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2013 Formula 1 season may well be all about Red Bull and four time World champion Sebastian Vettel, but there were some dramatic moments like the Multi 21 controversy, “Tyregate” incident involving Mercedes etc. Let us list out five of those moments below:
5. Coming of age of Romain Grosjean
When Grosjean was confirmed as Kimi Raikkonen‘s team mate for the 2012 season for Lotus F1, there was a lot of expectation from him. In a way it was his second coming in Formula 1. In 2009 he had raced for Renualt as the replacement for Nelson Piquet Jr, when the “Crashgate” controversy took Formula 1 by storm. Grosjean is often referred to as a driver with huge potential who just wasn’t able to convert it into strong performances in the race. The reason for this was attributed to Grosjean’s immaturity and perhaps, he was given an F1 seat too soon in his nascent career.
At the start of the 2012 season at the Australian Grand Prix, Grojean qualified 3rd on the grid, but had to retired on the second lap after a collision with Pastor Maldonado. This would continue throughout the season – Grosjean always showed that extra bit of pace in qualifying, but during the race start he would squander it by committing major blunders. The major one being at Spa-Francorchamps where he took out Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and the two Saubers in a crash that could have had very serious consequences. He was banned for the following race in Italy by the stewards. Towards the end of the season he was under pressure to retain his seat in Lotus. But, Lotus reposed the faith in Grosjean and confirmed his place in the team for 2013.
Lotus’ decision paid off as Grosjean improved a lot from his earlier season. He stayed out of trouble during the start of the race and showed us that he had indeed matured as a driver. But Groajean really took up the mantle when it was announced that his team mate Raikkonen would join Ferrari in the following season. He finished in the top 5 every race starting from Korea until United States Grand Prix. With the second driver yet to be confirmed for Lotus for 2014 season, Grosjean is clearly their No.1 driver for 2014 and their championship hope will surely rest on him.
4. “Testgate” controversy involving Mercedes
Mercedes team Principal Ross Brawn during a FIA meeting over “Tyregate”
Mercedes since its inception has had issues with its tyre management. The car was not able to make its tyres last longer, which severely impacted their performances. So, in the 2013 season, when Mercedes felt they had a strong package to challenge for the championship title, they conducted a private (secret) 1000 kilometer tyre test at Barcelona after the Spanish Grand Prix. As per the FIA rules, in-season testing is banned. It later emerged that tyre supplier Pirelli had requested Mercedes to help them work out the issues that the Italian tyre manufacturer was experiencing in the last few races, where Pirelli tyres experienced excessive degradation. However, Pirelli had an agreement with Formula 1, where it is allowed to conduct testing during the course of a season. This particular clause saved both Pirelli and Mercedes. After investigating this incident, FIA reprimanded Mercedes and banned it from the young driver test runs at Silverstone. The other major teams like Ferrari, Red Bull etc thought this punishment from the FIA was mild and unfair.
3. Honda’s comeback in 2015
Mclaren Team Principal and Honda president Takanobu Ito sealing the engine deal for 2015
One of the surprising and pleasant news during 2013 was that Honda would return to Formula 1 in 2015 to reforge their historic partnership with Mclaren. This could be attributed as a direct result of the change in engine rules, with the naturally aspirated 1.8 litre V8 being replaced by Turbo changed 1.6 litre v6 engine. The engine change was brought about by FIA to lure the traditional manufacturers like Honda back into Formula 1. FIA president Jean Todt, who pushed hard for the new engines, said their return demonstrated manufacturers found the new engine rules appealing: “The introduction of the new power train next year, in the form of a 1.6-litre, six-cylinder engine with direct injection and energy recovery, is a very exciting challenge and demonstrates a vision for the future of the sport.”
2. Multi-21
Multi-21 was the final nail in the coffin for what was an already crumbling relationship between Red Bull team mates Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel. So, what does Multi-21 mean? “Multi 21? is a term that the Red Bull used (in the Malaysian Grand Prix) to inform their drivers that they should remain as they are with car 2 ahead of car 1 – i.e. Mark Webber ahead of Sebastian Vettel. This message was sent out because Webber was told to turn down his engine to conserve fuel and bring the car home for a solid 1-2 finish for the team. Vettel also heard the Multi 21 message and whether he understood it or not, he decided to ignore it and overtook Webber for the victory. This led to an angry altercation between Webber and Vettel post the race. Later Vettel apologized to Webber saying, “I am the black sheep right now … all I can say is apologies to Mark”. “The pass was deliberate, obviously I wanted to pass him … but I didn’t mean to ignore the strategy or the call. I made a mistake, simply.” This particular incident created a lot of negativity around Vettel which resulted him being booed by the fans each time he was on the podium.
1. Sebastian Vettel’s historic 9 consecutive wins
Sebastian Vettel celebrates his win in Brazil
At the age of just 26, Sebastian Vettel has already cemented his place as one of the best drivers’ to ever compete in Formula 1. Surely, there would be many who would disagree with this fact. Some may say he has been very lucky to have a fantastic car like Red Bull, some may say that it is because of the genius of Adrian Newey, but still it takes a driver to pull all the strings to together and put the car on the top step podium of the podium nine consecutive times. Some don’t like Vettel because they feel he is a selfish driver. But if you closely observe all the drivers’ who have touched the pinnacle of the sport have been selfish too. Micheal Schumacher, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamliton, to name a few, have all displayed this kind of attitude – they will go for the win no matter what. To achieve so many feats in such a short span of time, is the stuff of legend. By winning nine consecutive races he has equaled the record held by Alberto Ascari (who had skipped one race though). He has also equaled Schumacher’s record by winning 13 races in the season. What more can one say about Vettel!
