Mark of a Champion

As the curtains close on the 2013 season this Sunday in Brazil, we bid adieu to Mark Webber, as his 12 year long Formula One career comes full circle. One of the most respected drivers on the grid, Webber has, on countless occasions, squeezed out every drop of performance out of a stricken car. Be it a tough start, a malfunctioning alternator or a homespun KERS unit, Mark makes the best of any situation, no matter how daunting it seems. If his performances weren’t proof enough, his composure was very well exhibited in the very fact that he didn’t whammy Vettel’s insolent backside after this year’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Perhaps one of the greatest drivers to have never won a World Championship, PoleSetter takes a look at the moments of his carrier that will never be forgotten.

2002 Australian Grand Prix: Webber started his first ever Grand Prix all the way down at p18. It didn’t seem like a noteworthy debut, until the first corner, where Ralf Schumacher ploughed into the back of race leader Rubens Barrichello’s Ferrari, causing a massive pileup, forcing retirements from Fisichella, Massa, Heidfeld, Panis, Button and McNish. With both cars from the Arrows team disqualified, and a further six retirements during the course of the race, Webber found himself in a spectacular battle for fifth place. With a broken differential and a missing top gear, Mark had his work cut out. Add to that a fast closing, more experienced Mika Salo in a vastly superior Toyota, and you have a situation few drivers, let alone rookies, would envy. Heads turned as the 25 year old Australian held it together and finished in fifth position, raking in 2 championship points in his very first race. Immediately, Webber’s three race contract was extended till the end of the season.

2003 Brazilian Grand Prix: Webber, having moved up from Minardi to Jaguar, showcased his ability to put together a near perfect lap, qualifying 3^rd, a whole 14 positions ahead of highly rated teammate Antonio Pizzonia. During the race, Webber was the only driver to spin out and still continue the race. Sadly, he crashed out at lap 54, the aftermath of which took out Alonso, bringing out the red flag, leading to one of the most controversial race conclusions of all time, with Gincarlo Fisichella being awarded the victory a few days later after court proceedings.

2003 Austrian Grand Prix: After a forgettable performance in qualifying, Mark found himself starting from the pitlane. He made heads turn during the race, when, despite a drive through penalty, he finished 7^th, setting the third fastest lap time, behind only the Ferraris of Schumacher and Barrichello.

2005 Monaco Grand Prix: Mark, now racing for Williams, showed his skill around the hallowed track, qualifying third. The race however, was far from a cakewalk and Mark had a tough time overtaking Alonso, when the latter cut corners, clearly intentionally at times, to stay ahead. Webber’s persistence paid off at the end and he overtook Alonso to take the final step of the podium. A great result for Williams, with Heidfeld taking second position after managing to jump Webber in the pits.

2009 German Grand Prix: Despite the dominance of Brawn GP during the 2009 season, Webber took pole, ahead of teammate Vettel for Red Bull. He seemed to be in the perfect position to take the win, until the race began. Barrichello made an impressive start, and was side by side with Webber coming into the first corner, which led to a wheel banging incident that Webber was penalized for. Webber retook the lead during lap 15 as Barrichello pitted. He managed to retain this lead after his pitstop, but fell to 8^th owing to his drive through penalty. Massa took the lead briefly, before pitting, allowing Barrichello to lead the race. A stunning display of sheer driving talent from Webber ensued, and Mark, despite the wheel banging, despite the drive through penalty, took the race by storm, taking his maiden Formula One victory. He would later describe it as an “incredible day” for him.

2010 and 2012 Monaco Grand Prix: If there was ever a driver who could be crowned the king of Monaco (apart from Senna of course), it would be Webber. 2010 saw him take full advantage of pole position and repeated safety car periods, relying on short bursts of mind boggling pace to stay on top. 2012 was a completely different game altogether, with tyre degradation playing spoilsport most of the season, Mark put in a calculative, disciplined drive to take the win despite a late spell of rain.

2012 British Grand Prix: A wet qualifying session saw the Ferraris lock out the front row, until a late surge from Webber knocked Massa off second, while Schumacher gave us a glimpse of his former self taking third. The race was business as usual until the later stages, which gave us some of the most thrilling racing we’ve seen in recent years. Webber, trailing race leader Alonso, had done a brilliant job of managing his tyres and with just 3 laps to go, was a second behind him. Skillfully using the DRS, Webber snatched the lead and showed no signs of slowing down, as he finished the race a whole 3 seconds ahead of Alonso.A few days after the race, Red Bull confirmed that he would remain with them through the next season.

The Brazilian Grand Prix may be the last time Webber races in Formula One, but his motorsport career is far from over. 2014 will see him join Porsche in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Alan Jones named Webber as one of the great drivers, and few would disagree. Daniel Ricciardo will have some giant shoes to fill when he takes over from Mark next season. All we can do now is sit back, and watch Mark Webber take the World Endurance Championship by storm.

The Best of the Rest

With Vettel giving Red Bull a pretty faultless season, for the rest of the grid, it was always going to be a race for second. Thankfully, Ferrari and Mercedes have not let Seb’s superlative performance turn this season into a bore (well not completely at least). With the battle for second going into the penultimate race of the season, fans of the sport still have a lot to look forward to. At the moment, Mercedes, with 334 points, narrowly lead Ferrari, at 323, with Lotus playing catch up further down at 297. How’d they get there? PoleSetter’s got the low down on that
                                                                       

Mercedes started off the season on the wrong foot, salvaging just 10 points at the Australian GP, against Ferrari’s 30. However, Alonso’s retirement in the following race allowed Mercedes to bridge the gap down to 3 points. They failed to capitalize however, and by the end of the Spanish grand prix, Ferrari were up 117-72 thanks to back to back Alonso victories in China and Spain. The following weekend at Monaco was plagued by controversy after news of Mercedes’ ‘secret’ tyre test surfaced, leading to protests from Ferrari and Red Bull, claiming the test to be ‘underhand’ and ‘unfair’. The last leg of the season before the widely criticized tyre changes ended in Great Britain, with Mercedes edging Ferrari 171-168. Mercedes seemed to have benefitted from the tyre changes, opening up a 14 point lead over Ferrari in Hungary. Ferrari managed to pull it back in Italy with a strong showing from both their drivers, taking back the lead by three points after a Ferrari 2-4. Their lead was stretched to 10 points by the Japan Grand prix.

A recent string of mediocre performances drop Ferrari to third. Photo courtesy Simon Williams

During the last two races however, Mercedes have upped their game, or rather, Ferrari have allowed theirs to slip, with the German marquee picking up 21 points more than their Italian rivals.

Consistent drives from both Hamilton and Rosberg ensure Mercedes lead Ferrari. Image courtesy Morio

A potential dark horse, Lotus, currently at a not-so-distant fourth, could potentially give the two some serious competition. Admittedly, making up a 27 point deficit sounds daunting, especially with Kimi out of the picture (owing to a back surgery), but Grosjean’s recent form (his stellar 17^th to 3^rd drive in India in particular) could get them close

Grosjean’s surge in form has given Lotus fans something to cheer for. Image courtesy Morio

As things stand, second place seems to be running away from Ferrari, especially with Mercedes’ rumored change in set-ups to optimize race pace, but Fernando Alonso is not the kind of man who’ll go down sans resistance. Expect him to fight tooth and nail to salvage that all important second position for his team. Massa’s drive at Austin last year was a joy to watch, and though unlikely, an emulation of that performance could tip the scales in Ferrari’s favor.
A lot’s been said about how uneventful this season’s been thanks to Vettel and Newey, but with Mercedes and Ferrari taking things to the very end, the action is far from over. Their close matchup renders it unwise to make a bet, all we have to say, is that it’s not over till the last chequered flag is waved.
Here’s a complete account of the Ferrari-Mercedes-Lotus dogfight so far:

 

The Rise of the Finger

                     The Rise of the Finger

     

The smoke rose from the doughnuts, as he climbed out of the raging bull, high on his monumental accomplishment and the crowd’s appreciation. His pace has been astounding, his spirit indomitable and his form formidable. But for all of his accomplishments this season, the question remains, whose season was it anyway? Vettel’s or Newey’s?

2013 has been a dream of a season for the young German. His car’s had phenomenal reliability, with no retirements barring the British Grand Prix. He’s finished every race fourth or better, with all but two finishes bringing him a podium. He’s got ten wins from sixteen races and won a race every month.

Vettel’s first win, at the Malaysian GP, lost him a few fans, when he disobeyed direct team orders to take, read steal, the win from team mate Mark Webber. While many said that, at the end of the day, it was a race, the fact remains that Webber wasn’t fighting back. He had been instructed to conserve his tyres and save fuel. Webber followed instructions, Vettel didn’t. Simple as that. Consistent performances thereafter, brought him to the British Grand Prix, where, for the first time since Monza last year, his luck finally ran out. He retired at lap 41 owing to a gearbox failure. He recovered well, winning his home GP at the Nurburgring and picking up a comfortable third at the Hungaroring. That’s where the competition ended really. A fearsome run of six consecutive wins at Belgium, Italy, Singapore, Korea, Japan and India clinched him his fourth consecutive title. It was an assertion of dominance, with most of his wins coming from a start to finish lead.

Statistically, there are few drivers this side of Schumacher , who can match Vettel’s records. He’s won four championships at age 26 years and 115 days. To put that into perspective, neither Prost nor Fangio had even won a race at 26 years and 115 days. He’s equaled Schumacher’s record for the most wins on the trot and surpassed Alonso’s tally of 32 wins and now leads the current grid in terms of number of wins. Red Bull Racing Team Principal Christian Horner is betting on Vettel to surpass even Michael Schumacher’s tally of seven drivers’ championships. He certainly has time on his side; Schumacher won his fourth championship at 32. In the form that he is now, Seb could even equal Michael’s record of 13 wins a season. Unfortunately though, Vettel has, much like Michael before him, turned the sport into a procession, made it predictable and worst of all, on the verge of boring.

And therein lies the problem. It’s always fun to talk about an era where one driver was always half a minute ahead of the competition; it’s just not a lot of fun to watch. It’s great to discuss Schumacher’s legendary years at Ferrari, but if you were actually there, watching every race, you’d know just how boring it is watching everyone race for second. Think of it this way, kids love superheroes. They love watching Batman taking Gotham’s worst head on. They love Tony Stark rising from the ashes, taking down a whole host of baddies. They love someone facing insurmountable odds, and beating them. If The Dark Knight Rises had been a two and a half hour stretch of Batman catching your average garden variety thief, not breaking a sweat, how many people would actually watch it? The world loves an underdog.

That precisely, is what Vettel’s reign has lacked. He hasn’t had that carrier defining race. Only when he has had to nurse a failing car to victory. Only when he’s had to limp across the finish line, beating the odds, permanently silencing his critics. Only then, in our opinion will be true champion and not just a good driver with a great car.

At the end of the day though, Formula One, much like every other sport, is result oriented, and producing results, is what Red Bull do best. They’ve given Vettel the opportunity every great sportsman deserves, and he’s seized it with a vengeance. ‘Baby Schumi’ has made the top step of the podium his second home, and odds are, you know the German National Anthem better than your own. Like it or not, by the looks of things, we’re going to see a lot more of the finger.