Rate the race: 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

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What did you think of today’s race? Share your verdict on the Brazilian 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 Brazilian Grand Prix out of ten

  • 10 (5%)
  • 9 (11%)
  • 8 (30%)
  • 7 (29%)
  • 6 (13%)
  • 5 (5%)
  • 4 (2%)
  • 3 (1%)
  • 2 (1%)
  • 1 (3%)

Total Voters: 556

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1 = ‘Terrible’, 10 = ‘Perfect’

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See the results for past seasons here:

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix

Browse all 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix articles

Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

Author information

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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182 comments on “Rate the race: 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix”

  1. Thanks Webber. Thanks!

    1. +1. What an honest, genuine, gritty F1 career…such a brilliant sportsman. 7/10 for the race…on a circuit that I’ve raced on so am biased! lol…

  2. Rain at Interlagos expected in 23894303 years

    1. LoL. That seems about right :)

    2. That would be Microsoft time :)

  3. Started as one of the best of season but fell off in the second part. So 7. Thank god this season is over and may we have a someone else winning GP next season :P

    1. +1. Do you think the V6 engines will be pleasing tonally??

      1. Who cares?

        As long as the racing is good and cars are fast, I couldn’t care less how the engines sounds.

        1. soundscape (@)
          25th November 2013, 2:32

          This.

        2. Watching on TV.. who cares. But when watching love at the track.. oh boy those V8s sound absolutely glorious. The noise aspect is definitely going to be factor for my mates and I when deciding whether to go to Melbourne or not every year (from Sydney)

          1. edit: *live at the track :P

        3. Lots of people.

          Bring back the V12s

      2. I always liked V6s the ones I know sound great plus they are light which is perfect for racing cars but with only 15k revs and turbo and ers they should be heavy and not very thunderous sounding, but as F1 cars in the past 5 years are as long as boats it suits them very well. Honestly the sound of these v8 wasn’t that great either especially after the “freeze”. The V10 and V12 though scream louder and have an higher pitch and the best part was in my opinion that wonderful mechanical downshift sound.

      3. Considering that we can’t really hear much of the engine note on TV, I don’t really think about it that much.
        Is the US feed squelching the background sound more or am I just tone deaf and too stupid to know the difference?

  4. Gave it a seven. Not a bad race. Slightly confused as to why the RBR team didn’t radio Webber not to come in that lap..

    1. @gicu

      Because, as Horner said, they expected a SC for the HAM vs BOT incident. If that had happened and they had told Webber to stay out he would have lost several positions.

      1. Pity for them that it didn’t pay off. It would have been a masterful move. Given that the other teams hadn’t done the same.

        1. The finished 1st and 2nd so I don’t think it paying off would have really helped them hugely.

          1. Haha, true. Goes to show how far ahead they were.

  5. Pretty tense, if not much of a thriller. 7/10

    1. I think a 6/10 seems fair to me. Good at the beginning, but petered out towards the middle and end.

      Where was the rain, we were promised :( ?

    2. Same here, the race had some tense and surprising moments, good non DRS overtakes and after all it was the first decent race since Hungary or Germany. Also, after Vettel’s pit stop error I got excited by he possibility of Mark catching him, and that rain/no rain just spiced it up a bit.
      An average good race: 7/10

    3. @david-a, me too, 7, the continuous threat of rain meant it wasn’t over until it was over, and some good scraps through the field added value.

      1. yeah, I saw a solid race with no big upsets or surprised but enough tension and action to /make it fine a 7/10 from me too.

  6. Feeling so emotional… I never really was Webber’s number 1 fan but now that he’s going, it feels like F1 will never be the same. And I was the one who made the COTD two days ago saying how F1 wouldn’t be so bad without Webber. What a career he’s had.

    1. he’s a massive competitor, a big team player, and someone who F1 benefits from as a personality…shame he’s gone now :/

      1. A BIG TEAM PLAYER?!? Haha! I hope you are joking! Don’t you remember Silverstone 2011 & Interlagos 2012? PLease dude! So many people make it look like Vettel is the Devil in persona and Webber is an angel! Imo neither of them are team players!

        That aside, I will miss Mark, even though I never was a huge fan either, he’s been quite the character and it’s sad to see him go, but it’s his choice.

        1. +999
          Vettel’s no angel but Webber certainly ain’t one either. It’s most infuriating when people make Webber out to be an angel and some sort of martyr in RBR and claim that Vettel is Satan’s long-lost cousin.

          1. while claiming that*

  7. Spent the whole race expecting something to happen, but in the end nothing did. Feels like that’s happened a lot this year. Definitely not expecting to see this one on Sky’s Classic F1 next year… 5/10

  8. 8. However, some catches:
    -Massa and Hamilton’s penalties were ridiculous. FIA should think about hiring some new stewards like Brundle, Herbert or any other ex-f1 drivers.

    1. @krichelle

      Massa and Hamilton’s penalties were ridiculous.

      No they weren’t. Regarding Massa’s, drivers were repeatedly warned about the pit lane entry lines, the stewards even issued diagrams explaining what they were not allowed to do.

      Hamilton clearly violated the recently-introduced clarification requiring drivers to leave a car’s width when returning to the racing line after moving off-line to defend. It was such a clear penalty it was predictable.

      I saw nothing wrong with either penalty.

      1. Hmm. Thanks for that, I knew about that Massa was warned. But, you should see most people on other sites commenting: “WTH, this is ridiculous, FIA should die etc..”

        1. @krichelle Perhaps F1 Fanatic readers are more familiar with the rulebook.

          1. @keithcollantine Clearly it’s not black and white as you wish to portray. In Hamilton’s mind they weren’t racing – he had just lapped him and had no reason to expect Bottas to be on his right hand side. To try and make out that it’s a slam dunk penalty is just poor journalism not to mention understanding of any form of racing. This is what’s called a “racing incident”.

          2. @davidwhite

            and had no reason to expect Bottas to be on his right hand side.

            A driver must always be fully aware of his surroundings, that’s one of the basic requirements of road driving, much more so in F1.

            Just because he wasn’t expenting it it doesn’t mean he’s excused of failing such a basic requirement.

          3. @davidwhite

            Clearly it’s not black and white as you wish to portray.

            Yes it is. Here it is in black and white for you:

            Any driver moving back towards the racing line, having earlier defended his position off-line, should leave at least one car width between his own car and the edge of the track on the approach to the corner.

            That’s article 20.3 of the sporting regulations and it exactly describes what Hamilton did wrong, which led to contact between the two and Bottas retiring, which was Hamilton he got a penalty.

            Whatever one might imagine was going on “in Hamilton’s mind”, the rule is clear and Hamilton broke it.

          4. @keithcollantine
            “Yes it is. Here it is in black and white for you”
            You don’t seem to understand my point. They weren’t racing each other, Hamilton had lapped him, and so Bottas had no right to be there. He wasn’t defending his position so quoting that regulation is pointless. And just to close it off, if you see Anthony Davidson’s analysis of the incident it shows he actually DID leave a car width. So to come out and say it’s black and white and a clear penalty is, as i said before, sloppy journalism at best. Suggest you also look up the regulation for “racing incident” – this is a classic example.

          5. @davidwhite

            Bottas had no right to be there

            What rule does say that?

          6. @davidwhite

            He wasn’t defending his position

            Yes he was – he had pulled off the racing line in order to defend his position in front of Bottas. The rules make no distinction whether or not that’s between drivers who are on the same lap.

            The bottom line is the rules do not say Bottas shouldn’t have tried to overtake Hamilton – though in your claim that “Bottas had no right to be there” you mistakenly believe they do. But the rules do say Hamilton had to leave a car’s width, and he clearly wasn’t doing that, even if Bottas had a few millimetres to spare to his right. So it was entirely predictable that when they collided there was going to be a penalty and it was going to go to Hamilton.

            This was not a “racing incident” it was an “incident”, as defined in the rules and as cited by the stewards when they handed down Hamilton’s penalty.

          7. @Keithcollatine
            Sorry mate – I reckon you’ve called this one wrong.

            “the rules do say Hamilton had to leave a car’s width, and he clearly wasn’t doing that”. Nope – he did. Check out the footage again when you get a chance. You’re getting too fixated on what the “rules” say – rules don’t deal with every single scenario on a race track. Bottas picked up DRS after being lapped I.E. HE WOULDNT HAVE EVEN HAD DRS HAD HAMILTON NOT PASSED HIM ON THE PREVIOUS STRAIGHT, made a bad decision in trying to re-pass Hamilton on the outside (of all places…), Hamilton didn’t know he was there and so took his normal line in, and they collided. Hamilton lost 30 seconds limping back to the pits and about 0.5 seconds per lap for the rest of the race due to underfloor damage. That was a massive penalty in itself but to then give him a drive through penalty for causing a collision with a backmarker trying to repass him because he’s got DRS after being lapped…..
            Hamilton left a car’s width and quite frankly Bottas should never have been anywhere near him in the braking zone. Goodbye 2013 F1 season – it’s been a shocker.

          8. @Keithcollantine
            Sorry mate – I reckon you’ve called this one wrong.

            “the rules do say Hamilton had to leave a car’s width, and he clearly wasn’t doing that”. Nope – he did. Check out the footage again when you get a chance. You’re getting too fixated on what the “rules” say – rules don’t deal with every single scenario on a race track. Bottas picked up DRS after being lapped I.E. HE WOULDNT HAVE EVEN HAD DRS HAD HAMILTON NOT PASSED HIM ON THE PREVIOUS STRAIGHT, made a bad decision in trying to re-pass Hamilton on the outside (of all places…), Hamilton didn’t know he was there and so took his normal line in, and they collided. Hamilton lost 30 seconds limping back to the pits and about 0.5 seconds per lap for the rest of the race due to underfloor damage. That was a massive penalty in itself but to then give him a drive through penalty for causing a collision with a backmarker trying to repass him because he’s got DRS after being lapped…..
            Hamilton left a car’s width and quite frankly Bottas should never have been anywhere near him in the braking zone. Goodbye 2013 F1 season – it’s been a shocker.

          9. @davidwhite

            Look, it’s pretty straight forward.

            A) Hamilton drove into him.

            Bottas should never have been anywhere near him in the braking zone.

            Here you are just flat out wrong, Bottas has every right to try and repass Hamilton.

        2. (@keithcollantine

          Hmm.. Martin Brundle didn’t really agreed with either penalty. Saying, that Hamilton didn’t know that Bottas was there, and on Massa that “it was very harsh”.

          1. @krichelle

            Hamilton didn’t know that Bottas was there

            If he hadn’t known Bottas was there he wouldn’t have moved off-line to defend his position.

          2. @krichelle

            Hamilton didn’t know that Bottas was there

            Did he really say that? It’s the silliest excuse I’ve ever heard.

          3. (@silence
            Yes, he did. Are you watching Sky f1? Or another channel? Cause Martin Brundle didn’t agree with neither penalty to Massa and Hamilton

          4. @krichelle @keithcollantine @silence

            Martin never said that to justify Hamilton’s move but to only pacify the penalty. I feel the penalty was harsh but completely fair . In fact , it can be argued that it cost Bottas his race .

          5. @silence Yes Martin Brundle did say that. But @krichelle clearly weren’t paying attention properly because Brundle then immediately made it clear that he thought Hamilton would and should get a penalty. He said Lewis didn’t know Bottas was there i.e. Lewis was responsible for the collision even if he didn’t mean to cause it. As @keithcollantine says with the rulebook as it is the penalty was pretty obvious.

            To be honest I would have preferred no penalty, Hamilton clearly didn’t intend to crash into Bottas but the rulebook is pretty clear.

          6. But well, Mercedes secured 2nd place!!!

          7. I wonder if Hamilton didn’t know that Bottas had actually gone alongside him- I didn’t see a replay which made it very clear how far back Bottas was, but Hamilton’s onboard kind of made it look like Bottas lunged down the outside. In that case I suppose Hamilton thought that Bottas had stayed behind him. I’m not saying the penalty wasn’t deserved, just that it may have been a very honest mistake where he thought the corner was completely his.

            And I have to say that Hamilton is often quite unlucky with damage he sustains during contact (and Bottas obviously was here too). It’s rare to see a wheel bump like that be so damaging.

          8. @krichelle – don’t feel bad, @keithcollantine hates Lewis Hamilton and supports any penalty against him.

          9. @hamilfan

            it cost Bottas his race

            oh yes, cost a backmarker trying to unlap himself w/ DRS his “race” pfffft.

          10. Anthony Davidson doing the analysis showing that Hamilton clearly gave Bottas 1 full car’s width and penalty not justified…

          11. @joepa

            don’t feel bad, keithcollantine hates Lewis Hamilton and supports any penalty against him.

            You need to calm down a bit. Everything you don’t like or agree with is some conspiracy to you. Relax a bit.

          12. (@joepa
            Yes, I also watched that just now. Hamilton did leave Bottas 1 car width on the outside. So, I wonder what will be Lewis’ reaction to that. haha
            (@silence
            Oh really? He hates Lewis Hamilton. I thought he was unbiased in F1 like me. Cause I am unbiased if there are any conspiracies. I go for what is right.

          13. @joepa Complete garbage, I have nothing against Hamilton (or any of the drivers).

          14. @keithcollantin Disagree with you on this one. Lewis left about one metre more than a car’s width. Many drivers made this move (again, due to terrible DRS) and the outside driver adjusted accordingly. Only Bottas just blindly stuck to his line even tho he still had space to move.

            No, the penalty was harsh. Racing incident and both Bottas & Lewis already paid for getting it wrong.

            It’s been a season of inconsistent stewarding, but then isn’t it always…

          15. Martin Brundle is slowly losing his credibility. Pandering to sensationalist media, and increasingly out of touch. @keithcollantine is spot on with everything he has said.

          16. Just popping in to say I entirely agree with Keith’s view. everyone seems to be ganging up on im!

            When I watched it live, it was easy to predict for me…

          17. I can’t for the life of me see why this is such a big deal?

            It’s very straight forward. And to be honest, accusing Kieth of bias is, speaking politely, incredibly boring.

          18. All this talk about leaving a car’s width is a bit nonsensical. In theory you can argue that Lewis left a car’s width because at no point did he drive on tarmac within one car’s width of the track edge. However, the only reason that he didn’t drive on tarmac within a car’s width of the edge is that as he moved towards it he hit Bottas before he could get there. The argument that he “left a car’s width” is nonsense.

            Hamilton made a mistake and the rules require a penalty is given – I really can’t see any other argument here. Suggesting that because Hamilton didn’t know he was there is just ludicrous as a justification. No account of the fact that he got a puncture requires to be taken (and if he hadn’t had a puncture no doubt the complaints about the penalty would have centered around how we were robbed of a fight with Alonso anyway).

          19. @krichelle Martin Brundle only has the same view as we have though. He’s watching the race in front of a window with the TV feed and a timing screen, he doesn’t have the amount of analysis available to him that the stewards do.
            @keithcollantine is correct with his judgement and interpretation of the rule. The reason they collided was due to Lewis moving towards Bottas after he had already moved to defend. The TV angle distorts the amount of room that Bottas had, and from the cockpit he would’ve known that by avoiding Hamilton he would’ve had to have put his outside wheels onto the wet grass.

            The stewards would’ve obviously taken into consideration the “one car-width” exception, but they made contact regardless and Bottas wasn’t the one who was moving..
            Hamilton deserved the penalty.
            It doesn’t matter if you’re fighting for the lead or lapping a backmarker, the rule is there to make sure every single driver on the grid is given the respect they deserve.

        3. There are many things at play here.
          Firstly Lewis was driving for third in DWC and should have been just that more cautious. Alonso would have been. So Lewis should be thumped on the head for that.
          Bottas was behind Lewis approaching that corner and thought he could get away by braking late. He got level with Lewis as lewis was preparing to get the right line into the corner. Bad mistake. In the process he lost any chance no matter how slim of earning points for himself and his team.
          If you listen to the commentary, more than six times the commentators commented on Bottas making driver errors and appearing to be unstable when near competitors. Rewatch this.
          Mercedes should have warned Lewis that this guy was driving erratically and to be cautious. Thats what team support is about. I am sure that is the kind of feedback Vettel enjoys and it makes a difference.
          As for the stewards, they are lackeys of BE and if he gets it into senile little head that the race needs spicing up the stewards can quite easily get a text not that I am saying that is what happened, but I feel BE has meddled in the past. At any rate if the stewards had been following the race that would have noted the number of times and this includes DC (twice) commenting on Bottsas’ erratic driving.
          As a Lewis fan I am hugely disappointed that he lost 3rd in the DWC but more upset that he was not looking after position with more awareness. Its useless being upset afterwards as he undoubtedly was.
          In the context of F1 that is really unacceptable. Run the F1 empire but to meddle with results is being an idiot. Drivers should win because they WON. Period.

          1. Opps! Last line should appear above ‘ As a Lewis fan’

      2. fair, i like LH, but penalties need to applied to everyone

        1. @dodge5847 exactly ! A penalty is a penalty . very haaarsh …but still …. a penalty fair and square .

        2. (@dodge5847 (@silence (@joepa
          I remember Lewis had an accident with Kobayashi similar to this in SPA 2011. Almost the same thing, or actually I think it was the same thing to now. Because Lewis hit Kobayashi’s front wing. Here, Lewis’ right rear got punctured and that cost him another damage floor like in Silverstone and Suzuka.
          PS: Thanks for those who commented. I don’t like commenting on other sites except this because of the unbelievable comments there.

      3. Sorry Keith but the two scenarios are very different. One is a clear black and white. You either cross the pit line or you don’t. Massa clearly crossed. Hamilton had the inside line with botas trying pull an impossible pass from the outside. I like botas but he should have backed off before coming alongside Hamilton. Look at where the contact happened. It was basically at the edge of the track. Without that clearly visible runoff, Botas would have backed off. Hamilton assumed Botas would have backed off. Its Hamiltons fault for assuming a rookie would act sensibly. Botas was at fault for placing his car where it should not have been. FIA just piled on for what was Botas rookie bone head move. Absolving Botas of any fault. Apparently there is no such thing as a racing incident for the fia unless a red car is involved.

        1. @sudd Utter nonsense. Bottas was fully entitled to the outside line. We see this hundreds of times during the season, where a driver forces another to take a defensive line and beats him on the exit of the corner. Hamilton simply showed a lack of spatial awareness. Not the first time we’ve seen this error from him.

          1. It is not nonsense. Pull your head out of the clouds and realize Bottas is just as responsible for the collision. Bottas was on DRS and suddenly popped to the outside of Hamilton. He even had room on the outside. His closing speed was going to send him off track anyways. Hamiltons slight correction to outside in order to make the corner made him look like the victim to those without a keen understanding. There is an unwritten rule in racing: Don’t mess with the front runners race. You won’t find that rule in the FIA rule book but trust me, it does exist. Bottas forced the issue. He has every right to unlap himself. However, he also has the duty of not interfering with the front runners race. Did you see the dicing between Hamilton and Alonso in the opening laps. Hamilton is perfectly capable of side by side racing. Problems happen when you have these inexperienced drivers looking to make a name for themselves are involved. Same sort of thing happened last year when Hulk trying to pass Hamilton. You don’t want to see the incident subjectively, but thats ok. Lets see how you respond when your team is at the receiving end over an incident like this.

          2. Correction* I meant Objectively!

          3. @sudd

            here is a youtube clip of the incident, hopefully it stays up.

            What you are saying is just plain wrong. The contact was before the braking zone, so I’m not sure how you think he “suddenly popped to the outside”

            Hamilton didn’t slightly correct, he went to take the normal racing line. Which you can’t do when there is another car there.

            Same sort of thing happened last year when Hulk trying to pass Hamilton.

            I hate to break it to you but, Hulkenburg was also a front runner.

            There is an unwritten rule in racing: Don’t mess with the front runners race. You won’t find that rule in the FIA rule book but trust me, it does exist.

            Nah that’s ********.

            I don’t think it was Hamilton’s fault. I don’t think he realized that he was there. But if you cause a collision, which he did. And it ends another drivers race, it’s pretty clear that you’ll get a penalty.

          4. @sudd, Does the “unwritten” rule apply to Hamilton too? Last year (German GP) he un-lapped himself passing Vettel, who was chasing Alonso for the lead.

          5. @ Deb Luhi, of course it applies to Hamilton. If I remember correctly, Hamilton did not collide w/ Vettel. So… nice attempt at a “gotcha” though. In case you missed it, no one is saying Bottas can’t unlap himself. Bottas’s poor attempt had championship implications. How would you feel if Bottas’s action decided a WDC battle? Would you feel any different if it was not Hamilton that collided w/ back marker? If was your team that was affected? If you said no, you’re lying to yourself.

          6. @sudd

            No.

            Because none of those things change the rules.

          7. @sudd, Hamilton didn’t collide with Vettel but he affected the frontrunners’ race and that is what the “unwritten” rule prohibits (“There is an unwritten rule in racing: Don’t mess with the front runners race.” as you put it).
            How we all feel about any particular situation doesn’t or shouldn’t affect the implementation of the written rules or even unwritten ones.
            In the German GP I mentioned, Hamilton decided, for whatever reason, to interfere with Vettel’s race and he succeeded. Like it or not that’s a breach of the unwritten rule but there are no sanctions for that. In Brasil he caused a collision and unfortunately there is a sanction for that and he got it.
            This championship was decided a long time ago and lot of the drivers were racing for their future, including Botas.
            According to the unwritten rules, do you think Petrov was right to keep Alonso behind in the last race of 2010 or Glock letting Hamilton to win the championship?

      4. @keithcollantine Watch the replays. At the moment of their collision Bottas is still 15-20 inches from the edge of the track, which is plenty of room. Lewis did everything according to the rules and he was entitled to this kind of defense. He only changed his direction once, he didn’t force Bottas off the track and he left him more than a car’s width. I watched the footage a couple of times and in my opinion he did not break the Article 20.3.

        1. It should read “leave a cars width and don’t drive into the car which is alongside your car” Hamilton clearly caused a crash and deserved the penalty. It’s not the first time he’s been unaware of a car long side him on the racing line.

          1. Hamilton’s move wasn’t sudden and Bottas was able to move to the edge of the track to avoid the collision. He didn’t move and they collided. In my opinion that’s a racing incident.

          2. Exactly, Bottas didn’t move, Hamilton did. It doesn’t matter if it was gradual or sudden, HE MOVED and caused a collision with another car that was going in a straight line. Hamilton wouldn’t have done it if he had known Bottas was there so really it was Hamilton’s lack of awareness that caused an accident. As i said before, not the first time so maybe this penalty will help him improve this aspect of his driving.

          3. Bottas didn’t move, Hamilton did.

            Hamilton was ahead and was defending position. He was entitled to move as long as there was a car’s width left for the opponent. And there was.

        2. Hamilton was penalized for causing a collision not that he didn’t leave enough room.

      5. @keithcollantine
        I am almost certain (until I see a replay) that Vettel had crossed it at least once (rather substantially), and it was pointed out by DC when he thought that Vettel was going to the pits but instead he just crossed the line in order to cut the corner. And after hearing Mark being warned about it I think that it was slightly unfair that Massa got a drive through for it. Do they always have to follow the rules so blindly?

      6. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        25th November 2013, 0:26

        I thought Lewis’s penalty was harsh for two reasons:
        1) I thought he did leave (just) a cars width. There was more room for Valtteri on the right hand side.

        2) Valtteri was a back marker trying to overtake someone with a potential podium finish on the cards. He didn’t need to try and send one up the outside of T4.

        1. Botas didn’t have to move anywhere. Even if there was a space for 2 more cars the outside car has a right to keep its line, it’s not required to move just to make a room for the inside car to take the corner better. That’s part of the racing, making others to take the slower lines.

    2. Hamilton’s penalty was fair and deserved. You have to leave a space if there is a significant part of an other car alongside AND you are not allowed to move in the braking zone (which he did, as he went diagonally across part of track while braking). A bit of a clumsy “2011-Hamilton-move”.

      As for Massa, I don’t know, didn’t quite catch it. But I doubt it was unfair, with such a straightforward offence and a prior warning. But the bigger issue there I think is the design of the pit-lane entry. I always feel a bit uneasy watching the cars going through the last corner. But the track is limited in space to be able to do much about it, but having looked at it, I think something can be done there.

      As for the race. It was an okay race. Shame the rain did not come down harder, and I think, lottery dry set-ups increased the field spread and made it less exciting, contrary to Brundle’s opinion. Overall a lot of exciting bits. Certainly a lot better than 2003 and 2007 races, having just seen them.

      1. (@mateuss

        Hamilton did leave 1 width of car space on the outside. Anthony Davidson showed that.

        1. Someone erase this comment and the double comment I did above by accident. haha

          1. Anthony Davidson and Sky showed a CGI where there is one car width.

            Immediately after that they show the opposite camera angle where, to my point of view, there is less than one car width to the side of Bottas.

            My point being, I really don’t think that we can go by TV’s illustrations to have a clear understanding of an incident, as they are only making a visual representation of what THEY think happened. FIA stewards have the data, and I’d trust them more that I’d trust TV pundits.

            But I do agree with Sky, cars shouldn’t have DRS if they’re trailing a car they’re not on the same lap with.

          2. Wait, you mean that Davidson and his fancy TV board are not the final word on F1 racing?

            I’m shocked by the comments which cite Brundle or Davidson… try walking away from the coverage for a minute.

    3. @keithcollantine, I disagree

      Hamilton clearly violated the recently-introduced clarification requiring drivers to leave a car’s width when returning to the racing line after moving off-line to defend.

      Bottas didn’t use all the space he had, there was still 50 cm of free track next to him. There was a car’s width there but he didn’t use it. Race incident for me, Hamilton was already penalised due to his tyre so giving him an extra drive through was harsh.

      1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2G2eA-QmVg

        Did Hamilton move over into Bottas or did he not?

        1. It seems pretty clear, indeed Bottas tried to move away from Hamilton at the last second but not quickly enough to avoid being hit. What is also clear is that Hamilton moved across after braking had started (this is quite apparent from the closing of Botas’ DRS – Hamilton must also have been braking because they hit rear-wheel to rear-wheel and if Botas had braked first that would not have been the case).

          1. @jerseyf1

            Fantastic spotting. Very interesting.

    4. Massa’s penalty was ridiculous, if you look at the fact that his move didn’t allow him to gain any advantage at all! There I can agree, but on the rules side, it was justified. That doesn’t mean the rules are not lame and not justified sometimes! ;)

      This rule should be removed, SO WHAT if they cut that line? It makes no sense.

    5. The penalty for Hamilton was harsh but justifiable. Massa’s was also pretty clear with the FIA telling the drivers what’s not allowed at the pit entry.
      but the stewards need to be more consistent – Abu Dhabi and Brazil show how flaky they can be.

    6. The Hamilton penalty was a joke. It was 100% Bottas’s fault, and a shameful rookie error at that. Hamilton left more than enough room, Bottas just decided for some reason to stupidly drive into him. Not to mention he was being lapped. To penalise Hamilton was quite simply an insult to his excellent driving skills, shows how clueless stewards can be despite their supposed knowledge of F1, and was all a little bit too convenient for Ferrari, as, at the time, Rosberg didn’t look like he was going to hang on to 5th, which could have meant Ferrari got 2nd in the WCC.

      1. @tyreblowout I think you need to watch the video posted by @mike above. Try keeping your eyes open too.

        1. More like you should keep your eyes open, the space Hamilton leaves is more than enough. Though some people would just rather see what they want to see. Just because the stewards say something doesn’t mean that they’re right. Although to notice that you need to actually understand what you’re looking at and not just simply look and stare at the screen.

          1. (@tyreblowout (@jerseyf1 (@mike (@debeluhi

            Anthony Davidson and Gary Anderson from what I read, didn’t agree that the penalty should be given because Lewis did everything by the book. Bottas should have known that if Lewis was going to be hit badly, that might have cost Mercedes 2nd place. And if your Bottas, why would you attempt a pass on the outside? And Lewis is a front runner and chasing Alonso. This is different than to what Hamilton did to Vettel last year because Hamilton played it very cautiously. Bottas didn’t. Racing incident no one’s fault.
            PS: It’s funny to see what people are saying here because they don’t double think before they speak. Only after, for some people to answer with shocking answers and being hit in the face with embarrassment.

  9. Not a bad race, but not a good one. Again, there was good racing but it promised much more than it delivered. A weird mixture of Suzuka 2002 (still the most boring race ever, nothing happened) and those exciting races in Interlagos like ’07, ’08 and ’12.

    6/10

    1. For the race 6/10 I agree with you, but the farewell for Webber is a nice one.

  10. As an Aussie, this is definitely the end of an era. Thank you Mark and Good bye..

    1. +1.

      One good thing about Mark’s retiring is the inevitable “Legends of F1” episode that they can now ready and produce on Webber! Should be epic!!!

      1. Joe Papp, why should Mark Webber qualify for a “Legends of F1” episode? I mean, he didn’t win much did he? Sorry, Mark is fine but just another F1 driver really, there were about 20 of them in the field today.

        1. @baron They include the likes of Irvine or Watson too, so I think Mark could fit in as well.

          1. Good Lord! I had no idea, Eddy was fun in fact more fun that many of the others and when he was bothered, he could race (and party) with the best.

            As for John Watson, I believe he went to the Roger Moore school of acting before becoming a racing driver, but as you say, Mark will fit in well with them.

    2. @mpj1994 Look on the bright side: with Ricciardo’s arrival at RB it might be the beginning of a new one.

  11. Why can’t we do all the races at Interlagos ???

    1. @marlarkey +1 Add a bit of spa to that . These tracks are just epic !

      1. The oldschool tracks will always ALWAYS remain the best! I am so happy A1 Ring in Austria is back next year!

        All these new circuits are boring: Korea, India, China etc. Only Austin is a pretty good, one of the BETTER new tracks!

        1. Nostalgia is a bitch.

          Hungary and Barcelona are just plain boring, and Monaco Monza may have great histories and should by all means stay in the calendar, but from a strict racing point of view, they don’t produce the most exciting races.

          On the other hand there are true brilliant “new” tracks like Istanbul, and even India, both of which I’d rate above Austin. If Austin was lets say in Thailand, everybody would complain that its “just another Tilkodrom”. Mostly its the fact that its in murica excites people.

          TL;DR: Some old tracks are bad, some new tracks are good. And Austin is overrated.

          1. I totally agree, one race and people consider this track as one of the best?(one race meaning last year). I think peopl tend to choose which track they like or dislike before the 1st race even.

          2. Dude, it’s no nostalgia! Almost all old tracks are better, but not all! Of course Hungarian track is boring, I can agree, but while 10 or 20% of the old ones are boring, with the new ones it’s different: it’s 80-90% boring! It’s Herman Tilke that is boring!

        2. But how is it one of the best of the new tracks ? Coz it produced one interesting race? Doesn’t make sense
          I agree over Istanbul, I loved that track they should not have sacked it out of the calendar.
          China is pretty good too

  12. Voted a 7. Top positions were never really under threat, and felt like waiting on something to happen that never did, but it kept my attention and had some interesting battles. Bring on 2014!

  13. 9/10 – it wasn’t the best ever race or even the best ever Brazilian GP – but one of the best in 2013.

    1. plus 1

  14. Best non crazy race (Britain, Germany)

    Gave it an 8

  15. 8.
    Well I enjoyed very much this race, fights everywhere, the best Hamilton-Massa and quite tense on the Bottas incident. I thought that Silverstone situation was again present. It was a good ending to a terrible season. Now, I can’t wait for 2014

  16. For me it’s been a very emotional weekend. I enjoyed this race, but it was more than just the season finale. It was the end of an era for me, personally, a driver I’ve supported since 2007/2008, during my final stages of secondary school and all my university stint (which is still going). It brings back all the memories you have of that period, those long lasting seasons, full of joy and dissapointment aswell. Specially 2010.

    It’s fantastic how much your passion turns your mood on and off, and everytime Mark did well, it was all about mondays reading all the articles about it on the newspaper, reading it all, from the press conferences to the team’s press releases. Every timetable, your eyes switch right away to your driver: “Mark Webber”. And now that’s gone. One doesn’t expect it to last forever, but it’ll be super weird for a while.

    I know he wasn’t the best driver on planet, but it’s something you can’t explain. It ends on high, tho, and that’s good. Thank you so so much, Mark ! You were part of the reason why I woke up early every sunday for the race.

    1. @fer-no65 I Loved the helmet off moment during the victory lap !! that was so Mark-ish . Maybe you can have a black and white poster of that :-D .

    2. And finishing 2nd. to the legendary SV and ahead of the most complete FA, with I believe, fastest lap, demonstrates that he might have quit but he is still quick.

  17. 8 and a good drive from Jenson too… well done Seb and a good finish for Mark too

  18. The first 40 laps were ace then it all picked up again when mark took is helmet off. Oh, was that after the race?

    1. His, damn you beer and touchphone.

  19. Good race, but not spectacular. Had some exciting parts, like the start, and towards the end with the collision and rush to get into the pits, but as I said, just a good race.

    Happy for Jenson and McLaren to end the season on somewhat of a high.

  20. Voted 9 for 9 in a row ;)

  21. Gave it a 1. Basically over after the first 5 laps.

    Not really a race, just follow the leader. Only exciting because it was the last race of the year.

    1. If you are serious, I recommend to watch NASCAR. They’ll throw in some safety car periods to keep the crowd entertained.

      1. And as it has already proven thay will stage crashes and other tricks to push the ratings, no thanks that is a spectacle, not racing

  22. 7 Great first half of the race, second half desperately needed the rain. Sad Mark is leaving, overall happy to see the back of an at times soporific F1 season (especially compared to 2012 and 2010), hopefully another 10 years until we see one as dull as that.

  23. From my point of view, it was the best race of the season. It had quite nice non-DRS overtakes here in Brazil as well. Overall, you cannot expect more to be honest apart from having a title deciding race here.

    Additionally the moment where Webber pulled his helmet off during the victory lap was very special too as it rarely happens at all.

  24. Lewis doing his hard done by speech on TV again… and what with Eddie Jordan implying that Seb should have given the race to Webber, the BBC coverage ends its prejudiced coverage again… I’m not a fan of Coulthard but he keeps it sane for me

  25. A refreshing race from the monotonous 2013 season . Let me whip out my checklist.
    1) overall excitement – check – not fantastic but not dull at any point
    2) No tyre saving-triple check
    3) No team orders or tyres bursting or any unfair business-check
    4) Battle for the lead – half check – at least at the start .
    5)unpredictable positions , spins , mayhem -check

    Overall – 8/10 . As someone put it more eloquently , not the best Brazillian gp but definitely entertaining .

  26. between a 6 and 7… good opening start to the race but stretched out into not much, shame the rain never came would have really made it interesting

  27. 7, not great by Interlagos standards, but fairly action-packed for a 2013 race.
    Great battle between Massa and Hamilton, booooo to the meddling steward who broke it up.
    Boo to the weather too, for raining on the cameras but not the track – and good riddance to the unravelling tyres and gutless V8s, a poor imitation of the engines that came before them.

  28. 5. Average. Nothing more, nothing less. Good opening 10-20 laps, would have given it a 7/8 if that’s how it remained. But, the last 40 or so laps were just dreary, dull and how anyone can give those more than a 2/3 is beyond me, and how it can score more than a 6/10 overall confuses the hell of out me, it really does.

  29. I loved the fact Mark took off his helmet during the outlap. That’s a shot I’ll never forget.

  30. I thoroughly enjoyed the fact that this race means that this awful season is finally at an end. The dull racing is bad enough but the mid-season rule change to benefit one particularly loud-mouthed team was just farcical. Very sad that F1 has been reduced to this. I hope sporting integrity returns to the fore next year.

    On this race, there was very little of interest. Some nice fights in the midfield but nothing to write home about really. Slightly less unbearable than Austin, so it gets a 4.

    1. @red-andy

      mid-season rule change to benefit one particularly loud-mouthed team

      Not even small children keep repeating the same wrong statements over and over after being explained why they are wrong. You should follow their example, because it’s getting kinda sad now.

      1. No kidding. He needs to watch the F1 Race edit of Silverstone, and then try to justify (in his head because everyone else already knows this) doing the second half of the season on those exploding tires.

    2. @red-andy I agree with most of the points and the dreadful,horrible,controvery-filled, tyre saving season the only plus being that it will be historically significant for a guy beating all records.
      But,
      C’mon this race was a gazillion times better than Austin .

  31. Not quite up there with last years. (As if it ever could be) But not too bad a race. Nice bit of place swappping through the order, so it’s an 8 from me. Didn’t agree with the Hamilton penalty.

  32. 7/10
    Nice race, but it was only inches away from becoming awesome. The different strategies didn’t shuffle things as no rain fell, the incredible recoveries of Perez and Button weren’t so spectacular but we had some great overtakes.

  33. I’ve been following F1 since 1958 and for the first time I can say I’m glad that a season is over. Dull, boring racing dominated by tyre preservation. Perhaps the rule changes will make a difference for next year but I’m not holding my breath.

  34. Mediocre ending to a truly boring season. Hoping for a better season next year.

    Goodbye Mark Webber, hope you to see you doing well in WEC next year.

    Also hats off to Chilton, who finished every race this season. Like i said i would do, he will get my vote for DotW.

    Also a big thanks to @keithcollantine and every other fellow fanatic for the great discussions, the live-chat during the race, reviews, news, etc.
    Hope you all have a great winter and are just as excited for the start of the 2014 season as i am.

    1. @rigi couldn’t say more.

    2. +1 regarding the thanks to Keith. By far the most enjoyable daily read around my side of the internet.

  35. Extremely boring,even the rain does not want to be a part of the boring 2013 season(Thank god’s it is over!!!!)
    It was sure to be another Pirelli powered F1 procession , it wasn’t because only of the “UNKNOWN” factor,had the 3 practice sessions been dry, it would have been the same old story from past 9 or 10 races.
    Bring on 2014 …but but but
    be it Intresting and not a single driver to be dominating all season and no drivers winning the WCC! o_0

  36. Thanks for the memories Mark and Felipe driving for Ferrari. Decent race I’ll give it 7. Well done Sebastian and Red Bull for a stellar year. Roll on 2014 and the dream team of Alonso and Kimi.

  37. 8/10 Great race, DRS was too much here but after the boredom of the last couple of months this was a welcome goodbey effort from 2013.

    Can’t wait for 2014 though.

  38. @keithcollantine thank you for this year’s coverage, your skills are second to none, and i remain to be a big fan of this website

    1. Sentiment echoed. Thanks Keith

  39. Man! It’s a nightmare watching Lewis’ interviews. Almost every now and then.

    Secondly, who the hell was interviewing on the podium? Killed the whole atmosphere!

  40. DRS wasn’t as powerful as I expected it to be, but still neutered the racing quite a bit. The first couple of pre DRS laps were brilliant. Disappointed to see RoGro go out of the race, but that’s how it goes sometimes. He has vastly improved over the season, so I’m confident he’ll carry that over to next season.

    Not a Vettel fan, but I found myself egging him on to the record number of wins. The guy really is pure class!

    Delighted Mark got a podium in his last race. Look forward to see how he goes in WEC next year.

    It was a reasonably good and tense race. Not a classic or anything. 6/10.

  41. Bahrein is actually the highest rated race, I want to change that. Gave it a 10 :P

  42. 7/10 Definitely a good race for 2013 standards, but still… dreadfully dominated by DRS. Wanted to make a couple of comments.

    I understand that Massa’s penalty was completely legitimate, and I also see that the FIA had made it perfectly clear before the race what the limit was. But the only question is: why didn’t drivers get penalised for the exact same thing in Abu Dhabi? Before qualifying it was made perfectly clear that you were not allowed to cross the white line on the exit of the final turn, and yet we saw drivers get away with it. Where does this harshness come from?

    What I enjoyed most were the post-race celebrations. Vettel doing donuts, Massa trying to do donuts as well, and Webber taking his helmet off. I realized something during those celebrations: the racing can make or break a race, but what really keeps me hooked on Formula 1 is emotions. The interaction between Alonso and Webber is something I will never forget, and so are Ferrari’s tributes to Felipe Massa.

  43. I would rate most of this season as a 6/10 ( I LIKE Vettel! But this is boring! We need SHOW, we need EXCITEMENT… like in 2012! And this was not the worst thing, the worst problem of F1 these days is the whole tyre managing! Whatever happened to RACING???).

    Why ? Because the second half was boring, because we still got the fake overtaking thing with DRS, because F1 is STILL 90% STRATEGY and only 10% race! The tyre managing needs to end, Iwant to see drivers at the limit again, fighting!

  44. I quite liked it, some good battles. Sad to see Mark go, but he’s not getting any quicker so the time is right. Thought Hamilton’s penalty was totally deserved, much like Spa 2011 when he drifted into KOB. Now I know he was opening up the corner, but he should have seen the other driver. If Di Resta isn’t on the 2014 grid but clowns like Maldonado and snails like Chilton are, I’ll be really sad. I’m exited by next year, but I want Di Resta and Hulkenberg to have good drives.

  45. Hands down the best race of the year. It had excitement, overtakes and a beautiful Webber podium. Gave it a 7, but wanted to give it a 7.5. Drawbacks that kept it from being a 8 were the absence of rain, Vettel’s dominance and the ridiculous penalties that Hamilton and Massa got. The latter wasn’t creating any danger by crossong the line (which is why the rule exists), while Hamilton’s crash was just a race incident, which can happen when you’re wheel to wheel at 300 km/h. A great closure for a pretty ****** season

  46. 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.

  47. 8?! Unbelievable, I live in Brazil and was out of home, and instead of playing the BRAZILIAN grand prix, the restaurants were on random soccer match.

  48. I think it was probably the best race since the summer break, but still not a classic. Mostly they have been dull, I felt 7 was suitable rating.

    About the Hamilton/Bottas clash, Finnish commentators made clear that it was Hamilton’s fault, but also that it wasn’t really worth of penalty. Not stating clearly why, perhaps due to Hamilton getting puncture so he lost time there, although of course he was the one who suffered less as Bottas was out of the race.

  49. 8.

    If the rumours are correct then the Mercedes engine will be the most powerful next year. Ross Brawn has said its looking good but who knows until testing.

    My money is on Lewis Hamilton for next year. i think he could have a very strong car underneith him and its time he won again, Yes i am a Lewis fan but i still think it would be nice to see the likes of williams win again.

  50. 5/10, very dull race, once Vettel got past Rosberg the race was done, Grosjean retired early so one less challenger for the top 3, weather forecast couldn’t have been less accurate, really needed some rain at some point to mix it up a bit and the Massa penalty was a joke, although he did deserve it, so I should call it a legitimate joke. There were a few good moments, Webber overtaking Alonso on the outside and Perez proving that Whitmarsh made a wrong decision and showing Button is overpaid.

  51. nmsi (@nmsi) said
    Thank god this season is over and may we have a someone else winning GP next season :P

    You’ll get your wish. They have just found a young hotshot driver named Assebanti Tetlev. I think he might be an Armenian.

  52. Thank goodness that’s over. Finger Boy demonstrated perfectly just how much he’s had in his pocket since Pirelli caved in by cruising past Rosberg as if he was going past a Marussia. Driving genius? Yeah, right.

    1. Rosberg had a wet setup.

  53. Really enjoyed it. 8. Would have been higher with a better battle for the lead, a longer battle between Hamilton and Massa and more vortices.

  54. fantastic last drive for Webber, sad to see him go after a good career. Bit of BS call from the Stewards to penalize Massa for crossing the white lines to the pit lane, but other than that. It was better than the past 8 races, where Vettel has beaten everyone by 30 seconds, or so

  55. One of the best races of a season, a solid 8. Some good fights and some genuinely exciting moments… just wish the rain had turned up, Webber had won and Bottas had grabbed enough points to beat Gutierrez.

  56. 6. First half was an 8, second half a 3. Rounded up for the post-race celebrations/goodbyes.

  57. Surprised at all the 8 and 9 ratings. Didn’t think it was that great a race. Virtually nothing happened after lap 1 when VET zoomed off into the sunset, nobody could get near him after that, even after a botched pitstop. The HAM – BOT incident I’m very surprised at, BOT was a lap down and should have stayed out of HAM’s way, instead of trying to fight him through the corner as if they were competing for the position. Ultimately it highlights the fragility of the tyres when just gently brushing together completely delaminates one and rips the other clean off the wheel. I would have classed this as a racing incident and in mitigation, HAM was effectively out of the race at that point, losing 30-40 seconds having to limp back to the pits on 3 tyres so the DT penalty was a bit unnecessary in my opinion.

    That was the only bit of excitement in an otherwise dull race.

    5/10

  58. I rated the race at a 5.5 rounded up to a 6, it was better than some recent Grand Prix but I still wouldn’t class it as a good race.

    From all the coverage and forecasts I was hoping it was going to be wet race but it wasn’t, and that disappointment probably affected my overall enjoyment of the race.

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