If there is still anyone who does not know Bernie Ecclestone, this joke of his is worth a thousand speeches: the F1 boss loves jokes and provocation almost as much as money. And he jokes about everything, even about rather sensitive topics in a world where just under 900.000.000 euros are spent to race
two drivers race…
"Alonso calls Vettel to Ferrari? It's the right way to slow him down.. Right now Sebastian prefers the bull to the prancing horse on his single-seater".
It all stems from rumours in Spanish newspapers that Fernando has suggested to Vettel that he should switch to Ferrari for a magical dream team. So it was on the official F1 website that Ecclestone decided to comment on the affair. He was also joined, sarcastic as usual, by Red Bull team principal Christian Horner:
"If I had any say in the matter, I would suggest he go to Ferrari just before his retirement. We are proud to have him with us and hope to have many more successes in the years to come".
But while Ecclestone certainly gets his jokes right, the same cannot be said of Christian Horner who misses no opportunity to make one gaffe after another. Like when, for Ecclestone's last birthday, he gave him a Red Bull-branded carbon walker. Jokes aside, Ecclestone obviously does not believe that in the coming Grands Prix Vettel wants to race to defend his title:
"He doesn't need to, even if he decided to go on holiday for the rest of the season there would be no one able to take the World Championship win away from him".
In fact, just one point separates the German driver from his second world title, an achievement that is no longer a surprise to either Horner or Ecclestone:
"He doesn't need it, even if he decided to go on holiday for the rest of the season there would be no one able to take the World Championship victory away from him".
Only one point separates the German driver from his second world title, an achievement that is no longer a surprise to Horner or Ecclestone:
"And he is continuing to improve as his experience increases…".
Says the Red Bull team principal.
"And there is no end to his rise, he still has a lot to give".
Adds Ecclestone.
"I was particularly impressed by the way he showed the critics which way the wind blows. All those who have argued that he is not a real driver but someone who prefers to put points on the board must have crinkled their eyes after seeing his courageous overtaking of Alonso at Monza".
Horner again emphasises.
The two also talked about Red Bull Racing's second driver, the Australian Mark Webber.
"He still has enough motivation to beat anyone, except Sebastian".
Says Christian Horner.
"That Vettel is better than Webber we now know. But who else is better than Webber?"
Bernie Ecclestone asks. The classification says Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso.
“But I think it's not fair to demean Mark. Driving alongside Sebastian, the best driver on the grid, is not an easy task”.
Morale is far from high at Ferrari, after the Singapore Grand Prix, another anonymous race in a World Championship with few lights and many shadows for the team from Maranello, but heating up the atmosphere is the controversy triggered by Lewis Hamilton, called the race-destroyer by Rob Smedley, Felipe Massa's engineer, just a lap before the collision between the Brazilian and the McLaren Briton.
"While it is true that Felipe Massa's track engineer got caught up in the heat of the moment and used a word (destroy) that was certainly not happy but in any case devoid of any malicious intent - one can hardly believe that Rob was born in Middlesbrough - it is equally true that that phrase was said to Felipe when he was at the exit of Turn 5 on lap 11 of the race, the one that would have ended with the simultaneous pit-stop of the Brazilian and Hamilton: so nothing to do with the contact between Felipe himself and Lewis on the next lap. It would not have taken much to avoid such a misunderstanding but these things happen in a hectic world like Formula 1. In the end, as the Great Bard would say, much ado about nothing".
Even Felipe Massa himself plays down the incident, surprised by so much fuss:
“I've been told that there was a bit of a fuss following a phrase said by my track engineer on the radio during the race: apart from the fact that I didn't really remember what Rob had said. I don't think there's any point now in making controversy and trying to link this episode with the subsequent contact with Hamilton. They are two separate facts and have nothing to do with each other. I am sure that with Lewis we will have a chance to clarify and put an end to this whole thing, as is only right between two drivers. What happens on track has to stay there”.
For Felipe, the Marina Bay race is a thing of the past, his thoughts are now focused on Suzuka:
“As I said last week, the Singapore Grand Prix is now archived and there is no reason to talk any more about a weekend that was certainly not positive for me. Better to concentrate on the next race weekend, the one in Japan, and hope that it starts well and ends without any nasty surprises”.
Two arguing and one enjoying. Prisoner of one of the most banal schemes of mankind, quarrelsome and logorrheic, as usual, the 2011 version of Formula 1 is heading to Japan for what could be the last real stage of the season, before Sebastian Vettel decides to score his point and mathematically win the world title, the second consecutive of his meteoric career. If the one who enjoys it, as you will have realised, is therefore the German driver of Red Bull Racing, the two who quarrel are Ferrari and McLaren. Having nothing sensible to say on the track, they take advantage of it to talk outside, in the newspapers, on websites, on TV. The controversy was triggered, with some skill, it must be admitted, by the British media. When, all of a sudden, from the nebula of the radio conversations that take place during races, someone picked out the right one: namely the one in which, during the Singapore race, Rob Smedley, Felipe Massa's track engineer, let loose with a spectacular:
"Destroy his race as much as we can. Come on, boy".
Now, instead of observing how much beauty, how much agonism, how much anger there was in that sentence, instead of reading in it all the humanity contained in that mixture of impotence and anger of an engineer in a red suit who, standing in front of a microphone, tries to spur his driver to pull out his claws and react to his rival's bluster; Instead, in short, of understanding Smedley's state of mind and the profound sportsmanship of that incitement, the British media alluded, maliciously, to a kind of attempted crashgate, a voluntary accident, organised, who knows why, by Ferrari against McLaren. Something like:
"Throw him out, that one".
A controversy so vague as to resemble more of a provocation. But more than a few took the bait, as Ferrari, faced with the mounting scandal, was forced to intervene. First through its website. And then Felipe Massa himself intervened to put an end to the controversy. In Singapore he had already sought, albeit in an unorthodox manner, an initial clarification with Hamilton:
"I'm sure we will talk to Lewis soon and clear everything up, as is right between two drivers. Things that happen on the track have to stay there".
In short, platitudes. Waiting for Sebastian Vettel to win a point. Fernando Alonso can no longer fight for the title, but the Spaniard is still pursuing important goals. And so he looks forward with great expectations to the Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled for Sunday 9 October 2011.
"I have won the Japanese Grand Prix twice, once at Fuji and once here at Suzuka. The best success was the latter, but I'm sure that nobody from my current team shares this judgement. They are right because I can understand the sorrow they felt when Michael was forced to retire while leading ahead of me: it hurts to see the car stop because of a breakage. After all, the same thing had happened to me a few weeks earlier at Monza: Formula 1 can be cruel at times".
Then the talk turns to the present and the first impact with the Land of the Rising Sun.
"I arrived this morning and found rain to greet me then in the afternoon on the track at Suzuka. The first thought I had was: better today than Saturday or Sunday. Because this year it's not that the wet track has brought us much luck: I'm thinking above all of Canada, a race where we really had what it took to win, but which ended up being the only zero in this championship. The forecast for the weekend is pretty good, at least for the first few days, while for Sunday there is a growing threat of rain. Besides, you never know in these parts: for example, last year we were forced to hold qualifying on Sunday morning after a storm the day before had made the track impassable".
And to warlike intentions.
“If it is true that by now we are out, even arithmetically, of the fight for the individual title, there is still enough motivation to tackle these last five races in the right way. First of all there is second place in the drivers' championship: considering how the season has gone so far, dominated by a driver like Vettel who has only once missed out on the podium, it would be a really good result, for me and for the team. There will be four of us going for it - apart from me there is Webber and the McLaren duo - and I think we will have to wait until Interlagos to have a verdict. It's clear that if we look at the performance of the last few races it won't be easy because my direct rivals seem to have something more from a car performance point of view, but that doesn't mean I consider myself hopeless, far from it. We know we have to do everything perfectly if we want to hit the target, but we will try until the end. Then there is also second place in the Constructors' World Championship, an even more difficult objective, because the gap to McLaren is considerable, but it is not impossible. Finally, there is the desire, mine and the whole team's, to close in the best possible way a season that has not gone the way we wanted. Hitting at least one win would be the best: the important thing would be to be always fighting for the podium”.
However, Alonso is not forgetting the people of Japan, who were hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami last spring.
"After the race on Sunday I will go to Tokyo, a city I like very much. Together with Felipe we will attend an event organised by Ferrari Japan to launch the 458 Spider. It will also be an opportunity to auction off the nose of the 150th Italia that was used in the Australian Grand Prix, the one decorated with the message of solidarity for the victims of the earthquake that struck this country a few weeks before the race took place. I know that Ferrari Japan is involved in a series of charitable initiatives aimed at raising funds for the construction of a school in Ishinomaki, one of the places most affected. On Saturday we will meet some kids from that town here at the circuit: it will be a nice moment, because we will be able to do something important for them".
Looking ahead, with confidence, after a year below expectations. While Sebastian Vettel is on the verge of winning the Formula One World Championship dominated far and wide by Red Bull Racing, Ferrari president Luca Montezemolo, when asked about the prospects of the Maranello tam, turns his gaze to 2012, as if to sweep away the disappointments of the championship still in progress, with five rounds to go.
"We hope for next year. We have to believe in it. We have to be optimistic. And we work day and night for this".
This was the hope expressed by the president, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of his speech before the audience of Anci mayors in Brindisi. Meanwhile, at Suzuka Sebastian Vettel is about to get his hands on his second consecutive world title. Says the German driver, on the eve of the Japanese Grand Prix:
"Right now I try not to think about the championship, I want to focus on the race and then we will see if I will be in a good position or not. Having said that, I agree that the World Championship is clearly different from last year, where I had to give everything to keep the chance of winning. This season I am in a strong position, I have to keep in mind that I always have to do well. Whether it's ten points or one point makes no difference, we have to win".
Then the young World Champion focused on the race at the Japanese track.
"I can't wait to be on track, especially in this very special and difficult Grand Prix. It is great to be here, we have done very well in the last two seasons (pole and win, ed) and we will try to do the same this year. I have no reason to have a different approach this weekend, the aim is always to give my best and try to get the best possible result. There will always be a way to celebrate, even if I finish tenth, but it won't taste the same".
There is still a frost between Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton after the controversy following the incident at the Singapore Grand Prix. The two drivers meet again at Suzuka. The Brazilian Ferrari driver explains, alluding to the unfriendly pat on his colleague's shoulder during an interview:
"I didn't talk to Hamilton, he didn't want to talk to me at that time in Singapore and I was even more disappointed because, if I had been him, I would have wanted to apologise, but since he didn't want to talk, I did what I did. Now I have no reason to talk to him about this, now the matter is closed, as far as I am concerned. But if he wants to come and talk for me that's fine".
The Englishman's reply was not long in coming:
"I really have nothing to say about it. I'm only focused on this weekend and it's a shame that we are still talking about the previous race, but that's the way it goes. I've moved on, it's all in the past for me".
Furthermore, regarding the issue of Rob Smedley's comments made before the Singapore collision, Felipe Massa adds:
"If you listen to everyone's messages on the radio you always hear strange things. Rob was just trying to spur me on, he certainly wasn't suggesting that I ruin the race for another driver".
As for the team's goal of finishing second in both championships, Felipe believes we have to evaluate race after race.
"We will try to finish as high as possible in these races, we will try to win and always be competitive".
Fernando Alonso does not lose heart, despite the fact that the world title is now lost.
"I always feel motivated because when you are a Formula 1 driver it means you are a competitive person. I want to win and I want to start from pole position. I know it might not be possible at the moment, given our current level of performance, but the hope is that it is always possible. For the remaining five races we will try to do our best".
As for the remaining targets, the Oviedo driver prioritises the team.
"For the championship I think the most important thing is to get McLaren second place in the Constructors' World Championship".
Jenson Button and McLaren Mercedes renew their marriage. The Woking team announces that the British driver, World Champion in 2009, has signed a new multi-year contract, without specifying the duration.
"I have never felt so at home as at McLaren".
The British driver reiterates his satisfaction with the understanding reached with his team:
"I have won four of the biggest races of my life here (Australia and China in 2010, Canada and Hungary this season, ed.), I am second in the Drivers' World Championship and I feel I am driving better than ever. These are results that can only be achieved with the right level of support and I firmly believe that the passion and will to win is stronger at McLaren than at any other team. I have never made a secret of my ambitions and I am absolutely convinced that this is the place where I can achieve my goals. We know how to win here".
Lewis Hamilton, his team-mate, is also delighted with the news:
"It is great news that Jenson has chosen to stay with us. He has been a great person and a real team man from the moment he joined the team. He and I are hungry and ambitious".
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principal, is of the same opinion:
"I am proud. Jenson is one of the most capable and respected drivers we have ever had and I am therefore delighted that he will continue to work with us. I think he and Lewis are better than anyone else and their words confirm that there is mutual respect and trust between them. Once again they prove what we as a team have always known: McLaren has the best pair of drivers in Formula 1".
While Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis will be the new engineers at Mercedes. If the ex-Ferrari technician the rumours of his passage to Ross Brawn's team had already circulated and the announcement was practically expected, the surprise involves the Englishman, at Hispania since March 2010. Willis will join Mercedes from 17 October 2011 and will hold the role of technology director for the team; specifically, he will be responsible for aerodynamics, control systems and simulation functions. Costa, on the other hand, will be the director of engineering, responsible for projects and developments from 1 December 2011. Both will report to Bob Bell, technical director. On Friday, 7 October 2011, Jenson Button sets the fastest time in the first free practice session, ahead of his team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Sebastian Vettel, on the other hand, is the protagonist of a track exit at Degner, without suffering any physical consequences. In the afternoon the two McLaren-Mercedes drivers monopolised the first two places in the time classification already in the early stages of the second session. But later both Fernando Alonso in a Ferrari and Mark Webber in a RBR-Renault managed to improve on the times of the two British drivers. Halfway through the session Rubens Barrichello ends up in the barriers at Degner corner, and shortly afterwards Jenson Button sets the fastest time. In the final part the teams try soft tyres to simulate a long run session. Vitantonio Liuzzi only runs two laps, before being forced to stop due to a water pressure problem. Michael Schumacher is fined €5.000 for overtaking the lane marker when entering the pit lane. As mentioned, in the first session Vettel had been involved in an accident at Degner 2, fortunately without consequences.
At the end of practice, the German Red Bull Racing driver said:
"The accident? It was a nice shock, it served as a wake-up call for the weekend. It wasn't a big mistake, but at that moment I wasn't 100% awake and mistakes around here risk paying dearly for them. I went off the track and tried to slow down, but I still hit the guards. The impact wasn't violent, but I did some damage to the car so it wasn't the best".
For his part, Fernando Alonso said:
"This year we have seen a lot of ups and downs from all the teams, with the exception of only Red Bull, depending on the track we were on so you shouldn't be that surprised if today we seem to have gone better than Singapore. We hope we can fight with McLaren and Red Bull but we know it won't be easy. What we can say is that today's feeling is a little more encouraging than the previous race".
Felipe Massa is also quite satisfied:
"All in all, it was a good day. Compared to many other Fridays this year, the first sensations are better. The car behaved quite well but it's also true that we won't know where we are in relation to the others until tomorrow afternoon".
Everyone is crazy for Vettel. In Germany, where cheering, passion and the invasion of youngsters at the kart track are returning to those of Michael Schumacher's heyday, and in Japan, where Sebastian may not be very glamorous, for the fashion experts, but at Suzuka he can't drive a metre without the ever-present request for an autograph or souvenir photo. Everyone is crazy about this young record devourer and his second announced rainbow title (he is one point away, a paltry tenth place, but everyone takes his umpteenth victory for granted), only he, superstitious but also an obsessive lover of the low profile, seems to want to give the tiny step he is missing the meaning of the feat. In the meantime, he had a little thrill in the last minutes of the first free practice session, with an off-track and a touch on the barriers. He was unharmed, with little damage to his car (the mechanics only had to change the front wing), but what was striking was his comment, halfway between ironic and knowing. Immediately he tried to be serious:
"Have you seen that nothing is decided yet? If it had happened in the race, goodbye title party".
But then, laughing, he says:
"Let's say that this unexpected event served to remind me that I have to stay awake, concentrated, that you can never get anything wrong. I was asleep in the car, maybe it was the jet lag, the accident brought me back to my senses. And now I'm tense again".
Woe betide him if he gets distracted, that is his motoring philosophy, even though on Saturday, with the car he has, he might as well race with one arm tied. But Vettel is the driver who never makes mistakes and for this reason, even yesterday, he got a barrage of compliments from his slightly envious colleagues. The one who solemnly crowned him was Schumacher, years ago the idol, now the somewhat unwieldy past. Says Michael Schumacher:
"I am proud of his achievements. He has always considered me a master, I can say that he is my worthy heir. Above all, I am pleased that his victories were born in the wake of what I managed to cause in Germany. I used to win and the guys would spill over into the kart tracks, try to imitate me. He had talent and succeeded more than anyone else".
He brought back an irrepressible enthusiasm among the Germans. On Sunday, great celebrations are announced throughout Germany for the precocious champion (at the age of 24, no one has won two world titles, the second topped by triumphs in nine Grands Prix) who, after mocking Alonso and Ferrari in Abu Dhabi, is not stepping down from his throne. Vettel does not do so this year and neither does he want to in 2012, when he will go in the hunt for a historic trio of titles, and then perhaps embark on another dream, landing in Maranello. Of course, there he would find a fierce Alonso, one who is already preparing his revenge with the new car, a revolutionary single-seater that at first glance caused Domenicali's amazement. Alonso made a good start in free practice, second in the afternoon:
"But Red Bull is also the strongest here, we at best can fight it out for the podium with McLaren (moreover the fastest in the two initial sessions with Button)".
Lewis Hamilton's tantrums, meanwhile, never fail. Friday saw yet another harsh confrontation with the stewards for ignoring the yellow flags. He had fresh tyres and that saved him, he brought home an acquittal. Not instead the forgiveness of Massa, who for the Singapore war no longer speaks to him. All this while on Saturday, 8 October 2011, his teammate, Jenson Button, again set the best time. In the final minutes, the teams concentrate their efforts on using soft tyres. The first team to use these tyres is Mercedes, who set the best time first with Nico Rosberg then Michael Schumacher. An accident by Bruno Senna at Spoon forces the marshals to show red flags for a few minutes. Button then took the lead, followed by team mate Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. Vitantonio Liuzzi's HRT is again subject to hydraulic problems. In the first qualifying session, Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi topped the timesheets to the delight of his local fans. He along with many other drivers had decided to use the soft compound tyres to elevate themselves into the second session. Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari along with Michael Schumacher had used the medium compound tyres to get into the second part. Schumacher's Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg failed to set a lap time because of a hydraulics failure, and would start the race from twenty-third. It was the first time in 2011 that Rosberg had failed to make the final session. He would be joined on the back row by HRT driver Vitantonio Liuzzi - who also experienced technical problems. Liuzzi's teammate, Daniel Ricciardo, would start twenty-second behind the two Lotuses and then the two Virgins, where Heikki Kovalainen and Jérôme d'Ambrosio outqualified their respective teammates. Every driver used the option tyres in the second session apart from Pérez, who was prevented from setting a flying lap with a problem similar to Rosberg's.
The Toro Rossos occupied the row in front of him, Sébastien Buemi ahead of Jaime Alguersuari by two tenths of a second; while there was a very similar story at Williams, with Rubens Barrichello in front of Pastor Maldonado on the seventh row. In the dying moments of the session, Kobayashi, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov all set lap times quick enough to progress into the top ten. This meant that the Force Indias of Adrian Sutil and Paul di Resta would have to start eleventh and twelfth respectively. Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time of the session with Sebastian Vettel and Jenson Button not far behind. At the start of the third session, Kobayashi appeared on the prime tyres, and after setting two sectors of a flying lap he returned to the pits. Hamilton set the initial pace, he was followed by Button, Vettel, Webber and then Felipe Massa. Seven of the cars left the pits about two minutes before the end of the session; the latest cars to leave being Hamilton, Schumacher and then Mark Webber. Hamilton, possibly not realising he had little time in which to cross the start/finish line, was making a gap to Button in front and changing dials on his steering wheel. As he approached the final chicane, Webber shot up his inside and bolted to try to get across the line in time - which he did - Hamilton backed off, surprised by what had happened and also by Schumacher cutting straight across the chicane on the outside of him. Both Hamilton and Schumacher crossed the line after the flag had fallen and missed the chance to set a flying lap. Once all the flying laps had been completed, Vettel took his twelfth pole of the season, putting him in a prime position to clinch the title the following day. The only other championship contender, Button, lined up second on the grid, 0.009 seconds off Vettel's time, his first front row start since the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton was third, while Massa out-qualified teammate Fernando Alonso for only the third time in 2011. Behind the two Ferraris was Webber in sixth place, who was disappointed after making an error in not opening his DRS between the hairpin and Spoon corner. Kobayashi was seventh, his highest ever qualifying place, because he had started a flying lap, unlike Schumacher, who lined up eighth on the grid. The two Renaults had also made an attempted to save tyres, and did not leave the garage, starting ninth and tenth. After going off the track on Friday, Sebastian Vettel redeemed himself by taking pole position. The world title is just a step away:
"I did some incredible qualifying. Yesterday I damaged the car and this morning we suffered a bit. Then we found the right set-up but qualifying was tough, there is very little difference between me and Jenson. Overall I had a fantastic lap and I thank the guys who managed to get the front wing right at the last minute. The point missing for the world championship? I only think about the race".
Also satisfied, despite missing pole by a whisker, is Jenson Button, the only one still able to stop Vettel from winning the World Championship:
"It has been a good weekend so far. When the car is working well the feeling is great, I thought I could take pole but by nine thousandths I didn't manage it. I thank the team because being able to compete with the Red Bulls is a good result. Anyway, I'm satisfied with second place".
And the other McLaren driver, Lewis Hamilton, third on the grid, is also with a smile on his face after a difficult start to the weekend:
"The car went very well, but I lost a few things on a few corners".
Despite finishing fifth in qualifying, Fernando Alonso believes in the possibility of a podium finish in Japan.
"Vettel's Red Bull and the McLarens have been stronger than us all weekend. Let's see if we can get a strong start, maybe we can put some pressure on Hamilton and Button. McLaren and Red Bull are quite close here, both teams can fight for the win. For us the podium is a real possibility".
Felipe Massa also feels the same way about his teammate:
"It was a complex qualifying. We left a Red Bull behind us, so maybe things went better than usual. We have a difficult race ahead of us, with high tyre degradation. It won't be easy to find the right strategy. It will be crucial to find the right pace, so as to be fast but, at the same time, safeguard the tyres. Overtaking won't be easy, despite Kers and Drs: maybe tyre wear will count more as you enter the main straight coming out of a very slow chicane. Our goal is the podium: we start from the next position and it is realistic to hope to reach it".
Fernando Alonso guarantees:
"The victories will come".
Admitting that he looks forward to them.
"But when they are back we will fully enjoy them, the joy will be even greater, because the long wait will be over".
There is a need for hope, for faith in the future, seeing this Ferrari now dragging towards the end of the season with no ambitions, with the podium seen as the end point. There is a need to cling on to something in order not to fall into depression, and Fernando Alonso tries to warm the hearts of Ferrari fans, promising immediate and certain revenge in 2012, with the new car now almost fully completed. It is on the launching pad at Maranello and is capable, at first glance, according to the account of the aerodynamic chief, Nicholas Tombazis, of leaving the team principal, Stefano Domenicali, open-mouthed. At the end of qualifying, he criticised the choice of some drivers to give up making a last attempt to save tyres, so much for the spectacle for the paying public. A revolutionary car, all those dressed in red around the paddock say, that has an arduous but compulsory task: to curb the Red Bull Racing monopoly, the endless feats of Sebastian Vettel, who in the meantime conquers yet another pole of the season, the twelfth of the year, just two away from a record (Mansell's fourteen poles) that seemed unattainable. At 24 he has already overtaken Mika Hakkinen, and on his next perfect lap he will join the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio at 28. Ferrari has to perform a miracle, because it is probably a miracle, given the prevailing scepticism of many insiders, who, with the rules unchanged, see Red Bull Racing's dominance also in the year to come. In the beginning it was Jarno Trulli who raised the alarm:
"Can Ferrari figure out why it is so far behind this season and close the gap?".
Then Lewis Hamilton, a fierce rival with McLaren, stepped in:
"We will try our best, but there is a risk that nothing will change in 2012 either".
Ominous thoughts that even Jenson Button, the teammate who has just been armored until the end of his career (there is talk of a 45.000.000 euro annuity), struggles to dismiss. In order not to let the wall of hope crumble well in advance (Vettel with this endless series of triumphs is becoming boring) all that is left then is Alonso and his will to fight, which appeared less fierce in the early days of Suzuka, but only because the current Ferrari does not unleash irrepressible enthusiasm. Just prospect him of duels on a par and his eyes immediately light up again.
"About the future car I don't talk about, I prefer to wait for the verdict of the track. I know with what philosophy it was designed, we had to dare and we did. I don't make any proclamations, but if I didn't have confidence in this team I wouldn't have bound myself until 2016. I arrived two years ago and I have no regrets, I didn't set myself any deadlines, win the title by one date rather than another. I knew that if everything went well, I would triumph in the World Championship, otherwise I would still collect successes and podiums, as it happened. I fought to the last in 2010, I was second in 2011 at least until Singapore, while in my last year in Renault I rarely got into the top ten in qualifying".
He made do with the little, he swears with satisfaction. But now he wants and guarantees more. While Vettel, between jubilations, may wink at the red suit, but he is about to receive a shock proposal from Mateschitz: armoured for the next ten years. On Sunday, October 9, 2011, at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix, Jenson Button made a better start off the line than Sebastian Vettel, who also had a good start compared to some cars behind him. Button attempted to overtake down the inside, but Vettel covered aggressively and Button lifted off after being half on the grass which allowed Lewis Hamilton to take him down the outside of Turn 1. Button asked his race engineer soon afterwards:
"He's got to get a penalty for that, hasn't he?”
Martin Brundle thought the move was harsh but not worth a penalty, while Vettel said that he had not seen Button because Button was behind him. Meanwhile, home favourite Kamui Kobayashi lost his seventh-place qualifying slot, slipping to twelfth when his anti-stall kicked in at the start. Conversely, Paul di Resta made a good start to take eighth place. Lap 6 saw Fernando Alonso take Ferrari teammate Felipe Massa into Turn 1, for fourth place; Massa made no attempt to defend the position. Hamilton was overtaken by Button on lap 9, after developing what the team believed to be a right-rear puncture (judging by their telemetry) at the time, before later discovering it was just heavy degradation. Hamilton attempted to compensate for the puncture by slowing through 130R before pitting and changing to the option tyres. The other front runners pitted within the next couple of laps, with Vettel remaining in the lead after the first pit-stop phase. Both Red Bulls pitted together for the second time each on lap 20, a 10.3 second gap only just ensured that Vettel left the pits as soon as Webber began to enter them. The good pace and low tyre-degradation of the McLaren proved quite useful for Button, as he took the net lead on the next lap after making his pit-stop, leaving Vettel a second behind him. Also on this lap, Hamilton and Massa made contact for the fourth time in 2011, after Massa went down the outside of Hamilton on the approach to the chicane. Hamilton, seemingly unaware of Massa being there, went to take his normal line, breaking off a small endplate on the Ferrari's front wing. Hamilton blamed his wingmirrors for the contact, saying that they vibrated too much down the straights. Hamilton dived into the pits immediately afterwards, but a bad pit stop lost him more time putting him behind Massa and Webber, who had managed to pass Massa. The awkwardly placed piece of debris that had resulted from the Massa-Hamilton collision caused the safety car to emerge on lap 24. Button slowed the pack up on the exit of 130R before restarting. Vettel pitted on lap 34, to begin his final stint on the prime tyres. Within the next three laps Webber, Massa, Hamilton and race leader Button all made their stops, all retaining position. This was until lap 38, when Hamilton overtook Massa in the DRS zone for net fifth place. Heavy traffic had slowed Vettel down on his out-lap, and Alonso moved into net second place after his stop.
This left Schumacher in the lead, already being on the prime tyres, he had a longer stint before switching to the options at the end. He spent three laps in the lead in total, the first time he had led a race since the 2006 Japanese Grand Prix. When he pitted, he had got the undercut on Massa, putting Schumacher into sixth on options and Massa in seventh on primes. Schumacher's pace on the options meant that he initially challenged Hamilton for fifth but later backed off. Vettel began to get closer to Alonso at this stage, diving down the outside of Turn 1 on a couple of occasions. He showed his frustration at having lost two places in the pits and at being unable to regain them when he wildly gesticulated after a Virgin got in his way whilst chasing Alonso. Throughout the final eight laps, Vettel was reminded by the team that he did not need to win the race, to win the Championship in Japan so he held position, as did teammate Webber who was in fourth. A large battle for the final points scoring positions began on lap 46, when Adrian Sutil went down the inside of 130R to pass Kobayashi for ninth. Teammate di Resta was falling back on worn out tyres though, with Vitaly Petrov taking eleventh from him only a few corners later. Petrov would then pass both Sutil and Kobayashi to finish the race in ninth place. Nico Rosberg would get ahead of both the Force Indias to claim the final points scoring position, overtaking Sutil around Dunlop on the penultimate lap. To worsen Kobayashi's race, he would eventually be taken by both Force Indias too, placing him a lowly thirteenth. Kobayashi's teammate, Sergio Pérez, made great use of a two stop strategy, by saving his tyres coming from seventeenth to eighth on race day. Force India just missed out with eleventh- and twelfth-place finishes. Lotus had a relatively successful day, finishing with both cars on the lead lap for the first time since their debut at Bahrain in 2010. This completed the most cars on the lead lap of a race ever, in Formula 1. Button took his third victory of the season, and fifth consecutive podium, just ahead of Alonso, who was only 1.1 seconds behind Button by the time he took the chequered flag. Vettel became 2011 Drivers' World Champion with four races remaining, by finishing third, taking his fourteenth podium from fifteen races. Vettel also became the youngest double World Champion, and one of only nine drivers in the sport's history to successfully defend their title.
Mark Webber's solid fourth place, only 8 seconds off the lead, ensured that Red Bull Racing had already amassed more points than in their previous year's World title with 518 points. Hamilton finished fifth for the second race in a row, followed by Schumacher, Massa, Pérez, Petrov and Rosberg, who completed the ten points scoring positions. He doesn't even take off his helmet: as soon as he gets out of the car, Vettel runs to his mechanics to thank them. This is how the new World Champion celebrates his second consecutive title, a gesture that says a lot about the feeling at Red Bull between Sebastian and his team. The celebration, however, is not quite what the greedy Sebastian Vettel would have liked, because the victory at the Japanese Grand Prix went to Jenson Button, followed by a wild Fernando Alonso who right at the end of the race launched the last assault for victory. No matter what, Vettel is still on the podium on the most important day for him and his team, and it must be said that right from the start things were looking bad for Sebastian: at the start Button would have skewered him without a problem if he had not been pushed onto the grass by the German driver. Not to mention that once in the lead Sebastian could not fly away as usual: it was immediately clear that the McLarens at Suzuka were going strong. Very strong. But what few expected was Ferrari's performance, achieved thanks to an extraordinary Alonso who did nothing wrong, fought like a lion at all times and even had the luxury of going to attack the race leader at the end. Fourth was Mark Webber's Red Bull ahead of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren and Michael Schumacher's Mercedes. Seventh was the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, which preceded the Sauber of Sergio Perez and the Renault of Vitaly Petrov. Nico Rosberg's Mercedes closes in the points zone. But back to Vettel, who at 24 years, 3 months and 6 days is the youngest bi-champion in Formula 1 history. One does not want to make irreverent comparisons with Michael Schumacher, but it is clear that the Red Bull driver could really get to scratch the incredible records of his compatriot. And not just because of a question of age: the German drives with incredible maturity for a 24-year-old, both from the point of view of race management and direct duels. Now the constructors' world title still remains open but - again - for Red Bull it is a mere formality: this year's was yet another season dominated from start to finish by Christian Horner's incredible stable. Why incredible? Well, they only started from nothing in 2005. Tears on the radio. Commotion and screams.
"This triumph is for you, for each and every one of you".
Shouts Vettel to those in the pit wall with his arms raised, the steering wheel left unmastered, so much so that his Red Bull is so special that maybe it can go strong on its own. The first time is never forgotten, but the second time is not to be thrown away either, the German, precocious champion like no one in the history of Formula 1, makes it clear, with his inordinate exultation, the quick parking, the mad rush, helmet still on his head, toward all the mechanics, to celebrate, to share, to sanctify the second time in two years on top of the world. He finished third, but this time it didn't matter to win, he's done it on nine occasions this year, just a measly tenth place, one point, all the rest is room for applause.
Sebastian Vettel is a cannibal who is jaw-dropping even when his race is cautious, given how he gave space to Jenson Button and did not attack Fernando Alonso, and he is hailed by his own people (everyone on the street in Heppenheim), but also in the rest of the world. Vettel is one who never stops, leaving the racetrack at 9:00 p.m., after endless technical meetings with his team, the next Grand Prix in Korea to be won at all costs. Vettel, how does it feel?
"Exciting, great, like our season. But not easy, as some people claim mistakenly".
With his car many would have won.
"Try it and then tell me. Even in 2010 we had the best car, but we made life difficult for ourselves. This year, on the other hand, we were perfect at making it look like a piece of cake".
Always starting on pole certainly isn't a disadvantage.
"Meanwhile, you have to be able to hit them. In my team everyone gives their all, so I wanted to thank them one by one, in particular, my coach Tommi Parmakoski. Our secret is to focus immediately on the future. In Abu Dhabi it was exciting to beat Alonso, but that's where the second world championship was born. Because overnight, between drinks, we were already thinking about 2011".
The fact remains that if he started behind, it would be worse.
"True, but the pressure is the same. Now everyone wants to beat me. Defending and imposing yourself is not easy. It's beautiful, though".
As was the case with Schumacher: does he still have his poster?
"I took it down when I was fourteen, replaced it with pictures of naked women. At that time, female beauty attracted me more".
After all, Seb calls his car Kinky Kylie, curvy like Minogue.
"It's a worthy nickname. I guarantee you, driving my Red Bull also excites the hell out of me".
Did he know that at age 24 Senna was starting to race?
"He is an immortal phenomenon, though. A few weeks ago I saw the movie and he impressed me. Unreachable. Like Schumi for that matter. I used to get excited in front of the TV, seeing him win".
Now his fans will do the same by admiring you.
"Meanwhile, I hope the guys from Eintracht, my team, will send me another pennant with their signatures like they did last year. That one is hanging in my room”.
Other gifts?
"Winning the next races, the 2012 World Championship, spending some time at my home in Switzerland, a normal life, shopping at the supermarket".
The idol mingled.
"The guy who has fun, knowing that behind him he has a team that allows him to win so much".
Why did he settle here?
"I tried, but Button and Alonso were faster than me. I could have attacked Fernando, but he struggles to open the door and I didn't feel like taking stupid risks. Suzuka was the right place to call it quits. Now we at Red Bull feel like we are on the moon".
Says Christian Horner, team principal of Red Bull Racing:
"This is a fantastic result, we are happy. Sebastian was incredible to laure himself champion with four races to go. Still there is the very important constructors' title and we will keep trying to win it".
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali also extends well-deserved congratulations to young German Sebastian Vettel.
“Congratulations to Vettel he won a world championship deserving of it and it is fair to recognize this achievement”.
Domenicali also comments on yet another contact between Hamilton and Massa:
"I am not used to commenting on race episodes, but what happened once again with Hamilton is quite clear, even on the restart I have some doubts. However overall we had a very good race and the important thing is to have shown that we are competitive".
Lewis Hamilton apologises.
"I don't know what happened, I couldn't see anything, I had no idea it was there, I apologise if we touched. It also happened in the past, luckily nothing happened. It was not intentional, I have the utmost respect for Felipe, today he was fast and I was slow, I did everything to stay in front and unfortunately we touched. I am not happy with my race, my teammate won so the car was okay. Congratulations to Button and also to Vettel".
Great race by Fernando Alonso, who managed to place behind the winner Jenson Button and especially to leave behind the world champion Sebastian Vettel.
"Congratulations to Sebastian. As for the race, it was fun from the start, the strategy was important, we chose the right time to change tires and second place is a great result".
It pushes like a madman, it has given Vettel the most sensational comebacks and the most abysmal gaps, but no one has noticed. We are talking about Red Bull's Renault engine, which has just been crowned World Champion in Japan, even if it is overshadowed by Red Bull's fantastic aerodynamics, by Newey's ideas, by Vettel's escapes. In F1, as in show business, the stage goes to the strongest. So if Honda and Porsche made their fortunes by powering McLaren, and then Renault itself became famous in Williams, today things have changed. And whose engine paternity nobody cares anymore. Try a quiz with some of your enthusiast friends: what engine does the Force India have? And Williams, and McLaren? There was a time when even a child could have answered these questions. Today this is not the case because in a clumsy attempt to cut down on waste, the quota engines have been squeezed and the spectacle machine no longer cares about them.
It's a pity because if Vettel has won his second consecutive title and this year has claimed fifteen pole positions and nine victories, Renault Sport F1 will also deserve some credit. Yet nothing of the Red Bull Racing-Renault binomial (which, moreover, began in 2007 when the Renault RS27 engine, the 2.4-litre V8 developed in Viry-Chatillon, was integrated into the Red Bull Racing chassis) is being taken care of by anyone. Mysteries of modern Formula 1. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso confesses:
"I never thought I could win. Not even when, with a few laps to go, I was closing the gap on Button, but he always stayed too far away".
He never deluded himself, Alonso. However, this second place, in some ways unexpected, considering the usual disappointing Saturday, is a nice lift for his morale, gives him stimulus for these last four races, after Saturday, addressing the fans, he had announced them as very painful, and above all instils confidence for 2012 and future redemption. It is not a victory, which he has been missing since Silverstone, 10 July, but to arrive just one second behind Button and above all ahead of the elusive Vettel, makes a welcome impression.
"It gives a pleasant feeling, it invites us not to give up, to push, in this last part of the season and in winter".
He likes to win, second place is not a role that suits him, but in times that are bad enough a leader also knows how to be content and, above all, how to explain to his people what the right path may be. At Suzuka Ferrari suddenly became competitive after Saturday's troubles:
"We had the same race pace as McLaren and Red Bull, we were competitive, I understood we could fight on equal terms".
Something which, if you like, surprised even him, but which must represent a starting point.
"If the cars are equal, we are capable of winning. Even at Suzuka the start was good, the tactics right, the pit stops perfect".
Now we need a car that is up to the task, a single-seater (still in an embryonic state at Maranello, but already defined in its philosophy) that knows how to dare and finally counter the cloying Red Bull monopoly. A domination that the Spaniard can hardly bear.
"I'm no longer the youngest two-time World Champion in history? I don't care about that. I want to be the youngest tri-World Champion".
This is how a fighter thinks, even if he has to move fast, because Schumacher won his third World Championship, the first with Ferrari, when he was 32 years old and Fernando Alonso to be earlier only has time until the end of 2012. Returning to winning, however, is not just a matter of statistics, but of principle. As Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's team principal, also explains.
"Between one day and the next our car transforms, in the race it was at the level of the Red Bulls, even if it was the same one that struggled in Singapore, we have to understand why and in 2012 make this competitiveness a constant".
At that point no one will have any more alibis, starting with Felipe Massa, who is not quite full of glory with seventh place. Of course, he is still left with Lewis Hamilton, who enjoys crashing into him. They used to be friends, now they can't stand each other.
"He bumped into me. He claims he didn't see me? What he says doesn't interest me. All that matters to me are the judges, who acquitted him and were wrong. Because he should have been punished and instead he always gets away with it".
The accounts will be made at the end. The president of Ferrari, Luca Montezemolo, comments on the Formula 1 World Championship in the light of the race that took place in Japan, and which saw Fernando Alonso place second behind Jenson Button:
"We take stock at the end. In the meantime we bring home a good second place. Alonso did an extraordinary race and so would Massa. I'm pleased to see a Ferrari that will finish the season trying to do everything possible. I want great concentration on next year's car".
Jenson Button is in the mood for a joke. Crushed on the podium between two World Champions, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso, he exclaims:
"I've only won one, I feel uncomfortable…".
Despite the fact that it is his on the top step and he has just won the Grand Prix in peremptory fashion. He laughs, Jenson Button, even when the barbs are serious:
"I started well, maybe too well, as Vettel to neutralise me pushed me on the grass. I would have penalised him. Anyway, I won and to hell with everyone".
However, if you talk to him about Suzuka, he's all honey:
"This triumph fills me with pride, because I finished first at one of the most challenging circuits. This is a special place, the fans adore us and it is to them that I dedicate my success".
The third in 2011, after the incandescent Canada and the complicated (due to unexpected rain) Budapest. Racing for real, intelligent drivers, as Button often is, who has just extended his career at McLaren and is now aiming for the grand finale.
"We have been the fastest here, I hope it will be like that until the end".
He would love to finish second in the World Championship, even if it may be the loser's content.
"But Vettel was on another planet this year, so I could be considered the first of the normal ones".
But watch out for the Maranello team, because now Stefano Domenicali, Ferrari's team principal, has a goal before the end of the season:
"To get another win. Also to get Alonso the second place in the drivers' classification. This goal is very important above all to keep the motivation high, not only of the drivers, but also of the whole team".
Domenicali has just two words to describe Fernando's race at Suzuka:
"Perfect and fantastic. He remained focused throughout, always determined to do everything possible to manage tyre wear as well as possible".
He then heartens Massa for his unsatisfactory seventh place:
"Felipe had a good weekend until the contact with Hamilton. It was that the incident ruined the good work he had done up to that point. The contact damaged some parts of the car and that's why Felipe couldn't have the pace he had shown not only in qualifying but also in the first few laps of the race where he had got off to a good start. He definitely deserved to finish with a better result".
Finally, the team principal anticipates the work on which the team is focusing ahead of the next World Championship.
"The learning curve we faced this year on the aerodynamic effect of the exhaust and the behaviour of the new tyres is something our engineers need to make sure they fully understand, so that we can get the most out of next season. With this in mind, for the Korean weekend, we will try to test some new components that will help us develop a better understanding of the 2012 car".