Rate the race: 2013 Indian Grand Prix

2013 Indian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Indian Grand Prix.

F1 Fanatic holds polls on each race to find out which fans thought of every race during the season.

Please vote based on how entertaining and exciting you thought the race was, not on how your preferred driver or team performed.

Rate the race out of ten and leave a comment below:

Rate the 2013 Indian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (6%)
  • 9 (10%)
  • 8 (18%)
  • 7 (20%)
  • 6 (21%)
  • 5 (8%)
  • 4 (5%)
  • 3 (3%)
  • 2 (2%)
  • 1 (5%)

Total Voters: 502

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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2013 Indian Grand Prix

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Image © Red Bull/Getty

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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111 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Indian Grand Prix”

  1. Average race.

    But massively better than previous Indian GPs. Not that says a lot, tho.

    1. I agree. 5 for me.

      Nice way to this years Indian GP to say the least. Solid race for Checo and Grosjean but not much action otherwise.

    2. Yep. I gave it a 6

    3. Quite boring 6/10. Some nice moments though.

    4. Gave it a 6 as well. I was thrilled with the result but this rating is about the race itself – not how a driver finished.

    5. The constant leaving of the track ruined it for me. JEV passed a car by going fully of the track and it wasnt even looked into.

      Also Charlie’s pre race comments showed he has perhaps come to the end of his time in that role. Lovely bloke as he is. On this subject was just wrong.

      On the edge of track problem, am i the only one that sees an easy solution?

      Put 5 meters of (real) grass on the edge of every kerb. Then have your 1km tarmac run off if you so wish. But that small bit of grass will stop anyone using it as ‘track’ Problem solved.

    6. I found it amusing that at one point the comentator mentioned a car running in dirty air and the TV shot panned back and showed all the pollution. I think all the people at the track were in dirty air today.

    7. Me too, 5, I thought of giving it an extra point for Sebs doughnuts but technically that was post-race.

    8. Bit dull really… not much action…

      The only interest was seeing how the different strategies worked out but that didn’t generate any action on the track…

      5

    9. At the moment the vote is around a 6.4 rating, which I think is far too high for what was a particularly boring race.

  2. 7. Keeping up with the different strategies was interesting, not to mention a few tangles at the end of the back straight. How did Sutil 1 stop?

    1. Very strong races by Perez (nice to see that!) and Grosjean, Vettel had it under control.
      Since it’s historical, and their were some nice battles, it is an 8.

      1. Agree. 6.

  3. 5/10 Very average. A few good parts of the race, but really nothing special.

    1. second to that

    2. WDC clinched, tyres that lasted no more than 5 laps, lots of overtakes, lots of different strategies.. Yeah, nothing unusual

      1. @dragoll WDC means nothing to the race, tyres lasting that long is ridiculous, most were DRS snorefest overtakes, strategies were the only good point, hence the 5/10.

        1. I see no problem really with primes able to last all race long, at least if you have significantly faster options that do not last so long. What I find ridiculous is the rule that forces you to use both primes and options. I find it unbelievably anencephalic to be forced to change tyres when you do not need to.

          1. By ‘lasting that long’ I meant the fact that the options lasted only a small amount of time. What’s the point of having a tyre that causes you to pit after only a few laps?

        2. @philereid

          WDC means nothing to the race

          So you are suggesting that Japan 89 and 91 would have rated lowly as races? They decided championships, the races themselves weren’t great, but I do recall they had some sort of talking point.
          Surely the end goal (WDC & WCC) should figure in the rating of a race? Just like Brazil last year, and a couple of years before that.

          1. @dragoll I think if the WDC is actually being fought for between two drivers (or more), then it can raise excitement in the race through anticipation (for example, as you say, Brazil 2012). The race still would have been amazing regardless, but that definitely put it over the top.
            In this case, it didn’t really make any difference.

      2. Softs lasted 15 laps on the Lotus and Force India, McLaren were fine on it too. Good scoring opportunities missed for Raikkonen and Button.

    3. I was about to give 5/10, very boring with Alonso ruining his race at lap 1, but the donuts from Vettel at the end were great, a ended up giving 6/10

      1. Shreyas Mohanty (@)
        27th October 2013, 11:44

        @favomodo Actually Alonso wasn’t really at fault for that, Webber veered towards Alonso when he had contact with Grosjean! So nobody’s fault really !

      2. Good to know people are already blaming Alonso.

        1. Blaming Alonso wasn’t exactly the point I was trying to make, seemed like a typically start incident, but the consequence was that the only person besides Webber who could make this race interesting was eliminated in the first lap…

      3. It was Webber’s fault for running over the sausage kerb on the inside of T1, hitting Raikkonen and then backing into Alonso. If Alonso saw his slide coming he could have gone to the inside rather than accelerate, that was his only way of missing Webber, but he would have lost momentum and places.

        It was a shame, as Alonso would’ve led the race on the S-M-M strategy and scored a likely podium as it turned out. Would have been between him, Rosberg or a decent Lotus (without errors Grosjean or still Raikkonen) for the win if Vettel also retired.

        1. I’m a ALO/Ferrari fan, but this time I think was ALO’s fault. It was kinda obvious to me. Webber kept the car straight and ALO was the one going slightly to the left. The cockpit replay was proof enough too: the correction ALO did because of the understeer throw him slightly to the outside, which was enough to touch Webber.

  4. 6. Vettel made a great first stint and after Alonso threat was undone he also managed to make full use of the DRS zone clearing the traffic easily, any single threat there was out there didn’t last enough to see out of the smog. Behind Vettel the race was not as exciting as I wanted it to be there were good strategies out there but not as much wheel to wheel action as in previous years, goodbye India.

  5. Not really a contest. DRS was so strong that the different strategies and being stuck in traffic isn’t a problem.

  6. Decent race, some good wheel to wheel action, but DRS was too powerful, and it lacked a battle for the lead.

    6/10

  7. 4/10

    Gash race

  8. A historic race obviously. I went with a 8. Loved Grosjean’s climb to the podium, thrilling and of the race for the top 3 to 10 so it was alright as far as races go. And a podium with 3 very happy faces

  9. Today’s race could be called the DRS paradox. We don’t like motorway style passes, like some we saw today. We don’t like seeing cars stuck behind slower cars, like we saw today. The FIA have their hands tied- they’re damned if they have it and damned if they don’t.

    1. Good point there.
      But it seams in this type of *boring* tracks with very long straights, all you need to assure is you’ve got plenty strait line speed.

  10. At least one good thing for Alonso: he can use that ridiculous helmet in the next race…

    1. Ooh, burn!

    2. I laughed way to much being and convicted Alonso Fan

    3. Hahahahahaha…. I can’t wait for Abhu Dhabi.

      1. Would be funny to see that.

  11. Burnout was the best bit :-)

    1. Yup that was the best part of the race and that say a lot about race :P

    2. Yup, the rest was quite boring. I found it quite annoying how nobody really fought Vettel for position when he was making his way through the field, it was like he was passing back markers and they were letting him through. It was probably because they were on a different strategy, but still frustrating to watch.

      Grosjean was very good today, I think he impressed me the most. Perez too.

  12. Like the last few races, it was terribly dull up front. But from 2nd place downwards, it was great. Really enjoyed watching Grosjean and Perez. 7/10

    1. +1. The race deserves 6/7. Seeing Vettel 12th after 4-5 laps… was kinda cool !

  13. 8/10
    Pretty entertaining if you take Vettel’s massive lead out of the question. Grosjean’s recovery from 17th to 3rd was mighty impressive, although admittedly aided by Webber’s retirement and Raikkonen’s poor pit strategy. Speaking of Raikkonen, what the HELL was he doing to Grosjean? Okay, the team screwed your pit strategy but it’s not like they did on purpose, especially when they’re fighting for 2nd in the WCC; he should know be doing that to his teammate who’s lapping a lot quicker, especially with Massa right on their tails. Tsk.

    1. he should not*

    2. Well, Kimi defended his 2nd place, just like Grosjean did in Korea two weeks ago. And when the team ordered him to let Grosjean past, he let him past (in the last corner, on the same lap), which was the sensible thing to do.

      I don’t understand what’s your problem with this?

      1. @tmekt
        Please use your common sense >_>
        In Korea Grosjean was NOT on worn tyres. Here Raikkonen was lapping pretty slowly (Like 2 seconds slower than Grosjean) and he actually dared to put such an aggressive move on his teammate of all people when a Ferrari is right on their tails, a team they’re duelling with for 2nd in the WCC. Surely he does not need the team to tell him that he shouldn’t hold up his teammate? Tsk.

        1. @woshidavid95 – Well, Grosjean’s maneuver in Korea was stupidly aggressive too. I am aware of the state of Kimi’s and Grosjean’s in the respective situations though. I wasn’t trying to argue the situations were 100 % the same, just that both drivers defended their positions (like they are supposed to, Lotus has said that there’s no problem whatsoever with their drivers racing each other).

          Kimi was racing for a position (no matter how worn out your tyres are you simply don’t want to let people past) so unless there are team orders, there’s no point in moving over too easily. Besides, as Grosjean was 2 seconds faster, surely he could’ve found a better place to overtake than an exit of a hairpin? None of this matters though because Kimi obeyed team orders later in the lap.

          1. @tmekt
            Perhaps it was aggressive, but Grosjean definitely did not do something like push Raikkonen off the track. Raikkonen had much less of a reason to race Grosjean here than Grosjean to Raikkonen in Korea (Worn tyres), especially with a Ferrari in hot pursuit. Why delay the inevitable, especially against your teammate? Not wise at all. Of course, in the end it didn’t affect the results but relations will definitely be strained.

    3. @tmekt – I like Kimi but that was a dumb move – the contact with GRO was unnecessary and had nothing to do with defensive driving and was lacking any sense of team-play. The team definitely informed him before that GRO is faster, which would explain the angry team radio.

      1. @tmf42 – It didn’t seem though that there was any actual contact though if you watch the onboard from Grosjean’s perspective. The maneuver was maybe a bit naughty but there’s no doubt Grosjean would have done the same (or any racing driver for that matter).

        We don’t know anything about any timing of radio messages (let’s wait for the radio transcription). All we know now is that curse words were used into both directions and Kimi did clearly move over later in the same lap for Grosjean’s benefit.

    4. It was very stupid from Raikkonen (irrespective of whether it was his team mate or not). He would have seen Grosjean closing at 2 seconds per lap in his mirrors. By defending that hard, he took the last life out of his tyres, which meant he could not stay ahead of Perez and Hamilton. He at least had a small chance to keep one or both of them behind if he had been sensible with Grosjean and Massa.

      1. I mostly agree with you, but doesn’t it sound like things have gone in F1 past the point of rescue? “Kimi, your tyres are so ruined you need to let Grossjean and Massa go past without defending, so maybe you will still be able to finish in front of some other guys”. I’m not blaming Pirelli, they did what they were asked for. But this Formula Pirelli races are infuriating. Gimme rock-hard Bridgestones any day.

        1. + me and a few others.

  14. 7/10
    Good race but because tires and very drastic strategies.
    Pirelli isn’t doing excelent job but this is a lot better races than it could be on Bridgestones.

  15. 7/10. The race was ok.

  16. My judgement is obviously going to be slightly impared right now, but I’m going to say 6. The DRS was too powerful, but for most of the race something was happening, so it never got too boring. The softs were appalling though!

    Condolences to Mark Webber also.

    1. However – if I include the celebrations and it’s historic meaning as some others have done, 8.

      1. @vettel1 Agreed, on both accounts.

  17. Good

    – Interesting start which mixed things up for some drivers
    – Variety of strategies which made the race exciting for about 10 laps
    – Somewhat interesting end

    Bad

    – Stupidly powerful DRS what made overtaking look ridiculously easy and totally eliminated defensive driving.
    – Circuit design mean there was no where to overtake apart from the stupid DRS zone.
    – Webber retiring while in a certain podium through no fault of his own.

    Yeah I give it a 4

  18. gave it a 7/10, strategic race with a lot of overtakes. still it lacked something. great drives from vettel and once again, grosjean! so gutted for webber.

  19. Actually gave it a 9.

    The race was pretty eventful I think and the strategic battle was very interesting. Similar in ways to classic races like Suzuka 2005.

  20. 6/10
    Mediocre; average. A few nice moments which spared it from a below-6 rating, but not much more.

  21. Very strong races by Perez (nice to see that!) and Grosjean, Vettel had it under control.
    Since it’s historical, and their were some nice battles, it is an 8.

  22. I thought that it was great and Vettel’s namaskara at the end to salute his car was very appropriate in India where it will be appreciated.

  23. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    27th October 2013, 11:35

    7

    Quite a decent race. As a Hamilton fan it was so frustrating seeing him constantly lose out in the traction zones to Felipe in that battle. Just couldn’t get him.
    There were some really good battles.

    And it’s gonna be interesting to see how Kimi’s relationship goes with Lotus after they swore at him to get out of the way.

    Congratulations to Vettel on the Championship. Great achievement. Sure now he must be in the same sentence with the all-time greats.

    And commiserations to Webber.

    1. Ham was well unlucky he should have pitted after Nico he would have jumped Felipe, yet instead he wrecks his tyres behind him. Its embarrasing how bad Merc are for Traction that car is so front end limited its crazy.

  24. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    27th October 2013, 11:41

    Vettel Grosjean and Perez were superb. Lotus keeps doing things half and half (Red Bull too with Webber, but clinched both championships today. Entertaining really. an 8

  25. Didn’t enjoy the race to be honest but was impressed with Grosjean and it was great to see Sebs celebration at the end.

    He deserves his success and I think he is handling himself very well. Screw the boo boys. I’m not a fan or at least haven’t been but this booing situation has got me supporting him a lot more.

  26. True to my word, This will be the last F1 race I’ll watch this year.

    These tyres are pathetic & I think DRS is the biggest joke I’ve ever seen in any form of Motorsport.
    Combined they have both killed my love of F1 the past 3 years, I’ve seen Vettel win the championship & since I cannot stand the racing the way it is now I won’t be watching F1 any further this season.

    I’ll tune into the 1st races of 2014 to see how things are but if the tyres are still a joke & if DRS is still producing an endless stream of boringly, easy, bull, Unexciting highway passes then I’ll tune out & F1 will be dead to me.
    I’ve tried to stick with it but over the last 3 years DRS/Pirelli have sucked all my passion out & after around 40 years I simply cannot continue to watch something I’ve come to disdain.

    1. I feel your pain. DRS and Pirelli tyres are the worst thing that has ever happened to F1. My passion is at rock bottom and i almost felt nothing this race until Vettel was doing his donuts and throwing his gloves into the crowd. It hurts even more when the team/driver lineup is so strong yet the end result is so pathetic and unsatisfying. Why its not obvious to the powers that be will probably remain a mystery to me.

      I rated this race 5/10. Average.

      1. Guys, don’t blame Pirelli. It’s not their fault. They just respect the “contract”. The problem is FIA and Ecclestone. Could be any tyre make in their place. The only thing I can blame Pirelli for, but it’s just a suspicion, is that they accepted anything FIA/Ecclestone imposed them just to be accepted in F1. Being “attached” to F1 means better image, then better sales etc.

        1. Sorry, i should’ve been clearer. I meant FIA’s decision to ask Pirelli to make a sub standard tyre. I have nothing against Pirelli as a company – They’re only following instructions from a bunch of idiots.

  27. I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit, interesting strategies and apart from Vettel, an unexpected result. The racing was a little tame, I think that’s about as good as we’re going to get from this track though. A bonus point for the great atmosphere after the race, it really added to my enjoyment. 7/10.

  28. I liked the race. Gave it 8. I really hope it is back in 2015 and continues. The race proved that Pirelli’s choice of tyres for the previous two editions were too conservative. Given a few more races fans, I feel, will start liking it.

  29. Please dont take this as critisism guys, ive said it many times the guy is so cool under pressure 2010 was mega, but i just dont think its right to say yes he is the best. I know he as the stats to back it up, but do you guys agree RBull have been in another league for some time, its not just Seb lately even Webber is racing well and we know he is not the 2nd best driver. Nothing taken away from Seb though guys, i dont get the hatred for him, some may laugh becu]ause of multi 21 but i genuinely think he is 1 of the most humble driver around who agrees?

    Im so annoyed with Merc Ham was behind Ros all race and then they leave him out, how silly, Merc could never overtake in the straight. Why not bring Ham in after Ros he would have jumped Massa? And before anyone says well Ham would have run out of tyres anyway, i dont agree he got stuck behind Mr i get slower and slower during the race and wrecked his tyres. And im so happy for Gro this guy is really upped his game, Candice what do you have to say about Grosjean today? After yesterday critisising him.

  30. I vote 6 i like Vet performance(although why always Webber its getting tyresome now) he got the job done 4XWC congrats. Lol at Button well out performed, Perez should be kept i said it early on why keep Button when all he has over Perez is racecraft and Experiance, Perez is not even a good qualifyer yet But has not made him look silly. So why not keep someone who is young and has time on his side over a 33-34 year old? who is only getting worst, even the most staunch JB fan would admit he wont be winning a WTitle. Theiris more chance of Perez doing it than JB, Perez is getting better and But getting worst.

  31. 8. the race was ok but atleast the crowd had manners

    1. in relation to the booing

  32. Loved the donuts and the bow…. That was incredible !!!!

    1. Yep, it raised my rating of the race, celebration done right :)

  33. Gave it an 8. The race was decent, not very spectacular, and i felt a bit sad for Webber. But there were some good battles too. What made me vote 8 is mainly the atmosphere around the race. Great to see Vettel being genuily happy and do some donuts for the fans, and also finally getting the recognition he deserves. Also India and the fans showed why they deserve a spot on the F1 calandar. Great so see so many people being so entusiastic about racing.

  34. Again, congrats to Vettel and Red Bull. Deserved to win here and the championships.

    Meanwhile DRS pretty much annoyed me so much this race that I actually went off and made myself breakfast.. Twice. It’s good to see the drivers taking chances coming out of turn 4 to defend or take their position back, but then having to wait another lap to get on the other’s tail again is damn annoying. Seeing Hamilton having to resort to tactics and not overtaking before the second DRS zone for the 3rd or 4th time this season is pretty telling how the drivers feel about it.

    Meanwhile, the alternate strategies did not work at all, and this was pretty clear after 20-and-something laps.

    The longer battles were good to follow and Alonso’s non-DRS overtake was a stunner, but all in all it was a pretty standard 2013 GP. Voted a 6 because it was less terrible than Monaco and there was a nice quantity of battles.

    Vettel’s celebration and the crowd were fantastic, though.

    1. But at least you got double helpings for breakfast ;)

  35. Gave it a 4 accidentally, the last 10 laps were very interesting but DRS overtakes and the soft tyre degrading too quickly annoyed my quite a bit and the race had it’s boring parts. Grosjean had a great race from 17th on that one stopper and have to wonder what would have happened had he qualified higher up, also glad both Force Indias got into the points again :) Rate 6.

  36. The first part of the race was quite boring, though seeing cars pitting on lap 1 or 2 was a bit of a shock. It was quite strategic, and the running order was a bit false. But the end of the race was really thrilling : we could see battles everywhere, and we saw a lot of surprises, like Raïkkönen falling (again) from a comfortable 2nd place, while some underdogs were fighting their way to the top like Grosjean and Perez. And even if Vettel had an easy dominant win, he managed to entertain us with a really nice and welcomed celebration on the start/finish straight.

    I’m feeling generous because Perez had a tremendous race, so I’ve rated the race 8/10 !

  37. I really wanted to see Vettels fight through the field after his first pit stop properly.
    Instead, the director focused on the front of the grid.

  38. 1. Would’ve been zero if there was such an option. The track looks good but consistently produces bad racing. Won’t be sorry to see it gone. Even if Webber hadn’t retired and managed to challenge Vettel at the end, the overtake would’ve been either a boring DRS fly-by or not at all.

    This whole season is just crashing down the side of the mountain from mediocre to pathetic. This race was the last straw for me I will still watch the races till the end of the season, only because these are the last 3 races for Webber, but nothing else. No comments here or on forums and not looking for F1 news on the net every day. Going to save helluva lot of time for the first time since 2004. Enjoy the next 3 races guys(hope they are better than this trash, but the next race might be as bad as this one in the Abu Dhabi glitzi piece of nothing) and see you next year, which hopefully will be a lot better

  39. David not Coulthard (@)
    27th October 2013, 13:12

    9/10 for the celebrations.

    Admittedly the race was boring, but after seeing the celebration the emotion is just…

  40. Many people are rating the race as ‘boring’ but it was far more entertaining than last year, no?

    I think Pirelli did it right this time … it feels weird to say something like this ^^

  41. I’m all for equal opportunity, especially in the workplace. I didn’t think FOM would go to such extremes however. A blind TV director combined with camera people with missing limbs was a bit much. There were things happening in this race, and they kept cutting AWAY from them!

    For example, i’m watching Lewis inch up on Rosberg who was in turn inching up on Massa. Why did FOM then cut to a 30 second shot of the Merc garage watching the race on their monitors? The race was probably better than I think but FOM really dropped the ball with their coverage.

    Also (and I think i’m not alone given the tweets I sway today) that the tyre rules need a major overhaul. It’s just ridiculous especially given that the tyres have the same properties of bubblegum. I propose a radical solution: let’s make the tyres as hard as possible. Keep tyre changes allowed but scrap this mandatory change of compound rule. I want the tyres to last an entire race if necessary. Follow that up with removal of front and rear wings so we have a massive removal of both mechanical and aero grip. That’ll sort the men from the boys because they’ll have to really slow down for the corners!

    3/10 – partly for the camera, but also the the tyre related snooze fest.

  42. Exciting race…Unpredicted because of strategies…Prev. Indian GPs were boring due to tyre options medium and hard,this year was interesting soft and meds…love the race…really good crowd

  43. I voted a 9. Great atmosphere after all the pre-race shenanigans, unfolding tyre strategies, great driving by Vettel, Grosjean, Massa and Perez and Vettel’s 4th title in a row. I enjoyed his celebrations.

  44. 3/10 DRS killed the strategy choice. bumped up from a 2 in the first half by grosjean coming thru. massive shame about webber. worst race i have seen this year.

  45. Not enjoyable in any shape or form. Tired of 2013.

  46. DRS and appalling tyres. Cars are too reliable. FOM’s director is useless. Rubbish circuits in places that are only on the calendar through the money they pay. Robotic corporate drivers. Fining Vettel for his donuts. Penalties for EVERYTHING. The distinct lack of any racing for position.

    Every form of motorsport I’ve watched this season has been thrilling, the exception being Formula One. F1 is just plain dull. Devoting my time to MotoGP and BTCC next season. Hope something changes my mind.

    Race 2/10.

  47. I have seen more people say they are not watching F1 again this year more than any other year. Sad.

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      28th October 2013, 1:18

      @full-throttle-f1
      A lot of people tend to threaten to vote with their feet. But they never follow through on it. They’ll be back next weekend saying how bad the Abu Dhabi grand prix is.

  48. Rate the Drivers: Best drivers from India GP: Romain Grosjean

    Se b & Red Bull well diserved Champs.

    Hope Merc hangs on 2nd place in Constructors!

    Adrian Newey should algo get a medal (some say we will be made knight – Sir Adrian Newey – well deserved)

  49. 6.
    Good racing in the midfield. Some nice overtakes and strategies. Hats off to Perez, Grosjean, Massa and, obviously, The Great Vettel. Roll on 2014!

  50. Depressing. I had more excitement in the bath. 4.
    Why ‘depressing’? Because I couldn’t give a toss about strategy, and I hate the very concept of tyre management and juggling the obligatory use of both grades. And DRS shouldn’t even be considered in a serious sport.
    What do I want? I want to see racing. Real racing between cars at the front of the field. A battle of sixth, seventh or tenth is a pleasant sideshow, but I want to see the top step of the podium being decided by racing on the track, not by a geek with a laptop back in ‘Mission Control’ deciding the right point for a tyre change. Let’s keep that for Endurance racing where it’s relevant in a race of three, six or twelve hours.
    I can’t be alone in finding the current incarnation of Formula 1 stultifyingly dull and unfulfiling. The stifling regulations, the stewards’ arcane decisions, the astronomical costs, the micro-management of the drivers both on and off the track have all contibuted to create a massively constipated, obese and redundant race series. Vettel is wrong; Formula E *is* far more the future than F1 in its current form.
    I’m going back to my bath.

  51. I’m reading through the comments and I cannot believe the ratings I’m seeing. I saw a fantastic race yesterday. A WDC and WCC decided by a very gritty drive from VET. WEB dropping out was the disappointment for me, however, it introduced the risk of VET not finishing and to be told that he can’t use his drink bottle in 30+ degree heat for fear of overusing the alternator. That is a call that not many drivers get during a race.
    In regards to the race, the strategy was open slather, there were effectively 3 different strategies going on, those starting on options going for 3 stops, those starting on primes going 3 stops but using options for 2nd stint, and the crazy’s like Sutil, and Kimi going for 1 stop, and in Kimi’s case not quite making it.
    We saw names like RIC, HULK, MAS and SUT spend most of the race in front of the Mercs and Alonso’s Ferrari. The race was unpredictable right up to the end.
    There was overtaking, battles, defending and not too much controversy.
    Vettels celebrations were special last night, it is rare to see a driver exhibit such emotions in F1, and better yet, he flaunted with the fine he eventually he received for not adhering to the end of race procedures. It has been quite some time to see a driver win a WDC with a victory and it was exceptional to see that Vettel made the most of it.
    The fans were great too, and I will be sad when yet another Asian race is lost. I feel that more time is needed to allow the Asian fans to come to the sport, motorsport is new in many of these countries.
    As I saw it, it was a 10 out of 10…

  52. 6/10. Everyone was on a different strategy so there really wasn’t any fighting for position going on. That does sum up a lot of races this year, but here it was especially noticeable . Closing laps were good (as expected) and there was a nice scrum from 10th at one point (thought the announcers on NBC made it impossible to follow), but besides RB and Vettel clinching the championship it was pretty forgettable.

  53. 6/10

    Actually I watched this one live , so I was not able to ascertain how interesting it was ( It was difficult to keep up with strategy from track side ) . But I was expecting some carnage at the start which did not happen . It looked like a boring race except for the first few laps . So a 6 ought to be okay . Congrats to Seb Vettel . I was also lucky to witness the angry eyes of Mark Webber as he hopped on a Honda Activa after his retirement from the race.

  54. Was a fairly boring race apart from maybe the first and last 5 laps or so. Although it wasn’t as easy to see at the time Vettel had it won by what, about lap 8? (whenever he was within 21secs of the leaders). Everyone seemed to struggle with overtaking (with the exception of Vettel who breezed past anyone he needed to) apart from under DRS and with a decent tyre advantage.

    But seriously, how much bad luck can Mark Webber get in one season? He’s been trounced by Vettel, noone can deny that, but i think there’s been maybe 2 races this season which haven’t been affected by technical failures, pitstop errors or just plain bad luck. 1 or 2 people have mentioned Webber’s points total suggesting he’s had an awful season, i disagree. I haven’t done the maths but i think he would be close to 2nd in the drivers’ championship if not for issues outwith his control. Really hope he can grab a win before he retires or at least a couple of podiums, he deserves more than he’s getting.

    p.s. I wonder if Alonso intentionally didn’t score a point so he could re-use his “1571” helmet ;)

  55. A 6 from me.
    Nice to see an F1 car doing Donuts:)
    An exceptional race from Grosjean

  56. 7

    Fair few good battles. Intriguing strategy with crazy disparities between tyres allowing people to try a 1 stop / 2 stop or even a 3 stop and they all had merit. Good to see that – for instance, Kimi came very close to getting a 52 lap stint in a 1 stop to work out for him, and the way the track position worked, the team were able to roll the dice knowing that if he pitted again he’d come 7th, and if the tyres went off he’d also probably come 7th, but if they didn’t he might get 4th or 5th. That’s what it’s all about!

    Vettel’s celebrations were spot on too and I’m glad that the FIA didn’t go too crazy with the penalties. A reprimand and a fine were spot on, we need to see that sort of personality, and I wish we saw the likes of this, or Alonso getting out and saluting the crowd at Spain or Kimi doing donuts at Spa in 2009 (?) more often.

    Grosjean did a great job too, and both Force India drivers had good races in India. Good stuff.

  57. It was an okay race so I gave it a 7.

    As is normally the case I always expected Vettel to take the win but there was enough action further down the field to keep me entertained.

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