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Ferrari Day, which takes place on Sunday, November 10, 2013 at the Mugello circuit, is an opportunity for Ferrari to give its greetings to Felipe Massa who, after the races that will be held in the United States and Brazil, will definitely leave Maranello. The Brazilian lives this moment with serenity:
"I’m not a frustrated driver, I’m a driver and a very happy person about what I spent with Ferrari. One of the most important things in my life has been being part of Ferrari for a long time, more than I thought when I first got here".
So far, Massa has raced 137 Grands Prix with Ferrari, winning 11 wins and 15 pole positions, and nearly winning the world title in 2008:
"Scuderia Ferrari has always impressed me. In addition, apart from racing and driving a car, I am happy for the friendships I found in Ferrari, for how I could stay in the factory, sleeping in the house in Maranello. The criticisms of the last months? I accept them, they are part of the game, even if so many times they were not right and were harsher than they had to. But I’m not angry about that, because I know how this world works".
The Brazilian also gives advice to the Finn, coming in next season.
"Kimi Raikkonen knows Ferrari very well because he has already been there. But you don’t know Fernando Alonso very well, so get in the gym, get ready. Fernando is a very strong driver, very fast, it will not be easy for Kimi. He and Raikkonen are two drivers who can give a lot to Ferrari".
To celebrate a champion who leaves Maranello, as well as to reward the winners of the Ferrari Challenge championships, also the CEO of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, and the president of Ferrari, Luca Montezemolo. The latter did not miss the opportunity to reiterate his esteem and gratitude for a driver who gave so much to Scuderia Ferrari:
"Felipe Massa was a true Ferrari driver. In the history of Ferrari he will always have a place".
Still talking about the next World Championship, will be Kevin Magnussen to pair with Jenson Button in McLaren for the 2014 season. The official announcement is made by the British team itself on its official website. The Danish rookie, who this year won the title in the World Series category, is the son of former driver Jan Magnussen who in the 90s competed in F1 first with McLaren and then with Stewart. He will replace the Mexican Sergio Perez, who will leave the Woking team at the end of the season.
"I am very happy to make my debut in F1 with McLaren. This is the best team".
McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh stresses the importance of Jenson Button’s confirmation especially for his skills as a development driver in a year when F1 is preparing to face the largest series of technical changes in many years. Then, speaking of Magnussen, he says:
"He is very talented and determined, we have great hopes in him".
With the season coming to a close, we talk a lot about drivers market. In addition to Magnussen’s announcement at McLaren, news of the split between Pastor Maldonado and Williams arrives. A farewell far from painful, according to the words of the Venezuelan driver:
"I’m very happy to leave Williams. We’ve been talking about this for a couple of months. I think I gave more to the team than they gave me. It was my 100% decision. I want to try something different, it’s a very important moment for my career”.
The rumors would give Maldonado near Louts to take the place of Raikkonen, who will return to Ferrari:
"We are working on this, I hope that soon everything is clear and resolved. Every week I feel something different. We are definitely talking to Lotus too but I have a couple more options".
The Finn Heikki Kovalainen will replace fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen at Lotus for the last two races of 2013, in Austin and Interlagos. Raikkonen, currently third in the Drivers' World Championship, announced that he would not be racing in Texas and Brazil to undergo a back surgery. Kovalainen, Caterham’s reserve, has never started a Grand Prix this year.
On Monday, November 11, 2013, Williams announced that they have signed Felipe Massa to Grove to replace Pastor Maldonado, alongside confirmed Valtteri Bottas. After celebrating his past with the greeting to Ferrari after a decade of collaboration, the Brazilian defines his future, ensuring his stay in the Circus for 2014. A season in which the Frank Williams team will have to try the relaunch after a 2013 to forget and will also count on the transition to Mercedes engines.
"We are pleased to confirm our 2014 line-up and welcome Felipe to the Williams family. He has exceptional talent and is a real fighter on the track. It will also bring us great experience in this new chapter of our history. Valtteri is now a valued member of our team, so I am happy to give him the opportunity to continue to try his talent".
It says instead Sweatshirts Massa:
"Williams is one of the most important and successful teams of all time. When I was a kid I always dreamed of racing for Williams, Ferrari or McLaren. So now I’ll have a chance to work with another icon of our sport after doing it with Ferrari. It’s also nice to remember that so many Brazilian drivers have been able to defend the Williams colours in the past. With a regulatory change as important as what awaits us in 2014, I hope my experience can be useful to help the team get out of a difficult period. Since I started this profession, I don’t remember many changes at once and therefore I am definitely motivated to work hard for this new challenge".
Valtteri Bottas concludes:
"I’m very happy to be able to stay with the team for my second season in Formula 1. I’ve known everyone for several seasons now, because before becoming a driver I was also a test driver, so I really feel at home. I have a lot of faith in Williams and I am convinced that things will get better next year. I am also looking forward to working with Felipe, because he is an experienced and fast driver. We will work all winter to avoid being unprepared in early 2014".
As mentioned, Kimi Räikkönen decided to have surgery for back pain, which was also found during the season. This operation involves a month of rest that forces Räikkönen to skip the last two seasonal Grands Prix. But also the presence of the Ferrari driver, Fernando Alonso, was questioned by the uncertain physical conditions of the Spaniard, who suffered a strong deceleration during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The driver underwent a specific visit before the US Grand Prix, which gave a positive result to his participation in the race.
In case of absence, the Spaniard could have been replaced by Pedro de la Rosa or Jules Bianchi. Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso are denying rumors of possible changes to their drivers' formations for the last two races of the 2013 season. Rumours circulated in Abu Dhabi that this weekend would be Mark Webber’s last race in F1. The Australian admitted that he was suffering from motivational problems and from 2014 he will switch to the Porsche 24 Hours of Le Mans program. Webber will be replaced by his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo but according to the latest rumors the latter could race with Red Bull Racing already in Austin. Ricciardo would then leave a seat free at Scuderia Toro Rosso for the last two races of 2013 and the Faenza team could debut the young Daniil Kvyat who will start in 2014.
"I think it’s nonsense, I don’t know anything about it"
Says Scuderia Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost.
"Anyway, Daniil doesn’t have super license, how could he run?"
However, Scuderia Toro Rosso wants to field Kvyat in Friday practice in Austin and Brazil, and the young rookie would be ready to drive a 2011 car in Misano in early November.
"This is true. But the reason is that it will shoot for us in the first free practices in Texas and Brazil".
Red Bull Racing in turn denies the rumors:
"Mark Webber will drive for us in the last three races".
On Friday 15 November 2013 Sebastian Vettel dominates the second free practice session of the United States Grand Prix. At the Austin circuit the Red Bull Racing World Champion closed the first position, turning in 1'37"305, followed by his team-mate, Mark Webber. Nico Rosberg set the third fastest time, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Fifth time for Lotus driven by Heikki Kovalainen, who replaces for the last two Grand Prix of the season Kimi Raikkonen. Only tenth the Ferrari of Fernando Alonso. Twelfth time for the other car of Maranello, that of Felipe Massa. Fernando Alonso was the fastest at the end of the first practice session. A session that saw the drivers have a little more than half an hour compared to 90 minutes. A thick fog, which enveloped the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, caused a first reduction to 60 minutes. After a quarter of an hour that the cars were turning the red flag was displayed, because the helicopter for medical aid had problems and had to return to base to be replaced by another who, However, it landed on the pitch in front of the medical center of the circuit when there were 31 minutes left available for riders. Alonso, presented on the track with obvious colored patches that came out of his suit at the height of the neck, stopped the chronometer on time of 1'38"342. Behind him, Jenson Button’s McLaren, at 0.028 seconds, and Vallteri Bottas, with Williams, at 0.045 seconds. Esteban Gutierrez, with Sauber, followed by just under 0.2 seconds, while Nico Rosberg with Mercedes was 0.3 seconds slower, ahead of team-mate Lewis Hamilton. Seventh time for Felipe Massa, more than 0.6 seconds behind his teammate. Mark Webber, with Red Bull Racing, closed the morning top ten, followed by Nico Hulkenberg with the second Sauber and Pastor Maldonado with the other Williams. Jenson Button will be relegated to three positions on the grid. McLaren’s Briton pays for overtaking another driver under red flags. Sebastian Vettel, who drove with a lot of fuel in the tank, finished with the 18th best time, more than 2 seconds from Alonso. Of note is the debut at the wheel of the Toro Rosso of the Russian Daniil Kvyat, seventeenth immediately behind team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by just 0.2 seconds.
Thirteenth time for Heikki Kovalainen, preferred to Davide Valsecchi by Lotus to replace fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen in the last two races. He was 0.2 seconds faster than Romain Grosjean. Meanwhile, Kimi Raikkonen has successfully operated on his back at the university hospital in Strasbourg. This is announced by Lotus, which specifies that the Finnish driver will remain a few days off and will begin re-education the week after the US Grand Prix. The team hopes for a quick recovery of the driver. Raikkonen, 33, former World Champion with Ferrari in 2007, in the next World Championship will return to Maranello in partnership with Fernando Alonso. The speed of the Anglo-Austrian cars is confirmed also in the free practice session on Saturday: Sebastian Vettel again precedes his team-mate, Mark Webber. Lewis Hamilton set the third fastest time, followed by Nico Hülkenberg. Also in this session the two Ferrari drivers set disappointing times, with Alonso 11th and Massa 17th. The session is characterized by changing climatic conditions that force teams to frequent revisions in the arrangements. Charles Pic will be penalized with a loss of five places on the grid for replacing the gearbox. A few hours later, in Q1 the fastest time was set by Valtteri Bottas, with his Williams-Renault. The two drivers of Red Bull Racing mark their time, enough to qualify, with hard tires, and not with the Mediums, used by the other drivers; the two, moreover, await the last minutes of the session, unlike other conductors who perform long series of consecutive turns, before obtaining the best performance. Adrian Sutil was eliminated at the end of Q1, also due to a puncture in the last attempt. In addition to the Force India driver, Pastor Maldonado and the Marussia and Caterham drivers were eliminated.
During the session there was a close collision between Maldonado and Esteban Gutiérrez, with the Mexican who did not notice, while he was warming the tyres, the arrival of the Williams driver. The Mexican will be penalized with the loss of ten positions on the grid. Max Chilton is also sanctioned for obstructing both Pastor Maldonado and Adrian Sutil. Having to start last, the British rider is not penalized on the grid, but is forced to make a drive through in the first five laps of the race. In the second phase the two Red Bull Racing dominate the time standings, preceding Fernando Alonso. The two Scuderia Toro Rosso drivers, along with Jenson Button, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Paul di Resta, were excluded from the decisive phase. In Q3 Mark Webber, author of the best time, after the first attempt, sees the limit imposed by him by Sebastian Vettel, who thus gets the pole position number 44 in his career. Fernando Alonso closes in sixth place, and therefore will start from the third row. Behind the two Red Bull Racing will start Romain Grosjean with Lotus, and Nico Hulkenberg with Sauber powered by Ferrari. In the third row, with Alonso, there will be Lewis Hamilton, who will start fifth with Mercedes. The seventh Mexican Sergio Perez, who opens the fourth row with his McLaren. The Finn Heikki Kovalainen, called by Lotus to replace Kimi Raikkonen in the last two races, finished eighth. The top ten is completed by the other Finn, Valtteri Bottas, with Williams, and the Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, with Sauber. Fifteenth Felipe Massa with the other Ferrari. For Vettel is the eighth pole position of the season and the number 44 in his career. The German, who at Austin will try to win the eighth consecutive victory, can still match the record of Alberto Ascari who at the turn of two seasons (1952 and 1953) conquered nine successes in a row. By winning in the United States the German driver would also equal the record of thirteen victories in a single season scored by Michael Schumacher with Ferrari in 2004. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said at the end of qualifying:
"Normally today, except see the front row all Red Bull that will be so until the end of the year, there is little. You saw the gaps that were very close and the conditions of some cars that seemed in great shape and instead they are out as happened to Felipe. It is easy to talk after and from outside, but very difficult how to prepare the car. The variable is how to use the tyres which is what we have to work on a lot - adds the Ferrari team principal. We could be fifth and in the end we are sixth and we start in the third row. We have to work for the race tomorrow".
And adds Fernando Alonso:
"We must above all beat Mercedes, since we are fighting with them in the Constructors' World Championship. Rosberg leaves with Felipe and I with Hamilton: we have to get ahead of them, this is our target for tomorrow and what we have to do. We did a good lap in Q2 and also in Q3 but we certainly did not expect it. We had difficulties in Q1 and we thought that at 90% Q2 would be our final. We were already thinking about the start and what tyres to use, we had little hope of entering and then we managed to do it with the third time. Tomorrow we must anticipate the conditions and create the perfect things to make a good race".
But Ferrari is not going, Massa is not there, Red Bull Racing is flying and Mercedes will start at the front. It was the usual Saturday of passion, in Austin, for the cars of Maranello, now confined to a sad race, even uphill, for the second place. And yet, after all, there are reasons to hope for a better Sunday. The main one is the extreme weather variability that already on Saturday has mixed a lot of the cards on the table. In the opinion of the drivers, more than a Grand Prix will be a kind of race. The wind, in Austin, in these days, is bizarre, often changes in direction and intensity; and also the temperature oscillates a lot: Friday was polar, we moved around 10 , indeed, each curve different from the other. Fernando Alonso tells us:
"We were still in Q2 and by radio we were already thinking about the strategy to use during the race. We were convinced that we were not in the top ten".
Instead, the magic lap came out - also helped by the wind - and Alonso entered Q3. Not for Felipe Massa:
"I still don’t understand what happened".
The Brazilian driver almost cries. Adds Fernando Alonso:
"The key for tomorrow, therefore, is this: understanding the conditions of the climate before and better than others, anticipating and exploiting them".
Just like in regattas, where sailors look at the surface of the water to see from the ripple where the good wind is.
"If we can do this, we could also miss a podium. That would be important in the race to the second position".
The Mercedes is not too far. Lewis Hamilton will start from the fifth position, while Nico Rosberg, a bit like Felipe Massa, was taken aback by some murderous volley.
"They are there in front of us, in sight, we must do our best, our goal is second place and we must reach it".
The Spaniard seems particularly determined. And to think he shouldn’t even have been in Austin.
"After the Abu Dhabi race the doctors were very worried. During the overtaking in Vergne, the warning lamp was lit to signal the crossing of the danger threshold (a compression exceeding 21 g) and for this I was hospitalized. The controls revealed a loss of sensitivity in the arm and left leg, and in the following days I had a tremendous headache, especially at night".
But Alonso did everything to be in his place in these last two races:
"Now I don’t feel pain, a little bit for the adrenaline of the race, a little bit because in hot the pain feels less, I can drive quietly, the problem is the night. But it doesn’t matter".
What matters is to be able to end the season in the most dignified way possible:
"We start to arrive in front of the Mercedes, here in America, then we see".
On Sunday, November 17, 2013, at the start of the United States Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel keeps the lead of the race, followed by Romain Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton, who pass Mark Webber. At the end of the first lap a contact sends Adrian Sutil against the barriers, who is forced to retire. The stewards put the Safety car on the track and Esteban Gutiérrez immediately made the first pit stop. On lap five the race resumed. The standings remained unchanged in the leading positions until lap 12, when Mark Webber surprised Lewis Hamilton at the end of the long straight, and moved to third place. There is also a great duel between Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen for the tenth place. On lap 25 Hamilton made his tyre change, while Esteban Gutiérrez, who changed in the first laps, recovered positions, and also passed Jean-Éric Vergne, climbed to seventh place. Between lap 26 and lap 29 the drivers change tires: the classification sees always first Sebastian Vettel, followed by Romain Grosjean, Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Hülkenberg. Esteban Gutiérrez saw himself penalized by the tyres and was passed first by Sergio Pérez then by Valtteri Bottas, getting down to ninth place, before making a second stop. On lap 44 Fernando Alonso passes Nico Hülkenberg and climbs to fifth place. The Spaniard also approaches Lewis Hamilton, but never worried. Also Mark Webber in the last laps reduced the gap from Romain Grosjean, but the grip of the tires does not allow him to make any attempt to overtake the Frenchman. Sebastian Vettel won the United States Grand Prix, the eighth race in a row in a single season, marking a new record streak in the history of the F1 World Championship. Romain Grosjean came second, his best result in his career. Valtteri Bottas, eighth, arrives for the first time in his career in the points area.
The Vettel phenomenon is not denied. And once again, after a perfect start and equally perfect tyre management, he goes on to win the US Grand Prix, the number 38 in his career and the number 12 in the season, taking the satisfaction of printing an impressive fast lap right at the end. The man of records in short does not stop anymore and his hunger for victories seems inexhaustible, even now that he has won his fourth consecutive world title. In short, Vettel amazes, does not give up, he is very focused, he seems to seek perfection in everything. In mind, only another driver always did so. He lived near Kerpen. But let’s go back to the United States Grand Prix. Webber thanks to a disastrous start - but he had the excuse to start on dirt - immediately lost a few positions, then recovered all at the end. Well, almost all because in second place was placed a stratospheric Romain Grosjean, author probably of his most beautiful race ever. In fourth place Lewis Hamilton who in turn keeps Fernando Alonso at bay, then in the final resists the attack of Nico Hulkenberg with Sauber. Then Sergio Perez (McLaren), Valtteri Bottas (Williams), Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) and Jenson Button (McLaren). And Felipe Massa? Practically not arrived, thirteenth: so this means that Mercedes still lengthens in the standings of the Constructors' World Championship, relentlessly detaching Ferrari. Too bad because the car, in some moments, was really strong: Fernando Alonso was several times the fastest on track. But there are those who managed to do worse than Felipe Massa: Heikki Kovalainen, who took the car of Kimi Raikkonen, arrived practically last. Sebastian Vettel is also surprised, the eighth consecutive victory is really something exceptional for the German driver who crossed the finish line first also the US Grand Prix.
"Honestly, I wouldn’t know what to say. I would like to thank the audience, it’s only the second race here and there are more than 100 thousand people, this is one of the best races of the season, the city has gone crazy, the audience is gorgeous, the car was fantastic. Now the last race in Brazil, the ninth success? We will try".
Christian Horner is amazed by the result obtained by Sebastian Vettel.
"Sebastian did something extraordinary".
This is the only comment made by the Red Bull team principal, about the eighth victory in a row obtained by Sebastian Vettel during the United States Grand Prix in Austin.
"I am proud of Sebastian Vettel, he is doing something really amazing, he is also having fun and deserves the victory for what he did today".
It’s a bitter Fernando Alonso who appears at the end of the US Grand Prix.
"We had some difficulties at the start, we knew it was difficult to keep the position and in fact we lost with Perez while then we resumed Hulkenberg but in the first part of the race we were not fast and we ruined the tires too much. After the pit stop, we were more competitive, we improved our performance but it was hard, here was our limit and with Mercedes we could not do anything".
Fernando Alonso comments on the fifth place obtained in Austin but keeps the Ferrari behind Mercedes in the Constructors' World Championship.
"Now we are going to Brazil to beat Mercedes but we know that for some reason we don’t know we have taken a few steps back in the last Grands Prix. We are struggling to be in Q3, to score points in the top ten. We know that for Brazil we will have to invent something because this is not enough".
But the Ferrari team principal, Stefano Domenicali , continues to say:
"We must go to Brazil and try to keep fighting. It was a strong race at the start, then we tried to manage the situation and strategy, after that the race was quite boring".
There is no time to complain. Mercedes has taken a little more advantage, but this is not the time to cry:
"Let’s go to Brazil, give a hundred percent, and take them back".
Fernando Alonso is optimistic at the end of the race:
"The possibility is there, we must try".
Although, of course, the car seen on the track here in America does not bode well.
"Yes, it is undeniable that we have taken a few steps back. From a few races to this part, we have not yet understood why, things are not going as they should, we find it hard to be in the top ten in the race and, in qualifying, to enter Q3. In Abu Dhabi and here we made two fifth places but it took two great races and a bit of luck. We must try to understand what is happening and, for Brazil, we must invent something. What we have now is not enough".
Yeah, inventing something... a mission that seems impossible, especially considering that right now in Maranello are all committed to producing the maximum effort ahead of next year. Year that, according to many, is likely to be crucial for the relationship between the Spanish and Ferrari. In other words, if Ferrari does not produce a car that is up to the mark, Alonso might get impatient and maybe stop supporting the shed with his super performance.
"No, it’s not, I just do my duty. In sports life there are ups and downs. I’m driving very well right now personally and my only concern is to keep it that way. The team will take care of the rest. There will be a new regulation, it will start from scratch. We will do the best".
For now, then, better to think about Brazil:
"I’m fine, my back does not hurt too much (the hangover of overtaking the limit of Abu Dhabi, ed ), I just need to warm up for good that I do not feel it. We have three days to recover and go to Brazil to play our chances".
By then it would be nice to be able to count on a different Massa than the one seen here. It will be difficult because the Brazilian at the end of the race was very tried.
"I don’t know what happened".
He kept repeating desperate Saturday night. And in the race the situation has not changed at all:
"It was a shame, we had and could have done much more. But I found myself in a sea of traffic, and the pace of the car was not enough to make the necessary overtaking".
To light a Grand Prix that otherwise, apart from the wild cheerleaders of the Dallas Cowboy and an Antonio Banderas just escaped from the mill, would have been boring as a village procession, he thought again, Sebastian Vettel, shouting another incredible record by Michael Schumacher, that of the number of consecutive races won. With the one obtained in Austin, there are eight (while the German in red had stopped at seven). In short, those who still persist in claiming that this blond baby does not belong to the death of giants, well resign themselves. They stand up and clap (which is also an indirect way to congratulate Alonso, the only one who has managed to keep up with him at times in recent years). As has been the case for many Sundays, there were two Grands Prix yesterday. That, in fact, of Sebastian Vettel who as usual has been engaged in a conceptual struggle against the records and numbers of the great of the past; and that of the others. In the latter, a leading role - despite himself - is being played by Ferrari. The mediocrity of an F138 born well but shipwrecked too soon forced her to a bitter fight against Mercedes to win the lean booty of the second place in the Constructors World Championship. But, apparently, even this goal is too ambitious for the Maranello team that, at this juncture, is paying dearly the foolish and repeated choice to keep Felipe Massa. Critics, fans, fans, technicians, even some passers-by through the Via Emilia, all years ago had suggested to the management to change driver, bringing thousands of logical and mathematical arguments. But sacrificing the much proclaimed meritocracy on the altar of who knows what different reasoning, Montezemolo and Domenicali have stubbornly trusted in the Brazilian. Vouching for him, promising, swearing. And now, with Massa belatedly discharged that walks in the rear, they find themselves able to count on a single driver, Fernando Alonso. And luckily the Spaniard, when he lowers his helmet visor, is probably the best driver in the group behind Sebastian Vettel, a points car that always manages to bring home a little more than the potential of the car would leave hope. As the rankings hardly lie, with the fifth place won in Austin, thanks to the injury of Kimi Raikkonen, is officially the second place of this season.
The same cannot be said of Ferrari, which, on the contrary, sees its goal go a little further. Mercedes, currently second, has reached 15 points and the impression is that, in Brazil, in the last race, Ferrari will need a miracle, yet another, to try to reverse the situation and not fail even the reserve goal. Thanks to the tough race of a Lewis Hamilton in obvious identity crisis - on the radio he spoke to his with a sinister tone from fifteen years old polemic, we missed the voice - and a Nico Rosberg who still found the nerve energy to conquer a couple of points. As for the Vettel Grand Prix, the day is perfectly summed up in the umpteenth scene of jubilation given by the former German boy to his fans at the end of the race. He took the car on an escape route and, as usual, began to whistle the tires and draw on the ground the much loved series of circles. More relevant, however, this time, were the words that the guy entrusted to the team and, together, the rest of the paddock.
"Boys, we must enjoy days like this, and remember them, because sooner or later they will end".
Which then is what not even so secretly hope everyone, in Formula 1.