F1 2018: Fiesta time for five-star Hamilton

FORMULA ONE: THE GREATEST CHAMPIONS

7	Michael Schumacher	(GER)	1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
5	Juan Manuel Fangio	(ARG)	1951, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957
	Lewis Hamilton	(GBR)	2008, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018
4	Alain Prost	(FRA)	1985, 1986, 1989, 1993
	Sebastian Vettel	(GER)	2010, 2011, 2012, 2013
3	Jack Brabham	(AUS)	1959, 1960, 1966
	Jackie Stewart	(GBR)	1969, 1971, 1973
	Niki Lauda	(AUT)	1975, 1977, 1984
	Nelson Piquet	(BRA)	1981, 1983, 1987
	Ayrton Senna	(BRA)	1988, 1990, 1991

LEWIS HAMILTON produced an almost faultless season to win a fifth World Drivers' Championship at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the Mexican Grand Prix.

Hamilton coasted to fourth place in Mexico City for yet another title, one which is enough to draw him level in second on the all-time list alongside Argentine legend Juan Manuel Fangio.

Only Michael Schumacher, with seven titles, now stands ahead of Hamilton - but, already at this stage, it feels as if that record is destined to face a serious challenge in the next few years.

After all, Hamilton in 2018 has taken his own personal performance to another level, eventually beating Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari in utterly convincing fashion.

In the first part of the season, though, that did not look as if it was going to be the case at all.

Vettel swooped to early wins in Australia and Bahrain, and still led the Championship by the narrowest of margins when the F1 big top rocked up at Silverstone in July.

Hamilton took pole in his home Grand Prix but then suffered an absolute nightmare on raceday. 

First, the Stevenage-born racer was jumped off the start line by Vettel and his own team-mate Valtteri Bottas - and then he was sent spinning off the track at turn three by Vettel's team mate Kimi Räikkönen.

For a brief period, Hamilton was pootling about back in 18th - and, although he eventually scythed his way through the field to finish second, Bottas vitally had earlier lost the lead to Vettel.

The German duly took his fourth win of the campaign and an eight-point lead into the last two races before the four-week summer recess.

A fortnight later, it looked even better for Vettel in his home Grand Prix at Hockenheim when Hamilton's Mercedes broke down in qualifying and was left stranded in 14th on the grid. By contrast, Vettel was seemingly sitting pretty on pole.

However, in a complete reversal of fortunes on raceday, Hamilton battled his way through the field on soft and ultrasoft tyres in the rain, and watched on as - critically - Vettel crashed out from the lead.

Hamilton followed up victory at Hockenheim with another from pole at the Hungaroring to extend his advantage to 24 points heading into the summer break.

But, at the resumption, Vettel responded well in the Belgian Grand Prix to beat pole-sitter Hamilton off the start line in Spa-Francorchamps.

That should really have marked the start of a Vettel comeback as Ferrari arrived at their home circuit in Monza - but the reality could not have been more different to the expectations of the Tifosi.

First, Ferrari chose not to reverse the order of Vettel and Räikkönen in qualifying, despite the former being their only title contender.

The Finn - who had, by then, been told by Ferrari that he would not be retained for 2019 - took pole and, racing on his own merits, it was no surprise at all to see him defend his lead from Vettel.

At the second chicane, a watchful Hamilton took advantage and passed Vettel on the outside.

Crucially, in attempting to defend his position, the battling German crashed into Hamilton and spun to the back. Then, to make matters even worse for him, the Mercedes driver subsequently overtook Räikkönen to win.

By this point, an in-form Hamilton was buzzing - and next came one of the moments of the season as the 33-year-old produced one of the best flying laps of his whole career to secure a race-winning pole in the night race at Singapore.

Two weeks later at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi, the British driver benefited from a rare imposition of team orders as Mercedes told Bottas to let him past at halfway stage.

Then, at Suzuka in Japan, Hamilton made it four wins in a row with a lights-to-flag victory which left Vettel trailing in his wake.

Rapidly through the autumn, Hamilton's lead had grown to 67 points - a gigantic advantage which meant the Mercedes man could mathematically seal the title at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.

Indeed, it looked, at one stage, as if he would take the title in Texas as he made a wheel-to-wheel challenge to Red Bull's Max Verstappen for a few corners while Vettel trailed again in fifth.

Ultimately, Hamilton was forced to pull out of his move on the young Dutchman - and, even if he had taken second place, he would have been denied the big prize by Vettel's successful late pass on an ailing Bottas.

Nevertheless, Hamilton's pragmatic approach to his attack on Verstappen contrasted sharply with Vettel's earlier haphazard attempt to pass Daniel Ricciardo in the other Red Bull.

Once again, Vettel made contact and was sent spinning to the back of the field - and, although the German recovered to take fourth, the result in the United States merely delayed the inevitable.

Requiring any finish in the top seven in Mexico, regardless of Vettel's result, Hamilton qualified behind the dominant Red Bulls in third and never dropped below sixth even after his pit-stops. His triumph had become a mathematical certainty.

"I don't allow myself to be too emotional in public, but now I feel humbled by the whole experience [and] it's hard to realise it at the moment," said Hamilton in his post-race interview.

"It's something I dreamed of, but I never in a million years thought I'd be stood here as a five-time champion and I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me be here, to raise the bar and lift the cup.

"It was a goal, when I won the championship last year - I kept thinking how can I be fitter, faster, better - a better all-rounder, a better friend, better son, and I think I've been able to lift them all up this year.

"Maybe it comes with age or experience but I'm very happy with how it's gone."

Undoubtedly, at 33, Hamilton will need to use all his experience to stay at the top of his game in the coming years.

For, certainly, it would be a big surprise if four-time champion Vettel and Ferrari made as many poor mistakes again in 2019. 

Meanwhile, the Prancing Horse from Maranello will also inject younger blood in their line-up following the signing of 21-year-old Charles Leclerc from Sauber.

And then there is Verstappen - also just 21 - who further added to his burgeoning reputation at the weekend with a fifth race win and 20th podium of his relatively short F1 career so far.

But, of course, this Mexican Grand Prix was all about the legendary Hamilton, and his hard work and sacrifices which have allowed him to retain the Drivers' Championship.

A class apart from his contemporaries, it feels only a matter of when - and not if - he will triumph again.

FORMULA ONE 2018
+/- refers to Hamilton lead or deficit in the Drivers' Championship 

Date		Pole	Fast lap	Winner	+/-
25 March	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Ricciardo	Vettel	-7
8 April	Bahrain Grand Prix	Vettel	Bottas	Vettel	-17
15 April	Chinese Grand Prix	Vettel	Ricciardo	Ricciardo	-9
29 April	Azerbaijan Grand Prix	Vettel	Bottas	Hamilton	+4
13 May	Spanish Grand Prix	Hamilton	Ricciardo	Hamilton	+17
27 May	Monaco Grand Prix	Ricciardo	Verstappen	Ricciardo	+14
10 June	Canadian Grand Prix	Vettel	Verstappen	Vettel	-1
24 June	French Grand Prix	Hamilton	Bottas	Hamilton	+14
1 July	Austrian Grand Prix	Bottas	Räikkönen	Verstappen	-1
8 July	British Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Vettel	-8
22 July	German Grand Prix	Vettel	Hamilton	Hamilton	+17
29 July	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Ricciardo	Hamilton	+24
26 August	Belgian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Bottas	Vettel	+17
2 September	Italian Grand Prix	Räikkönen	Hamilton	Hamilton	+30
16 September	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Magnussen	Hamilton	+40
30 September	Russian Grand Prix	Bottas	Bottas	Hamilton	+50
7 October	Japanese Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton	+67
21 October	United States Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Räikkönen	+70
28 October	Mexican Grand Prix	Ricciardo	Bottas	Verstappen	+64
11 November	Brazilian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Bottas	Hamilton	+81
25 November	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton	+88

FIA F1 DRIVERS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

			Points
1	Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	Mercedes	408	(11 wins)
2	Sebastian Vettel (GER)	Ferrari	320	(5 wins)
3	Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)	Ferrari	251	(1 win)
4	Max Verstappen (NED)	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	249	(2 wins)
5	Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	Mercedes	247
6	Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)	Red Bull Racing-TAG Heuer	170	(2 wins)
7	Niko Hülkenberg (GER)	Renault	69
8	Sergio Pérez (MEX)	Force India-Mercedes	62
9	Kevin Magnussen (DEN)	Haas-Ferrari	56
10	Carlos Sainz Jr. (ESP)	Renault	53
11	Fernando Alonso (ESP)	McLaren-Renault	50
12	Esteban Ocon (FRA)	Force India-Mercedes	49
13	Charles Leclerc (MON)	Sauber-Ferrari	39
14	Romain Grosjean (FRA)	Haas-Ferrari	37
15	Pierre Gasly (FRA)	Toro Rosso-Honda	29
16	Stoffel Vandoorne (BEL)	McLaren-Renault	12
17	Marcus Ericsson (SWE)	Sauber-Ferrari	9
18	Lance Stroll (CAN)	Williams-Mercedes	6
19	Brendon Hartley (NZL)	Toro Rosso-Honda	4
20	Sergey Sirotkin (RUS)	Williams-Mercedes	1

FIA F1 CONSTRUCTORS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

			Points
1	Mercedes (GER)	Lewis Hamilton - Valtteri Bottas	655	(11 wins)
2	Ferrari (ITA)	Sebastian Vettel - Kimi Räikkönen	571	(6 wins)
3	Red Bull-TAG Heuer (AUT)	Max Verstappen - Daniel Ricciardo	419	(4 wins)
4	Renault (FRA)	Niko Hülkenberg - Carlos Sainz Jr.	122
5	Haas-Ferrari (USA)	Kevin Magnussen - Romain Grosjean	93
6	McLaren-Renault (GBR)	Fernando Alonso - Stoffel Vandoorne	62
7	Force India-Mercedes (GBR)	Sergio Pérez - Esteban Ocon	52
8	Sauber-Ferrari (SUI)	Charles Leclerc - Marcus Ericsson	48
9	Toro Rosso-Honda (ITA)	Pierre Gasly - Brendon Hartley	33
10	Williams-Mercedes (GBR)	Lance Stroll - Sergey Sirotkin	7
NC	Force India-Mercedes (IND)	Sergio Pérez - Esteban Ocon	(59)

[NC - Not classified. The Force India-Mercedes (IND) points were voided and the team was excluded from the Constructors' Championship during the summer recess. The team's assets were sold and re-entered as a newly-formed team also called Force India-Mercedes (GBR) - this team was treated as a separate entrant in the Constructors' Championship]

Maracanazo redemption and la joga bonito

WORLD CUP 2014

A-D Preview - E-H Preview - Results sheet

ENGLAND may have invented modern day football, but it is said that the Brazilians perfected it. That is why this World Cup is surely going to be the most special of all time.

Brazil has been aching for another chance at hosting the World Cup since the very day after its first one ended.

And that is because it ended, 64 years ago, with the Maracanazo - a word which no doubt still sends a shiver down the spine of any Brazilian old enough to remember it.

It was Brazil's first appearance in a World Cup final. But, roared on by a home crowd of almost 200,000 in the Estádio do Maracanã in Rio de Janeiro, the hosts were expected to win against their fellow South Americans, Uruguay.

The final indeed began as the form book had predicted with Brazil on the front foot and the Uruguayans defending.

Nevertheless, it took until two minutes after half time for Brazil to take the lead when Friaça hit a low shot past the goalkeeper.

There had been some controversy to the goal, though, with Uruguayan captain Obdulio Varela claiming Friaça had been offside.

Valera dragged out his argument, with the English referee George Reader even seeking the assistance of an interpreter - and, by the time the game resumed, the noisy crowd was rather more settled.

Gradually, Uruguay began to take control of the game and, realising Brazil's biggest weakness was its defence, they went on the attack.

The equaliser came on 66 minutes when Juan Alberto Schiaffino converted Alcides Ghiggia's centre - and then, with 11 minutes left, came the winner from Ghiggia himself.

The remainder of the game was played out in almost complete silence, the Brazilian crowd unable to believe quite what was happening.

Indeed, so ingrained was the memory of the eerie atmosphere, that match-winner Ghiggia later commented: "Only three people have ever silenced 200,000 people at the Maracanã with a single gesture: Frank Sinatra, John Paul II and me."

It was a national disaster for Brazil, matched only by the death of three-time Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna years later in 1994.

Brazilian playwright Nelson Rodrigues explained later exactly what the Maracanazo meant to his country: "Everywhere has its irremediable national catastrophe, something like Hiroshima.

"Our catastrophe, our Hiroshima, was the defeat by Uruguay in 1950."

Former FIFA president and originator of the World Cup, Jules Rimet, had said at the time: "The silence was morbid, sometimes too difficult to bear."

And that was in fact the case, with some supporters even committing suicide. Yes, while football should never be more important than life or death, on that occasion it clearly, sadly was.

Even still now, the final is repeatedly revisited with a morbid sense of fascination.

As writer Alex Bellos notes in his excellent read Futebol: The Brazilian Way of Life, "The match has spawned a thriving literary genre", including a best-seller in Brazil by Paulo Perdigão called Anatomia de uma Derrota ('The Anatomy of Defeat').

But, the pain of the Maracanazo is more than a few books - it has affected the nation's psyche, as Bellos goes onto explain.

"Unable to admit that maybe Uruguay were a better team, the idea emerged it was somehow deserved - that the Brazilians were naturally a defeated people," he writes.

"A victory would have vindicated Brazil's national optimism and euphoria. The defeat reinforced a sense of inferiority and shame."

Of course, there has already been some redemption - plenty of it, in fact.

Brazil, the only country to play at every single World Cup, has since become the competition's most successful competitor with five wins, including three in 12 years between 1958 and 1970.

It also produced a team in 1982, considered alongside Hungary in 1954 and the Netherlands in 1974, as the best never to win the World Cup.

But that failure 32 years ago could not be compared to the Maracanazo. For a start, the defeat to eventual champions Italy was abroad and it also came in spite of the Brazilians sticking to its principle of la joga bonito.

La joga bonito is what Pele calls 'The Beautiful Game' - and, certainly, the Brazil sides of the Pele era played it, with the 1970 success culminating in perhaps the greatest World Cup goal of time by Carlos Alberto.

Although, by contrast, the 1982 campaign would end in defeat to an Italian side inspired by a Paulo Rossi hat-trick, the team featuring Socrates, Zico and Falcao are still very much admired.

Bellos writes: "Despite its failure to win a title, the Class of 82 is remembered more fondly than any other since 1970 - much more, unquestionably, than the 1994 champions when victory was bittersweet since the team played defensively and won on penalties."

"In 1982, Brazil were Braziiiil; they looked like they played for pure enjoyment."

Hopefully, we will get to see some of that this summer, for only an unlikely England victory would please me more than watching Brazil indulge properly in la joga bonita.

It seems unlikely to come to pass, however - not while Luis Felipe Scolari is coach, at least.

That is not to say that Scolari will not be successful - after all, he has already won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002.

But Scolari, perhaps understandably in the modern day, favours a pragmatic approach of getting results by defending from the front rather than just allowing his attackers to find their own way.

Of course, with players like Neymar and Oscar in the team, there will surely be flashes of brilliance.

However, Scolari's sole concern will be that, whatever happens, the team produces enough to win a sixth world title.

After all, the thought of him allowing another Maracanazo - to Lionel Messi and Argentina or to Luis Suarez and Uruguay again... put simply, is actually unthinkable.

WORLD CUP: ROLL OF HONOUR

	Hosts	Winners				Top scorer(s)
1930	Uruguay	URUGUAY	4-2	ARGENTINA		Stabile (8)
1934	Italy	ITALY	2-1	CZECHOSLOVAKIA	aet	Nejedlý (5)
1938	France	ITALY	4-2	HUNGARY		Leônidas (7)
1950	Brazil	URUGUAY	2-1	BRAZIL		Ademir (8)
1954	Switzerland	WEST GERMANY	3-2	HUNGARY		Kocsis (11)
1958	Sweden	BRAZIL	5-2	SWEDEN		Fontaine (13)
1962	Chile	BRAZIL	3-1	CZECHOSLOVAKIA		Garrincha, Vava, Sanchez, Jerkovic,  Albert, Ivanov (4 each)
1966	England	ENGLAND	4-2	WEST GERMANY	aet	Eusebio (9)
1970	Mexico	BRAZIL	4-1	ITALY		Muller (10)
1974	West Germany	WEST GERMANY	2-1	NETHERLANDS		Lato (7)
1978	Argentina	ARGENTINA	3-1	NETHERLANDS	aet	Kempes (6)
1982	Spain	ITALY	3-1	WEST GERMANY		Rossi (6)
1986	Mexico	ARGENTINA	3-2	WEST GERMANY		Lineker (6)
1990	Italy	WEST GERMANY	1-0	ARGENTINA		Schillachi (6)
1994	United States	BRAZIL	0-0	ITALY	aet. 3-2 on pens	Stoichkov, Salenko (6)
1998	France	FRANCE	3-0	BRAZIL		Suker (6)
2002	Korea/Japan	BRAZIL	2-0	GERMANY		Ronaldo (8)
2006	Germany	ITALY	1-1	FRANCE	aet. 5-3 on pens	Klose (5)
2010	South Africa	SPAIN	1-0	NETHERLANDS	aet	Forlan, Muller, Sneijder, Villa (5 each)

F1 2014: Ripe for renewal

LEWIS HAMILTON is being hotly tipped to win a second world title as Formula One receives a much-needed shot in the arm from a whole raft of technological changes.

Hamilton's team Mercedes has appeared to adapt better than its rivals to the new regulations - and the Briton thus has high hopes that the German outfit can supply him with a car good enough to land a second Championship, six years after his first.

Of course, much of the intervening period has seen Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull team utterly dominate the sport.

The German won a fourth successive Drivers' Championship - and it was ultimately his most clear-cut success yet as he racked up nine consecutive race wins, a record for a single season.

But, sadly for F1 in 2013 - which had actually begun brightly with several different winners - the repetitive Vettel victories in the second half of the season eventually became an exercise in tedium.

The streak could even be said to have been aided and abetted by rival teams, some of whom openly admitted they had already shifted their focus to 2014.

At least Vettel will find it more difficult this year - indeed, it could be a real struggle if Red Bull's form in winter testing is anything to go by.

The champions hit a new low in the second spell of Bahrain testing where Vettel failed even to complete a single lap.

But the irony of the situation is that, if the German can still get some big results in a bang average car, he may actually enhance his overall reputation.

One driver who knows plenty about that sort of thing is Fernando Alonso.

For some years now, the Spaniard has outperformed a Ferrari team which has finished third in the Constructors' Championship for three of the last four years.

With so many changes going into 2014, the Italians simply must see this as a chance to win back that title for the first time since 2008 - and the Drivers' Championship for the first time since 2007.

That title, seven years ago, was won by the 'Ice Man' Kimi Räikkönen and, following a couple of years rallying and a couple more at Lotus, the Finn is back at Ferrari.

His arrival provides us with a fascinating in-house rivalry but it could, of course, work against both drivers.

After all, sooner rather than later, one of the two drivers will need to be favoured, although it is not just at Ferrari where this is an issue.

At Mercedes too, Hamilton will receive plenty of competition from his German team-mate Nico Rosberg, and the team may have also dropped a clanger in bizarrely parting ways with phenomenal technician Ross Brawn.

The situation at McLaren is rather clearer. Ron Dennis is firmly back in charge and Jenson Button is the Woking-based team's obvious number one, lining up alongside Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen.

The Frome Flyer really must use his position to is advantage - although he can only hope McLaren provides a better car than last season's unprecedented disaster.

Williams also struggled last year, as it has for some years now. However, with a Mercedes engine and the best livery (pictured) on the grid thanks to sponsorship from Martini, the Oxfordshire team wants to show it will not just be a pretty face.

Felipe Massa arrives from Ferrari, a good match with both team and driver seemingly in need of a pick up.

How apt it would be if the Brazilian Massa could deliver it with a race win, 20 years on from the ill-timed loss of his compatriot Ayrton Senna - who met his tragic end in a Williams, of course.

Certainly, Williams can look forward to this season with great optimism and an expectation that it can leapfrog the trio of respectable mid-table bunch - Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso.

Even the Lotus, fourth in the Constructors' race last year, is eminently catchable after a truly dire winter in which the E22 somehow completed fewer laps than the new Red Bull.

Added to that, Lotus has opted for the curious strategy of retaining Romain Grosjean (though he  improved last year) and pairing him with another crash-happy driver, Pastor Maldonado.

Yes, Lotus could be the team to watch in 2014 - but only for all of the wrong reasons.

Finally, there come the stragglers. For, although the sport this year is expected to bring a whirlwind of change, the backmarkers will feature familiar names and faces.

Caterham, who finished bottom last year, fields Kamui Kobayashi and Swedish debutant Marcus Ericsson, both of whom have owner Tony Fernandes' threat to quit F1 ringing in their ears.

But, at least, there is more hope at Marussia, which - with Ferrari engines - may raise a challenge to Toro Rosso.

This is good news, of course, for the third Briton on the grid, Max Chilton, who became the only driver to finish every race of his rookie season last year

However, the 22-year-old from Reigate will need to get much closer to his French team-mate Jules Bianchi for 2014 to be considered a success.

Frankly though, at this stage, who knows what is going to happen between now and the final race in Abu Dhabi where the horribly-gimmicky double points will be awarded.

At least that will probably mean the title goes to the wire - but only after the best season in years for thrills and spills anyway.

The campaign begins in Melbourne with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Qualifying will be held at 6am GMT on Saturday with the race starting 24 hours later.

ON THE GRID

RED BULL-RENAULT

1	Sebastian Vettel (GER)	GPs 120	Pole 45	Wins 39
3	Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)	GPs 50	Pole 0	Wins 0

MERCEDES

6	Nico Rosberg (GER)	GPs 147	Pole 4	Wins 3
44	Lewis Hamilton (GBR)	GPs 129	Pole 31	Wins 22

FERRARI

7	Kimi Räikkönen (FIN)	GPs 194	Pole 16	Wins 20
14	Fernando Alonso (ESP)	GPs 217	Pole 22	Wins 32

LOTUS-RENAULT

8	Romain Grosjean (FRA)	GPs 45	Pole 0	Wins 0
13	Pastor Maldonado (VEN)	GPs 58	Pole 1	Wins 1

MCLAREN-MERCEDES

20	Kevin Magnussen (DEN)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0
22	Jenson Button (GBR)	GPs 249	Pole 8	Wins 15

FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES

11	Sergio Pérez (MEX)	GPs 58	Pole 0	Wins 0
27	Nico Hülkenberg (GER)	GPs 58	Pole 1	Wins 0

SAUBER-FERRARI

21	Esteban Gutiérrez (MEX)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0
99	Adrian Sutil (GER)	GPs109	Pole 0	Wins 0

TORO ROSSO-RENAULT

25	Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA)	GPs 39	Pole 0	Wins 0
26	Daniil Kvyat (RUS)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0

WILLIAMS-MERCEDES

19	Felipe Massa (BRZ)	GPs 193	Pole 15	Wins 11
77	Valtteri Bottas (FIN)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0

MARUSSIA-FERRARI

4	Max Chilton (GBR)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0
17	Jules Bianchi (FRA)	GPs 19	Pole 0	Wins 0

CATERHAM-RENAULT

9	Marcus Ericsson (SWE)	GPs 0	Pole 0	Wins 0
10	Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)	GPs 60	Pole 0	Wins 0

2014 RACE CALENDAR

As with the last two seasons, Sky will broadcast every race on their dedicated channel (Sky 408). Where Sky is listed in the column below, the satellite channel will have exclusively live coverage and the BBC will only show extended (delayed) highlights. The BBC has live coverage of nine races where its name is listed below, notably omitting Monaco in May.

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
16 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Rosberg
30 March	BBC	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Hamilton
6 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Rosberg	Rosberg	Hamilton
20 April	Sky	Chinese Grand Prix
11 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix
25 May	Sky	Monaco Grand Prix
8 June	BBC	Canadian Grand Prix
22 June	Sky	Austrian Grand Prix
6 July	BBC	British Grand Prix
20 July	Sky	German Grand Prix
27 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix
24 August	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix
7 September	BBC	Italian Grand Prix
21 September	Sky	Singapore Grand Prix
5 October	BBC	Japanese Grand Prix
12 October	BBC	Russian Grand Prix
2 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix
9 November	Sky	Brazilian Grand Prix
23 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

F1 2012 review: Vettel victorious again

1 RED BULL-RENAULT 460 points (7 wins)
1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) 281 (5 wins)
6 Mark Webber (Aus) 179 (2 wins)
Sebastian Vettel became the youngest-ever Formula One triple world champion last week after securing sixth place in the season finale in Sao Paulo. That was good enough to finish three points clear of Ferrari challenger Fernando Alonso. But, while the 2011 championship was a cakewalk and won with four races to spare, 2012 was a lot tougher.
At the start, RED BULL had to see off the challenge from McLaren who were ultimately their own worst enemies, before Alonso took a commanding lead just past the half-way stage. Once the season moved to Asia, however, Red Bull and Vettel were imperious as four successive victories in Singapore, Japan, Korea and India overhauled Alonso's lead, and gave the 25-year-old German a lot of room for error in the last three races. Vettel used nearly all of it up and was also somewhat fortunate in Brazil with an overtaking move on Jean-Eric Vergne which was thought to have taken place under yellow flags. Subsequent footage showed the manoeuvre occurring while green flags were being waved, sparing Vettel of a retrospective 20-second penalty which would have seen the title go to Alonso. On Friday, Ferrari officially dropped any thoughts of appealing.
Meanwhile, Vettel was also victorious in the controversial Bahrain Grand Prix early in the season, and now his complete record is 26 wins from 101 Grand Prix. Those sort of stats have helped him become only the third man to win three consecutive titles after Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher. As mentioned, he has also taken the youngest triple world champion crown from the late Ayrton Senna.
Mark Webber's season briefly flickered into life as victories in Monaco and at Silverstone, along with his unflinching consistency, put the Australian in the top two heading into the summer break. On the resumption, Webber finished in sixth at Spa in Belgium to keep himself in the hunt for a first Championship - but then just two points from the next three races, two of which Vettel won, left the Aussie unable to sustain his challenge.
Webber did score late-season podiums in Korea and India but a pair of retirements in Abu Dhabi and the United States left him behind the two McLarens in the final standings. Nevertheless, the well-liked Webber - who turns 37 next August - will be back in 2013, having signed a one-year extension to his contract.

2 FERRARI 400 points (3 wins)
2 Fernando Alonso (Spa) 278 (3 wins)
7 Felipe Massa (Brz) 122
So near and yet so far once again for FERRARI and Fernando Alonso who saw another title bid fade on the final day. But even for Alonso to get that far was some achievement considering it was widely accepted that he had an inferior car to his Red Bull rival and even the McLarens. Alonso truly wrung the best out of the F2012 with victories in Malaysia, Valencia and Germany part of no fewer than 13 podium finishes from this season's 20 races, three more than Vettel. Indeed, as F1 headed into its summer recess, Alonso held a 40-point lead over Mark Webber and the Spaniard was 42 points clear of Vettel. However, a failure either to lead even a single lap after the summer break and a duo of retirements at Spa in Belgium and Suzuka in Japan was ultimately what cost Alonso.
Meanwhile, Felipe Massa had another underwhelming campaign, scoring in only four of the first 10 races. The Brazilian was better in the second half of the season, scoring in each of the last 10 Grand Prix with a second place at Suzuka in Japan and another podium in his home race in Sao Paulo in the season finale. That latter part of the campaign seems to have saved Massa's seat for 2013 as Ferrari favour continuity in the hope of producing a more competitive car next year. If nothing else, Massa has proved at times to be a valuable asset for main man Alonso.

3 MCLAREN-MERCEDES 378 points (7 wins)
4 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) 190 (4 wins)
5 Jenson Button (Gbr) 188 (3 wins)
Just as there was disappointment at Ferrari with the continued Red Bull dominance, so there was also at McLAREN. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton was so disheartened by this campaign that he has decided to leave and race for Mercedes GP in 2013 having spent more than half his lifetime with McLaren. In fairness, it is not difficult to see why he has felt the need to make a clean break.
Since his 2008 world championship victory, Hamilton has finished no better than fourth placed in the final standings. That he could do no better again this season was quite remarkable considering he had more pole positions than any other driver and four race victories in Canada, Hungary, Italy and the USA - one more than Alonso who took his title bid to the very last race. However, against his race wins, Hamilton also retired on five occasions - and that was more down to the unreliability of his car than the sort of erratic driving which we saw from him in 2011. Certainly, Hamilton's first few drives with a Mercedes GP team that went backwards in 2012 will provide an interesting early talking point next season. The Stevenage-born driver wants to hope his new team can provide him with a competitive car if he is not to see McLaren sailing off into the distance.
Jenson Button is staying with McLaren, of course - so would like to see the team retain their searing pace but add more reliability. Sadly, this was not a classic season from Button, following on from his runners-up spot in the championship in 2011. After victory in the opening race in Melbourne, Button was only able to score two more podium finishes - second places in China and Germany - before the summer break. When the season resumed, the Frome flyer also made an impressive re-start with victory at Spa in Belgium - but again he could not build on it. Retirements in Italy and Korea undermined any progress while the second place in Singapore was one of only six visits to the podium all season long.
A final day flourish in Brazil improved his ranking and drew him to within two points of Hamilton who retired in Sao Paulo. It was hardly a fair reflection of their respective seasons though Button will relish being the number one driver next season with the less experienced, albeit impressive, Sergio Perez joining the team.   

4 LOTUS-RENAULT 303 points (1 win)
3 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) 207 (1 win)
8 Romain Grosjean (Fra) 96
23 Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel) 0
Kimi Raikkonen did LOTUS proud, Romain Grosjean slightly less so, as the famous team name made its return to Formula One. 2007 world champion Raikkonen even scored a victory in Abu Dhabi, as well as second places in Bahrain, Valencia and Hungary, and further podium appearances in Spain, Germany and Belgium to finish, remarkably, ahead of both McLarens in the Drivers' championship. The Finn's third-place finish in the standings could also be attributed to his brilliant consistency - Raikkonen finished every single race this season, and he was out of the points just once, in China.
If only Lotus could have said the same about Raikkonen's crash-happy team-mate, Frenchman Grosjean. This was the 26-year-old's first full season in F1 and it showed as he got himself in first lap tangles on no fewer than seven occasions. There were flickers of Grosjean's talent as he joined Raikkonen on the podium in Bahrain and Hungary, and even gained a second place in Canada.
However, Grosjean will perhaps be most remembered for becoming the first driver to be banned for a race in F1 since Michael Schumacher in 1994, after he caused a pile-up in Spa which took out Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton, Sergio Perez as well as himself. Jerome d'Ambrosio made a one-off appearance - and it speaks volumes that, while Raikkonen has already been retained by Lotus for 2013, Grosjean has not.

5 MERCEDES GP 142 points (1 win)
9 Nico Rosberg (Ger) 93 (1 win)
13 Michael Schumacher (Ger) 49
MERCEDES GP fell more than 150 points short of the top four teams as Michael Schumacher bowed out of F1 for certain this time. However, the outfit could at least celebrate their first victory since their re-entry as a works team in 2010 when Nico Rosberg triumphed early on in China. Rosberg then scored points in nine of the next 11 races - including a second-place in Monaco - but the 27-year-old failed to finish in the top 10 of any of the last six Grand Prix, dropping him down to ninth in the Drivers' standings.
Seven-time champion Schumacher never reached such heady heights in this campaign and his three years at Mercedes will not be remembered as a glorious comeback. He did at least make it back onto the podium this year, at the European Grand Prix in Valencia, and generally avoided courting controversy with his driving style. Moreover, at least his eighth and final points finish of the season came rather appropriately in his last race in Brazil.
Now, though, Mercedes - having been surrounded somewhat by the Schumacher circus - can concentrate on the future with two bright talents in 2013: Rosberg and the notable signing of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton from McLaren. Both will need a better car than what Mercedes produced over the past 12 months to compete properly, however.

6 SAUBER-FERRARI 126 points
10 Sergio Perez (Mex) 66
12 Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn) 60
As expected, SAUBER finished solidly midtable but the predictable end result did not mean there was plenty along the way to enjoy for the Swiss outfit. Indeed, such has been the success of Sergio Perez that the Mexican has been picked up by McLaren as Lewis Hamilton's replacement for 2013. Perez, the 22-year-old, had a fine second season in F1. It included second places in Malaysia and Italy, and a third place in Canada - and, it must be said, only a spate of retirements in the last few races prevented Perez from finishing higher in the final standings. 
In the end, Japan's Kamui Kobayashi only just finished one place and six points behind Perez in the championship but the Japanese driver could only provide one podium - third in his home Grand Prix - compared to Perez's hat-trick. Another midtable finish has now left Kobayashi looking for drive in 2013 as Peter Sauber completely overhauls his team's line-up. Instead, in comes another young Mexican, Esteban Gutierrez alongside German Nico Hulkenberg, who joins from Force India.

7 FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES 109 points
11 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) 63
14 Paul di Resta (Gbr) 46
FORCE INDIA still disappoint in Formula One as the team continues its long wait for a maiden victory. In a year in which six of the 12 teams on the grid triumphed, it could have been expected that Force India would have challenged more than they did but neither Nico Hulkenberg nor Paul di Resta were even able to make it onto the podium. Consequently, Force India finished seventh in the Constructors' championship, one place lower than in 2011.
Hulkenberg and di Resta shared the team's best performance of the season with the German finishing fourth in Belgium just a couple of races before Briton di Resta matched that placing in Singapore. Following the floodlit race, di Resta actually held a narrow lead over his team-mate but a poor finish - with just two points from the final six races - allied to a stronger end to the season by Hulkenberg put the latter just inside the top half of the standings. However, while Hulkenberg has joined midtable rivals Sauber, di Resta remains with the Silverstone-based team.

8 WILLIAMS-RENAULT 76 points (1 win)
15 Pastor Maldonado (Ven) 45 (1 win)
16 Bruno Senna (Brz) 31
WILLIAMS recovered from their worst season ever in 2011 in the best style possible by returning to the top of the podium thanks to Pastor Maldonado's victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. Outside of that, though, it was slim pickings with the Venezuelan's win taking account of more than half of his points total, and almost a third of the team's amount.
Indeed, Bruno Senna scored points in twice as many races as Maldonado - but that was still not enough to save his seat at the team for next year with Williams bringing in Finnish rookie Valtteri Bottas, mainly for sponsorship reasons. That's a shame for Senna who will hopefully get a drive elsewhere. For, while he hardly got close to matching his uncle Ayrton's achievements, he was much improved this year and even collected the fastest lap around Spa at the Belgian Grand Prix.

9 TORO ROSSO-FERRARI 26 points
17 Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra) 16
18 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) 10
TORO ROSSO slipped a place down the ladder in the Constructors' championship, ahead only of the three pointless teams - but this came as little surprise given the team had an overhaul of its drivers before the start of 2012. The Italian outfit favours introducing younger drivers to the sport - and 22-year-old Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne and 23-year-old Australian Daniel Ricciardo seem to have fitted the bill.
The pair did not do too badly either, considering this was the first full season for them both. Ricciardo scored more points finishes - six of them as compared to Vergne's four - but the Frenchman collected six more points, courtesy of finishing eighth on each of his scoring occasions. Toro Rosso chiefs were certainly not too disheartened - the pair improved in the second half of the season and will hopefully make a brighter start to 2013 having both been retained.

10 CATERHAM-RENAULT 0 points
19 Vitaly Petrov (Rus) 0
22 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) 0
This was a frustrating, scoreless debut season for Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes and his CATERHAM team as Russian-Finnish pair Vitaly Petrov and Heikki Kovalainen both failed to get off the mark. As Queens Park Rangers fans know, that was never going to be good enough for the demanding Fernandes, and the Oxfordshire-based outfit will have a completely new line-up next year, including Marussia driver Charles Pic.
Petrov did at least score an 11th-placed finish in the last Grand Prix of the season in Brazil to take Caterham above Marussia in the standings, an important factor in terms of sponsorship. Meanwhile, former McLaren man Kovalainen finished in all 20 races, save for the season-opener in Australia - but a couple of 13th-placed finishes at Monaco and Abu Dhabi was sadly as good as it got for the Finn.

11 MARUSSIA-COSWORTH 0 points
20 Timo Glock (Ger) 0
21 Charles Pic (Fra) 0
MARUSSIA were sadly pipped to 10th place in the Constructors' championship after Vitaly Petrov scored a season-best 11th placed finish in the final race in Brazil for Caterham. Worse still, Marussia - who took over the Virgin Racing team at the start of 2012 - have lost young Frenchman Charles Pic to their rivals for next season. Nevertheless, German Timo Glock has been retained, his 12th-place finish in Singapore making it look at one stage as if Marussia were going to finish outside the bottom two. Although that ultimately did not happen, they can be satisfied that, unlike in their incarnation as Virgin, they have at least finished higher than HRT. However, the expected lack of HRT in 2013 will probably leave Marussia as the backmarkers instead, especially if they fail once again to implement KERS, as they did throughout the whole of 2012.
 
12 HRT-COSWORTH 0 points
24 Narain Karthikeyan (Ind) 0
25 Pedro de la Rosa (Spa) 0
After threatening to do so for the last couple of years, only for one of their many drivers to pull out a surprise finish, HRT - formerly Hispania - finally finished bottom of the pile in 2012. HRT failed even to qualify under the 107% rule for the opening race in Australia, and this always looked like it was going to be another long season for the Spanish outfit. So it proved with only 14 finishes between the two drivers in the top 20 out of 38 entries.
Indian Narain Karthikeyan finished a place ahead of experienced Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa courtesy of a 15th- and last-placed finish at an abrasive race in Monaco. Four 17th-placed finishes was as good as it got for de la Rosa. Looking to the future, it would be remarkable - even by HRT standards - to see the team line up on the grid at Melbourne in March as they have failed to make the FIA entry list, having been unable to find a buyer before the deadline for 2013 fees on Friday.

CALENDAR

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
18 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Button	Button
25 March	Sky	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Raikkonen	Alonso
15 April	BBC	Chinese Grand Prix	Rosberg	Kobayashi	Rosberg
22 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
13 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Maldonado	Grosjean	Maldonado
27 May	BBC	Monaco Grand Prix	Webber	Perez	Webber
10 June	Sky	Canadian Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
24 June	BBC	European Grand Prix	Vettel	Rosberg	Alonso
8 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Alonso	Raikkonen	Webber
22 July	Sky	German Grand Prix	Alonso	Schumacher	Alonso
29 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
2 September	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix	Button	Senna	Button
9 September	Sky	Italian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
23 September	BBC	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hülkenberg	Vettel
7 October	Sky	Japanese Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
14 October	BBC	Korean Grand Prix	Webber	Webber	Vettel
28 October	Sky	Indian Grand Prix	Vettel	Button	Vettel
4 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Raikkonen
18 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
25 November	BBC	Brazilian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hamilton	Button

FINAL STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship
Champion - Sebastian Vettel 

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	281 (5 wins)
02	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	278 (3 wins)
03	Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)	Lotus-Renault	207 (1 win)
04	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	190 (4 wins)
05	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	188 (3 wins)
06	Mark Webber (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	179 (2 wins)
07	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Ferrari	122
08	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	96
09	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes GP	93 (1 win)
10	Sergio Perez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	66
11	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	63
12	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Sauber-Ferrari	60
13	Michael Schumacher (Ger)	Mercedes GP	49
14	Paul di Resta (Gbr)	Force India-Mercedes	46
15	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Williams-Renault	45 (1 win)
16	Bruno Senna (Brz)	Williams-Renault	31
17	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	16
18	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	10
19	Vitaly Petrov (Rus)	Caterham-Renault	0
20	Timo Glock (Ger)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
21	Charles Pic (Fra)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
22	Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)	Caterham-Renault	0
23	Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel)	Lotus-Renault	0
24	Narain Karthikeyan (Ind)	HRT-Cosworth	0
25	Pedro de la Rosa (Spa)	HRT-Cosworth	0

Constructors' Championship: 
Champions - Red Bull-Renault 

P	Team	Points
01	Red Bull-Renault	460 (7 wins)
02	Ferrari	400 (3 wins)
03	McLaren-Mercedes	378 (7 wins)
04	Lotus-Renault	303 (1 win)
05	Mercedes GP	142 (1 win)
06	Sauber-Ferrari	126
07	Force India-Mercedes	109
08	Williams-Renault	76 (1 win)
09	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	26
10	Caterham-Renault	0
11	Marussia-Cosworth	0
12	HRT-Cosworth	0

F1 2012: Game on in São Paulo

TITLE PERMUTATIONS

Sebastian Vettel wins the title...

• if he finishes in the top four
• if he finishes between fifth and seventh, and Alonso is second or lower
• if he finishes between eighth or ninth, and Alonso is third or lower
• if Alonso fails to make it onto the podium 

Fernando Alonso wins the title...

• if he wins the race, and Vettel is fifth or lower
• if he finishes second, and Vettel is eighth or lower
• if he finishes third, and Vettel is 10th or lower, or fails to complete the race

FORMULA ONE 2012 gets its fitting finale in Brazil this weekend as Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso battle it out to become the youngest ever triple world champion.

Defending champion Vettel leads his Spanish rival by 13 points going into the last race of the season at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo.

The advantage means that, unless Alonso can finish on the podium, his chance of adding to his two titles in 2005 and 2006 will be over.

Vettel, however, has more room for error. Any top-four finish will give the German a third consecutive Drivers' Championship, while he will also succeed with a finish between fifth and seventh if Alonso is second or lower.

Even if Vettel finishes eighth or ninth, he will win the title if Alonso is third or lower - and, in fact, even if Vettel is 10th or lower or does not complete the race, he will still be champion if Alonso finishes off the podium.

Now, as if it was not abundant from all of that, Vettel is the heavy favourite to take yet another record from the late, great Ayrton Senna.

Red Bull, who sealed a third successive Constructors' crown last weekend in Texas, have had the best car in the latter half of the season - and Vettel himself put together a magnificent four-in-a-row winning streak with victories in Singapore, Japan, Korea and India.

That sequence set the German up to win the title at the US Grand Prix in Austin - and it looked even more likely when he put his Red Bull on pole again while Alonso laboured to ninth on the grid.

From then on, though, it went much better in Texas for Alonso.

New Mercedes man Lewis Hamilton denied Vettel victory in an emotional penultimate race for McLaren, his fourth win of the season and his 21st for the Woking-based team, with whom he has been since he was aged 13.

Meanwhile, Ferrari decided intentionally to break the seal on the gearbox of Felipe Massa's sister car, costing the Brazilian a penalty of five places.

That promoted Alonso to eighth and, perhaps more vitally, put him on the cleaner side of the grid, also said to be worth two positions better.

It was a Machiavellian move, for sure, but - with team orders suspended in this campaign - it was within the rules.

Moreover, the ploy relied on Alonso taking advantage and performing well, anyway.

Of course, the Spaniard did - finishing immediately behind Vettel in third - and so here we are, with 71 laps of the season left and still a title to decide.

The main problem for Alonso is that, while he has grafted for points all autumn - with no fewer than six podium finishes out of eight since the summer break - the fact remains that he has not led a single lap of a race since the German Grand Prix in July.

Indeed, if he does end up winning this championship, it really would be a remarkable achievement against the odds.

Also, Vettel really should not be conceding a 13-point advantage in the last race if the whole team gets its basics right in terms of set-up and pit stops.

Quite often, though, something special happens in Formula One.

In 2010, Alonso was the form driver heading into a season finale in Abu Dhabi but his inability to find a way past Russian Vitaly Petrov handed Vettel his first world title.

Somehow, Alonso needs something unexpected to happen again, except this time in his favour. The safe money, however, is still on the Vettel hat-trick.


A full review on F1 2012 will feature on TheIntrepidReporter blog, following my trip to Prague next week. Good luck, Herr Vettel and Señor Alonso.
  
CALENDAR

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
18 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Button	Button
25 March	Sky	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Raikkonen	Alonso
15 April	BBC	Chinese Grand Prix	Rosberg	Kobayashi	Rosberg
22 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
13 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Maldonado	Grosjean	Maldonado
27 May	BBC	Monaco Grand Prix	Webber	Perez	Webber
10 June	Sky	Canadian Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
24 June	BBC	European Grand Prix	Vettel	Rosberg	Alonso
8 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Alonso	Raikkonen	Webber
22 July	Sky	German Grand Prix	Alonso	Schumacher	Alonso
29 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
2 September	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix	Button	Senna	Button
9 September	Sky	Italian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
23 September	BBC	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hülkenberg	Vettel
7 October	Sky	Japanese Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
14 October	BBC	Korean Grand Prix	Webber	Webber	Vettel
28 October	Sky	Indian Grand Prix	Vettel	Button	Vettel
4 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Raikkonen
18 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
25 November	BBC	Brazilian Grand Prix

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	273 (5 wins)
02	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	260 (3 wins)
03	Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)	Lotus-Renault	206 (1 win)
04	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	190 (4 wins)
05	Mark Webber (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	167 (3 wins)
06	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	163 (2 wins)
07	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Ferrari	107
08	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	96
09	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes GP	93
10	Sergio Perez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	66
11	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Sauber-Ferrari	58
12	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	53
13	Paul di Resta (Gbr)	Force India-Mercedes	46
14	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Williams-Renault	45 (1 win)
15	Michael Schumacher (Ger)	Mercedes GP	43
16	Bruno Senna (Brz)	Williams-Renault	31
17	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	12
18	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	10
19	Timo Glock (Ger)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
20	Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)	Caterham-Renault	0
21	Vitaly Petrov (Rus)	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel)	Lotus-Renault	0
23	Charles Pic (Fra)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
24	Narain Karthikeyan (Ind)	HRT-Cosworth	0
25	Pedro de la Rosa (Spa)	HRT-Cosworth	0

Constructors' Championship: 
Champions - Red Bull-Renault 

P	Team	Points
01	Red Bull-Renault	440 (7 wins)
02	Ferrari	367 (3 wins)
03	McLaren-Mercedes	353 (5 wins)
04	Lotus-Renault	302 (1 win)
05	Mercedes GP	136 (1 win)
06	Sauber-Ferrari	124
07	Force India-Mercedes	99
08	Williams-Renault	76 (1 win)
09	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	22
10	Marussia-Cosworth	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0
12	HRT-Cosworth	0

F1 2012: Vettel takes a huge cut into Alonso lead

DEFENDING champion Sebastian Vettel won the Japanese Grand Prix to cut Fernando Alonso's lead to just four points after the Spaniard spun out on the first corner.

German Vettel, who qualified on pole and led at Suzuka from start to finish, became the first driver this season to win back-to-back races to go favourite for a hat-trick of titles.

And the result from the Land of the Rising Sun means Alonso remains on 194 points with Vettel, on 190, closing in on him.

Kimi Räikkönen and Lewis Hamilton are further behind in third and fourth on 157 and 152 points respectively, with fifth-placed Mark Webber (134) and Jenson Button (131), in sixth, as the only other drivers to reach a century of points.

The key to this race was undoubtedly to avoid the first corner carnage, part of which was caused, entirely unsurprisingly, by Lotus driver Romain Grosjean.

Frenchman Grosjean had only recently been banned from racing in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza after causing a first-corner pile-up at Spa in Belgium.

And, although he stayed out of trouble in the night race in Singapore, this latest crash means he has now been involved in seven first-lap, and one second-lap, incidents this season.

This has prompted Red Bull driver Webber to call Grosjean "a nutcase", adding: "He needs to have a look at himself. It was completely his fault.

"How many mistakes can you make? How many times can you make the same error? It's quite embarrassing at this level for him."

But, while the Australian suffered in falling from his starting position of second to a ninth-place finish, it was Championship leader Alonso who was the biggest loser on Sunday.

The Spaniard's retirement was actually caused by Grosjean's Lotus team mate Räikkönen after the Finn punctured the left rear tyre of the Ferrari on rejoining the track having run slightly wide.

Meanwhile, a third incident saw Williams's Bruno Senna run into Nico Rosberg's Mercedes, with Rosberg retiring.

But, for the drivers who avoided all of this - including Vettel - a fruitful race began and, indeed, the first corner action was the most vital part of a largely unremarkable race.

That this was the case should still provide the BBC with no excuse for not opting for Suzuka as one of its 10 choices.

The Japanese circuit is a drivers' favourite, and a historic reminder of the glorious late 1980s era of F1 when it was the venue for three successive title deciders between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. In fact, in the run-up to the race, the BBC website even dedicated a blog to the majesty of Suzuka.

Moreover, while the BBC could not be sure that this would actually be the case when it made its picks, a failure to provide live coverage of this race prevented the pundits from having the opportunity to analyse some already significant moves for 2013.

For a start, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher has retired for good, having rarely threatened to reproduce anything like the dominance he showed in the early part of the last decade.

Perhaps Schumacher's final decision came after he ran into Toro Rosso's Jean-Eric Vergne in Singapore, his third successive crash at the track since he rejoined F1 in 2010. Obviously, the 43-year-old's eyesight is not quite what it used to be...

Even before then, the German had already been replaced as Briton Hamilton moved away from the McLaren team which he joined as a 13-year-old boy.

McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh described Hamilton's move as "a mistake" for the driver but Hamilton seemed satisfied with his decision.

After all, while Mercedes may be some way behind McLaren on the grid still this season, who knows what 2013 holds, especially if Ross Brawn and Hamilton can create a dream partnership?

It is not even as if McLaren has been the ultimately dominant force over the last few years, though the team did act quickly to bring in Sauber's impressive Sergio Perez to race alongside Button next year.

Of course, the 2012 has yet even to be decided but, further down the grid, Felipe Massa and Kamui Kobayashi did their hopes of staying in F1 the world of good after stepping on the podium at Suzuka.

For Massa, his second place was a first post-race champagne dousing in 37 attempts since the 2010 Korean Grand Prix, and it may well still have come as too little, too late.

However, there seem to be no such doubts now about Kobayashi after the Sauber driver reached a half-century of points for the season in style in front of his adoring fans.

Kobayashi was the first Japanese driver since Aguri Suzuki in 1990 to reach the podium on home soil in the country's joint-best F1 result - and the supporters were not shy in showing their appreciation to the 26-year-old. 

But, while there was unbridled joy in Suzuka for Kobayashi, there was also recent sadness in the sport as a whole after the announcement of the death of Professor Sid Watkins on 13 September.

The neurosurgeon, who was a close friend of the late three-time champion Senna, served as the sport's medical delegate from 1978 until 2004, and he was instrumental in introducing many of the safety improvements during that period.

Consequently, this seems an appropriate place to finish this blog though, having criticised the BBC earlier, I should add that at least it got this tribute spot on. Professor Watkins was 84 years old.


CALENDAR

Date	TV		Pole position	Fastest lap	Winner
18 March	Sky	Australian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Button	Button
25 March	Sky	Malaysian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Raikkonen	Alonso
15 April	BBC	Chinese Grand Prix	Rosberg	Kobayashi	Rosberg
22 April	Sky	Bahrain Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
13 May	BBC	Spanish Grand Prix	Maldonado	Grosjean	Maldonado
27 May	BBC	Monaco Grand Prix	Webber	Perez	Webber
10 June	Sky	Canadian Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
24 June	BBC	European Grand Prix	Vettel	Rosberg	Alonso
8 July	BBC	British Grand Prix	Alonso	Raikkonen	Webber
22 July	Sky	German Grand Prix	Alonso	Schumacher	Alonso
29 July	Sky	Hungarian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Hamilton
2 September	BBC	Belgian Grand Prix	Button	Senna	Button
9 September	Sky	Italian Grand Prix	Hamilton	Rosberg	Hamilton
23 September	BBC	Singapore Grand Prix	Hamilton	Hülkenberg	Vettel
7 October	Sky	Japanese Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Vettel
14 October	BBC	Korean Grand Prix	Webber	Webber	Vettel
28 October	Sky	Indian Grand Prix	Vettel	Button	Vettel
4 November	BBC	Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Hamilton	Vettel	Raikkonen
18 November	Sky	United States Grand Prix	Vettel	Vettel	Hamilton
25 November	BBC	Brazilian Grand Prix

STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship

P	Driver	Team	Points
01	Sebastian Vettel (Ger)	Red Bull-Renault	255 (5 wins)
02	Fernando Alonso (Spa)	Ferrari	245 (3 wins)
03	Kimi Raikkonen (Fin)	Lotus-Renault	198 (1 win)
04	Mark Webber (Aus)	Red Bull-Renault	167 (2 wins)
05	Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	165 (3 wins)
06	Jenson Button (Gbr)	McLaren-Mercedes	153 (2 wins)
07	Nico Rosberg (Ger)	Mercedes GP	93 (1 win)
08	Romain Grosjean (Fra)	Lotus-Renault	90
09	Felipe Massa (Brz)	Ferrari	89
10	Sergio Perez (Mex)	Sauber-Ferrari	66
11	Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)	Sauber-Ferrari	50
12	Nico Hulkenberg (Ger)	Force India-Mercedes	49
13	Paul di Resta (Gbr)	Force India-Mercedes	44
14	Michael Schumacher (Ger)	Mercedes GP	43
15	Pastor Maldonado (Ven)	Williams-Renault	33 (1 win)
16	Bruno Senna (Brz)	Williams-Renault	26
17	Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	12
18	Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	9
19	Timo Glock (Ger)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
20	Heikki Kovalainen (Fin)	Caterham-Renault	0
21	Vitaly Petrov (Rus)	Caterham-Renault	0
22	Jerome d'Ambrosio (Bel)	Lotus-Renault	0
23	Charles Pic (Fra)	Marussia-Cosworth	0
24	Narain Karthikeyan (Ind)	HRT-Cosworth	0
25	Pedro de la Rosa (Spa)	HRT-Cosworth	0

Constructors' Championship

P	Team	Points
01	Red Bull-Renault	407 (7 wins)
02	Ferrari	316 (3 wins)
03	McLaren-Mercedes	306 (5 wins)
04	Lotus-Renault	288 (1 win)
05	Mercedes GP	136 (1 win)
06	Sauber-Ferrari	116
07	Force India-Mercedes	93
08	Williams-Renault	59 (1 win)
09	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	21
10	Marussia-Cosworth	0
11	Caterham-Renault	0
12	HRT-Cosworth	0