After Race 11: Belgium

The summer recess came to an end as the daunting Spa-Francorchamps and its notoriously fickle climate kicked-off the second half of the season. Let’s crack on…

Class of one: Vettel dominated on Sunday
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

1. Sebastian Vettel (last week: 1^st, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 4^th)

The fat lady is already clearing her throat (what more is there to say?). A dominant race from Sebastian Vettel as Red Bull went aggressive, for once, on straight-line speed and it paid off handsomely with his opening lap manoeuvre on Lewis Hamilton up the Kemmel straight. With a 46 point lead over an ever-changing nearest rival, he can effectively afford two DNFs in the final eight races. Note: this was Vettel’s 31^st victory, which ties him for 5^th in the all-time list. It was also his 54^th podium, which puts him =10^th.

2. Lewis Hamilton (last week: 2^nd, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 9th)

Hamilton took a surprise pole position for the second race running but failed to capitalize on it this time around. He’s effectively taken on Vettel’s role from previous seasons whereby he’d rack up pole positions but fail to convert them. Another solid podium but, quite simply, it’s not enough. Note: like Vettel, this was also Hamilton’s 54^th podium, for =10^th all-time.

3. Fernando Alonso (last week: 4^th, up one spot) (Season high: 1^st, low: 13^th)

After a hugely underwhelming July, which looked set to continue into this second half of the season after a disappointing qualifying performance, Fernando Alonso and Ferrari resurrected their season on Sunday afternoon with a superb drive from ninth to second. However, it was still not enough as they failed to beat the one man they most needed to. Quite simply, they need to win in front of the Tifosi next time out.

The podium featured an interesting gatecrasher - Greenpeace were protesting against Shell
Source: Getty Images

 4. Kimi Räikkönen (last week: 3^rd, down one spot) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

The most unexpected sight of the weekend was Kimi Räikkönen’s Lotus parked in his garage during the race. The Iceman’s record of 27 consecutive points-finishes came to end with brake failure – a rogue helmet visor tear-off allegedly deemed the culprit. It was Räikkönen’s first DNF since his Germany 2009 and he’s now 63 points behind Sebastian Vettel.

5. Mark Webber (last week: 5^th, no change) (Season high: 1^st, low: 15^th)

A hugely mediocre weekend for Mark Webber: third on the grid evaporated with a sluggish opening lap and he ended up finishing over half a minute behind his team-mate. Alonso also gained revenge on him for ‘that move’ into Eau Rouge.

6. Jenson Button (last week: 8^th, up two spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 16^th)

JB moves up to sixth, matching the position where he both started and finished at Spa-Francorchamps. It could have been even better but McLaren opted to play it extremely safe with his strategy. You get the impression that this team seems almost directionless under Martin Whitmarsh: their 2013 car has flopped and there is a certain degree of limbo to next year’s plans as they await Honda’s arrival in 2015.

7. Nico Rosberg (last week: 7^th, no change) (Season high: 2^nd, low: 12^th)

No change for Nico Rosberg after a solid weekend. It looked for a moment that he might steal an excellent pole position but he was once again shaded by Hamilton. The two Mercedes shared pretty similar race pace but Rosberg is over 100 points behind Vettel – and you can guarantee that Ross Brawn will enforce team orders in a heartbeat if he deemed it worthy.

8. Romain Grosjean (last week: 6^th, down two spots) (Season high: 6^th, low: 22^nd)

Disappointing weekend for Romain Grosjean, although it was still a million miles better than last year’s catastrophe which saw him banned for the Italian GP after the first corner crash. It was a largely forgettable race for Lotus, although at least Grosjean picked up a few points.

9. Paul di Resta (last week: 10^th, up one spot) (Season high: 5^th, low: 17^th)

It looked for a few minutes on Saturday that an inspired call would see PDR clinch his first pole position before he was eventually squeezed down to P5. A poor start saw him slide into the midfield, which better represented Force India’s race pace – on the track where they netted their only other pole to date with Giancarlo Fisichella in 2009. He was the victim in the mid-race collision between his team-mate and Pastor Maldonado which ended his chance of scoring any points.

 

Maldonado destroys the rear of di Resta's car
Source: FOM TV images

10. Sergio Pérez (last week: 8^th, down two spots) (Season high: 8^th, low: 17^th)

Another man who should have finished in the points is Sergio Pérez; the young Mexican was having a solid race until he over-aggressively defended his overtaking manoeuvre on Grosjean into Les Combes. Although it looked innocuous enough, Checo had moved across on the Frenchman, pushing him onto the kerb – which technically exceeds track limits – hence the penalty for not leaving one car’s width. It was a needless move but he’ll learn from it.

11. Jules Bianchi (last week: 13^th, up two spots) (Season high: 6^th, low: 13^th)

Giedo van der Garde and both Marussias made it into Q2 after they gambled on the conditions perfectly. While it was the Dutchman who stole the show, Jules Bianchi continued his extremely impressive rookie season by once again thrashing Max Chilton in both quali and the race.

 

Bianchi attack Eau Rouge in the early stages of quali
Source: Marussia F1 Team (Facebook)

12. Giedo van der Garde (last week: 18^st, up six spots) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd)

He might not last for long at these dizzying heights in the rankings but credit where credit’s due: VDG was outstanding at what is effectively his home race. His superb Q1 lap saw him qualify 14^th and he even managed to beat a Williams in the race. Best of all, he beat Charles Pic for the second consecutive race (we’ll forgive him for his practice crash).

 

Giedo van der Garde running ahead of the normal midfield runners in the early stages
Source: Crash.net

=13. Nico Hülkenberg (last week: 11^th, down two spots) (Season high: 9^th, low: 19^th) & Felipe Massa (last week: 15^th, up two spots) (Season high: 3^rd, low: 15^th)

Another anonymous race for The Hulk, although he did feature in the top ten in the early stages after an excellent start. There was little joy thereafter as he slowly slid backwards and, for once, Esteban Gutiérrez actually seemed to have the better Sunday afternoon drive.

He is joined in the rankings by the man he could replace at Ferrari next year: Felipe Massa’s race went the opposite way to Nico Hülkenberg’s as he spent most of the race recovering places he lost from his a poor start. All things considered, seventh place was not too bad for Massa but he was miles behind Alonso, again.

15. Adrian Sutil (last week: 19^th, up four spots) (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th)

A solid ninth-place finish for Adrian Sutil sees him rise four places in the F1 Power Rankings after a difficult couple of races. Not much more to say other than Paul di Resta again had the upper hand.

=16. Jean-Eric Vergne (Season high: 5^th, low: 20^th) & Daniel Ricciardo (Season high: 5^th, low: 18^th) (both were =16^th last week, no change)

Awful weekend for STR. JEV in particular looked as if he was on course for a strong weekend with excellent practice pace but the team got Q1 horribly wrong. Both drivers progressed through the field but ultimately relied on the misfortune of others for Daniel Ricciardo to pick up a solitary point; the Aussie all-but-confirmed as an RBR driver next year by Mark Webber in an interview to Australian television. Jean-Eric Vergne’s final stint was hampered by a slow puncture.

18. Charles Pic (last week: 14^th, down four spots) (Season high: 7^th, low: 19^th)

Disappointing weekend for Pic: he was the odd-man-out as his fellow perennial backmarkers gambled on slicks and made it into Q2 before dropping out of the race early with an oil leak.

19. Esteban Gutiérrez (last week: 21^st, up two spots) (Season high: 15^th, low: 22^nd)

One of his best races in F1 so far! Gutiérrez showed flashes of speed in qualifying but Sauber simply timed his run too early and he ended up on the back row but he drove very well to battle amongst the midfield during the race. His penalty for exceeding track limits on Pastor Maldonado was correct but it was refreshing to see him have something other than an anonymous race and he was not too far off Hülkenberg at the checkered flag.

 

Gutiérrez had one of his best races to date
Source: Sauber F1Team (Facebook)

20. Max Chilton (last week: 22^nd, up two spots) (Season high: 17^th, low: 22^nd)

I almost ranked him ahead of Guti but it’s still a two-place rise in this week’s F1 Power Rankings for Chilton. Credit him for squeezing into Q2 on the slick tyres in the tricky conditions but he was once again comfortably beaten by Bianchi throughout the weekend.

=21. Pastor Maldonado (last week: 12^th, down nine spots) (Season high: 12^th, low: 22^nd) & Valtteri Bottas (last week: 20^th, down one spot) (Season high: 10^th, low: 21^st)

I mentioned after Hungary that Maldonado, who had finally claimed Williams’ first point of the season, would need to continue that form to stay there. I also mentioned that the eight place gap did not reflect Valtteri Bottas’ season to date in respect to his team-mate. Well, here we are, Pastor has plummeted after his mindless crash into the Force Indias: he was never going to be able to squeeze into the pit lane. Bottas had a weekend to forget: another one caught out in Q1 and he never recovered from it. Back to the drawing board for the team.

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