What a week! Hamilton to Mercedes, Pérez to McLaren and there are still questions to be answered…including the small matter of who is going to win the 2012 Formula One World Championship. With the pack shuffled and most of the off-track shenanigans now out of the way, the titanic battle resumes at Suzuka.
Heading to Suzuka last year, I was wondering how Sebastian Vettel felt at the prospect of becoming a double F1 title winner. This season, he’s still got a lot of work to do if he is to join the elite band of men already to have won three titles. One member of the triple club is Niki Lauda, but – as much as he praises Vettel – the Austrian is now backing Lewis Hamilton as the pair of them move to Mercedes.
The Hamilton move is great for Formula 1. Granted, I amongst others was completely wrong in thinking he would stay with McLaren, again proving just how unpredictable this sport is. But the news is tremendous and is sure to make for many a newsworthy situation as he attempts to build up his own team - just as Alonso has. To be a fly on the wall when Nico Rosberg heard the news...Lewis might be a former karting team-mate and good friend, but the German really will have a hard time of it now.
In my opinion, Lewis Hamilton is the modern-day Ayrton Senna. Although he lacks some of the fan respect and fear amongst rivals that Ayrton built up, Lewis is without doubt the most talked-about driver on the current grid. He is also the fastest, but Alonso is the most complete, so this really is the closest we could get to another Senna-Prost duel. I also find it ironic - and amusing, to an extent - how neither of them are at McLaren anymore, where it all begun five years ago. The fact Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh have, between them, failed to hold onto either of (arguably) the current best two racing drivers in the world could turn out to be very costly.
Once again, the situation leaves us with question marks and scintillating prospects. How quickly can Hamilton take Mercedes back to the top? Where will Michael Schumacher end up, if anywhere? Can Jenson Button keep motivation up at McLaren and could Sergio Pérez be World Champion by as early as 2013? I am still sure that the only reason he isn’t at Ferrari is because Alonso knows he could beat him; for the opposite reason, Felipe Massa will probably be kept on next season but don’t take your eyes off Paul di Resta, Nico Hülkenberg or Heikki Kovalainen just yet. Whether Vettel ends up alongside Alonso in 2014…we can save that one for another day.
And so the pack is shuffled. McLaren say Hamilton will be dealt the same hand over the remaining six races in a bid to win the title, even though that does mean he would take the number one off to the silver arrows. On the other hand, McLaren are still yet to win the constructors’ crown since 1998 and this is their best chance by far to do it again. For the full royal flush they need consistency, reliability and problems for Alonso. It is definitely more than possible but – looking back at Monza and Singapore – one can’t be 100 percent certain that a McLaren won’t break down again…
And then there is Vettel. For next year, Adrian Newey should be able to get on top of not having an exhaust-blown diffuser. For now the limitations of Hockenheim are still hurting Red Bull and the long straights of coming circuits could be pretty painful. Don’t forget Kimi Räikkönen, either. The Lotus ‘Double DRS’ will finally be raced for the first time this weekend. If that works, it really will be game on. If not, then I reckon we are in for an Alonso-Vettel-Hamilton battle.
Vettel was expected to win it. Hamilton really should have won it, when you think of just how many pit-stop problems and other issues he has been victim of. Alonso has worked hardest to win it. Just who will triumph, we still don’t know, and the ingredients of 2013 will follow on very nicely whatever happens. What a fantastic situation!
At a glance:
- Suzuka pole position sitters
- Suzuka Grand Prix winners
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The facts: Suzuka International Racing Course
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Laps 53
Direction Clockwise, figure-of-eight
Corners 18
Length 5.807 km / 3.608 mi
First championship race 1987
First winner Gerhard Berger – Ferrari
Lap record 1:31.540 / K. Räikkönen / McLaren-Mercedes / 2005
Local start time 3pm (BST +8)
Slick Pirelli tyre compounds
Hard (silver markings) & Soft (yellow markings)
DRS zone
Detection: 50m before Casio Triangle chicane
Activation: Start/finish straight
(Activation zone 20m shorter than last year)
FIA driver steward
Derek Warwick
2011 pole position sitter
Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull-Renault
2011 Grand Prix winner
Jenson Button – McLaren-Mercedes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Circuit changes for 2012
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- Whole of the West Course (from Dunlop Curve to after Casio Triangle chicane) has been resurfaced
- New storm and water drainage systems installed around the resurfaced sections
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gregory Haines
GPUpdate.net Editor
Series
Formula 1
Other
Get your official Formula 1 tickets at Sportstadium.com
| 2012 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| More 2012 Japanese Formula 1 Grand Prix photos | |||
| Formula 1 | |||
 |  |  |  |
| More Formula 1 photos | |||
English
Nederlands
Español
Italiano
