1.12.11

A strange penultimate Grand Prix this, starting late afternoon and running into dusk and floodlit early evening. Qualifying ran at the same time on Saturday and seemed to favour the dominant Red Bulls - the dropping off of track temperature allowing Vettel to again squeeze past Hamilton to claim yet another pole position. The McLaren duo were not able to cope with the cooler temperatures so well but were only nine thousandths off. Indeed Lewis’s Q2 time would have netted pole had he been able to repeat it in Q3; a problem all too familiar to Ferrari hillclimbers and similar to MD at the 'Ring.

Ferrari had been unable to improve the car again for this race but the brilliant Alonso was able to drag it into 5th place, half a second off pole with Massa in 6th, half a second behind him. I think this sums up Ferrari F1 2011 quite well, not to detract from poor Felipe’s efforts too much. He should have won the championship in 2008 and Lewis should have won in 2007. That would have been one for the record books.

Vettel made a good start but Alonso made a fantastic one. Vettel had a good lead by the second corner but on exiting a rapidly deflated off side rear tyre made him spin off allowing the field through. Although he managed to return the three tyred car to the pits there was too much damage to the suspension and he had to retire. Meanwhile Alonso had got by Webber and then Button to take second place.

Button fought hard but was struggling with bad brake balance apparently caused by a failing KERS system. How he managed to cope with staying in the top four with the continuing burden of making constant adjustments via the steering wheel controls is beyond me! Indeed his total performance since joining The Grey Empire has been a surprise for many old and cynical racing fans. Like many of us it probably has much to do with the love of a good woman.

This did let Webber through after some exiting dicing between the two of them, but more importantly up at the front Alonso was gaining on Hamilton, his lead down to 2 seconds. Hamilton and Alonso came in almost together for their first stops but Lewis was first out to resume in the lead. Button was very shortly in as well; quickly in and out putting him ahead of Massa and Webber who had a slow stop. This left Mark and Felipe dicing for fourth place with the potential outcome unknown to the relevant strategists, at that stage Red Bull decided to put Webber on 3 stops so he came in and changed to another set of soft tyres and set a string of fastest laps. One of these in fact was the fastest of the race.

Alonso again started gaining on Hamilton, the Ferrari seemingly slightly easier on its tyres. Same as before, Lewis came in for his final set of tyres, now the harder ones that they all have to use once. Ferrari hoped they might now bring in Fernando and get him out ahead of Lewis but it was not to be. As the battle for 4th and 5th continued Massa had a small spin letting a charging Webber through and that’s how it finished. A relieved Hamilton with victory just when he really needed it, Alonso so close, a skilful third under difficult conditions for Button.

Another modern F1 race on another modern Tilke circuit in another undemocratic regime, it’s all a bit boring isn’t it? At least the finale will be at a proper circuit at a proper venue, Interlagos, where unlike here there will be a massive fanatical crowd.

Although for us armchair critics this year’s racing, due to the high degradation rate of the Pirelli tyres and the DRS and KERS it has been slightly more exciting, most true race fans are a bit queasy about DRS. Are the 530 million (?) of us who watch getting as much excitement from the racing as we might? I don’t think so.

If I might make so bold the regulations could do with a small tweak, like -  all underbody aero banned, upper body aero restricted to small nose wings, nothing aero within the wheelbase, a small rear wing, no restrictions on tyre widths so more mechanical grip, no restriction on number of cylinders (better noise), BHP capped at 600 (the lack of downforce would not safely permit any more), manual gearboxes and no electronic aids.

This would put more emphasis on the driver and not so much on the back room boys. I know F1 ideally is about ultimate mechanical technology but now it’s all about aero supremacy which most of us struggle to really understand. You only have to watch a modern downforce-free Formula Ford race with its constant overtaking to know this is the way to go. In fact, much like pre-1977 flat bottomed grand prix cars. Will it ever happen? There’s more chance of me owning a 250 SWB.

Click here for FIA lap chart.

Stefano Domenicali: “We knew a podium was possible and that was confirmed this evening when, thanks to yet another extraordinary drive from Fernando, we were in the fight for the win right up until the final part of the race. The Spaniard’s first lap was exceptional, as was his race pace after that. Felipe also got off to a very good start, in contention for a podium place, but then, on the Medium tyres, he struggled and was unable to run at a pace good enough to stay ahead of Webber. "

Fernando Alonso: “I am pleased with this result: finally my podium trophy collection is complete! I have seventy three top three finishes and I have managed to stand on the podium of all the circuits that have been on the Formula 1 calendar over the past ten years. Today we were fighting for the win all the way to the end. Even if we have not fought for the title it has still been a good season: we have improved a lot as a team and learned a lot.”

Felipe Massa: I cannot be happy with this fifth place. Things were going reasonably well while I was on the Softs, but with the Mediums I was really struggling to keep the car on track because of the lack of grip. Even if it’s obvious, I want to state clearly that, despite everything, I am absolutely motivated for next year. Along with the team, I will work to have a more competitive car and then you will see everything will be different.”