Brazilian Grand Prix

Interlagos always throws up drama and Sunday’s race was no different. There was much to look forward to, but it was also a sad day in many respects as Webber entered the final race of his career and the wonderful V8 engine era would come to an end. It was a somber mood actually, Cosworth leave Formula 1 and Renault leave Williams at the end of this season, plus everyone would miss the spectacular V8s. The tension and excitement was building as the cars took to the grid for the last time in 2013, rain was expected but yet to arrive.

2013 Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix.

As the five lights went out for the final time, Sebastian Vettel didn’t have the best getaway and was jumped into the first turn by Nico Rosberg. Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both got the jump on Mark Webber into the first turn. Felipe Massa in the other Ferrari had an electric start and was on the move. It was a very tidy start to the race with no contact, but there was plenty of battles going on. Rosberg was leading but Vettel was chasing hard. The Mercedes had more downforce for the wet weather, but of course it wasn’t raining meaning the Red Bull was much faster. At the beginning of the second lap the inevitable happened and the Red Bull eased passed Rosberg’s Mercedes and immediately began to pull away. Meanwhile Webber was continually looking for a way past Hamilton, it was fantastic wheel to wheel racing and he made a splendid move on the outside of turn six and moved up into fourth place.

Romain Grosjean was hoping for another excellent performance in Brazil, but just three laps into the race his Renault blew up in spectacular fashion. An enormous plume of white smoke was pouring from his car, making it difficult for those behind to see through the final part of the lap. It was a real shame for the Frenchman after a tremendous run of form. He was clearly disappointed, but happy of a brilliant job this season. “At this point in the season I think everyone needs a holiday, but apparently my engine decided to go on vacation early! Of course, that's not the way we wanted to end the year but it's been a fantastic season for the team and I think we can be really proud of what we've achieved together”.

Nico Rosberg was coming under increasing pressure from Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari made the move rather easily into turn four as the Mercedes didn’t have any straight line speed to fight back with. Mark Webber was continuing to fight back from his earlier bad start, having already passed Hamilton he was now setting his sights on Rosberg too, the German was in danger of loosing another position. Webber did get the move done on the outside of turn one and moved up into the top three. The Australian was clearly enjoying his final race, and he has said before how much he enjoys this Interlagos Circuit, and he has won here twice in the past.

The Mercedes team had a problem on their hands, Rosberg was slow and beginning to hold up teammate Lewis Hamilton who had Felipe Massa right behind. On the eleventh lap of the race the team had no choice but to intervene. The positions switched around as Hamilton was in danger of being passed by Massa. The Brazilian who was pressuring Rosberg as he was complaining to the team about the aero balance, Massa made the move easily into turn four and moved up into fifth position. Some teams decided to keep their drivers out on track due to a rick of showers, the weather was beginning to play a part in the race.

The pitstops eventually came around for the front runners, Alonso and Hamilton both pitted together as the rain was yet to arrive. Jenson Button was having a good race in the McLaren, he made up positions from the start and pulled a great overtake on Ricciardo, Maldonado and Gutierrez. Mark Webber pitted the lap after Alonso but it was a slow stop, there was a problem on the rear left wheel. He was racing against Alonso and lost the position thanks to that problem which cost him about two seconds. He rejoined the track just behind the Ferrari, but was soon looking for a way back past. He got the move done into turn one blasting on the inside of Alonso and nailing second position once again. It may have been his final race in Formula 1, but Mark Webber was still able to challenge the best drivers with some outstanding overtakes and supreme confidence.

Felipe Massa was having a great race in the other Ferrari, but was given a drive through penalty for crossing the white line on the pit lane entry. The Brazilian was clearly outraged at the decision, he was heard shouting in anger on the team radio, “Unbelievable FIA, Unbelievable, unacceptable”. This decision was potentially crucial to the constructors championship as Ferrari and Mercedes were in a close fight for second position. But I was analysing the stewards decision after the race, it was correct as Massa crossed the striped section between the pit lane and the circuit. Everyone crosses the white line as thats the racing line, but the cross hatching was out of bounds and that is what the stewards based their decision on. Massa rejoined just behind the McLaren of Sergio Perez in eighth position.

The rain was beginning to threaten once again, Nico Rosberg was recovering from his earlier troubles and beginning to catch Jenson Button in fifth position, he was consistently faster in the Mercedes. There was a slight drizzle of rain around parts of the circuit and the teams were ferociously trying to second guess the weather. Disaster struck for Williams however as Valtteri Bottas was pirouetting at turn four with only three wheels on the car. It was a dramatic moment in the race and Lewis Hamilton was seen limping with a flailing rear right tyre. Red Bull expected a Safety Car and pitted Vettel, but the German arrived to his pit box to find the team weren’t ready for him. The team were scrambling to get the right tyres and by this time Webber was right behind also waiting for a new set of tyres. It was chaos down at the Red Bull garage and Vettel’s pit stop was 13 seconds. The pit lane was frantic, everyone expecting the Safety Car to be called out on track.

Hamilton made it back to the pits for new tyres but looking at the incident again, it was quite a bizarre moment. Valtteri Bottas was trying to unlap himself from the Mercedes and attempted a move on the outside of turn four. It was ambitious to say the least especially against Lewis Hamilton who did give room. Bottas had room to spare but the two made contact sending the Williams spinning into the run off area. It was not the brightest overtake from Bottas and really he should not have attempted the overtake, he was a lap down and on the outside of the corner it wasn’t really going to work out. Hamilton received a drive through penalty for the incident which in my view was harsh, I thought it was a racing incident.

The stewards were having a busy afternoon at Interlagos and now Van Der Garde was handed a drive through penalty for ignoring blue flags. Again it was critical decision by the stewards as Marussia and Caterham are locked in battle at the bottom of the constructors championship which means a huge difference in prize money at the end of the season. Things didn’t improve for Caterham either after Charls Pic suffered a suspension failure and was out of the race. The Frenchman parked the car in rather an awkward position at the top of turn six, meaning the marshals struggled to push the car up the hill to safety.

In the closing stages of the race the rain started falling, but it wasn’t enough to affect the drivers and it certainly wasn’t enough to affect Sebastian Vettel who won the Brazilian Grand Prix with ease. It was nine in a row for the Red Bull driver, thirteen wins in the season and yet another record to add to his tally. Mark Webber ended his career in Formula 1 with a well deserved second place with Fernando Alonso finishing a well deserved third.

Nico Rosberg finished fifth place which was crucial as Mercedes did secure second place in the constructors championship ahead of Ferrari. Marussia celebrated as they beat Caterham in the championship and Max Chilton became the only rookie driver in Formula 1 to complete every race of the season, a fantastic achievement. It was celebrations all round, farewell to Mark Webber and after 147 races in Formula 1, farewell to the wonderful V8 engines.

2013 Brazilian Grand Prix Result.

1. S Vettel – Red Bull
2. M Webber – Red Bull
3. F Alonso – Ferrari
4. J Button – McLaren
5. N Rosberg – Mercedes
6. S Perez – McLaren
7. F Massa – Ferrari
8. N Hulkenberg – Sauber
9. L Hamilton – Mercedes
10. D Ricciardo – Toro Rosso
11. P Di Resta – Force India
12. E Gutierrez – Sauber
13. A Sutil – Force India
14. H Kovalainen – Lotus
15. J Vergne – Toro Rosso
16. P Maldonado – Williams
17. J Bianchi – Marussia
18. G Van Der Garde – Caterham
19. M Chilton – Marussia

Not Classified: C Pic – Caterham. V Bottas – Williams. R Grosjean – Lotus.

What a season it has been, Vettel may have dominated the second half of the year, but there has still been some outstanding race craft. That is sadly it for this year, I want to thank all of my fantastic followers on Twitter throughout the season.

I want to thank Phil Stevens and Kevin Bennett here at Driving For Pleasure for their support, this year has been fantastic and I hope you have all enjoyed our Formula 1 coverage in 2013. It isn’t quite over yet, I’ll have season review special coming soon. We also want to hear your thoughts on this year, Tweet us Drivin4Pleasure and TomWilkinsonF1 to tell us what you thought to F1 2013.

I’m Tom Wilkinson and this has been Formula 1 online at DrivingForPleasure.co.uk Look out for our 2013 season roundup coming soon.