The Formula One Safety Car: Adding a touch of spice.

A yellow flag indicating the deployment of a safety car due to an incident on track will always induce different reactions in a watching audience.  Reactions largely dependent on allegiances to particular drivers and teams.  A moan if a preferred driver is storming out in the lead and the other runners are given a chance to catch up, juxtaposed by a cheer if the favourite is running further back and can capitalise on the pack being squeezed together.  Whatever reaction incited, a safety car equals drama and we have been treated to two successive races that have been brought alive with the emergence of the silver Mercedes SLS.  

Photo: www.commonswikimedia.org

The Marussia of Jules Bianchi navigating its way back onto the track after he had vacated it, triggered the safety car on lap twenty five of the German Grand Prix at the Nurburgring.  This employment will have met with cheers from Lotus fans as it allowed Romain Grosjean to cover leading driver Sebastian Vettel's pit stop, closing the gap between them. When it was time for the third tyre change, Lotus tried the undercut, however this was successfully shadowed by Red Bull meaning Vettel retained a closely fought lead.

Vettel fought hard to keep the Lotus' behind.  Photo: www.f1fanatic.co.uk

Kimi Raikkonen also benefited from the appearance of the silver arrow on track as it allowed him to reduce the ten second gap between himself and Lewis Hamilton, then hunt down his team mate who cordially let him past on lap 55 for second place.  The battle for the lead  between Kimi and Vettel got spicy and following the race the German admitted the intense fight towards the end proved difficult,

“It was a tough race; it was one of the toughest for a long time.  I'm happy the race wasn't two or three laps longer as Kimi was a bit quicker towards the end.”

Whether met with joy by Lotus fans or with tension by Vettel and Red Bull fans, the safety car created an interesting end to the race.  In the contest between hard fought battles that last to the bitter end versus a sole car streaking away to victory, the former will always triumph.

Lap 43 at Silverstone the previous week saw Bernd Maylander take his silver charge out on track, after the Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel was left stranded due to a gearbox failure.  Having bunched up the pack, the safety car returned to the pits, leaving things on track to become electrifying. Ricciardo's position is purse snatched by Hamilton and Alonso in tandem. Mark Webber storms up behind Kimi Raikkonen snatching his second place.  Next in his sights; leader Nico Rosberg.  A fierce battle between the two ensues.  Nico just holds off the dauntless challenge from the Australian to take the win. Meanwhile, Alonso whips past Raikkonen for the final podium place and Hamilton makes his way up to fourth as consolation for the tyre failure he suffered earlier in the race.  The action seen in the final laps following the safety car was sensational.

Mark Webber hunts down Nico Rosberg in the final stages of the British Grand Prix.  Photo: www.europeancarweb.com

Looking ahead to Hungary, the race there in 2010 springs to mind as one spiced up as a result of the safety car.  Losing his front wing due to contact with another driver, Vitantonio Liuzzi caused its deployment on lap fifteen.  The yellow flag acted as a green light for a flurry of pit stops for most of the front runners, with the exception of Mark Webber, who found himself leading the race as a result.  Consequently, Red Bull's strategy for the Australian was to put in as many stonking laps as possible on current tyres, in order to stretch out a lead on Fernando Alonso sizeable enough to gift himself a stop.  Initially devised to help him claim second position, the strategy turned into a race winner after his team mate, who had been leading, received a penalty for breaching rules about distance kept from the safety car.

Tweaking aspects of Formula One to make racing more exciting and appeal to growing audiences is a continual process.  The introduction of DRS and Pirelli tyres in 2011 increased the amount of overtaking opportunities by ultimately allowing drivers to get closer to each other.   While the idea of having a mandatory safety car appearance goes against its purpose and principle, it would have the same effect.  However, despite its nature in closing the pack and consequent ability to add sparkle to a race, it is the unpredictability of its appearances that also create drama.  Teams have to react quickly, ensuring the right call is made regarding when to make a pit stop; something Lotus didn't quite achieve with Kimi Raikkonen at Silverstone, but Red Bull did in Germany. 

While a guaranteed safety car trip at every race for its pilot Bernd Maylander is not appropriate, there is no question that when it is required, the racing becomes spine tingling, especially when the necessity arises in the closing stages of the race.  Something every race fan should cheer about.

 

The University of Hertfordshire embody the spirit of the Formula Student competition at the UK event at Silverstone.

Arriving at an unusually sun drenched Silverstone and being met by the sight of a sea of engineering students, industriously working to prepare their entrant for the Endurance event epitomised the principle of the Formula Student competition.   A platform to provide students with the practical skills needed to operate successfully in the workplace; a competition where, though Faculty Advisors are there to oversee, the entries are piloted by the students.  This event at Silverstone provides a stage for the showcase of their entries and completes the life cycle of their projects. There to meet Howard Ash from the University of Hertfordshire, Faculty Advisor of the most successful UK Formula Student team, I was treated to a valuable insight into the kinaesthetic, 'learn by doing' philosophy embodied by the competition, and in particular, UH Racing. 

The UH Racing team.

Minimum design requirements have to be conformed to, but largely the teams have free reign giving the students an avenue for creativity.  Creativity is a powerful learning tool providing scope for experimenting with new ideas, evaluating performance and adapting practice, therefore developing their skills.  Due to the liberty given around design, the cars vary greatly.  Freedom of choice means cars are entered powered by various fuel types, a variety of suspension and brake structures, while some dabble with aero packages.

Pushing the boundaries is inevitable in a competition like this.  Electric concept entrants are becoming  more powerful resulting in an advantage in this year’s competition.  Although there is freedom around design, rules are in place to keep things fair between all teams, providing another dimension to the student's learning.  Appetite for victory can result in teams taking risks in having their power right on the limit, meaning if they edge slightly over there is no room for correction; something that was seen at this year's event with a team's electric car being disqualified from the competition during scrutineering, for being slightly too powerful.   Harsh lessons are often the best as students learn that the statics are important and it is better to be safely within the regulations and continue in the competition, than push too hard for success in the dynamic events.  A good balance between preparations for both types of events is essential to be successful, as the effort put into powering the car for the dynamics is redundant if you can't get through scrutineering. 

The University of Hertfordshire's contender, the UH16, is powered by a 599cc Yamaha R6 motorcycle engine and a student designed and built multi point fuel injection system.  It features a pull and push rod actuated sprung suspension and their aero package creates valuable downforce.  UH Racing build on successes from previous entries, but in keeping with the ideology of the competition, also draw upon the skills of the new students taking part, as the design of the car is defined by the perimeters of their aptitude for different elements in the process, for example, machining, as explained by Howard Ash,

“We are at the mercy of the team, in terms of what machining skills they've got. We are able to get them up to speed, we have a number of technicians in the machine shop who are able to supervise, allowing the students to do as much machining as we can.” “Year on year we try to build on previous cars, by going through competition, having feedback from the judges about things that need improving.” 

2013's contender, the UH16

With the intended purpose of the competition being to arm students with practical skills required for a career in addition to theory knowledge, Formula Student provides them with opportunities to learn team work, working to deadlines, raising finances, and budgeting in order to create a cost effective, sustainable car.  Gaining sponsors and partners is integral to success in the event and UH Racing have a plethora of them, the highest number this year to date.   Students learn marketing skills as they are required to contact a huge range of companies to sell the product.  Student placements are highly valued and profitable in the quest to gain sponsorship and partners, and they are expected to use these opportunities to network and make links with companies, which can then be maintained and used to their advantage.  Recognising the relevance of this part of the project in equipping the team with career skills, UH Racing put a lot of thought into the static events and showed particular prowess in the cost event coming third overall.  Howard Ash described their approach to this element of the competition,

“We make sure we have a project that is sustainable, we don't have to spend a fortune.  We look not only at the raw cost of the car, but also their understanding of how to go about producing a car and the effect of costs.”

Sponsors and partners gained are represented in the team's pit set up.

Students also gain valuable experience in reading and analysing data in order to modify designs and components to extract more performance out of the car.  Tyre behaviour is one element crucial to this and in keeping with the rest of the car design; teams have freedom over tyre choice, meaning wise decisions need to be made. Howard Ash related the University of Hertfordshire's method in making these choices,

“We can buy into a tyre test consortium from the US which tests a whole bunch of different tyres.  Every now and again they do a round of testing and we get all the facts and figures about the tyres.  We can make an informed choice about what we want to run and it really helps you simulate the performance of the car.” 

Sunday is the day of the Endurance event, the most difficult of the dynamic events and the best test of reliability.  The event is twenty two kilometres long, a distance shared by two drivers who swap halfway through.  There is a high attrition rate at this event with the main test of reliability coming at the driver change due to high temperature of the car.  Howard Ash drew upon his own experience as a student in the competition when revealing how it feels to see the product of a lot of hard work running on track at Silverstone,

“It's mostly worry!  It's very satisfying obviously; it's always good seeing the car driven to the limit. So from that point of view you want to see the car driven well and you want the best guy in the car driving it.” “In endurance you just want them to finish.”

The UH16 on track.

Sadly, this wasn't to be for the UH Racing team as an electrical problem scuppered their run and they were unable to finish the event.  The passion the team have for their craft was tangible as the driver of the UH16 delayed climbing out of the car in an almost flat refusal to accept the situation.  Although a DNF in this event was a disappointing end for the team, they showed what strong competitors they are by winning three awards: The Mercedes AMG sponsored Best Powertrain Installation of an Internal Combustion Engine Award, UK and Ireland Measurement and Control Award and the award for the Most Effective Communications Strategy, which carries a valuable prize of a half day full scale wind tunnel testing, and a series of Aerobytes articles published in Racecar Engineering.

UH Racing has produced a car within the confines and the same vein of the original intention of Formula Student.  A competition started by four lecturers in the USA to provide students with the opportunity to learn and practice real workplace skills.  Since then it has grown globally and now includes five hundred teams. As with any competition, as it grows, it slightly changes with desire to win meaning boundaries are pushed regarding student involvement, resulting in some cars not looking like their own work.  The clue is in the name of the competition and in the time I spent talking to Howard Ash, it become clear that UH Racing is competing in the intended spirit with the following comment made by the Faculty Advisor encapsulating this,

“As a team I like to think we stick with the philosophy of the competition.” 

Nico Rosberg's continued sparkling form shows there is more to him than following in Keke's footsteps.

Racing is in the blood.  Emerging from the shadow of a father who achieved success in Formula One is no mean feat and one that has had a mixture of endings in the history of the sport.  In his single year of racing in Formula One in 2008, Nelson Piquet Junior failed to make even the tiniest imprint on the impression made by his three time World champion father.  Likewise, Jack Brabham’s three driver’s titles proved too tall a mountain to climb for his two sons, who between them only managed tenth as their highest finishing position.  Michael Andretti‘s highest finish of third cannot be compared to the 1978 World Championship won by his father, Mario Andretti.

Nelson Piquet Jr with his father.  Photo: www.autoevolution.com

Not all sons following the path previously trod by their fathers ended so insignificantly. The tragic death of Gilles Villeneuve robbed him of the success he deserved and would no doubt have gone onto achieve, but a Championship was won in the Villeneuve name courtesy of his son Jacques in a Williams in 1997. 

The most successful example of a son emulating a father’s success is the Hill dynasty.  Damon Hill showed he was able to emerge from the shadows.  Although his father, Graham Hill won two World Championships in comparison with Damon’s singular title in 1996, the younger generation scored twenty wins to Graham’s fourteen and took twenty pole positions to thirteen.

Graham gives a young Damon his first F1 lesson.  Photo: www.formula1-hill.blogspot.com

A current driver emanating from his father’s prestige is Nico Rosberg.  Keke Rosberg  was the first Finn to bypass the rally route and really make a name for himself in Formula One, but the road wasn’t an easy one to travel.  His first Formula One outing was with the Theodore team in 1978, where a supreme drive at a rain battered Silverstone to win in the BRDC International Trophy impressed important onlookers.  It was only his second race.  Despite this explosive start in an uncompetitive car, drives for equally uncompetitive teams followed until a stroke of luck changed his fortunes.  Keke represented the best option for Williams to fill a vacant seat, when they found themselves without a driver last minute due to the retirement of Alan Jones.  With a good car finally underneath him he was able to show the promise that had so far been disguised by the uncompetitive nature of the ATS, Wolf and Fittipaldi he had been driving previously.  He secured the 1982 Driver’s Championship with a sole win for Williams at the Swiss Grand Prix, with points gained from consistent podiums during the rest of the year meaning the single win was all he needed. 

Following his championship winning year he fell afoul of the turbo era and Williams’ long journey to become competitive again.  He won a further four races for Williams between 1983 and 1985 but was replaced by Nelson Piquet for the 1986 season, for which he went to Mclaren to drive alongside Alain Prost.  Finding the MP 4/2 to be a car unfavourable to his style, retirement promptly followed.    

Twenty years later, in 2006, Nico Rosberg scored a drive with Williams, the team for whom Keke won his championship.  Like his father, Nico burst onto the Formula One scene with an impressive early performance in Bahrain, which enabled him to achieve seventh place and record the fastest lap in a car considered uncompetitive.  Being the youngest driver to snare a fastest lap entered him into the Formula One record books. From there, the young Rosberg continued along his learning curve, showing consistent improvements.  His first podium came in 2008 in Australia with a third place, which was followed by a strong 2009 season in which he consistently qualified in the top ten, then translated those qualifying positions tangibly into points. 

Nico's first podium.  Third place in Melbourne 2008.  Photo: www.theepochtimes.com

Mirroring the career of his father though, his place at an uncompetitive team saw Nico having to wait patiently for success in Formula One.  Good things come to those wait and in 2012, his seventh season in the sport, he finally achieved his first pole position and consequent victory at the Chinese Grand Prix. 

2013 has seen his career continue to gain momentum.  Capitalising on an improved car and armed with tricks and tools learned during three years spent partnering seven times World Champion Michael Schumacher, Rosberg is taking the season by storm and emerging as a serious contender.  He has used his knowledge and familiarity within the Mercedes team to show he is more than a match for 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.  Pole king for three races in a row in Bahrain, Spain and Monaco, he then emulated his father’s 1983 win in Monaco; taking the victory every driver dreams of.  A further win at another classic circuit, Silverstone, has propelled him further through the Keke shadow.   With Mercedes now seeming to have overcome their tyre degradation issues, bolstering their pace over one lap with the ability to compete over a sustained period of time in a race, there is a possibility that Mercedes could start to challenge Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel more aggressively. 

Nico celebrates after his Silverstone victory.  Photo: www.worldcarfans.com

The feeling that he is not far away from something big is a very tangible one and Nico looks like he may be the first driver to truly break through the shade of their father’s legacy.  

Gutierrez: The Invisible Rookie. The young Mexican has so far failed to put his ‘Esteban’ stamp on Formula One.

The Formula One grid has been littered with rookies this year, each possessing the knowledge that they have one chance to shine, to show the world what they are capable of.  With such little time afforded to rookies to prove themselves and more potential drivers waiting to highjack their ride, they need to stamp their signature all over the sport to avoid being a one year wonder.  To avoid being invisible. 

Finnish rookie Valtteri Bottas grabbed his chance to propel himself into the limelight during a damp qualifying session in Canada.  Driving an exceptional lap to snatch third on the grid followed by a steely, mature approach to his first start amongst the top runners, will prove to help secure a future in Formula One.  Jules Bianchi, after scoring a last minute drive with Marussia, achieved what all top drivers are able to do and created the illusion that the car had more promise than reality could deliver.  His performances got him noticed and comparisons were made between the young Frenchman and Fernando Alonso.  Completing the rookie line up at Marussia, Max Chilton started the season in the shadow of his promising team mate, but seems to be channeling this positively as he has begun to close the gap between them.   Caterham rookie, Giedo Van de Garde, although not outperforming his more experienced team mate during races, he has been a match for him in qualifying, just  slightly falling behind 3-4 after Canada.  Which leaves us with the invisible rookie Esteban Gutierrez.  Yet to make an imprint on the season, he seems in danger of completing 2013 without showcasing his talents. 

Photo:  Planetf1.com

The Mexican’s route to his seat at Sauber certainly wasn’t an invisible one.  After competing in Formula BMW USA in 2007, he went on to clinch the Formula BMW European championship in 2008 at the tender age of seventeen, making him the youngest Mexican to win an international championship.  In 2009, a seat with Art GP in the Formula three Euroseries beckoned, and saw him driving alongside current fellow Formula One rookies Jules Bianchi and Valterri Bottas.  Staying with Art to race in the inaugural GP3 Championship in 2010, he showcased his skills as he took the first ever title in the series.  His second year in GP2 exploded into life with a double points finish in Malaysia and a third and second place in Bahrain at the start of the season.  He finished third in the championship overall.  Though not electrifying, these performances were certainly not ghostly and did, in addition to his status as part of the young driver programme of Scuderia Telmex, get him noticed for a seat with Sauber for 2013. 

Driving for Lotus in GP2. Photo:  www.mediotiempo.com

Since being in Formula One though, he seems to be a lost soul, as if the big league has swallowed him up, as if he is not quite ready to drive at this level.  Being partnered with Nico Hulkenberg, considered to be one of the most promising drivers on the grid, means he has to delve deeper into his talent reserve than the other rookies on the grid.  Out of all the new drivers, he has the toughest competitor in a team mate and this has become evident in results.  Every qualifying session has ended with Hulkenberg fastest out of the two.  Spain has been the only race in which Esteban has finished higher than his team mate when both cars were still running.  Starting from nineteenth on the grid due to a penalty given for blocking Kimi Raikkonen in qualifying, he moved himself up eight places to finish in eleventh, narrowly missing the points.  In Barcelona, his talent became a little more discernible, but as the Formula One circus hit the streets of Monaco and Montreal, it seems to have vapourised.

So why has he been so invisible?  How much of it can be attributed to having a fast team mate?  He must have shown enough talent to get him the seat, or did his Telmex connections bear more weight than his raw talents?  In GP2 in 2012, he finished third behind Davide Valsecchi and Luiz Razia; neither of whom have a race seat in Formula One, or carry the financial backing required to secure one.    So the road leads us back to the contentious issue of money versus talent.  Max Chilton and Giedo Van De Garde finished fourth and sixth in the 2012 GP2 championship respectively, but both have drives because they have monetary support.  While not as invisible as Guttierez, perhaps because they are driving slightly less high profile cars, their talent is not the most premium available.  The current climate becoming increasingly conducive to drivers being able to bankroll themselves into a Formula One seat will continue to give us invisible drivers who struggle to make an impact.  Which is why we all get so excited when we are treated to undeniable, palpable talent like that shown by Jules Bianchi and Valterri Bottas.

Mercedes’ young drivers: Testgate’s real losers.

The war of words over the severity of the penalty handed to Mercedes following their three day tyre test with Pirelli in Barcelona continues to rage.  Red Bull and Ferrari have both expressed a feeling of injustice at the reprimand, an exclusion from the young driver test at Silverstone in July, on the grounds that it is too lenient.

Both teams have been vocal about perceiving that a disservice has been suffered, in that the advantage gained by conducting a private test with a current car and senior drivers cannot be compared with one undertaken by development drivers with eight other teams competing for track space.  

While Red Bull and Ferrari continue to show their disdain for the decision, thoughts must be spared for the development drivers of the three pointed star: Anthony Davidson, Sam Bird and Brendon Hartley.  While Mercedes as a team are happy with the decision made by the FIA International Tribunal, and have no intention of appealing it, these drivers will surely feel a pang of injustice. 

As a development driver, time on track in the actual car as oppose to the simulator is so limited and therefore so precious.  Like gold dust.  With the young drivers tests currently the only opportunity they have, unless given Friday practice run outs, to lose this must be devastating.  For Sam Bird and Brendon Hartley, for whom a potential Formula One career is still a goal and possibility, this is a chance to gain valuable experience and introduce Formula One to their talents that has been cruelly snatched away from them.  While they are part of the team and will show solidarity with them, it is only human to question the fairness of the decision. 

Sam Bird hitches a ride with Michael Schumacher.  Photo: Sutton images.

Brendon Hartley: Photo: Sutton images

Now more young drivers could be at risk of suffering the same unfairness, as a report in the Times newspaper has suggested  that Red Bull are considering carrying out their own private test in the knowledge that  the sanctions for doing so, would only affect their participation in the young drivers test.  Something they see as worthwhile losing if it enables them to test privately with a current car and senior drivers.  Watch out Sebastian Buemi, and in particular, António Félix da Costa. 

Type, in addition to severity of the reprimand, is an issue that should considered in order to avoid innocent members of a team left to suffer.  

Top UK Formula Student team, University of Hertfordshire, unveil their 2013 Challenger: The UH16

Emulation of the talent and prowess of well regarded engineers such as Ross Brawn or Adrian Newey is the guiding light and ultimate Formula Student destination.  Like sailors who strove to reach a lighthouse after months at sea, there is a long journey to reach the pinnacle of the engineering world.  Students on the final leg of their educational journey hope to astutely weave their way through the rocks to reach the safety of employment in the world of Automotive and Motor sport engineering. Every year, students from across the UK, and the world, contest each other in a competition led by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  This competition is the gateway across those rocks to the final destination, real life engineering in the workplace.   Mercedes Team Principal, Ross Brawn OBE, is the patron of Formula Student and serves as an influential figure for the students to aspire to.

Ross Brawn speaks at a Formula Student event.  Photo: www.developingengineers.com

  

The challenge facing the students is to design and build a prototype for a high performance single - seat racing car with exceptional acceleration, braking and handling underpinned by impregnable reliability.  In addition to the demonstration of their design, engineering and manufacturing talents, the car needs to be low in cost, giving the students the chance to reveal their business prowess firstly in terms of budgeting, but also through the marketing and presentation of their car. 

Following the creation of the innovative new challengers, come six days of competition involving sixty teams from around the world.  The students and their cars undertake a series of challenges including static events involving a business presentation including a cost event and design event, followed by a technical inspection including a brake test, noise test, tilt test and rain test. Dynamic events succeed the static events when the car is put through its paces in events such as: autocross, skid pad figure of 8, and endurance.   

Formula student; the European leg of the competition, last year saw the University of Hertfordshire take the title of top team in the UK with their 2012 challenger, the UH15.  They are also decorated with the titles of twenty first in the world out of 500, and most successful Formula Student UK team of all time.

The successful 2012 offering: UH15

With the skills learned and gained from this project, and the success the university has accumulated through its participation,  it is no wonder that Alumni from the University of Hertfordshire have gone on to work in illustrious race series such as Formula One, at Sauber and Mercedes and the British Touring Car Championship teams; as well as prestigious car manufacturers: Lotus, Jaguar, Bentley and Aston Martin.

This year, UH Racing are aiming to retain their UK title, but also harbour intentions to win the competition outright.  They have a team of forty enterprising, efficacious engineering students studying degrees in Automotive Engineering and Motor sport Technology led by Dan Spicer and overseen by Senior Lecturer Howard Ash.  Working with additional support from Craig Scarborough, F1 journalist and illustrator, they have fused their individual skills together to create the single combustion UH16, which was revealed at their launch on the twelfth of June and will be entered into both the UK and German Formula Student competitions.

The UH Racing team with their 'baby'.

Craig Scarborough tries the UH16 for size.

To view a promotional video about the UH16 and catch a glimpse of it being tested, take a look at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeg_iss3UUQ  

Now they take their mission to win to Silverstone between the third and seventh of July where they will compete in the static and endurance events.

To find out more information about UH Racing and this year’s challenger the UH16 visit their website at  www.racing.herts.ac.uk   
Follow them on twitter @UHRacing

Drivers shine out of the shadows of substandard cars.

Achieving surprise and unexpected results with a car that is below par can be an eye catching way to showcase talent.  With seven races run in the 2013 season there have been flashes of brilliance from drivers showing their potential in cars that aren't aligned with their ability.  

Rookie Finn Valtteri Bottas is highly rated by Williams and the man who managed him on his journey to Formula One, Toto Wolff, but it took a few races for his true potential to emerge. Despite showing early promise at pre season testing, on commencement of the races, Williams have struggled with the car and have been unable to claim any points.  A wet qualifying session in Montreal provided a chance for Bottas to stage a performance indicative of his talent, driving a scorcher of a lap to put his Williams on the second row of the grid in third position.  Starting the race at the pointy end of the grid with the top drivers didn’t faze the young Finn as he pulled away displaying a mature, assured approach.  Sadly the FW35 couldn’t match the performance and pace of the cars around it, but its driver’s potential was promoted. Prior to the Canadian Grand Prix Valtteri compared his performances to those of his Venezuelan team mate when speaking to formula1.com, 

 “I think my performances relative to Pastor have been pretty good.  Pastor is experienced – it’s already his third year at Williams- and I would say that I match him more or less.”

Following his foray into the world at the front of the grid it is safe to say he more than matches him.

Bottas has left Pastor in the shade.  

A glittering prize; Mark Webber’s seat at Red Bull.   The team mate duel to win that prize adds an extra dimension to the intra team battle between Daniel Ricciardo and Jean Eric Vergne.   Prior to Canada, it was Ricciardo who seemed to have the edge on performance particularly in terms of qualifying results.   Trailing his Australian team mate by 4 -2 before the race at the Gilles Villeneuve circuit, Vergne closed the gap by qualifying seventh to Ricciardo’s tenth.   Following his good qualifying position Vergne was asked whether a Sebastian Vettel Monza type win would gift him that gold encrusted seat.  While not quite reaching those lofty heights, he did bring the Toro Rosso home in sixth, the highest finishing position since that rainy day in Italy.  On the back of an eight place in Monaco, these favourable finishing results have imparted a turbo boost to his confidence as he fervently awaits Silverstone, have shown a glimpse of what he can do in a car with below par performance, and have bolstered his racing portfolio.

It is no secret that Paul di Resta was hugely disappointed when he failed to secure a drive with one of the top teams for 2013 and at times appeared rather bitter about it.  With the season underway however, he has channelled this positively into producing some good performances on track.  The Scot is lying eighth in the driver’s championship due to eighth positions in Australia and China, a tremendous fourth in Bahrain, narrowly missing out on a podium appearance, and seventh places in Spain and Canada, the latter of which he achieved after clawing his way up from seventeenth on the grid.   Force India have been the surprise package of the season currently lying fifth in the Constructors Championship, so he has a better car with which to boast his talent, but he has outshone his team mate and has double the amount of points.  Some of these performances and in particular the one in Bahrain will catch people’s eyes and could be the platform to propel him closer to a top seat. 

Paul has more to smile about this season.  Photo:  www.rookief1.com

Since his switch to Sauber from Force India, Nico Hulkenberg has made no secret of the fact that he believes Sauber need to improve their performance.  Considering the team are languishing in eighth position in the Constructors Championship, he has produced some good results which have seen him slotted in just behind the top team finishers.  Widely regarded as being well endowed with driving ability, Nico’s eighth in position in Malaysia, tenth in China and twelfth and eleventh in Bahrain and Monaco respectively have cemented this. 

The ability to procure stand out, stellar results in a car lagging in the pace and performance race will get these drivers noticed.  It was just these sorts of results that caught the eye of McLaren when they needed to replace departing Lewis Hamilton.  In 2012, Sergio Perez’s podium finishes in Malaysia, Canada and Monza were to be thanked for his opportunity to move to a top team. With seats possibly becoming available at Lotus, Ferrari and Red Bull, these drivers are putting themselves on the inside track.