RALLY SAN REMO. YOU CAN’T CONTROL THE ELEMENTS, BUT YOU CAN WIN THE RACE.

Congratulations to the winners of the 2011 Rally San Remo. In on road rallying, driving conditions could suddenly change at any stage of the race, so drivers need to have confidence in their tyres’ ability to adapt. MICHELIN tyres with their excellent grip give them that confidence, whatever the weather or terrain. You could also benefit from the expertise Michelin has derived from motorsport with the MICHELIN Pilot Sport 3. Experience the performance at www.michelin.co.uk/experience-the-performance Classified advertising: 0208 267 5355

SEPTEMBER 28 2011 7

motorsport-news.co.uk SEPTEMBER 28 2011 7

DRIVER ANALYSIS

BY SIMON

ARRON

ROUND

The voice of motorsport’s no-nonsense views on the grand prix grid

SEBASTIAN VETTEL RED BULL RACING

10 / 10

There was a moment of exasperation on Saturday morning (sorry, evening), when a cluster of carbon rubbish prevented him setting a clear lap in FP3, but his frustration was fleeting. There are no landmark corners in Singapore, but stitching all 23 together is still a delicate art. And nobody did it with quite such seamless grace. The end.

MARK WEBBER RED BULL RACING

“If I had to choose a circuit at which to drive each weekend,” he said, “it probably wouldn’t be this one...” Given his previous form in the republic, he was happy to be on the front row and, on average, just 0.0153s per corner slower than his team-mate. But when did he last reach the first corner in as strong a position as he left

“If I had to choose a circuit at which to drive each weekend,” he said, “it probably wouldn’t be this one...” Given his previous form in the republic, he was happy to be on the front row and, on average, just 0.0153s per corner slower than his team-mate. But when did he last reach the first corner in as strong a position as he left the grid?

8 / 10

LEWIS HAMILTON MCLAREN

2 / 10

“The Red Bulls are unbeatable blah, blah, blah...” Doesn’t do himself any favours, really. He was blessed with the best equipment from an early age, but nobody has a divine right to such privileges and he seems increasingly unable to tolerate a car that is “only” second or third quickest. That’s not how the real world works – and he keeps hitting things.

JENSON BUTTON MCLAREN

Here, in contrast, is a paragon of maturity – somebody who quietly knuckles down to extract the most from what he’s given. Who is the faster McLaren driver? An easy one, that, even though the margins might be slight. But who is presently the better McLaren driver? That’s just as easy to answer, for the two are not necessarily one and the same.

10 / 10

FERNANDO ALONSO FERRARI

8 / 10

“That,” he said, “was probably my best Q3 run of the year – I gave it 120 per cent.” A good lap, perhaps, Fernando, but a rubbish bit of mathematics. Your Q3 run in Barcelona was probably the finest anyone has done all season – or had you forgotten? Message ends.

MICHAEL SCHUMACHER MERCEDES GP

5 / 10

the bedding dawn, session’s fresh each the to up building and in car will that approach cyclonic required. be eventually

Most drivers take a gentle approach at each fresh session’s dawn, bedding the car in and building up to the cyclonic approach that will eventually be required. Others, however, relish using as much kerb as they can to establish what will be feasible later. A pity he failed to spot that white thing, though. It was a Sauber, Michael.

relish however, Others, using as much kerb as they can to establish what will be feasible later. A pity he failed to spot that white thing, though. It was a Sauber,

HRTdriver Daniel Ricciardo had what he called a lonely race after damaging his front wing in a first-corner pileup.The Aussie racer eventually finished 19th

BRUNO SENNA RENAULT

7 / 10

The good news? He deserves credit for being more or less a second quicker than his team-mate in Q1. The negatives? Pretty much everything else. The R31 has been persistently useless at high-downforce tracks this season, with little rear-end grip or traction and even less outright speed.

RUBENS BARRICHELLO WILLIAMS

3 / 10

labyrinth anaesthetic trampoline Elf Riley

Dawn of Gates the at Piper crumpets toasted

Town Macclesfield chrysanthemum finish nine-dart

Kimi hosepipe.”

in wasn’t Räikkönen last Singapore

“Chewing gum ban rhinoceros marmalade Riley Elf trampoline anaesthetic labyrinth Piper at the Gates of Dawn toasted crumpets Macclesfield Town chrysanthemum nine-dart finish hosepipe.” Kimi Räikkönen wasn’t in Singapore last weekend... but might be next season if present rumours bear truth.

might but weekend...

if season next be rumours present

FELIPE MASSA FERRARI

Photos: LAT

6 / 10

in early other each over tripped but all him ask to have “You’ll Q3.

Massa happened,” what don’t I “because said,

Nothing understand.”

then. there, new race the in Events

Unhappy with Hamilton after the pair all but tripped over each other early in Q3. “You’ll have to ask him what happened,” Massa said, “because I don’t understand.” Nothing new there, then. Events in the race did little to lighten his feelings about the Stevenage whirlwind.

NICO ROSBERG MERCEDES GP

Team focused on saving tyres for the race, because the MGP W02 would have qualified on row four had it been running only on its rims. It’s as much a fact of life as the Spanish using bulls as dartboards (except in Catalonia) and Plymouth Argyle losing (except on Saturday).

7 / 10

VITALY PETROV RENAULT

London mailshot, recent a In

Johnson Boris mayor great pretty “A wrote,

(William Londoner asked, once Shakespeare)

the but city the is ‘What the are people ‘The

In a recent mailshot, London mayor Boris Johnson wrote, “A pretty great Londoner (William Shakespeare) once asked, ‘What is the city but the people?’ before answering, ‘The people are the city’.” One suspects he might be muddling his Stratfords. Unlike Petrov, we thought this worthy of mention.

answering, before people?’

suspects One city’.”

Stratfords. his dling

4 / 10

PASTOR MALDONADO WILLIAMS

In his final race as Williams technical director, Sam Michael said, “Rubens and Pastor have secured good starting spots...” That’ll be 12th and 13th, then, which probably isn’t quite what he had in mind when he first signed up ten years ago. Oh how the once mighty are forlorn.

5 / 10

ADRIAN SUTIL FORCE INDIA Qualifying was once a highlight – an hour of rising tension. Last weekend, only seven drivers set times in Q3. Neither Force India ventured out, tyre preservation considered more important than the show. Teams can’t be blamed, but priorities have become skewed.

8 / 10

PAUL DI RESTA FORCE INDIA Learning time was restricted on Friday, first because the kerbs fell apart and then because hydraulic problems confined him to the pits and denied him any high-fuel running. Subsequently had to pilfer his team-mate’s data, so his performance was even better than lap times suggest.

10 / 10

KAMUI KOBAYASHI SAUBER Few attacked the Turn Ten kerbs with such relish. It’s hard to steer, though, when your car is several feet from the track. When he finally hit the wall during Q2, the only surprise was that it hadn’t happened sooner.

4 / 10

SERGIO PEREZ SAUBER Here, on the other hand, was a demonstration of neat, controlled aggression – kerbs being caressed rather than thumped. Given that it was his first time at the circuit, and he was only driving a Sauber, his performance had real merit.

8 / 10

SEBASTIEN BUEMI TORO ROSSO The worst thing about night races is that it tends to be about 3.30am when you get to this bit of the page and have to think of something fresh to say about the sodding Toro Rossos. Is that enough to fill the space? (Almost, but not quite...)

5 / 10

JAIME ALGUERSUARI TORO ROSSO Was withdrawn early from FP2, after hitting the kerbs too fiercely, then crashed in the race (as team-mate Buemi had on Friday). Truth be told, though, the Toro Rosso didn’t work very well on the rare occasions that it was in one piece.

2 / 10

HEIKKI KOVALAINEN LOTUS His weekend began as last year’s ended – with his car on fire, albeit in a small way after his front left brake overheated. A pity its performance isn’t quite that hot at other times, but his commitment remains undiminished...

8 / 10

JARNO TRULLI LOTUS ...and you can’t say that about everybody in green overalls. On a positive note, though, his vineyard produces a very nice Montepulciano d’Abruzzo that’s rather more fruitful than anything the Lotus T128 has yet achieved.

8 / 10

DANIEL RICCIARDO HRT Few of the “new” teams’ cars have a front end worth mentioning, but he was consistently able to persuade his to turn in so that it looked at least a bit like everything else. Only a bit, though.

5 / 10

TONIO LIUZZI HRT Qualified 24th, so a five-position grid penalty for causing Monza mayhem should have put him back on the old, disused Thomson Road circuit, alongside Brabham BT40s, March 722s and suchlike. Should, but didn’t.

3 / 10

TIMO GLOCK VIRGIN With Red Bull and Mercedes, Virgin was one of three teams found guilty of breaking F1’s “curfew” regulations in Singapore. Nobody associated with the operation of the cars is permitted within the circuit confines at certain times... JEROME D’AMBROSIO VIRGIN ...but, in each instance, the culprits were marketing personnel. What were they going to do? Conjure another 37 points of downforce between sponsorship engagements? Sensibly, this slice of prime F1 idiocy was eventually reversed.

4 / 10

7 / 10

Your views on this week’s news, page 36