressive Charles Pic in 19th for Caterham on 1m 27.843s. The other Caterham of Giedo van der Garde was next on 1m 28.320s, with the Marussias of Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton right behind on 1m 28.366s and 1m 28.950s.
Sunday Race Report - 24th November
Starting Grid:
Race Report:
Sebastian Vettel took his ninth consecutive win - and 13th overall in 2013 - at the final race of the season in Brazil on Sunday, as Red Bull team mate Mark Webber ended his F1 career with second place.
Vettel had built a 13.1s lead over the outgoing Webber when he made his second pit stop on the 47th lap, amid confusion caused by a collision between Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. For once Red Bull weren’t ready for their man, and he lost half his advantage waiting for his crew to rush the new rubber from the garage. But Webber was stacked behind him and didn’t benefit as much as he might have.
The Australian had been only fifth at the end of the opening lap as Nico Rosberg briefly sprinted his Mercedes into the lead before being overtaken by Vettel, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton also went by. Neither Mercedes had the legs to stay in front, and Alonso succumbed to Webber on the 13th lap. But in the confusion of that second stop - caused by Red Bull wanting to preempt the potential arrival of a safety car - Webber’s delay allowed the Ferrari back into second place again. Webber dealt with that on the 48th lap, and then bravely kept Vettel honest for a long time.
As gentle rain began to fall intermittently in the closing stages everyone was on their mettle, but Vettel gradually began to edge away again and was 10.4s ahead of Webber at the flag with Alonso a further 8.4s down the road after another forceful run. Webber toured back to the pits for the last time without his helmet on, whilst Vettel performed celebratory donuts in front of the main grandstand.
It was a tough day for Mercedes. Rosberg quickly faded with oversteer, but for some time Hamilton seemed set for fourth after passing his team mate on the 11th lap. But then he clipped the left-rear wheel of Bottas’ Williams as he was lapping it.
The Finn spun into retirement with a broken wheel, while Hamilton lost time limping back to the pits with a punctured right-rear tyre, then had to serve a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. The incident dropped him from fourth to an eventual ninth, and lost him third place in the driver’s world championship to Webber. Mercedes did, however, maintain their second place over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
Jenson Button and Sergio Perez ran brilliantly for McLaren to take fourth and sixth places from 14th and 19th on the grid respectively, sandwiching Rosberg, while Felipe Massa raced strongly ahead of Hamilton in his final race for Ferrari before dropping from fourth to eighth with a drive-through penalty for crossing the white lines on pit entry on the 19th lap.
He finished seventh, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who brought Sauber eighth place after fending off Hamilton in the closing stages. Daniel Ricciardo completed the points scorers for Toro Rosso, with the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil sandwiching Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber; they finished 0.5s and 0.3s apart.
Romain Grosjean was an early retirement for Lotus with a spectacular engine failure, and Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen had a hugely disappointing run to 14th ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso; the Frenchman however is under investigation after tapping Pastor Maldonado’s Williams into a spin late in the race.
Maldonado was 16th, ahead of Marussia’s Jules Bianchi who led home Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde and his Marussia team mate Max Chilton. Joining Grosjean and Bottas on the retirements list was Caterham’s Charles Pic, who suffered an apparent suspension failure which left the constructor in 11th place overall.
The final championship positions saw Vettel with 397 to Alonso’s 242, Webber’s 199, Hamilton’s 189 and the absent Kimi Raikkonen’s 183, while Red Bull’s final constructors; tally was 596 to Mercedes’ 360, Ferrari’s 354, Lotus’s 315, McLaren’s 122, Force India’s 77 and Sauber’s 57.
Championship Standings:
Well, that brings us to the end of the 2013 season, and also the end of the V8 engine formula. Watch this space for further updates as we move into the 2014 season with the new V6 turbo formula.
Friday First Practice Results - 22nd November
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:24.781 | 14 |
| 2. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:25.230 | 13 |
| 3. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:25.387 | 17 |
| 4. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:25.391 | 25 |
| 5. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:25.593 | 13 |
| 6. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:25.797 | 17 |
| 7. | S. Perez | McLaren | 01:25.946 | 15 |
| 8. | D. Kvyat | Toro Rosso | 01:26.064 | 17 |
| 9. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 01:26.133 | 31 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 01:26.232 | 17 |
| 11. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:26.248 | 15 |
| 12. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | 01:26.326 | 28 |
| 13. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:26.570 | 28 |
| 14. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 01:26.593 | 22 |
| 15. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:27.115 | 25 |
| 16. | V. Bottas | Williams | 01:27.269 | 23 |
| 17. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:27.358 | 23 |
| 18. | J. Calado | Force India | 01:27.436 | 9 |
| 19. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 01:28.107 | 18 |
| 20. | C. Pic | Caterham | 01:28.199 | 17 |
| 21. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 01:30.004 | 24 |
| 22. | R. Gonzalez | Marussia | 01:32.646 | 19 |
Friday Second Practice Results - 22nd November
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:27.306 | 12 |
| 2. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:27.531 | 10 |
| 3. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:27.592 | 18 |
| 4. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 01:28.129 | 13 |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:28.147 | 9 |
| 6. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 01:28.405 | 11 |
| 7. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:28.540 | 9 |
| 8. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 01:28.560 | 20 |
| 9. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 01:28.739 | 20 |
| 10. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:28.891 | 12 |
| 11. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:28.928 | 10 |
| 12. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | 01:29.049 | 17 |
| 13. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:29.174 | 11 |
| 14. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:29.717 | 13 |
| 15. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:29.783 | 7 |
| 16. | V. Bottas | Williams | 01:30.425 | 15 |
| 17. | S. Perez | McLaren | 01:30.748 | 8 |
| 18. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 01:31.061 | 18 |
| 19. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 01:31.118 | 16 |
| 20. | C. Pic | Caterham | 01:31.165 | 15 |
| 21. | M. Chilton | Marussia | 01:31.211 | 19 |
| 22. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:31.770 | 6 |
Saturday Third Practice Results - 23rd November
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:27.891 | 5 |
| 2. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:28.195 | 5 |
| 3. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 01:28.595 | 6 |
| 4. | V. Bottas | Williams | 01:28.600 | 12 |
| 5. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 01:28.830 | 15 |
| 6. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 01:28.921 | 5 |
| 7. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | 01:29.215 | 21 |
| 8. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:29.686 | 10 |
| 9. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:29.736 | 6 |
| 10. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:29.913 | 8 |
| 11. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:29.980 | 8 |
| 12. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 01:29.988 | 9 |
| 13. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 01:30.635 | 9 |
| 14. | C. Pic | Caterham | 01:30.837 | 14 |
| 15. | M. Chilton | Marussia | 01:30.972 | 10 |
| 16. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 01:31.154 | 14 |
| 17. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:31.857 | 4 |
| 18. | S. Perez | McLaren | 01:32.731 | 4 |
| 19. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | no time | 4 |
| 20. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | no time | 2 |
| 21. | J. Button | McLaren | no time | 1 |
| 22. | F. Massa | Ferrari | no time | 2 |
Having topped both sessions on Friday, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg joined the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa and McLaren’s Jenson Button in not setting a time in a very wet final practice in Brazil on Saturday morning.
But whilst those four drivers opted to save tyres for qualifying (and others, including Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, severely limited their running), Red Bull’s Mark Webber was amongst those who did some serious running and it was the Australian who emerged through the spray with the quickest time.
After an hour in which it rained hard, then began to dry sufficiently for drivers to switch from Pirelli’s full wets to intermediates, Webber left it late to clock a lap of 1m 27.891s. The Lotuses were his closest challengers as Romain Grosjean improved to 1m 28.195s and Heikki Kovalainen to 1m 28.595s. Behind them, Valtteri Bottas was again impressive for Williams with 1m 28.600s, then came Nico Hulkenberg for Sauber on 1m 28.830s ahead of Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne on 1m 28.921s.
Qualifying Results - 23rd November
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 01:26.479 | 23 |
| 2. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | 01:27.102 | 22 |
| 3. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | 01:27.539 | 21 |
| 4. | M. Webber | Red Bull | 01:27.572 | 23 |
| 5. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | 01:27.677 | 23 |
| 6. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | 01:27.737 | 22 |
| 7. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | 01:28.052 | 24 |
| 8. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | 01:28.081 | 25 |
| 9. | F. Massa | Ferrari | 01:28.109 | 20 |
| 10. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | 01:29.582 | 21 |
| 11. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | 01:27.456 | 21 |
| 12. | P. di Resta | Force India | 01:27.798 | 16 |
| 13. | V. Bottas | Williams | 01:27.954 | 16 |
| 14. | S. Perez | McLaren | 01:28.269 | 15 |
| 15. | J. Button | McLaren | 01:28.308 | 15 |
| 16. | A. Sutil | Force India | 01:28.586 | 19 |
| 17. | P. Maldonado | Williams | 01:27.367 | 12 |
| 18. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | 01:27.445 | 14 |
| 19. | C. Pic | Caterham | 01:27.843 | 6 |
| 20. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | 01:28.320 | 6 |
| 21. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | 01:28.366 | 11 |
| 22. | M. Chilton | Marussia | 01:28.950 | 11 |
Sebastian Vettel will start from pole position in his quest for a record-equalling ninth consecutive victory after completely dominating the final qualifying session in Brazil on Saturday, but in his search for a final victory before retiring from F1 racing, Red Bull team mate Mark Webber will have to deal with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso before he can challenge the new world champion.
There was never any question that Q1 would be wet; the question was how wet. And with more rain imminent Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton went out straight away and in a great piece of opportunism and commitment banged in the fastest lap we would see in the session with a 1m 25.342s. Vettel was out moments later but just came up short with 1m 25.381s, as Rosberg managed 1m 25.556s.
Further back, though Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen jumped from 14th to fifth and Toro Rosso’s Jean-Eric Vergne got himself out of trouble, Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, Williams’ Pastor Maldonado and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez all failed to improve. The Australian just got through with his previous 1m 27.209s, leaving the Venezuelan as the first faller on 1m 27.367s ahead of the Mexican on 1m 27.445s and an impressive Charles Pic in 19th for Caterham on 1m 27.843s. The other Caterham of Giedo van der Garde was next on 1m 28.320s, with the Marussias of Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton right behind on 1m 28.366s and 1m 28.950s.
Sunday Race Report - 24th November
Starting Grid:
Race Report:
Sebastian Vettel took his ninth consecutive win - and 13th overall in 2013 - at the final race of the season in Brazil on Sunday, as Red Bull team mate Mark Webber ended his F1 career with second place.
Vettel had built a 13.1s lead over the outgoing Webber when he made his second pit stop on the 47th lap, amid confusion caused by a collision between Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas. For once Red Bull weren’t ready for their man, and he lost half his advantage waiting for his crew to rush the new rubber from the garage. But Webber was stacked behind him and didn’t benefit as much as he might have.
The Australian had been only fifth at the end of the opening lap as Nico Rosberg briefly sprinted his Mercedes into the lead before being overtaken by Vettel, and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton also went by. Neither Mercedes had the legs to stay in front, and Alonso succumbed to Webber on the 13th lap. But in the confusion of that second stop - caused by Red Bull wanting to preempt the potential arrival of a safety car - Webber’s delay allowed the Ferrari back into second place again. Webber dealt with that on the 48th lap, and then bravely kept Vettel honest for a long time.
As gentle rain began to fall intermittently in the closing stages everyone was on their mettle, but Vettel gradually began to edge away again and was 10.4s ahead of Webber at the flag with Alonso a further 8.4s down the road after another forceful run. Webber toured back to the pits for the last time without his helmet on, whilst Vettel performed celebratory donuts in front of the main grandstand.
It was a tough day for Mercedes. Rosberg quickly faded with oversteer, but for some time Hamilton seemed set for fourth after passing his team mate on the 11th lap. But then he clipped the left-rear wheel of Bottas’ Williams as he was lapping it.
The Finn spun into retirement with a broken wheel, while Hamilton lost time limping back to the pits with a punctured right-rear tyre, then had to serve a drive-through penalty for causing the collision. The incident dropped him from fourth to an eventual ninth, and lost him third place in the driver’s world championship to Webber. Mercedes did, however, maintain their second place over Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.
Jenson Button and Sergio Perez ran brilliantly for McLaren to take fourth and sixth places from 14th and 19th on the grid respectively, sandwiching Rosberg, while Felipe Massa raced strongly ahead of Hamilton in his final race for Ferrari before dropping from fourth to eighth with a drive-through penalty for crossing the white lines on pit entry on the 19th lap.
He finished seventh, ahead of Nico Hulkenberg who brought Sauber eighth place after fending off Hamilton in the closing stages. Daniel Ricciardo completed the points scorers for Toro Rosso, with the Force Indias of Paul di Resta and Adrian Sutil sandwiching Esteban Gutierrez’s Sauber; they finished 0.5s and 0.3s apart.
Romain Grosjean was an early retirement for Lotus with a spectacular engine failure, and Lotus’s Heikki Kovalainen had a hugely disappointing run to 14th ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso; the Frenchman however is under investigation after tapping Pastor Maldonado’s Williams into a spin late in the race.
Maldonado was 16th, ahead of Marussia’s Jules Bianchi who led home Caterham’s Giedo van der Garde and his Marussia team mate Max Chilton. Joining Grosjean and Bottas on the retirements list was Caterham’s Charles Pic, who suffered an apparent suspension failure which left the constructor in 11th place overall.
The final championship positions saw Vettel with 397 to Alonso’s 242, Webber’s 199, Hamilton’s 189 and the absent Kimi Raikkonen’s 183, while Red Bull’s final constructors; tally was 596 to Mercedes’ 360, Ferrari’s 354, Lotus’s 315, McLaren’s 122, Force India’s 77 and Sauber’s 57.
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | S. Vettel | Red Bull | 1:32:36.300 | |
| 2. | M. Webber | Red Bull | +10.452 | |
| 3. | F. Alonso | Ferrari | +18.913 | +8.461 |
| 4. | J. Button | McLaren | +37.360 | +18.447 |
| 5. | N. Rosberg | Mercedes | +39.048 | +1.688 |
| 6. | S. Perez | McLaren | +44.051 | +5.003 |
| 7. | F. Massa | Ferrari | +49.110 | +5.059 |
| 8. | N. Hulkenberg | Sauber | +1:04.252 | +15.142 |
| 9. | L. Hamilton | Mercedes | +1:12.903 | +8.651 |
| 10. | D. Ricciardo | Toro Rosso | +1 Lap | |
| 11. | P. di Resta | Force India | +1 Lap | |
| 12. | E. Gutiérrez | Sauber | +1 Lap | |
| 13. | A. Sutil | Force India | +1 Lap | |
| 14. | H. Kovalainen | Lotus | +1 Lap | |
| 15. | J. Vergne | Toro Rosso | +1 Lap | |
| 16. | P. Maldonado | Williams | +1 Lap | |
| 17. | J. Bianchi | Marussia | +2 Laps | |
| 18. | G. van der Garde | Caterham | +2 Laps | |
| 19. | M. Chilton | Marussia | +2 Laps | |
| Did not finish | ||||
| 20. | C. Pic | Caterham | +13 Laps | |
| 21. | V. Bottas | Williams | +26 Laps | |
| 22. | R. Grosjean | Lotus | +69 Laps |
Championship Standings:
DRIVERS' CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1. | 397 | 13. | 29 | |
| 2. | 242 | 14. | 20 | |
| 3. | 199 | 15. | 13 | |
| 4. | 189 | 16. | 6 | |
| 5. | 183 | 17. | 4 | |
| 6. | 171 | 18. | 1 | |
| 7. | 132 | 19. | 0 | |
| 8. | 112 | 20. | 0 | |
| 9. | 73 | 21. | 0 | |
| 10. | 51 | 22. | 0 | |
| 11. | 49 | 23. | 0 | |
| 12. | 48 | |||
CONSTRUCTORS' CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1. | 596 | 7. | 57 | |
| 2. | 360 | 8. | 33 | |
| 3. | 354 | 9. | 5 | |
| 4. | 315 | 10. | 0 | |
| 5. | 122 | 11. | 0 | |
| 6. | 77 | |||
Well, that brings us to the end of the 2013 season, and also the end of the V8 engine formula. Watch this space for further updates as we move into the 2014 season with the new V6 turbo formula.
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