In sporting terms the Oxford dictionary defines the word domination as playing better than your opponent in a game. However, this definition is just a few understated words contained in a book. A tangible example is more comprehensible and Sebastian Vettel’s eight grand prix victories in a row is the very definition of domination.
Sebastian Vettel led away from his 44th career pole in Texas and remained untroubled for all 56 of the Austin grand prix race laps. A one stop tyre-strategy resulted in the German momentarily relinquishing the lead of the race to Lotus’ Romain Grosjean but it was apparent that the four time champ was well in control of proceedings.
The sister Red Bull of Mark Webber lost two places off the grid to Grosjean and Lewis Hamilton but before he could attempt to regain his position a collision between Force India’s Adrian Sutil and Williams’ Pastor Maldonado deployed the safety car. The first lap crash pitched the Force India into the barrier on the back straight of the Circuit of the Americas and out of the race with severe suspension damage. Sutil later commented that Maldonado was “on a planet of his own.” “I was staying straight with my steering wheel and to the left and right there was a lot of space. I don’t understand why someone then hits you. There’s like an emergency area around him, you have to give room for two cars, not just one,” said Sutil after the incident.
The race resumed with Vettel at the head of the back timing his re-start to a tee and leaving Grosjean in his wheeltracks. Mark Webber seized an opportunity to overtake Lewis Hamilton on lap thirteen and set off after second placed Grosjean. The Mercedes pitwall instructed Hamilton to look after his tyres and the Brit was into the pitlane on lap 25 ruling out a possible podium finish.
Behind the front four Nico Hulkenberg and Fernando Alonso resurrected their battle for fifth. Several brilliant overtaking moves between the two added some spice to an otherwise lacklustre grand prix. Alonso seemed set to snatch fourth from Hamilton but the Mercedes driver was able to withstand the initial onslaught after which the Ferrari’s tyres lost its edge. Hulkenberg in turn had a go at passing Alonso but had to settle for a solid sixth place finish.
Out of favour at McLaren Sergio Perez delivered a good enough drive for seventh place. However, the stand out driver of the weekend was Williams’ Valterri Bottas. The Finn
set an amazing pace throughout the weekend which saw his advance to the top ten shootout in Saturday’s qualifying. Bottas, confirmed to be driving for Williams in 2014, was rewarded with an eighth place finish and the first points of his Formula 1 career. Nico Rosberg never truly recovered from starting 12th on the grid and was only able to manage ninth on the day. The final points paying position went to Jenson Button who spent his afternoon embroiled in the mid-field. Despite the fact that the McLaren has been nowhere near the pace for the whole of the 2013 season Button admitted that, as a driver, he has to do some work as well. “It’s not just that [the car is uncompetitive],” he said. This weekend I just didn’t put it all together. I’ve got to sort myself out.”
Romain Grosjean delivered a solid drive for Lotus in the absence of Kimi Raikkonen but only narrowly kept alive the Enstone based team’s quest for second in the constructor’s title. Heikki Kovalainen, parachuted into the other Lotus at the last-minute, was struck by an on and off kers issue as well as an unfortunate problem with his front-wing. “The team found out there was something wrong with the front wing and I was losing more and more downforce so we had to come in and change the nose.”There is nothing physically wrong with the nose, so they suspect there is some rubber or something stuck somewhere,” said Kovalainen. Up until his unscheduled pitstop the Finn was running comfortably in the points.
Sebastian Vettel proved that Texas truly is the lone star State. From Belgium to Italy to Singapore, Korea, India, Japan, Abu Dhabi and Texas the German super-human now holds the record for the most consecutive wins in a season. However, it isn’t all elementary to Vettel. He declared himself speechless over the radio to his team and added “we have to remember these days. We can’t guarantee they will last for ever. Incredible team — I love you.” The rest of the field are certainly praying for this run to come to an end.
Vettel attempted to put his record-breaking run into some perspective after the race. “People tend to forget how much work there is behind all these this and how special it is. I remembered back in 2008 how happy I just was to, once in my life, to be on pole. I think you should never lose the passion and the joy,” he added, “and always remember the days when you were just dreaming of these things to happen.”
Photo credits:
@redbullracing
@Lotus_F1Team
