Vettel makes it nine in a row with Brazilian GP victory

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix summary

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Sebastian Vettel has rounded out the 2013 season in typically dominant fashion, taking his ninth victory in succession at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Vettel was joined on the podium by team mate Mark Webber, who finished his last ever grand prix in second place to record the fourth Red Bull one-two of the season. Fernando Alonso rounded out the top three for Ferrari.

At the start, it was Nico Rosberg who jumped from second on the grid into the lead at the Senna Esses. The Mercedes driver’s lead was short-lived as Vettel easily caught and passed his compatriot at the end of the first lap.

On lap three, Romain Grosjean’s Renault engine expired in dramatic fashion heading up the hill, ending the Lotus driver’s race and season and leaving a thick plume of white smoke across the track. Thankfully, the field made it through without any further incident.

Having been passed by Vettel, Rosberg began falling backwards through the field. First Alonso, then Webber caught and passed the Mercedes, before Rosberg allowed team mate Lewis Hamilton through for fourth.

Webber was soon on the back of Alonso, passing the Ferrari on lap 13 to make it a Red Bull one-two at the front of the field, with a gap of around ten seconds separating them. But Webber’s efforts were rendered moot at his first pit stop, as the team were slow to replace his left-rear tyre, allowing Alonso to retake second.

After Webber caught and re-passed the Ferrari on lap 26, the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa for fourth place was brought to a swift conclusion when the Ferrari driver was given a drive-through penalty for crossing the white line at pit entry.

Rain threatened to make its usual Interlagos appearance and was Nico Hulkenberg heard reporting spots of rain to his team over the radio. Seemingly with this is mind, the front runners appeared to be looking to stretch their second stints as long as possible, with Vettel dropping pace so significantly, Adrian Sutil and Daniel Ricciardo both unlapped themselves by passing the leader.

Suddenly, on lap 47, there was drama as Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton collided in the braking zone of Descida do Lago, ending the Williams driver’s race on the spot and forcing the Mercedes to cruise back to the pit lane on three wheels. Hamilton was later given a drive-through penalty for causing the collision.

With the threat of a Safety Car, both Red Bull and Ferrari called their drivers in to pit. But the apparent late call almost caused disaster for Vettel as the race leader arrived in his box with his mechanics still scrambling to get his new tyres ready. The ensuing hold-up cost Vettel a number of seconds as well as Webber, who was forced to queue behind, allowing Alonso to pressure the Australian once more.

Teams continued to keep their eyes on the sky as the threat of rain appeared to be getting ever greater, but in typical 2013 fashion, the race remained dry. Vettel maintained his composure and counted down the laps to end his record-breaking season with his ninth straight win, with Webber bowing out of F1 with a strong last drive to second and Alonso taking a well-deserved third.

Jenson Button took McLaren’s best result of its forgettable season with a superb drive from 14th to fourth. Rosberg secured second place in the constructor’s championship for Mercedes in fifth, Sergio Perez took sixth place after starting 19th and Felipe Massa ended his eight-season stint at Ferrari in seventh. Hulkenberg and Hamilton rounded out the points finishers.

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

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Will Wood
Will has been a RaceFans contributor since 2012 during which time he has covered F1 test sessions, launch events and interviewed drivers. He mainly...

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96 comments on “Vettel makes it nine in a row with Brazilian GP victory”

  1. Deserved record. He was virtually flawless the whole season, as great a performance as any great driver can be expected to have.

    1. Yep, still win a race with a 10 seconds lead after having lost 13 seconds or so in the pits is impressive :)

    2. In the 70s porche 917 was so dominant, it killed the Can Am racing series in America but no one called it’s drivers the best in the world as many are calling Vettel. I understand racing journalist want to keep their sport interesting, but Redbull has won NINE CONSECUTIVE races, only a fool could believe that’s a product of talent.

      1. @me262 Of course it was a product of talent. A lesser driver, like Webber, wouldn’t have done it. And that’s why he hasn’t.

        Of course the car played a role, it’s F1. Duh.

        1. @silence how do you know what webber would/could have achieved without vettel in the team? I reckon he would have done a lot better with a car biased to his driving style..potentially a couple of world championships? who knows?

          1. @vuntoosree

            a car biased to his driving style

            I presume you’re referring to Vettel being able to exploit the performance of exhaust-blown diffusers better than Webber?

            If so then with all due respect to Webber this is just making up excuses for him. It’s not Vettel’s fault he was able to drive the same car better than Webber, and you can’t seriously be suggesting Red Bull should have taken a performancing-enhancing device off the car just because one driver wasn’t gaining as much from it as his team mate was?

            Besides which, by Webber’s own admission much of the performance difference between them came from the Pirelli tyres, and you can’t blame Red Bull for those.

          2. @vuntoosree Living in the real world, not an imaginary one filled with enough “if’s” to make anything possible.

          3. @silence by referring to real world, do you mean a world where science is an approximation to interpret the world around us? a world where everything IS always at it seems? real world subjective to humans and vettel fans alike? 4 world titles are very real however will never always be open to scruitny, allow yourself

          4. @vuntoosree You’re trying too hard now.

          5. @silence tell me about it, your not trying at all. There’s couldve should’ve could’ve then there’s schumacher was flattered with 7 world titles, the realness of the titles have not got anything to do with an ability to dissect the circumstances so that it dosent cloud ones opinions when comparing the greats and their accomplishments. All knowledgeable formula 1 fans would agree Gilles Villeneuve couldve and shoudve won a title, the real world said no. Does that mean Jaqcues was better? does the real world say yes? im justrt getting started :)

        2. @keithcollantine

          no

          I believe Webber could have won titles without vettel in the team full stop…webber no1 at RBR partnered by whoever lesser than webber. You know, RBR designing a car for webber and not for vettel? RBR designing their cars on webbers reqyuirements on how he likes the car to handle, and everything in the team to support him. There is no question of which horse RBR backed after vettel’s first title is there? to what degree is anyones guess…but can you honestly say RBR have approximated favour of design characteristics in their cars since to suit the characteristics of both drivers equaly since? what sort of input into next years car will ricciardo have? next to nothing probably, same as the next year. It is what it is and not all this ridiculous vettel furore, Alonso maybe is a bit of a sook but he sure is right. I for one didnt come down in the last shower lol

          1. @vuntoosree – Mark Webber is decent, but even so, he’d need to suddenly maximise the performance of his package. Last year, in the early stages of the season when the RB8 car apparently suited him better, he still rarely beat Vettel in the races, and RBR were going nowhere in the title race, in comparison to where they were later that year, and this year. Again, it’s just making up excuses for him, in order to fail to accept how good Vettel is. No more, no less.

          2. @vuntoosree

            You know, RBR designing a car for webber and not for Vettel?

            Again, it’s just making excuses for Webber. Red Bull designed the fastest car they could and Vettel drove it better.

          3. @keithcollantine excuses for webber may well be the reasons for vettel :)…vettel is 4 times the driver than webber no doubt

          4. @david-a I bet if i showed you a photo of the redbull team minus vettel, you would probably still see vettel in the picture. Vettel seems to exist in both your hemispheres
            !!

          5. @vuntoosree – No idea what you’re on about mate. If there’s nothing to discuss, after 4 days, just don’t post.

          6. @david-a why is your answer filled with anecdotes of vettel and webber in 2012…my theory involves webber being no1 at rbr which leaves no room for vettel at the team..is it that hard to imagine and theorize on the possibilities? granted – vettel is 4 times (number I just pulled out of thin air btw) that having been clarified, maybe drop you can drop your defenses and maybe you find there is much to discuss and ponder? ignoring circumstance in 4 undeniable world titles is not foolish, even 7 titles are open to scrutiny. Ever heard how schumacher had access to herberts telemetry but not vice versa?

          7. why is your answer filled with anecdotes of vettel and webber in 2012

            Because Webber was supposed to be more comfortable with the car, yet wasn’t in a position to lead or win the title, disproving that Webber would have suddenly stepped up and won the championships without Vettel in the team. You could argue he would have won 2010, where he actually came close, but hardly the other three.

          8. @david-a you give webber no concession of improvement in performance without vettel?? – to conclude this from evaluation of his performances and points scored WITH vettel in the team and with vettel in the standings and applying it to results without vettel…dosent sound right to me

          9. @vuntoosree – If Vettel wasn’t at RBR, the car would be suited towards Webber. What I said, is that when we saw the car more suited towards Webber (i.e. early 2012), his results were not sufficient to lead the championship (i.e. beat Alonso, the championship leader back then). Only in 2010 did he ever lead the championship.

            We can only go on what we know, your idea that Webber might have won multiple championships if Vettel wasn’t there because of the car characteristics or whatever, is just too speculative to be able to agree with.

          10. @david-a your assuming that by the car being less suited to vettel it was more suited to webber is accurate but by default, not by purpose. Dont confuse red bull not having a grasp on their 2012 car therefore the car being imore neutral where webber showed a better handle of a car that wasnt quite where vettel liked it. clearly it wasnt a case of red bull batting for webber, proof as once red bull sorted the car out it slowly and surely came back to vettel

            speculative to be able to agree with.

            speculation with with well reasoned and probable outcomes will always be agreeable and arguable. Plausible I think it is at least

          11. @vuntoosree

            clearly it wasnt a case of red bull batting for webber, proof as once red bull sorted the car out it slowly and surely came back to vettel

            That’s not proof. More like Red Bull building the fastest car possible, and the better driver maximising it. There are just things that certain drivers can do that others can’t. Webber’s ability to extract the max performance from a car won’t suddenly magically appear if Vettel vanishes. Vettel being there hardly cost him 99 points MW would’ve needed to win the 2012 title, did it?

            He might have won 2010 without Vettel being there. But expecting huge, magical leaps of performance in years where other cars beat him, by reasonably large margins, I’m afraid, just isn’t agreeable.

          12. @david-a then how do you explain the remarkable drop off vettel experienced in the early races of 2012 where he dropped to webberish performances? and how do you explain his subsequent ‘magical’ leap back to his usual magical self?

            But expecting huge, magical leaps of performance in years where other cars beat him, by reasonably large margins, I’m afraid, just isn’t agreeable.

            thats a vast exaggeration of my claim bud

          13. @david-a

            There are just things that certain drivers can do that others can’t. Webber’s ability to extract the max performance from a car won’t suddenly magically appear if Vettel vanishes

            well documented different traits of a driver in laymen terms: 1. A driver which performs with a chassis set exactly to his liking and dialed in perfectly (vettel, prost) but somewhat suffers when the sweet point disapears 2. A driver that maximizes whatever he’s presented with whether its well sorted or handles like pig (alonso, senna, mansell)

            Vettel’s poor form for the first 6 odd races of 2012 was either a: non car related but related to a mysterious drop off in form from vettels part or b: red bull were slow in sorting their package out. Once they solved the teething problems they tapped into the potential of the car(as corroborated in winter testing). You decide

          14. @vuntoosree

            then how do you explain the remarkable drop off vettel experienced in the early races of 2012 where he dropped to webberish performances? and how do you explain his subsequent ‘magical’ leap back to his usual magical self?

            His performances weren’t “Webberish”. SV led the championship after 5 rounds. MW only even beat him in 3 races- China, Monaco, Britain. SV was unlucky with the Valencia alternator (25pts) and the HRT incident (12pts). The only thing you can accuse him of is not running away with every race, which wasn’t going to happen with the RB9 early season.

            Your claim is that Webber “could have won titles without vettel in the team”. But his performance & results won’t pick up hugely from where he actually finished, if the team built the car around him. The car is already built to go as fast as possible, that would hardly change with Webber as lead driver. Thus he would still have been beaten by drivers from other teams that beat him by pretty big margins in reality. I already said that he may have won 2010 without SV, as he got sufficiently close.

          15. 1. A driver which performs with a chassis set exactly to his liking and dialed in perfectly (vettel, prost) but somewhat suffers when the sweet point disapears 2. A driver that maximizes whatever he’s presented with whether its well sorted or handles like pig (alonso, senna, mansell)

            Vettel’s poor form for the first 6 odd races of 2012 was either a: non car related but related to a mysterious drop off in form from vettels part or b: red bull were slow in sorting their package out. Once they solved the teething problems they tapped into the potential of the car(as corroborated in winter testing). You decide

            That’s a poor attempt at an example. Did Mansell maximise the 81-84 Lotuses or ’85 Williams (beaten by teammates in 4 out of his first 5 years), or the 1990 Ferrari, in which Prost fought for the title and Mansell didn’t?

            I don’t see why six races of perceived poor form (barely even that, given that he led the championship after Spain, despite the HRT hitting him) should be held against Vettel. Unless you’re willing to remove Alonso from your list as well, as he had “poor form” in the early part of this year, 2013. Or even, remove Senna because he finished 1 point clear of Gerhard Berger in 1992.

          16. @david-a they werent webberish?? for crying out loud your saying he got beaten 3 times in that period: now your denying that vettel didnt in fact suffer a mini crisis, arguing that over all he’s still leading that championship??? whats the championship lead have to do with a marked dip in his standard?from winning most races in 2011 to winning one out of the first 6 or so in 2012? from poles to qualifying 5th below webber? from racing into the distance with wins from start to finish to finishing 4th and being stifled by karthikeyan? we all witnessed it – your not advocating denial now are you :)

            The car is already built to go as fast as possible,

            is that why its so hard for a driver to just jump in a car mid season and be competitive these days? because a car ‘is built to go fast as possible’ why do you think fisichella was doing such a splendid job at force india but then failed miserably at ferrari in 2009? what about kovalinen jumping into kimis seat? much like ferrari have built a car to suit alonso, red bull have done so with vettel…trust me, its not one size fits all…definately room for improvement for a webber-tailored red bull

          17. Did Mansell maximise the 81-84 Lotuses or ’85 Williams (beaten by teammates in 4 out of his first 5 years), or the 1990 Ferrari, in which Prost fought for the title and Mansell didn’t?

            whats how mansell fared against his team mates got to do with his driving style? he was always renowned for his ‘drive the wheels of it’, he was nicknamed ‘il leone’ by the ferrari team (the lion) quite the opposite of prost

            I don’t see why six races of perceived poor form (barely even that, given that he led the championship after Spain, despite the HRT hitting him) should be held against Vettel. Unless you’re willing to remove Alonso from your list as well, as he had “poor form” in the early part of this year, 2013. Or even, remove Senna because he finished 1 point clear of Gerhard Berger in 1992.

            dont really know what your point is here apart from further un related team mate comparisons…poor form isnt held against vettel, its just observed – because it happend! yeah sure all drivers have been through poor form and theres always one answer: car or driver…or denial of a dip in form I guessa (although the results dont lie)

  2. does anybody know the name of the song playing from red bulls’s garage at the end of the race (before the interview with horner on sky)

    1. They’ve played “Waltzing Matilda” at some point, guess that’s the one you’re looking for.

      1. nope, it was more of a house/clubbing song… thanks anyway

  3. I am proud just being able to watch history being made :)
    Maybe after 50 years someone would be able to achieve such a result, by that time everyone will appreciate what Vettel actually had done.
    Thanks Sebastian Vettel, the legend of F1

    1. @malik In the 70s porche 917 was so dominant, it killed the Can Am racing series in America but no one called it’s drivers the best in the world as many are calling Vettel. I understand racing journalist want to keep their sport interesting, but Redbull has won NINE CONSECUTIVE races, only a fool could believe that’s a product of talent.

      1. @Keithcollantine: Could you please make a poll to see how many people think that Vettel has talent. That would be interesting and the most proper reply to @Jono

        1. dont think its a question if vettel has talent but anyway

      2. @me262 – It’s never just one element. It’s always a combination- the RB9, Red Bull team, and its driver, Sebastian Vettel- that causes things to come together for records like this. And yeah, Vettel already proven that he’s a spectacular driver, by displaying huge pace, consistency and talent for Toro Rosso and BMW Sauber.

        1. @david-a so is vettel close to driving the car of the field for say 85%-90% or there abouts of his Formula 1 career? can you name another world champion (except for schumacher) who has driven the top car 4 years in a row and shared it with a nobody? great talent no doubt but circumstance has lauded him with a flattering of 4 titles

          It’s never just one element. It’s always a combination- the RB9, Red Bull team, and its driver, Sebastian Vettel- that causes things to come together for records like this

          – yes…it is what it is

          1. @vuntoosree – Senna, Clark, Hill, Prost and Fangio all drove the fastest cars for significant periods of time (i.e. at least 4 years in a row) as well. Whether circumstance is involved is neither here nor there- there is no reason to keep pointing out the fortune in having the best car, as if this is a new phenomena with Vettel. All a driver can ever do is maximise the car at his disposal, and since he came into the sport in 2007, Vettel has been one of the very best in F1’s history at doing that.

          2. so is vettel close to driving the car of the field for say 85%-90% or there abouts of his Formula 1 career?

            No. 4/7 years is significantly less than 85%.

          3. @david-a LOL he had the car of the field in the latter half of 2009..4.5 years yeah? un heard of

          4. Senna, Clark, Hill, Prost and Fangio all drove the fastest cars for significant periods of time (i.e. at least 4 years in a row) as well.

            yes they did and if it got to four years they partnered a fellow world champion so the spoils were shared. Fangio changed teams every year/second year and won with 4 or 5 different teams!! so dont know why you’d include him…and when did prost or hill drive the best car for 4 years?

            Whether circumstance is involved is neither here nor there- there is no reason to keep pointing out the fortune in having the best car, as if this is a new phenomena with Vettel. All a driver can ever do is maximise the car at his disposal

            yes thats a given and is said over and over again, its in accordance with my claim: 4 years is the record, another record for vettel

          5. @vuntoosree

            Fangio changed teams every year/second year and won with 4 or 5 different teams!! and when did prost or hill drive the best car for 4 years?

            Fangio usually jumped from team to team looking for the best car. Of course he drive the best car more most of his career. Prost drove the best (or around equal best car) between 84-86, 88-90, as well as 93. Hill from 93-96.

            4 years is the record, another record for vettel

            No it isn’t, the drivers I mentioned, had a significant period of driving the best car, that at least match 3-4 years.

            LOL he had the car of the field in the latter half of 2009..4.5 years yeah? un heard of

            If the second half of 2009 counts, then most of 2012 shouldn’t count. Again, this attempt to constantly point out “circumstance” in his 4 titles, becomes rather moot, when the same thing applies to an equal if not greater extent to the other world champions listed, some of which (like Hill) didn’t even maximise the opportunity.

            Do you have anything more to waste your time on, other than put 4 titles down to circumstance, or claim that Mark Webber magically find the ability to win multiple titles if not for Vettel?

      3. @david-a you seem to not have much to articulate in what circumstance a world championship has been achieved…ill fill in the gaps: prost never had more than 2 years in the right car, prost was at mclaren in 84 and hung around till 89. In that period he sustained peaks and troughs, they cam good again in 88 kudos to him. whats more consider this: 84-85 prost shared his car with lauda a fellow world champion which took the 84 title. 86 – wrong, the williams was the car to be in 88-89 he shared the best car with non other than ayrton senna of which stole the 88 title off him. 90- again wrong, the mclaren was the car of the field

        To you this must sound like gibberish, to me it sounds as if prost could have and would have ended up with much more than 4 titles – he had to compete and share the spoils with fellow champions of great calibre. Vettels titles seem more like a walk in the park if you know what i mean. He’s milking red bull for all its worth and good on him for it…his fans can ignore it but it is what it is!

        of 2012 shouldn’t count

        how many races did he win again? yeah sure dont count the five races, red bull was clearly still car of the year

        (like Hill) didn’t even maximise the opportunity.

        hope your talking about graham…cos damon may have won a championship but was never a great

        Do you have anything more to waste your time on, other than put 4 titles down to circumstance, or claim that Mark Webber magically find the ability to win multiple titles if not for Vettel?

        nah vettel is such a great driver, total record breaker. We have to savor these moments as we’re never gonna witness such a dominant performance from a car I mean a driver ever!

  4. Saddest driver’s farewell since 2006 when Schumacher retired for the first time. I’ll miss Mark, but probably retired at the right time.

  5. There are 2 drive through missing in the race, one for Vettel one for Webber.
    Political mafia from Redbull at its highest expression. After moaning for tyres at the beginning of the season you see who is FIA protege nowadays in F1. Great records for a poor season.

    1. @palmerstoneroad – why would they deserve a DT?

      1. I don’t get the logic for that either – we know that neither driver was involved in an incident on track (either colliding with another driver or for, say, speeding in a yellow flag zone), so I can’t see what they’ve done to earn a penalty there.

        The only possible thing I can think that they might have done to earn a penalty would be to do what Massa did and to cut across the chevrons that separate the pit lane from the track.
        We did have a broadcast during the race where Horner warned Webber that they’d received a complaint from the stewards about the line he was taking past the pits and “next time there won’t be a warning”, suggesting that Webber was getting very close to, or might have actually cut across, the entrance to the pit lane.

        In that instance, given that Massa did earn a drive through penalty for doing that, I guess that Webber theoretically could have earned himself a drive through too – I don’t recall any such warning for Vettel though…

    2. @palmerstoneroad

      Perhaps you should get some facts before making a comment.

      1. Radio message to Webber: “You must stay away from the white line at pit entry”

        1. And what is supposed to mean that radio message?

    3. I think I’ll miss you most of all in the off season, conspiracy theorists. ;__;

      1. hasn’t RBR got the tyres they asked for because 2013 ones did not suited them? That’s not theory it’s is a fact

        1. @palmerstoneroad

          Nope, they got the tyres EVERYBODY asked for after Silverstone ;)

      2. hasn’t RBR got the tyres they asked for because 2013 ones did not suited them? That’s not theory it’s is a fact

        1. No, it is not a fact

        2. @palmerstoneroad
          That wasn’t due to the moaning though. That was because the teams agreed to let Pirelli change the tyres after the chaos at Silverstone.

          1. I still call this “moaning”:
            https://www.racefans.net/2013/05/12/fourstop-races-horner/
            Even Newey said RBR has been lucky that Silverstone happened…

          2. @palmerstoneroad
            Yeah of cause they were moaning. But that wasn’t what made Pirelli change the tyres. That was a result of what happened at Silverstone.

          3. @palmerstoneroad: RedBull already complained before the season that the tyres were too fragile. By your logic, FIA would have changed the tyres at this point during the first races of the season.

            Too bad that your arguements don’t stand any facts.

  6. This race was mediocre by Interlagos standards, but very good by 2013 standards.

    Roll on to 2014.

  7. RedBull scored their first win in the 2009-13 era of F1 regs.
    I have just counted up 47 wins for the Milton-Keynes based team.
    Coincidentally there have been 94 races in the 2009-13 era.

    Therefore, RedBull Racing have won 50% of the races in this era.

  8. Three words: Stupid weather forecast!!!

    1. If you checked the weather forecast on non F1-sites, evryone said it would not rain during the race …

      1. @paeschli, I did check weather forecasts on non F1-sites and all of the sites I saw said it would rain at some point during the race. But if you have an accurate weather forecast that you could show me, I would be grateful.

  9. I’m glad the winning run’s still going.
    Seb will be sad to see this car go – let’s see if he can keep winning in a different one.
    I predict he’ll win one more in Melbourne, then he’ll be beaten in round 2.

    1. If he wins in Melbourne, he holds he record of 10 straight wins on his own. And probably for the next 60 years, no one can come close.

      We have to treasure this moment.

      Witnessing records being broken is never common.

      1. +1
        I know a lot of people think that it’s getting boring because of Vettel winning all the time, but come on, it’s history in the making, and we’re lucky to be witnesses to it. Like him or not, you got to give credit where credit is due.

  10. Must say I was impressed by Button’s drive. Shame we didn’t see more McLarens on the fringes on the podium for the rest of the season.

  11. Well done Seb! what a way to end the 2013 season!

  12. With the movement from V12 to 10 to 8 to 6, has anyone extrapolated which year F1 will be at a V1?

    1. and V0? All electrical cars?

    2. that would be a I1 instead of a V

    3. @chaddy
      I know F1 engineers can come up with some rather amazing tech, but a V-configuration, single cylinder engine? I would want to watch them try that!

      1. You guys are funny

    4. Actually it would be I1…

  13. Do you think if Vettel could go back in time, knowing now that he would easily win the championship, that he would have raced Malaysia differently, and not have to deal with all the crap and controversy and ill-will? Or would he do it the same and take the victory? He said he was a racer and did his job, but he never seemed very satisfied about the race outcome and aftermath. Even if he was right, it was certainly a big pain for 1 step up on the podium.

    1. @chaddy I asked that question myself. I believe he would do nothing differently – that you race to win and so on… However, while the seven points seemed necessary at the time (given the 2012 campaign), in hindsight it would have only cost him his 13 wins tie. Interesting to think about…

  14. So Vettel passes Rosberg on the straight but yet Rosberg was 9.9kph faster than him in the speed trap the day before.

    What do they do to that car for the first two laps?

    1. Better exit at the last corner from the RB? I don’t know …

    2. Vettel said that he saved all his KERS for the run up the hill.

      Full KERS + slipstream = higher top speed.

    3. Just to add to what the others are saying, this was early in the race with full tanks. The cars are usually not hitting their actual top speed. So suddenly KERS plus a low, acceleration oriented, gearing can actually make a faster top speed, because the cars aren’t running into the rev limiter so early in the race.

  15. Happy for Mark Webber, still a little bit of umbilical cord intact with F1, having to appear in the award ceremony for finishing the season on 3rd. Having said that, I loved Webber’s ‘Taking off the Helmet’ act, it looked wonderful. I always wondered how an F1 driver would look without the helmet driving a car.

    1. @noob
      Yeah I though it was great, that he did it. While I was never a fan of his, it was a real privilege to watch his last race. He really did make it something rather special.

    2. @noob hopefully the stewards give him a 10 place grid penalty for the next race. That would be a class decision.

      1. @vettel1 lol. To be served by Porsche or Riccardo?

        1. That’s the point @pandaslap – it couldn’t be served ;)

          1. @vettel1 Hence the lol…

          2. @pandaslap wasn’t too sure since you asked who would serve it! Mind you, the WEC is an FIA-sanctioned championship so perhaps he would actually carry it over into that… :(

      2. I’m sure Webber could make a case for restricted vision due to fogging, blah blah blah, obviously, yeah.

    3. Has anybody else done it before (driving an F1 car without a helmet)

      1. I seem to remember a Ferrari driver doing it in the early 80’s I think it was Patrick Tambay, but it might have been Didier Pironi. Anyone else remember that?

  16. Also a huge well done to Max Chilton for being the first to be classified in every race in his rookie season (even if it were consistently last!)

  17. What a horrible 4 years that was. I hope red bull never win again, and that the FIA have learned that being lenient on a team will just lead to this boring outcome.

    1. My oh my, such bitterness!

  18. The race was good by the abysmal standards of the second half of this year but Vettel winning again was annoying.

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