F1 Turkey 2011

Wow! Considering I almost didn't get to see the race, it was worth the wait. With the exception of Vettel, who basically led the race from start to finish, there was great wheel-to-wheel (and wheel-banging) action all the way down the field. For the second race in a row, Webber demonstrated great race craft by passing Alonso when it counted. Most memorable pass was Button going around the outside of Rosberg in turn fourteen, which is not the usual tactic in that corner. Unfortunately Button opted for a three stop strategy which did not work well for him.

Ferrari made a noticable step forward which allowed Alonso to get the team's first podium of the season. MacLaren seemed to a have slipped back a little which is not good news as Redbull had a few major improvements. The development race is just beginning in earnest now, so nobody can afford to slip back too much.

Kobayashi continues to impress after starting dead last in twenty third and finishing tenth. Not as big a jump as Webber in China, but Kobayashi was driving a Sauber, not a Redbull! Kobayashi is rapidly becoming my favourite of the new drivers. Watching him make a passing manoeuvre is pure delight. His driving style suits the new regulation this year which makes passing an important skill again.

The DRS zone in this race was not well placed which made the passing much too easy. The FIA is still learning where the DRS zone should be placed so it's hard to be too critical, but I wish they would consult the drivers more on the DRS location. Curiously, due the nature of the circuit, there was as much passing happening outside the DRS zone, so perhaps not having one should be a option.

The burning question is who will be the next driver to beat Vettel? Driving an identical car, Webber has the best chance but Vettel qualified 0.4s faster than Webber. He will need to dig deep to find that much more speed within himself. Or try a radical strategy. But the other drivers can try that too, so it is not as good as driving faster.

F1 Turkey 2010

It was an exciting race. The Mclarens were clearly much closer to the Redbulls in the race compared to qualifying. Hamilton pushed Webber quite hard until the pit stops. Redbull reacted quickly when Hamilton pitted, but he had a problem in the stop so Webber easily held on to the lead. Vettel later passed Hamilton in the pits which setup another possible Redbull one-two finish.

That is, until Vettel decided to pass Webber and it ended in tears. The general opinion seems to be that Vettel turned into Webber unnecessarily. Webber could definitely have given Vettel a little more room, but Vettel was never in any danger of being forced of the road. They hadn't reached the breaking point for the corner yet, so Vettel had time to make a different choice. The collision took Vettel out of the race and dropped Webber back to third, leaving Mclaren with a potential one-two finish.

But then Button saw an opportunity and decided to have a go at Hamilton. Fortunately, this one ended much less dramatically, but it was great wheel-to-wheel fight which lasted four corners. There was even some contact, which was heart stopping after the incident between the Redbulls, but Hamilton won the fight fairly. The reason this did not end in tears was that Hamilton and Button gave each other just that little bit more room, which is very important in a twitchy F1 car.

I throughly enjoyed this race which once again demonstrated that passing is key for exciting racing.

F1 Turkey

When Vettel grabbed poll position, I was really looking forward to a good race between the Brawns and Redbulls. Unfortunately, Vettel threw it away before the first lap was over and Barrichello's bad luck continued with a horrible start and the first retirement for Brawn GP this season. This race proved that passing remains a problem in F1 when Vettel closed up on Button but then could do nothing more.

The problem with the season so far is that nobody else has consistent pace which is practically handing both championships to the Button/Brawn GP combination. Even if the other teams somehow get their act together, Brawn GP would have to not score any points to loose their lead in the constructors championship. But more importantly, the season is at risk of becoming totally boring if the other teams don't get it together soon.