Welcome to Updatesport’s review of the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, a race in which Lewis Hamilton further cemented his status as Formula One’s rising superstar with a second successive victory. Contributions this edition come from me – Steve – Lita, Braden and Dylan, so lets get down to business…..
Steve: Hamilton takes number two, with a little bit of Alonso pressure thrown in. A different sort of press frenzy surfaced afterwards, with both Mclaren drivers quoted saying seemingly negative things about each other in the days that followed – a psychological battle, or just media spin?
Dylan: Alonso still seems to be struggling for excuses while Hamilton’s confidence continues to build. But he certainly looked better in Indy then in Canada.
Braden: I personally do not think there is much between the two drivers in terms of a psychological battle; most of it has been made up by the press after a one minute interview of Alonso on Spanish radio. He did look a bit angry, but no driver should like to lose and that’s why I admire Alonso.
Dylan: It should stay a close battle as they return to Europe as well.
Lita: Hamilton really held off Alonso and definitely took the best the current champ could dish out.
Steve: Alonso did come across as a bit ‘cry-baby’, though, something I defended him on when he mouthed off last year…
Braden: He copped flak for accepting losses back in his Renault days when he said things like he was happy to get second. Now that he actually cares about winning and winning only, he’s copping flak for looking grumpy. Sometimes guys can’t win unless they are Michael Schumacher.
Steve: Michael was far from averse to the odd whinge, however! Ferrari again taken to the cleaners by Mclaren, but I must say I thought this Raikkonen’s best performance since Australia.
Dylan: My drive of the day goes to Kimi. He showed some real improvement in Indy. Starting on the hard tyres, unlike his contenders, he managed to keep pace with them and really gained a lot of ground once he was on the faster soft tyres. Unfortunately he had to hold station behind Massa though when he looked a lot faster then his Ferrari counterpart.
Lita: I know he finished fourth but again his performance was ok at best. He had a good strategy using the second tyre first and saving his best for last, but really,
Massa was on those second tyres for the last stint and it really surprised me that he could not pass him.
Steve: A difference of opinion on that one – who gets your drive of the day? Personally I thought Hamilton absolutely faultless.
Braden: Drive of the day for me had to go to Lewis Hamilton again. He withstood the strong pressure from his team mate all day and even blocked a passing attempt and was good enough to hold on for a great win.
Lita: Hamilton for putting in another flawless effort.
Steve: Any other notable drives – I felt sorry for Rosberg after a sterling effort.
Lita: I was disappointed that Rosberg didn't get any points after his impressive performance from 14th to what would have been sixth. It was such a shame after all that to go out with an engine failure five laps from the end.
Braden: How about that Vettel; this guy is a future star. Ok so he never did anything that special in the race, but he held his nerve after a mistake to bring it home for a point. I sincerely hope he gets a drive somewhere next year and since he is a Red Bull man, I assume it will be with Red Bull Racing or Toro Rosso.
Lita: There were some really good overtaking moves which was really nice to see. I would give overtaking move of the race to Fisi on either Wurz (I think) or Liuzzi for his 'around the outside to take the inside on the next turn' moves. I also thoroughly enjoyed watching the action between Fisi and Button through the final turns before the straight, fair play to both of them.
Steve: It was, to be honest, a pretty good race with a fair deal of action. What is there to say about Ralf Schumacher…. Lita?
Lita: He really didn't want to race in Indy did he?
Steve: I don’t think he did, no! Was that first lap incident his doing?
Lita: It really was quite a bizarre one. I didn't really get a clear view of the incident, the best I saw was from a camera angle of another driver, and it just appeared that
he braked, his tyres locked up and off he went into an unsuspecting DC. My face was buried in my hands at that point. Even from viewing the first shot of the incident from above, I could tell he was involved.
Steve: Worst of the day to Ralf, then?
Braden: Yes - I know I have a go at him all the time but when is he going to stop making himself look silly? A stupid accident and he’s out as well as two other racers.
Dylan: Sato seemed to have a brain fade following his good work to date. The pass under yellow, despite being dubious, was there and he then lost all concentration and binned it when they found out the incident was under investigation.
Steve: When you say dubious, are you saying the ten place penalty for next race is harsh?
Dylan: The penalty should stand. Button had passed him by the Start line and was in front as they came to the yellow flagged area. That makes Sato’s pass back at turns two and three under the yellows. Ralf, however, should also be put into the sin bin for his part in the incident at turn one taking out both Barrichello and Coulthard.
Steve: Well I think that pretty much sums things up for this race – thank you for your comments, and here’s looking forward to France this weekend.
Moving on swiftly, and yes, it’s the feature that has you chomping at the bit, the one and only Brades Grades – remember, no fights….
Brades Grades - USA
Drivers:
Lewis Hamilton – A+
The United States Grand Prix was another great weekend for the rookie in which he took his second pole and second win. It was almost a perfect weekend for him, but he was beaten by his team mate early on and was not comfortably ahead of the rest of the field as what might have been expected compared to Montreal.
Fernando Alonso – A-
This was a solid drive from Fernando at one of his most disliked tracks. He has not been able to finish any higher than 5th before, but this weekend changed that. He would have got a better grade too if not for his stupidity in swerving towards the pit wall in anger. For that he loses points.
Felipe Massa - A
This weekend was a good drive from Felipe as he managed to get yet another podium and rebound after last weeks poor form. He also again managed to beat Kimi in qualifying and the race, something not many expected him still to be doing.
Kimi Raikkonen – A
This was an improved performance from Kimi this past weekend as he managed to keep pace with his team mate. Although he did lose spots off the line, he managed to persevere and get himself back into the race on the softer tyres, eventually challenging team mate Massa. More than likely he was told not to over take so that they would not lose even more points to the run away McLarens.
Heikki Kovalainen – A-
USA will be yet another confidence boosting experience for Heikki as he sets about turning his season around. Not only did he managed to take another good result out of this race, he also managed to qualify comfortably inside the top ten ahead of his experienced team mate. He then proceeded to lead countryman Raikkonen and then lead his first ever race. He did not push hard enough during those laps and was subsequently beaten out of the pits by Raikkonen.
Jarno Trulli – A-
Another great driver by Jarno was witnessed over the weekend as he comfortably held his nerve to bring home a good haul of points for Toyota. After battling with Mark Webber for the entire race, Jarno was jumped by Nico Rosberg because he could not extract enough pace from the car. Luckily for him Nico retired and Jarno inherited an extra point.
Mark Webber – B+
It’s about time I got to write an article involving Mark that didn’t end in him missing the points or retiring while in the points. Mark drove a superb race and was perhaps fortunate that Nico and Heidfeld retired, but you’ll take points anyway you can get them, especially when you have been in a drought like Mark has. It was a good battle with Jarno but allowing him to pass was a mistake from Webber and he payed for it.
Sebastian Vettel – A
Perhaps the story of the weekend was the debut of the nineteen year old from Germany, Sebastian Vettel. Standing in for Kubica at BMW, Vettel was able to show his strong pre-season testing form in a race seat for the first time and it was very impressive. Although his qualifying was not as good as his experienced team mate, people should not be too worried as it was the beginning of something special. His first corner in F1 should have gone better and he admitted to not being as quick as possible, but in the end he hung on to become the youngest point scorer in F1.
Giancarlo Fisichella – C
After qualifying outside the top ten for the first time in a while, Fisichella set about righting the wrong that he had done. Unfortunately for him, he span off early into the race and was forced to climb his way back through the field. Although his driving through the pack and overtaking everyone was impressive, it wasn’t necessary and cost his team valuable points just after they seemed to have improved the car package.
Alex Wurz – C-
The likelihood of Wurz keeping his seat at the end of the year seems to be getting unlikelier race by race. Wurz rounded off his North American tour with yet another poor performance in qualifying and has yet to really show that he cuts the mustard this year. Although he did progress up the field, he was stuck behind Liuzzi for a long time and could not get past him until really late on.
Anthony Davidson – C
Here is another man who must be wondering about his future in the sport after he again failed to impress in Qualifying and the race. Although he did make the top 16 in Qualifying for the first time in a while, he did not progress very far and even then that was mainly due to retirements ahead of him rather than his own progress.
Jenson Button – B-
For the first time this year Button looked like the racer we have come to know. He was edgy and furious with his passing and even attempted strange around the outside passes that payed off after a poor start. Where has this man been hiding all year? Who knows, but the car is still pretty bad and he’ll be hoping that there can be some progress made by the time he gets to his home race at Silverstone.
Scott Speed – C
Another one of the drivers who seems to be on his last life or so it may seem. Although the Toro Rosso was not a very good car at the Indianapolis circuit, he did not seem to be as fired up as usual. He let Button easily around the outside without making a strong challenge. I guess he just wanted to finish his home race for the first time, but it wouldn’t have made the Americans feel any better seeing him that low.
Adrian Sutil – B
Another impressive performance by the German rookie was witnessed on the weekend as he qualified his Spyker within two seconds of the pole time once again. His race was good also, he managed to put a two stop strategy to good use and comfortably beat home his one stopping team mate in Albers.
Chritijan Albers – C-
This was a much better performance from Albers compared to the Canadian GO where he put the car into the wall. His qualifying still lacks in substance compared to his team mate as he was over two seconds down on Hamilton’s pole time. His race was strong; he made no visible mistakes and managed to bring home an undamaged car.
Nico Rosberg – A-
This was a fantastic effort from Nico, another German star, but unfortunately sometimes you do not get reward for effort. After starting in an awkward grid spot of 14th, he made up ground on the start and then pushed an incredibly heavy car around to the first stop, which was performed well over half race distance in. From this it looked like he was going to get a solid three points and jump some of his rivals, but with just 4 laps to go his engine gave way and the points flew past with his rivals in tow.
Vitantonio Liuzzi – C+
Like Speed, Liuzzi struggled the majority of the weekend for pace, including the race. Although he managed to keep in front of Wurz and co for a long period of time, he had no pace to compete with them after he had stopped. Then late on in the race he retired with a mechanical problem, bringing to a close a miserable weekend.
Nick Heidfeld – C
This would have to have been the worst weekend in a while for Nick as he finished outside of the points for the first time since Spain. After making a promising start and catching the Ferrari of Felipe Massa, Heidfeld struggled with rear tyre grip and made a mistake going into turn one, spinning off and rejoining the race in between Kovalainen and Raikkonen who were 7 seconds or so behind at the time. His race was then over when the hydraulics gave up over half way in.
Takuma Sato – D+
This was Taku’s first bad race in a while and it started on Saturday in Qualifying. Not only was he out qualified by Davidson, but he did not make it into the top sixteen of qualifying for once. His race was then over extremely early when he made a silly mistake and span into the gravel. To add to this, he will now start ten positions down on his qualifying at the French GP after he was adjudged to have passed Button under yellow flags.
David Coulthard – B-
David’s grade is hard to judge because his race did not last longer than one lap, through absolutely no fault of his own. So I decided to judge him on his qualifying effort which was fairly impressive. Although he was behind his team mate in Webber, he did only just miss out on the final session by a slight margin.
Rubens Barrichello – C
Again like Coulthard, Barrichello’s grade is hard to judge as he was involved in the same incident with Coulthard and again it was through no fault of his own. His qualifying performance was down on recent performances and he was beaten by Button for pace most of the weekend.
Ralf Schumacher – E
Is it over yet? That’s the question most Formula One fans will be asking in the next few weeks as Toyota will surely be debating whether the career of Ralf Schumacher at Toyota will end before the French GP. Yet again Ralf performed poorly in a race situation, this time braking extremely heavily and taking out two innocent cars, preventing all from doing any racing at all. The only thing that even got near to saving him this weekend was that his Qualifying performance at his most hated track was impressive as he made it to 12th for the first time in a long time. Is this the sign of better things to come? This writer thinks not.
Team Grades:
McLaren – A+
Another one-two by McLaren which makes three this year, but this one was not as dominant as the previous two that they have won. It was also shrouded in controversy once again due to Alonso’s mid race outburst at the McLaren pit wall. They have to get Alonso under control or this could be another Senna-Prost situation.
Ferrari – A
A much needed improvement from the Ferrari team as they seek to regain the form they showed in three of the first four races this season. They may have been beaten once again, but both drivers finish near each other and not far behind both McLarens. Hopefully for the sake of entertainment, they will take the fight right to the wire against McLaren
Renault – A+
Another improvement from the Renault camp has suggested that they too like BMW are ready to win races this year, but this will only happen if they continue to catch the McLaren development or if the front four cars drop out of the race. Apart from Fisichella’s poor performance, they will be thrilled that Heikki backed up his Canadian GP with a good performance to prove it was not a fluke.
Toyota – B
Toyota will be pleased with the performance of Trulli who yet again got into the top ten of qualifying and brought home some much needed points. But they will be fuming with Ralf who not only did not get a point, but gave them some expensive remodeling work on his car.
Red Bull – B+
Although they only had one car finish again, Red Bull will be slightly happier as this was not due to a mechanical fault of their own. Their pace was down at the start of the weekend but they managed to get some of it back by Qualifying and give both drivers a shot at the points. The pace was still not there by Sunday but they got two handy points from Mark after David was cruelly taken out.
BMW – C-
BMW managed to do a reasonable job even though they had a limited time to get Vettel adapted to the pace of a race weekend. They would have been annoyed at both drivers for making simple mistakes, but they will be more annoyed at themselves for the reliability woes that still plague the team from getting two cars to consistently finish a Grand Prix.
Williams – D+
Not a very good weekend for the Williams team as they had no drivers in the points yet again. This time it was due to a poor performance from Wurz again and a reliability issue with the engine and its cooling as Nico’s race went up in smoke. They also have been dogged by reliability but have not been able to put that behind them.
Honda – C
Not much of an improvement from Honda in terms of the car, but they will be pleased that Jenson looks to have been reinvigorated over the space of one week. As mentioned before he looked edgy on his way through the field and they would be happy with that. They won’t be happy that Barrichello did not get to race, but they could not control that.
Super Aguri – C
Not the best of weekends for the small Japanese outfit as they struggled for pace in qualifying, but gained some back during the race. Davidson had some good race pace himself as he climbed his way through the field early and Sato looked to have a decent car underneath him but they will be very displeased at the fact that Taku beaching his car, before he received his penalty of minus ten grid positions.
Toro Rosso – D
Not a very good weekend for Toro Rosso as they also only managed to get one car home and even then that car was not very impressive. The team struggled for pace all weekend and it didn’t improve, and then they had Liuzzi retire with another mechanical gremlin that they have not seemed to get rid of.
Spyker – B-
A much needed improvement from the Spyker drivers gave the team a good result on the weekend with the boys coming home in impressive 14th and 15th places. Although they were helped out by numerous retirements, both were on the pace and they have closed the gap in qualifying. This is all before the new car is available and as a closet orange fan, I am eagerly awaiting the debut of this new car.
Written by Steve, Lita, Braden, Dylan - Edited by Steve Turnb on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 12:17:43
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