2013 Formula 1 season: Half-term report and statistics

Romain Grosjean

Points – 49; Championship position – 8th; Best result – 3rd (x2)

The Hungarian Grand Prix told us plenty about Romain Grosjean’s development. Fearsomely quick, the overtaking manoeuvre he made on Felipe Massa was, in terms of balls-out chutzpah, the best of the season so far and, in that sense, it was a real shame he was punished for it. Even Massa thought so. But Grosjean had already made a complete pig’s breakfast of a simpler move on Jenson Button and having started the afternoon being talked of as a potential race winner, he ended it once more looking like a boy amongst men. Last season’s excesses have been curbed, but they had to be – Romain probably wouldn’t have a drive otherwise. It appears that pieces in the jigsaw are still missing.

Jenson Button

Jenson Button

Points – 39; Championship position – 9th; Best Result – 5th

It would be easy to write 2013 off as a disaster for the former World Champion, but that would be too simplistic. Jenson Button is a driver known to like his car to be perfectly balanced if he is to be at his smooth best. And that is something McLaren are struggling to do with the MP4-28. Yet the 33-year-old has managed to score twice as many points as his team-mate Sergio Perez, proving what a good job he is doing despite a difficult car. But achieving a race victory – something he has done in every season since 2008 – remains a long shot.

Paul Di Resta

Points – 36; Championship position – 10th; Best result – 4th

The fact that Paul Di Resta is already within ten points of his entire total from last season underlines what an impressive year it has been for the Scot thus far. But for all that there’s certainly still a feeling that the tally is at the lower end of what could have been achieved given the pace displayed by the driver and car combination. That was certainly the case across the swing of races from Monaco to Silverstone when Di Resta collected only ten points owing to a succession of strategic/operational blunders on Saturdays.

Still, the 27-year-old’s six-race points finishing streak around that same time didn’t go unnoticed and has served to again see him linked with prospective moves up the grid. But, with Force India experiencing a mini slump since the introduction of Pirelli’s revised tyres, has decision time in the driver market come at just the wrong time for the former DTM champion?

Adrian Sutil

Points – 23; Championship position – 11th; Best result – 5th

Returning to his spiritual F1 home – his only F1 home – after one year on the sidelines, Adrian Sutil said he used the time away to reflect on life, the universe and everything and it seems to have helped. Not that’s he’s suddenly been transformed into a contender for a top seat, but the way the German hopped into the Force India pre-season and immediately started setting competitive times still came as a surprise to some.

For Sutil to find himself within reach of team-mate Paul Di Resta midway through the season is, in the circumstances, a good performance. But Force India’s own performance has taken a marked dip in recent races, so it remains to be seen whether he can close the gap.

Sergio Perez

Points – 18; Championship position – 12th; Best Result – 6th

Sergio Perez has failed to deliver any of the stunning runs to the podium we saw last year as he continues to adapt to life at McLaren. In the last six races he has gained a net five positions and perhaps his renowned skill for progressing through the pack by looking after his tyres owed a lot of the characteristics of the 2012 Sauber. Undoubtedly the Mexican has ability, but he needs to deliver more constantly in the second half of the season.

Jean-Eric Vergne

Points – 13; Championship position – 13th; Best result – 6th

Overlooked – if ever really in the running at all – for the 2014 vacancy at Red Bull, Jean-Eric Vergne has continued to demonstrate that he’s already a very reliable man to bring a car home in and around the points-paying places on a Sunday afternoon. Yet it’s in the shop window of Saturdays where the Frenchman has failed to hit the heights of team-mate, and Red Bull contender, Daniel Ricciardo: while the Australian has reached Q3 five times, Vergne has only made the cut once.

Still, like last season, it’s the latter who can point to the higher intra-team points tally so far (13 to 11) while Vergne also delivered Toro Rosso’s best result since the heady days of Vettel with sixth place in Canada. Team boss Franz Tost has already expressed his desire to retain him for a third season, and even if Ricciardo does get the big promotion, Vergne’s reputation will only be enhanced if he can run the Australian close over the remainder of the year.

Daniel Ricciardo

Points – 11; Championship position – 14th; Best result – 7th

How best to sum up the situation Daniel Ricciardo currently finds himself in? ‘Good things come to those who wait?’ ‘You get what you deserve in life?’ Both might be applied to Ricciardo – one in reference to his slow climb up the Red Bull junior ladder, the other to his immense likeability – but both aphorisms are, let’s face it, premature.

Plenty of people hope it won’t be a case of ‘You can’t always get what you want’ for the Australian and that he can in fact make the jump to the World Champions. In F1 terms, it would be the feel good story of the summer. But might it happen? Ricciardo has certainly responded in recent weeks, although his strong qualifying performances have not been backed up in races. The decision appears far from clear cut but, according to Christian Horner, it should be announced by the Italian GP at the latest.