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Two in a row for Alonso (Gallo Images)
Natalie Le Clue
Yet again it has been proven just how fast things can turn around in Formula One. This year’s Japanese GP served up many talking points, most of them controversial as usual.
Ron Dennis beamed after Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on Saturday adding that it was the best qualifying lap in F1 history. It’s a real pity then that it lasted all of 30 seconds. Hamilton’s impetuous decision to try an out-braking maneuver into the first corner of Sunday's race on Kimi Raikkonen, already ahead of him, was quizzical to say the very least.
My mind immediately reverted back to last year’s Brazilian GP where Hamilton attempted a similar maneuver around the outside of Fernando Alonso; it didn’t work that time either.
Sometimes fortune does favour the brave, but there is something to be said for taking a calculated risk as opposed to overconfidence. Hamilton has insisted many times that Raikkonen doesn’t have the skill to brake as late as him. Call me crazy but I think it’s better to brake earlier than not at all!
Hamilton was penalised with a driver-through penalty for the first-corner incident. Was it warranted? It's true that Hamilton’s track record (pardon the pun) hasn’t been great of late with Robert Kubica branding his driving as “reckless” prompting Dennis to hit back by informing Kubica to keep his opinions to himself and try to up his own game… Kubica finished second.
Hours after race I still fail to see the logic behind Hamilton’s thought-process as he approached turn one. He was already behind Raikkonen when a sudden rush of blood toppled the usually level-headed Brit. By losing his composure and going for gold in the first corner, Lewis locked both front wheels heavily.
Soon thereafter reports from the pitlane suggested Hamilton would have to pit to replace badly flat-spotted tyres, but before he was able to do so, he was tagged into a spin by Felipe Massa, leaving him pointing the wrong way down the circuit and having to rejoin dead last.
Massa was subsequently penalised for the incident which was completely justified. Massa had out-braked himself going into the chicane and should have recognised that he had already lost the position when the Ferrari was on the grass and should have yielded to Hamilton, no question about it.
Massa was forced to take a drive-through penalty and was on a similar fuel-strategy to that of Hamilton. However, he clawed his way back to eighth position by the end of the race - which would later become seventh courtesy of yet another controversial decision, the 25-second penalty handed out to Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.
Hamilton, meanwhile, could only manage 12th place even though he was right up behind Felipe Massa during the last stint of the race.
I find the report from McLaren that Hamilton’s floor, side-pods and bargeboards were badly damaged rather suspicious as the impact with the Ferrari was not severe enough to warrant that kind of damage. The fact is nobody can deny that Hamilton is a sensational front-runner, but when he’s faced with the task of driving back through the field he doesn’t seem able to do it. Curious.
One person who was faultless and controversy-free was Alonso. He may have had luck on his side in Singapore, but in Japan he kept out of the chaos created by his former team-mate and romped off into the distance for a second consecutive victory.
Pre-season I imagined at best Alonso would be fighting for one or two championship points and for a while that was what he was reduced too, but now he is back with a vengeance. It is a pleasure to see a champion of his calibre back on top of his game.
It was also a welcome back to form for Raikkonen who, apparently with a damaged front-end, finally returned to the podium after going pointless for four races. Although his chances of retaining the drivers' crown have become mathematically impossible, Ferrari will be more than happy that he seems to have recovered some of his speed.
The seven point lead Hamilton held heading into Fuji has now been slashed to five. In Singapore he refused to risk his car in order to gain an extra two points. One wonders how crucial will those two points turn out to be at the end of this championship.
Yet again it has been proven just how fast things can turn around in Formula One. This year’s Japanese GP served up many talking points, most of them controversial as usual.
Ron Dennis beamed after Lewis Hamilton secured pole position on Saturday adding that it was the best qualifying lap in F1 history. It’s a real pity then that it lasted all of 30 seconds. Hamilton’s impetuous decision to try an out-braking maneuver into the first corner of Sunday's race on Kimi Raikkonen, already ahead of him, was quizzical to say the very least.
My mind immediately reverted back to last year’s Brazilian GP where Hamilton attempted a similar maneuver around the outside of Fernando Alonso; it didn’t work that time either.
Sometimes fortune does favour the brave, but there is something to be said for taking a calculated risk as opposed to overconfidence. Hamilton has insisted many times that Raikkonen doesn’t have the skill to brake as late as him. Call me crazy but I think it’s better to brake earlier than not at all!
Hamilton was penalised with a driver-through penalty for the first-corner incident. Was it warranted? It's true that Hamilton’s track record (pardon the pun) hasn’t been great of late with Robert Kubica branding his driving as “reckless” prompting Dennis to hit back by informing Kubica to keep his opinions to himself and try to up his own game… Kubica finished second.
Hours after race I still fail to see the logic behind Hamilton’s thought-process as he approached turn one. He was already behind Raikkonen when a sudden rush of blood toppled the usually level-headed Brit. By losing his composure and going for gold in the first corner, Lewis locked both front wheels heavily.
Soon thereafter reports from the pitlane suggested Hamilton would have to pit to replace badly flat-spotted tyres, but before he was able to do so, he was tagged into a spin by Felipe Massa, leaving him pointing the wrong way down the circuit and having to rejoin dead last.
Massa was subsequently penalised for the incident which was completely justified. Massa had out-braked himself going into the chicane and should have recognised that he had already lost the position when the Ferrari was on the grass and should have yielded to Hamilton, no question about it.
Massa was forced to take a drive-through penalty and was on a similar fuel-strategy to that of Hamilton. However, he clawed his way back to eighth position by the end of the race - which would later become seventh courtesy of yet another controversial decision, the 25-second penalty handed out to Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais.
Hamilton, meanwhile, could only manage 12th place even though he was right up behind Felipe Massa during the last stint of the race.
I find the report from McLaren that Hamilton’s floor, side-pods and bargeboards were badly damaged rather suspicious as the impact with the Ferrari was not severe enough to warrant that kind of damage. The fact is nobody can deny that Hamilton is a sensational front-runner, but when he’s faced with the task of driving back through the field he doesn’t seem able to do it. Curious.
One person who was faultless and controversy-free was Alonso. He may have had luck on his side in Singapore, but in Japan he kept out of the chaos created by his former team-mate and romped off into the distance for a second consecutive victory.
Pre-season I imagined at best Alonso would be fighting for one or two championship points and for a while that was what he was reduced too, but now he is back with a vengeance. It is a pleasure to see a champion of his calibre back on top of his game.
It was also a welcome back to form for Raikkonen who, apparently with a damaged front-end, finally returned to the podium after going pointless for four races. Although his chances of retaining the drivers' crown have become mathematically impossible, Ferrari will be more than happy that he seems to have recovered some of his speed.
The seven point lead Hamilton held heading into Fuji has now been slashed to five. In Singapore he refused to risk his car in order to gain an extra two points. One wonders how crucial will those two points turn out to be at the end of this championship.
