Fernando Alonso is a double World Champion, the man who defeated Michael Schumacher, and a living legend of F1. However, his career is in a constant decline, and that’s his fault.
In 2001, a young Fernando Alonso came into F1, driving for a backmarker team with a rich history, called Minardi. This was the first F1 drive for a person whose career in karting and junior series was something special. Coming from a country with next to no history in this sport, he made a name for himself, proved himself, and made it to the ‘big league’.
Right from the start, he showed his enormous talent, proving to the big teams that he would become a force to be reckoned with. He went on to become just that. For 2003 he joined Renault, the first time he raced for a good team, fighting for podiums and, in 2004, for wins too.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City Friday 26 October 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren. Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren ref: Digital Image _1ST2566
Then came 2005 and 2006, arguably his best years in the business. He beat Michael Schumacher with ease, as if the German were a rookie and not a seven-time world champion. He and Renault made sure they had no obstacles in their path and they pushed through, though not without some controversy.
In fact, Alonso’s entire career is defined by controversy, either through his actions or for what he publicly (and unapologetically) proclaims. Even during his winning tenure with the French team, he was criticizing the FIA for its decisions – most famously at the Italian GP back in 2006 – or attacking Ferrari for no apparent reason. Ironically, he joined them in 2010.
This leads us to another big problem with Alonso: his mouth. As big as his talent may be, he is a man of a lot of words – most of them, unnecessary. He always thought he had the upper hand over everything because that’s how he was taught to act by a certain Flavio Briatore.
The Italian former team boss is the perennial manager of Alonso and has had a big impact on the Spaniard’s attitude since day one. He is a great leader of men, but his approach in F1 is somewhat controversial – especially after the 2008 ‘crashgate’ scandal. This translates on Fernando’s stand on things, on how he sees F1, and himself in it.
He may now be a veteran in F1, a man who has seen and done everything, but that attitude, the feeling that he can control the driver market or that he can knock on every door and have them open, is something that doesn’t know age.
Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City Friday 26 October 2018. Fernando Alonso, McLaren. Photo: Steven Tee/McLaren ref: Digital Image _1ST3356
One bad choice after the other defined the second part of his career. His McLaren days in 2007 were the start of his fall, before the five-year tenure with Ferrari seal his fate as far as wins and championships are concerned.
The second stint at McLaren is the latest consequence of his decisions. He seems to be responsible for everything bad (and good) that has happened in his career. It’s a great shame that he leaves F1 with just two championships and 32 wins, but that’s what he could get with his personality, his character and the guidance he had.
This does not undermine his achievements, though. He must and will be remembered as one of the best to ever drive at an F1 track, but history will not be easy on him.
Thierry Neuville took some time out for me, ahead of the WRC title deciding finale down under to answer some questions. Here is what he had to say.
Warren Nel. After your second victory of the year in Portugal, you took the lead of the championship. How satisfying was this?
Thierry Neuville. It was good to get into the lead of the championship honestly. We knew running first on the road would be more difficult after that, but still I mean for more, still being competitive, with two wins in a row was quite good, so was quite satisfying, but it makes the end of the season more difficult.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally de Portugal 17-20 May 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
WN. Thinking back to Rally Italia Sardegna, when you caught and passed Seb Ogier for the victory on the Sunday, sum up your feelings about your performance in the car on that day.
TN. Actually, our car was working very well all day, and I was enjoying a lot, so felt comfortable heading into the last day, catching tenths by tenths, but very stressful before the last stage, obviously there were a lot of rumours about Seb losing or missing his timing card, makes it more stressful, but we kept calm, kept pushing and were able to win, so really proud of that, was actually the first time that I felt that feeling.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 07-10 June 2018 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
WN. During Rally Finland, did you look to your teammates to stop Sebastian Ogier scoring a lot of points, as you seemed to not be able to fight near the front?
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Rally Finland 26-29 July 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
TN. Of course I tried, but at the end they were not in a position to help me, I did the maximum I could, took the points in the powerstage. It was the only thing we could fight for as our car was really uncompetitive.
WN. Rally Turkey was a very rough event, and it led to your suspension breaking whilst in the lead at the start of Saturday. It meant that your only chance to score points was going to be in the power stage. Did you feel a lot of pressure going into that stage?
TN. Of course, you feel a lot of pressure, because every point is important, the championship fight is very close so you need to give everything you can, we did it, another five points in the power stage even if we could have easily won the rally, the car was working well on that surface, and I was going as fast as I could on the new ground, where everyone had to make new pace notes, we were just dominating, especially on the first day, being first on the road.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 10, Rally Turkey 13-16 september 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
WN. Which drive so far this year have you been most proud of this year?
TN. To be honest, there are plenty. We have been on it absolutely all the time, never really could release the pressure, obviously working really hard, but for sure the one to remember is Sardegna, final day.
WN. Thinking ahead to Rally Australia, an event that you won last year, you won’t be first on the road. How much of an advantage will this give you over Sebastian, and will you target victory as your best chance to win the championship?
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally Australia 16 – 19 November 2017 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
TN. Obviously, yes. When you head to Australia leading the championship with only a small amount of points difference would be difficult, so now we are just behind. We need to score four more points, it’s not an easy target for sure, but I’m very sure we can do it, and really looking forward to it!
A big thank you to Thierry Neuville for his answers and many thanks to the PR at Hyundai Motorsport Nicolette Russo for her help and finally thank you Julia Paradowska, our PR for her help too.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Catalunya (SPA) – WRC 05/10/2017 to 08/10/2017 – PHOTO : @World
It’s time for the only dual surface event of the year. Friday sees gravel stages mainly and then Saturday and Sunday, some very fast asphalt roads! Three drivers and two rallies! Toyota now have the fastest car I believe, and Ott Tanak can win this event. After his retirement on day two in Wales, and only scoring a few powerstage points, he is now 21 points from championship leader Thierry Neuville and 14 points behind Sebastian Ogier. The Frenchman’s win last time out, has really helped him back into the fight to retain his title.
Meantime, Thierry is in the box seat to take his first title, but being first on the road is going to hurt his pace on Friday. He will hope for a podium finish, keeping the points loss to a minimum. The only way he could win the title is if both Seb and Ott don’t score any points at all.
Now, who else could feature on the podium? Well, there could be any number of drivers- Dani Sordo returns for Hyundai and could challenge for the top places. Craig Breen is another and finally, Elfyn could as well.
Returning to the championship for the final time this year are erstwhile Citroen crew Seb Loeb and Daniel Elena, who have won this rally an incredible eight times, including three times after it switched to being a dual surface event in 2010. The French aces will almost certainly challenge for stage victories.
Seb Loeb and Daniel Elena. Photo credit Citroen Racing.
Now, here are the stages that the crews face. Eighteen stages totalling 331.58km. Now after Friday’s stages, the teams have the usual seventy-five minutes to convert the cars from gravel spec, to tarmac spec.
RALLY DE ESPAÑA SCHEDULE (GMT+2)
THURSDAY 25 OCTOBER
8.00am: Shakedown – Salou (2.00km)
1.15pm: Start (Salou)
6.08pm: SS1 – Barcelona (3.20km)
8.08pm: Parc ferme (PortAventura)
FRIDAY 26 OCTOBER
8.00am: Service A (PortAventura – 15 mins)
9.33am: SS2 – Gandesa 1 (7.00km)
10.06am: SS3 – Pesells 1 (26.59km)
11.20am: SS4 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 1 (38.85km)
1.35pm: Service B (PortAventura – 30 mins)
3.23pm: SS5 – Gandesa 2 (7.00km)
3.56pm: SS6 – Pesells 2 (26.59km)
5.10pm: SS7 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 2 (38.85km)
7.20pm: Flexi Service C (PortAventura – 1 hr 15 mins)
SATURDAY 27 OCTOBER
6.45am: Service D (PortAventura – 15 mins)
8.23am: SS8 – Savallà 1 (14.12km)
9.08am: SS9 – Querol 1 (21.26km)
10.08am: SS10 – El Montmell 1 (24.40km)
11.43am: Service E (PortAventura – 30 mins)
1.28pm: SS11 – Savallà 2 (14.12km)
2.10pm: SS12 – Querol 2 (21.26km)
3.08pm: SS13 – El Montmell 2 (24.40km)
5.00pm: SS14 – Salou (2.24km)
5.30pm: Flexi Service F (PortAventura – 45 mins)
SUNDAY 28 OCTOBER
6.45am: Service G (PortAventura – 15 mins)
7.35am: SS15 – Riudecanyes 1 (16.35km)
8.38am: SS16 – Santa Marina 1 (14.50km)
9.45am: Service H (PortAventura – 30 mins)
10.50am: SS17 – Riudecanyes 2 (16.35km)
12.18pm: SS18 – Santa Marina 2 Power Stage (14.50km)
1.41pm: Service I (PortAventura – 10 mins)
2.01pm: Podium (Salou)
The longest day is Saturday, with the most stages and has the earliest start as well. Let’s hear from the drivers and their hopes.
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“These two final rallies of the season are massively important for us in the championship fight. We have lost some ground in the past couple of events, but we are still on top and we won’t give up without a fight. The opening day on gravel will be particularly vital in setting the tone for the rest of the weekend, so we have to start strongly. We know we have had some deficiencies on tarmac this season but we have worked hard on that and hope we can see the fruits of that hard work.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 11, Rally de Espaa 05 – 08 October 2017 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Andreas Mikkelsen
“We have made important steps in the past few rallies, which have not really been reflected in our overall results. The feeling and rhythm I have had with the i20 Coupe WRC has allowed me to pick up stage wins and to fight at the top end of the field. This is greatly encouraging. Rally Spain could be good for us. I feel that we have made some improvements on tarmac in preparation for this event. We have to see if all our homework pays off. It will be a crucial rally for the championship, so we have to be on top of our game.”
Dani Sordo
“Rally de España is one of the most special events of the whole year for me. Nothing can replace the feeling we get when competing on home soil and in front of such passionate supporters. It makes for a tremendous atmosphere from the opening super special right through to the Power Stage.
“The gravel-to-tarmac schedule is like no other rally we tackle, and requires a very different approach. It’s been a long time since Portugal, my last event on gravel, so it will be a tough start even with a beneficial road position. We know the car is strong on loose surface, while we also have some evolutions for tarmac so I hope we can perform stronger than in Germany.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“We go to Spain on a high after securing victory in Wales, and reducing the gap at the head of the championship standings to seven points. With just two events left to contest, the title race is really hotting up, and we’ll need to deliver another strong result if we want to defend our crown.
“The competition is really exciting and I’m looking forward to this event which I enjoy a lot. The dual surface element of this rally makes it a unique fixture on the calendar and you need to adapt quickly to each change in terrain.”
“The support we get in Salou every year also provides extra motivation and everyone can count on Julien and I giving everything to bring home another strong result for the championship.”
Elfyn Evans
“We go to the Spain determined to secure a good result. Luck hasn’t been on our side this year, but the speed is there and we’ll be looking to close the season with some strong results.”
“As the only mixed-surface encounter on the calendar, there’s no other event quite like this one. We start the rally in gravel specification before everything is lowered and stiffened for Catalunya’s circuit-like asphalt.”
“It’s quite a strategic rally and our plan will be to give it a big push through the gravel on Friday, before seeing where we are for the weekend’s asphalt – which really is like driving on a racetrack in places!”
Teemu Suninen
“I have contested Rally Spain every year since my debut season in 2015 and it’s an event I like a lot. I’m looking forward to heading back there this year and attacking the stages for the first time in a world rally car.”
“We had a test on the Spanish asphalt last week and the car felt good immediately. The set-up for this sort of asphalt is pretty unique and you can really attack the stages like you would on a circuit. The gravel stages are quite narrow and similar to those in Portugal.”
“This is a rally that demands commitment if you want to challenge for a good result, and we plan to deliver that and challenge for a positive result next week.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak
“I am looking forward to driving again in Spain. We still have a chance in the drivers’ championship and we are not going to give up. In a way it is more straightforward for us: we just have to win the last two rallies and see what happens.”
“I can be confident about our performance on both gravel and asphalt, as we have been strong on both surfaces recently. Still, we are always trying to improve and we had a good pre-event test where we were able to work on some things to make everything as good as possible before the rally.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“I am really excited about Spain and the chance to score a great result to help our bid for the manufacturers’ championship. It is a rally I have always enjoyed: the asphalt stages there are particularly nice to drive.
“In my pre-event test last week, I was fortunate to experience both damp and dry conditions, and I have a good feeling with the car. Personally, I am on a nice run at the moment and the goal is to keep this going until the end of the season.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Catalunya (SPA) – WRC 05/10/2017 to 08/10/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Esapekka Lappi
“I am fully committed to helping the team fight for the manufacturers’ title over the final two events of the season. As a team we have had some really nice results recently and I hope to continue that in Spain.”
“I like the challenge of the two surfaces: as a driver you do need to adapt to the chance but I think we all get used to it pretty quickly. The asphalt stages in Spain are very special and I really enjoy driving them. Unfortunately, I made a mistake last year but hopefully I can use that experience this time to have a strong finish.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing
Sébastien Loeb
“After setting some good times on both surfaces in Mexico and in Corsica, I’d love to get through an entire rally without making any mistakes. My two days of testing went well. It’s now up to me to put it all together, from start to finish. The standard is so high that it would be pretentious to say that I’ll be able to challenge the three title contenders, but I hope to be more or less on the pace. If it’s dry on day one, then we’ll need to make the most of the potential advantage of our road position, because lots of things always happen on this leg, with hidden, embedded rocks pretty much everywhere.”
Craig Breen
“I’m excited to be racing on tarmac again, my favourite surface, especially as there are always a lot of Irish fans who come over for this rally. I’m also pleased that there have been some changes to the first leg on gravel, given that I haven’t competed here for two years. For the tarmac leg, I’ll be looking to my past in karting to get my bearings quickly on these sweeping, circuit-style roads. I’ll need to keep it as clean and tidy as possible. I’ll certainly be looking to pick up where I left off in Wales and fight for a podium finish.”
Khalid Al Qassimi
“I’m delighted to be back at this rally. I’ve always loved racing here, especially the leg on gravel, even if it is always tricky. Switching from one surface to another during the weekend calls for a good ability to adapt and that’s what makes this round such a difficult, but really interesting challenge.”
Now, there are also a number of WRC2 R5 cars running this weekend, but the most anticipated has to be the debut of Volkswagen Motorsport’s Polo GTi R5. Driving the two cars are 2003 world champion Petter Solberg and Eric Camilli. Also, Citroen are running C3 R5 and Hyundai have a i20 R5 too!
Here’s their thoughts!
Volkswagen Motorsport
Petter Solberg
“Spain was the venue of my last WRC rally in 2012,” says an emotional Solberg. “It feels great to be heading back there now. Particularly with this car and this team. The combination of gravel and tarmac will be a big challenge for me. After all, it is six years since I drove in a WRC rally. However, one way or another, it will be a fantastic weekend – with old rally friends and passionate fans out on the route.”
Eric Camilli testing the Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 in Spain
Eric Camilli
“It is a great honour for me to be involved in Spain. I have completed a lot of test kilometres and am really looking forward to finally getting to drive the Polo GTI R5 at a rally,” says Camilli. “The first outing with a completely new car is always very special, and you have to be ready for anything. However, I know that we have prepared as well as possible and do not believe that we need to fear our more established opponents.”
Citroen Racing
Stéphane Lefebvre
“I really like this rally and the fact that it is a mixed surface event. You have to be good at both parts, which are very different. First of all, on very technical gravel roads, and then on the sweeping, circuit-style tarmac roads where you really need to be very accurate in your lines. We have a couple of test days before the start, one on each surface, so we’ll be starting the rally determined to finish our WRC2 campaign in style.”
Citroen C3R5. Photo credit, Citroen Racing.
Hyundai Driver Development
Jari Huttunen
“Wales was arguably the most encouraging WRC2 weekend we’ve had this year. Of course, we were confident and fast in Finland but at the last event we really put into practice a full twelve months of development and hard work. The improvements have been good but we also know we have more to learn. Spain will be a new event for us, so we will have a bigger challenge against the main WRC2 contenders, who will no doubt set a high benchmark. Our aim is to get as close to them as we can and pick up experience of a mixed gravel/tarmac rally.”
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 11, Wales Rally GB 04-07 October 2018 Jari Huttunen, Antti Linnaketo, Hyundai New Generation i20 R5 Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Well, we are set for a dramatic end to the season and anything could happen. You can follow the weekend with WRC+ Live and live timing on the EWRC site too.
On the 12th of October the calendar for next year’s championship was announced, and it contained some surprises. First up, there are fourteen rounds, one extra compared to the last few years. This coming season will be the forty-seventh season of the championship.
Here’s the full schedule.
Monte Carlo Rally January 24-27
Rally Sweden February 14-17
Rally Mexico March 7-10
Tour de Corse March 28-31
Rally Argentina April 25-28
Rally Chile May 9-12
Rally Portugal May 30-June 2
Rally Italy June 13-16
Rally Finland August 1-4
Rally Germany August 22-25
Rally Turkey September 12-15
Rally GB October 3-6
Rally Spain October 24-27
Rally Australia November 14-17
The first surprise is the addition of Rally Chile two weeks after Rally Argentina, clearly as a double-header. It does make me wonder why they didn’t include Rally Mexico in that, rather than coming back to Europe, and then heading back to Southern America…. Anyway, the other big surprise is that there’s no returning Rally Japan. The rumours suggested it would return, but that looks more likely to be in 2020 along with a return of the championship to Africa with a round in Kenya with the Safari Rally.
The schedule looks pretty similar to this year though, apart from the addition of Chile. Adding a new round will bring an interesting dimension to the championship, with all new stages. Recently, the Dakar has run through part of Chile, so it’ll be interesting what the organiser decides in terms of the stages.
The summer break is in the usual place with a seven week between Italy in June and Finland at the start of August. Wales Rally GB remains at the start of October, which for the first time this year featured stages on closed roads. Once again, the season starts in Monte Carlo and ends down-under in Australia.
Also, we’ve had a number of driver changes and announcements. First of all, Seb Ogier is returning to Citroen Racing and young Finn Esapekka Lappi is switching from Toyota to drive the other C3 WRC.
Confirmed at Toyota today as their team for 2019 are Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti and the return of Kris Meeke to the sport. When Citroen terminated his contract back in May, it was a big shock. Now we will have one of the best drivers back in the sport. Let’s not forget, he is the only driver from the UK to win in Finland. At Hyundai we know that Thierry has signed for three years with the team.
Now the teams and drivers that we know are as follows.
Hyundai Motorsport- Thierry Neuville (new three-year deal) and Andreas Mikkelsen (starting the second year of a two-year deal).
Thierry Neuville
“I am really happy to sign a new three-year contract with Hyundai Motorsport. We have improved a lot in recent seasons, and it has always been my target to build continuity for my career by remaining with this team. Since 2014, we have shared many special moments together, as well as working through some more difficult times. Our debut victory together in 2014 remains a highlight, and we have since taken more wins together. There is a fantastic family atmosphere and I get on very well with my team-mates. This is very important to me. Alongside Nicolas, who has played a key role in our successes, our focus is on completing this current season in the strongest way possible, aiming to secure the titles. From there, we will continue to build, hopefully, to an even brighter future with Hyundai Motorsport.”
Citroen Racing- Seb Ogier and Esapekka Lappi.
Sébastien Ogier
“I’m really enthusiastic about the prospect of taking on this new challenge with Citroën. In fact, I can’t wait, especially as I haven’t forgotten that this is the team that first gave me the opportunity to compete in the world championship. There were various factors that influenced my decision. I really like the idea of working again with people with whom things went pretty well a few years back and I’m also excited by the chance to try and pull off the challenge of becoming world champion with a third different manufacturer. And although I’m not taking anything for granted, I am convinced that the car has definite potential and I have great faith in the people at Satory.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Obviously, I’m delighted to be joining the team and to be the future team-mate of Sébastien. It’s a good opportunity for me to keep developing. After having learned many things from Jari-Matti Latvala last year, and from Ott Tänak this year, I’ll have everything it takes to be even better if I also manage to draw inspiration from Seb! I’m convinced that the car has a lot of potential, as does the team, which has a long history and lot of experience in the WRC. The fact that Pierre clearly wanted to recruit me also counted a lot when it came to making my decision. It’s also going to be a great challenge, trying to win together.”
Citroen Racing confirmed Esapekka Lappi today, joining Seb Ogier.
Toyota Gazoo Racing- Ott Tanak, Jari-Matti Latvala and Kris Meeke.
Tommi Mäkinen (Team Principal)
“We are all very excited to have Kris joining us here at TOYOTA GAZOO Racing. We know that he is very fast, but he also brings a lot of experience. His technical understanding is at a really high level and I believe he can provide new knowledge and ideas to help us in our aim to keep making the Yaris WRC better.
I am also very pleased that Jari-Matti will continue to be part of our team. He has done some brilliant work for us and has recently been regularly on the podium again, which has been very important. Together with Ott, who has proven that he is absolutely one of the fastest drivers right now, I think we have a very strong line-up for next year, with three drivers who are all quick, experienced and can win rallies. I believe we will again have a strong team to fight for both the drivers’ and manufacturers’ titles.
Lastly, I am very sorry to see that Esapekka has decided to leave us for a new challenge, but we all wish him the best of luck for the future.”
Kris Meeke
“It’s a huge pleasure and honour for me to become a Toyota driver. I’d like to thank Akio Toyoda, Tommi Mäkinen and the entire Toyota team for their faith in me. Three years ago, we first discussed the possibility of me joining the team, and I’m so happy that it’s finally happened now.
Kris Meeke – Photo credit Toyota Gazoo Racing.
The performance of the Yaris WRC speaks for itself, but the team spirit here is incredible at every level, also with the Japanese culture of honour and respect. I can’t wait to get started. I’ve got no particular objectives other than to enjoy my driving again and help Toyota to win a championship.
Kris Meeke testing the Yaris WRC. Photo credit Toyota Gazoo Racing
The very first championship that I won was actually when I was aged 16 and co-driving for my brother on our local road rally championship. We clinched that title in a Toyota Corolla, so for very many reasons, it feels incredibly good to be here. I can’t think of a better place to be.”
We are still waiting for M-Sport to confirm what their plans are, but potential drivers could be Elfyn Evans, Teemu Suninen, Hayden Paddon and Craig Breen.
My name is Dimitris Bizas, I am from Greece, and I study Communication, Media and Culture at Panteion University. I have been writing about Formula 1 since 2012, firstly at totalracing.gr and, for the past 18 months, for the ‘4Wheels’ magazine. Motorsport is my passion and getting to write and report on it is a true blessing.
2018 was supposed to be Ferrari’s year: they built a good, competitive at any given Sunday car, they had Sebastian Vettel at his prime and they carried with them a year’s worth of experience in title battles, from their 2017 campaign. However, they seem to have failed to capitalize on their chances once again, and the reason is simple, but not so obvious.
Let’s start from the very beginning of this season, the Australian Grand Prix. Ferrari did the unexpected, with Sebastian Vettel winning a race which Hamilton led up until the Safety Car, having taken a remarkable pole position the day before. They continued their winning ways at Bahrain, they were held up by the Red Bulls at China, and then came the first real ‘wake-up call’ for Vettel and his team: the Baku incident.
He could be on the podium, on the second or third place, hadn’t he been in such a hurry to overtake the Mercedes boys. He was somewhat lucky that he did not end up on the barriers at the exit of Turn 1, taking the checkered flag 4th.
This was the first sign of his lack of composure under pressure. But, since it was so early in the season, it didn’t affect his championship aspirations, despite the fact that his arch-rival, Lewis Hamilton, took his maiden 2018 win that day.
Fast forward to France, and Vettel has just taken a commanding victory on Hamilton’s ‘second home’, at Montreal. He grabbed a truly unbelievable pole on Saturday (sing of his confidence at that point of the season), and he went on to win, reminding to his nemesis that 2018 is not a 2017 repeat.
Of course, this feeling of superiority against Hamilton was short-lived. Paul Ricard marked the first of a series of mistakes from Vettel – mistakes that ultimately cost him the world title. He got off the line brilliantly, before hitting Bottas from behind, losing place after place, and finishing only 5th – a result far from representative for his overall performance that weekend.
Then there was Germany and his biggest mistake of his career, probably. That was the first turning point for his campaign – losing 25 points, in front of his home crowd, and seeing his rival taking the win instead, was a huge blow, not only for his team, but also for his confidence. Sebastian Vettel is and has
always been a driver whose performance is affected completely from his morale. If he is elevated and on a roll, he seems unstoppable, invincible. However, a single race gone bad can make him vulnerable, prone to mistakes. It is as if a huge weight is put to his shoulders, and this year, that weight is all the expectations from within his team and from the hundreds of thousands of Tifosi. It is not an easy task.
The final nail on his title hopes’ coffin was put at the Italian and the Singapore Grand Prix. His spin at Variante della Roggia and the crucial mistake during the FP2 at Marina Bay were the ones which gave Hamilton a huge advantage, both on the standings, and on the ‘psychological war’, as he calls it. He now stands 67 points ahead of Vettel, and Austin could be the place where he will have both hands on his 5th world championship.
Ferrari’s fault on this run
Although it is easy to point fingers and proclaim that Vettel lost the title on his own, Ferrari has been subpar when the stakes were extremely high.
One of their biggest weaknesses is the consistency they do not show during the season, not only on the track, but also back at the factory. Keeping a respectable –nay, a competitive- level of performance during the span of 21 races is crucial for the title battle, and the Maranello squad has not met the standards of their rivals, Mercedes.
Both at Brackley and at Brixworth, work was done in order to close the gap from the dominant –as it stood in the first 1/3 of the season- SF71H. The disadvantage on the power unit area and the tire management were the two main factor that held the Germans back, and they made a remarkable job recovering from a deficit on and off track. This allowed Hamilton to push harder, to build his confidence with the car, and ultimately to win one race after the other.
On the other hand, Ferrari made some marginal gains over the summer, and all their upgrades after the summer break were not what they expected. They fell back when their rivals pushed forward, got ahead of them and tried to stay there.
Even if Vettel was perfect (which is highly unlikely in such a lengthy season), his team would have failed on him. Stagnation is a poison for every F1 team, especially in such a hard-fought battle.
The bottom line is that the Ferrari-Vettel combination lost another chance to make history, to bring the crown back to Italy after 11 years. The legacy of this cooperation is still a work in progress, and if these two years are just the beginning, they have time to improve, to learn from their mistakes and
mishaps. But, if this was their final chance (and that’s a big hypothesis), then History will not be lenient with them.
The best moment of the season is definitely the win of race in Dubai. It was the debut of the car and the team in this crew.
I keep in my mind memories from qualifications at Brands Hatch. The lap timer wasn’t working – there was an error of the display. I didn’t know what was going on and I didn’t have the faintest idea what times I was setting We also had minimal radio communication. My time was the 7th time in the general classification. Brands Hatch on the longer grand prix circuit is a very demanding track. It is old type, there are no safety zones, for the driver is waiting a lot of up-down driving. That kind of the track suits me very well. I love the Red Bull Ring, where there are also noticeable changes in elevations, and driving on that kind of tracks makes me very happy.
What I was really happy about was winning at the Hungaroring, which finally was taken away from us. The team took a huge risk – despite the fact that the track was, the crew put that the track would dry up and let us go on slicks. We were one of five cars (48 cars took part in the whole race), which left just on those tyres. It was a huge jugglery and huge stress before the start, because we didn’t know if it is possible to ride on this type of tyres and whether it won’t be the ice-riding, but it finally paid off. The time was good and improved from lap to lap. Also the selection of tyres and driving the race under delicate pressure and risk is my best third moment of the season.
Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
For my worst moment, I consider it a start in Zolder. It was a huge disappointment. We were very unlucky – my teammate went for an unscheduled pit stop. It was the first racing weekend [of the season] and because of it we weren’t fully prepared. I consider it one of the most chaotic moments of the season.
Another of the worst moments was losing the pole position in the Central Cup at the Nurburgring. In qualifying I was second or third, but only because of my own fault. If we put all the fastest sectors into a theoretical time, I would have started the first race from the start of the grid. This qualification was – it’s hard to call such a worst moment, but in the perspective I could be faster because I knew my own and the cars abilities. I don’t want to be brutal to myself, but it was a bit disappointing for me because I could easily get pole position.
The third moment I think will be the last race. My physical predisposition wasn’t the same as it is used to be because I had a cold or even I caught a flu. I was sick almost from Thursday evening, so Friday, Saturday and Sunday is the perfect time to get sick – you couldn’t have had a better one (laughs). It was better today – all the symptoms have gone away, there is only a runny nose and a slight hoarseness, but it isn’t so bad. I think that my well-being has also had a huge impact on my command and the feedback which I gave to the car engineer on Friday.
Najlepszy moment sezonu to zdecydowanie wygrana w Dubaju. Był to zarówno debiut samochodu, jaki i zespołu w takim składzie.
Bardzo miłe wspominam kwalifikacje w Brands Hatch. Nie działał mi wtedy lap timer – był błąd całego wyświetlacza. Nie wiedziałam co się dzieje i nie miałam zielonego pojęcia jakie czasy wykręcałam. Mieliśmy także minimalną łączność radiową. Udało mi się wtedy wywalczyć siódmy czas w klasyfikacji generalnej. Brands Hatch na długiej pętli jest bardzo wymagającym torem. Jest starego typu, nie ma tam stref bezpieczeństwa, kierowcę czeka mnóstwo jazdy góra-dół. Taka charakterystyka toru bardzo mi odpowiada. Uwielbiam Red Bull Ring, gdzie też jest ogromna różnica wzniesień, także jazda na takiego typu torach sprawia mi ogromną przyjemność.
To co jeszcze bardzo mnie ucieszyło, to wygrana na Hungaroringu, która finalnie została nam odebrana. Zespół podjął ogromne ryzyko – pomimo tego, że było mokro na torze, ekipa postawiła, że tor będzie przesychać i wypuścili nas na slikach. Byliśmy jednym z pięciu aut (w całym wyścigu wzięło udział 48 samochodów), które wyjechało właśnie na tej mieszance opon. Była to ogromna żonglerka i ogromne stresy przed startem, bo nie wiedzieliśmy, czy da się jeździć na tym typie ogumienia i czy to nie przypomni to jazdy na lodzie, ale finalnie opłaciło się. Tempo było dobre i poprawiało się z okrążenia na okrążenie. Także dobór opon oraz jechanie wyścigu pod delikatną presją i ryzykiem to taki mój najlepszy trzeci moment sezonu.
Julia Paradowska/ThePitCrewOnline
Za najgorszy uznaję za to start w Zolder. To było ogromne rozczarowanie. Mieliśmy ogromnego pecha – mój zmiennik zjechał niepotrzebnie na pit stop. Przez to, że był to pierwszy weekend wyścigowy, to nie byliśmy tacy dotarci. Uważam to za jeden z najbardziej chaotycznych momentów w sezonie.
Kolejnym z najgorszych momentów to stracenie pole position w Central Cup na Nurburgringu. W kwalifikacjach byłam druga lub trzecia, ale tylko z powodu własnego błędu. Gdyby złożyć czas teoretyczny, to spokojnie mogłam wystartować na czele stawki do pierwszego wyścigu. Te kwalifikacje były – ciężko to nazwać takim najgorszym momentem, ale w perspektywie jakby mogło być szybciej, bo znałam możliwości swoje i samochodu. Nie chcę być brutalna dla siebie, ale trochę to właśnie ja zawiodłam, ponieważ spokojnie mogłam zdobyć pole position.
Trzecim momentem myślę, że będzie ostatni wyścig. Moja predyspozycja fizyczna nie była taka jak zawsze, ponieważ byłam przeziębiona albo nawet złapałam grypę. Byłam chora praktycznie od czwartku wieczora, więc piątek, sobota i niedziela to idealny czas na chorowanie – lepszego nie można było sobie wymarzyć (śmiech). Dzisiaj już było lepiej – wszystkie symptomy odpuściły, został tylko katar i lekka chrypka, ale to nie jest takie odbierające siłę. Myślę, że moje samopoczucie też potężnie wpłynęło na moją dyspozycję za kierownicą i na sam feedback, który oddałam inżynierowi z samochodu w piątek.
Join us live on Wednesday at 12:30 BST for a live chat with M-Sport WRC driver Elfyn Evans! You can also send your own questions in for him to answer in advance.
Check out the latest Mobil 1 The Grid video on how the team uses FLIR thermal imaging cameras and special heat control techniques at show runs. The piece features comments from Max Verstappen, in reference to his run at Zandvoort earlier this year.
Rally Turkey was a rally like no other I’ve competed on. An incredible test of endurance and determination.
The recce was a challenge in itself, we picked up two punctures on our recce car. The rough nature of the stages made writing difficult, and the dust made navigating tricky. However, we were rewarded with some of the most beautiful stages I have seen, this rally was held amongst truly stunning scenery.
The route of the rally was nicely compact, with short liaison sections and easy access to the stages.
The rally itself was a war of attrition, we had to go slowly in places to preserve the car and then speed up to maximum attack on the smoother sections. The trick was knowing where to go fast, and where to go slow; and that meant making really good pace notes.
The soaring heat and choking dust made life inside the rally car a challenge, it’s where our focus on fitness and preparation really helped. We had to change three punctures in the stages, another area we’ve practised hard to save precious seconds. The Fiesta R2T held up really well against the ruts and boulders on the stages, some of the rocks on the line were size of a beach ball! We damaged the rear suspension and had to complete one loop of stages with not much in the way of damping on the rear right, which led to some interesting handling characteristics. However, the M-Sport team were fantastic, and worked incredibly hard to keep each car running perfectly in the tough conditions.
The rally start was a great experience on the sea front in Marmaris, a huge amount of fans lined the streets and there was a huge party atmosphere (in fact there was a huge fan presence across the whole rally). The city centre stage that night was one of the best ones I have done, featuring open sections as well as tight hairpins.
Friday was probably the toughest and roughest leg, with stages to the north, Saturday saw (relatively) smoother stages to the east, and Sunday saw four shorted stages finishing right outside the service park. Friday and Saturday had a mixture of long, endurance-sapping stages of nearly 40km, and short high intensity tests, so strategy was key.
