MOTORSPORT: Highs and lows of Abu Dhabi

Raikkonen returns Lotus to the top in F1

The Abu Dhabi Formula One-V8 Supercar double-header we had awaited so eagerly has raised some big questions.

1. Have all three drivers on an F1 podium ever driven as brilliantly as Kimi Raikkonen, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel did on the Yas Marina circuit? It may have happened before, but not in recent memory.

2. Is V8 Supercar’s international expansion sustainable? Judging by the weekend’s spectator and TV numbers it is extremely doubtful.

3. Might the V8 Supercar Championship be decided at Winton in rural northern Victoria in the middle of this month rather than on the streets of Sydney’s Homebush at the start of December? Well, yes, if Jamie Whincup – who created more history in Abu Dhabi – outscores Mark Winterbottom by five points at Winton.

The Lotus name is back in F1’s winner’s circle after 25 years, although it is a very different marque to that made famous and so successful by late founder Colin Chapman, arguably the greatest designer-engineer in F1 history.

Kimi Raikkonen has delivered the victory the Lotus-Renault team had been threatening most of the season.

It is the sixth type of car to have won a Grand Prix this year and Raikkonen is the eighth victorious driver.

It was the Finnish 2007 world champion’s 19th GP win and the first of his comeback season after two years away in the World Rally Championship,

The ironies were that, having become a GP winner with McLaren a decade ago, he took the lead when the McLaren-Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton that had set the pace throughout the weekend dropped out with a loss of fuel pressure, and “The Iceman” and his Lotus withstood the pressure from Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari – the team for which Raikkonen won his world title, and which happily paid him out of his contract three years ago to make way for Alonso.

Apart from the sheer majesty of his driving in Abu Dhabi, Raikkonen’s dismissiveness over his radio to instructions from the pit wall was hugely entertaining. This was a man who knew how to win and he didn’t need or welcome any advice.

As always Raikkonen had little to say of his success. His critics on that score may lament that he is back on the top step of the podium but he has only emphasised that most important in motor racing is winning.  

Second-placed Alonso’s performance was precisely what we have come to expect of him. Having qualified seventh and been promoted to sixth on the grid, he got away well, soon made a bold pass on Mark Webber. Pressing on relentlessly it seemed he may have caught Raikkonen in the last couple of laps but the Ferrari was not up to it. Nobody could have done more with it than Alonso though and he was spent after the effort.

Vettel easily could have lost his championship when relegated to the back of the field for stopping on his cool-down lap at the end of qualifying with insufficient fuel and then opting to start from the pitlane after the rest of the field had left the grid.

It became a race of endless drama for Vettel, twice having to make his way through the pack, but to turn it into a podium was a fairytale.

It meant that, instead of seeing Alonso regain the championship lead, the gap between these two modern maestros was only narrowed from 13 to 10 points, with two races remaining – the new American Grand Prix in Austin, Texas, in a fortnight, and then the Brazilian GP at Interlagos.

F1 racing has reached new heights in each of the past three years and what a finish this could prove to be.

One that got away from Webber

Abu Dhabi was a horror race for Mark Webber, failing to finish after outqualifying teammate Vettel and starting on the front row.

By rights it should have been Webber picking up the victory after Hamilton’s retirement.

But, in Webber’s words, “nothing really worked out” after yet another poor start.

“I think we were strong, but we never got free air and it’s difficult here with traffic,” he said.

“Ultimately, in the incident that ended my race, I tried to go down the inside when the cars ahead made contact, I thought there was an opportunity, but then (Romain) Grosjean (Raikkonen’s Lotus teammate) made contact with my car and that was the end for us.

“Whatever we tried today, it just wasn’t working out.”

Webber’s 23-race finishing streak ended when he was taken out in a four-car scrap for fifth place on lap 37, his suspension broken when Grosjean veered across the track and hit his right rear wheel.

“I probably should have hung back a bit,” Webber said.

“It was getting pretty heated and it’s not unusual for that lot to hit each other, but I thought there was an opportunity to pass all of them down the inside - and had it not been for Grosjean moving across to avoid Perez it would have worked.

“There were quite a few incidents (in this race). (Pastor) Maldonado and I made contact at one point and there were lots of other incidents.

“This place isn’t my favourite track, but a golfer can’t only play par threes and I have to perform everywhere too.

“I was pleased with how I drove, particularly in qualifying, but it wasn’t to be in the race. That’s racing.”

Ricciardo happy to be in points again

Daniel Ricciardo’s 10th place, ahead of Michael Schumacher’s Mercedes and Toro Rosso teammate Jean-Eric Vergne, was the fourth time in five races, the fifth time in seven races and the sixth time this year the young West Australian has finished in the points.

While he still has less points for the season than Vergne he continues to outqualify the Frenchman.

“I got a good start, although I had to avoid an accident shortly after,” Ricciardo said.

“My initial pace was quite good and I could stay with Schumacher who was on the prime (tyre compound), while like most people I was on the option, but I could not get close enough to pass him.

“Then, in my second stint, on the prime, I don’t feel we got up to speed quickly enough and I was struggling a bit with braking.

“When the second safety car came out we pitted again, which was a good call - originally we had considered a one-stop (strategy) - took on new options and the fresher tyre meant I had a better pace towards the end.

“I’m pretty happy with 10th as I was not expecting points after the early part of the race, but I never gave up and kept fighting to the end.

“In the final laps, Schumacher was closing in on me again, but I held him off.

“Vettel behind me during the safety car? I looked in my mirrors and saw him go through one of the polystyrene boards, but I have no idea what happened.”

Ricciardo was focused on keeping his tyres and brakes up to temperature when Vettel had to swerve to avoid him, hit the DRS (drag reduction system) marker on the side of the track and had pit for a new front wing, dropping him to the tail of the field for the second time.

Ricciardo said was the responsibility of the driver behind to be aware of what he was doing and that he was not driving unusually under the safety car.

“I have to look (at a replay) and see if I did anything wrong, but he (Vettel) should be watching me,” Ricciardo said.

"Everyone was doing the same thing - it's exactly what you do under the safety car."

Vettel, initially flustered by the incident, admitted later he was caught out.

“I was surprised … maybe I should have paid more attention, but I went to the right and I wasn't very lucky that there was the DRS board, which I took head-on."

Formula One World Championship driver standings after 18 of 20 rounds - 1. Sebastian Vettel (Germany, Red Bull-Renault) 255 points; 2. Fernando Alonso (Spain, Ferrari) 245; 3. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland, Lotus-Renault) 198; 4. Mark Webber (Australia, Red Bull-Renault) 167; 5. Lewis Hamilton (Great Britain, McLaren-Mercedes) 165; 6. Jenson Button (GB, McLaren-Mercedes) 153; 7. Felipe Massa (Brazil, Ferrari) 95; 8. Nico Rosberg (Germany, Mercedes) 93; 9.  Romain Grosjean (France, Lotus-Renault) 90; 10. Sergio Perez (Mexico, Sauber-Ferrari) 66; 11. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan, Sauber-Ferrari) 58; 12. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany, Force India-Mercedes) 49; 13. Paul Di Resta (GB, Force India-Mercedes) 46; 14. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela, Williams-Renault) 43; 15. Michael Schumacher (Germany, Mercedes) 43; 16. Bruno Senna (Brazil, Williams-Renault) 30; 17. Jean-Eric Vergne (France, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 12; 18. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia, Toro Rosso-Ferrari) 10.

F1 constructors’ championship - 1. Red Bull-Renault 422 points; 2. Ferrari 340; 3. McLaren - Mercedes 318; 4. Lotus-Renault 288; 5. Mercedes 136; 6. Sauber-Ferrari 124; 7. Force India-Mercedes 95; 8. Williams-Renault 73; 9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari 22.

Whincup almost a certainty, overseas races not so

Jamie Whincup went to Abu Dhabi with a 218-point lead in the V8 Supercar Championship. He’s coming home with a 296-point advantage.

Will Davison had pole position for all three 12-lap sprints on the same Yas Marina circuit that the F1 cars raced on, yet Whincup and his Holden beat Davison and his Ford in every race.

Stone Brothers Fords filled the third podium spot each time – Shane Van Gisbergen twice and Tim Slade the other.

Whincup’s only serious challenger to a fourth title in five years with Triple Eight Race Engineering, Ford Performance Racing’s Mark Winterbottom, finished sixth, fourth and fifth over the two days.
Whincup’s teammate Craig Lowndes dropped further behind but remains ahead of FPR’s Davison.

Not only did Whincup extend his fantastic record in the Middle East and climb higher among list of Australian touring car greats, his Commodore has surpassed Marcos Ambrose’s Falcon of almost a decade ago as the most successful in V8 Supercar racing with 27 wins – 11 of them this year.

It also delivered the 100th victory for Holden’s VE model Commodore – 16 of them this season, securing another manufacturer crown for the General.

Karl Reindler escaped a fire for the second time in two years after his Holden hit the similar, spun and stationary car of Jason Bright.

That provided some drama, and four laps under the safety car, but – contrary to the high hopes before the weekend – much of the V8 Supercar racing in Abu Dhabi was processional.

Two previous visits to the emirate before this unique combination of F1 World Championship and V8 Supercar Championship rounds had not made the Holden and Ford show a drawcard.

Attendance at the circuit for the three sprints was dreadful. As Whincup waved on his slowdown laps there was cause to wonder whether there were as many spectators as fingers on his hand – or whether as many saw the shakedown of Nissan’s 2013 Altima in a closed session at Melbourne’s Calder Park last Friday.

Abu Dhabi’s money has made it compelling for the V8s to go there, although they failed as a standalone event and now there has been this past weekend’s embarrassment.

Indications are that the TV audience at home was poor too – an average of just 177,000 in the five major state capitals on 7mate on Saturday and 162,000 on Sunday, although the replay of Saturday’s races 24 and 25 on Seven on Sunday afternoon captured 262,000.

It can hardly be good for either Abu Dhabi or V8 Supercars that this continues.

Next year’s Abu Dhabi round is scheduled just a week after the Gold Coast 600. While teams may have more cars built under the new Car of the Future rules, a repeat of the carnage seen at Surfers Paradise last month would still make the logistics a nightmare.

Bahrain has come and gone in the V8 Supercar Championship. So too Shanghai, which lasted just one season.

Next year the New Zealand round returns to a Pukekohe after the Hamilton disaster.

A new round is scheduled at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas. Apart from whether Australian V8 Supercars, admittedly including two new types (Nissan and AMG Mercedes-Benz), will entice many Americans, a cloud over the Austin venue is what happens if the venue does not receive the $25 million it is counting on if this month’s F1 race there does not produce the economic benefits what we might call Texas Major Events Corp wants to see before writing the cheque.

Recently-departed V8 Supercar executive chairman Tony Cochrane was still proclaiming at the weekend that the championship will grow to 18 rounds by 2015, with up to six outside Australia.
It is becoming obvious that retiring MotoGP superstar Casey Stoner is central to V8 Supercar’s growth plans.

Undoubtedly Red Bull will be happy to fund Roland Dane’s Triple Eight to bring Stoner through the development series to the “main game”.

Stoner is a wizard on two wheels but the question that must be asked, including by himself, is what chance is he of being more successful on four wheels than Wayne Gardner almost two decades ago and, even more so, Troy Bayliss just a couple of years ago?

V8 Supercar Championship points after 26 races – 1. Jamie Whincup (Holden) 3360; 2. Mark Winterbottom (Ford) 3064; 3. Craig Lowndes (H) 2971; 4. Will Davison (F) 2779; 5. Shane Van Gisbergen (F) 2434; 6. Tim Slade (F) 2319; 7. Garth Tander (H) 2232; 8. Lee Holdsworth (F) 1913; 9. David Reynolds (F) 1875; 10. Fabian Coulthard (H) 1843; 11. James Courtney (H) 1811; 12. Russell Ingall (H) 1738.

Chev notches up 700 NASCAR wins

Chevrolet chalked up its 700th NASCAR Cup race win today as its five-time champion Jimmie Johnson edged Dodge driver Brad Keselowski in the third last race of the series at Texas Motor Speedway.

Johnson’s 60th career win stretched his lead over Keselowski in The Chase for the title from two to seven points.

It was the second race in a row Johnson had won from pole position.

Behind the top two came Kyle Busch, Matt Kenseth, reigning champion Tony Stewart – only his second top five-finish of this Chase, after running as low as 25th - and Clint Bowyer, while Australia’s Marcos Ambrose crashed his Ford but was classified 32nd.

Thanks to nascar.com’s excellent Notes-n-Nuggets at the bottom of its main report after each race we can add that Johnson is the eighth driver in NASCAR history to reach 60 wins and he has now had back-to-back wins 12 times – seven times in The Chase, the playoffs” over the final rounds each season.

Hendrick Motorsport’s Johnson now has five wins this year – equal most in the series with Penske’s Keselowski.

It is the seventh season in which Johnson has had five wins.

Today’s victory was his 17th on a 1.5-mile (2.4km) oval – the most of all NASCAR drivers.

It was his 22nd Chase win – another record.

It was Chevrolet’s 14th win in 34 rounds so far this season – and the 11th of the year for Hendrick Motorsports.

NASCAR Sprint Cup standings after 34 of 36 rounds - 1. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) 2339 points; 2. Brad Keselowski (Dodge) 2332; 3. Clint Bowyer  (Toyota) 2303; 4. Kasey Kahne (Chevrolet) 2281; 5. Matt Kenseth (Ford) 2267;  6. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet) 2267; 7. Denny Hamlin (Toyota) 2266; 8. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) 2259; 9. Martin Truex Junior (Toyota) 2259; 10. Greg Biffle (Ford) 2256; 11. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet) 2238; 12. Dale Earnhardt Junior (Chevrolet) 2188. Australia’s Marcos Ambrose (Ford) is 18th on 892 points.

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