F1 2013: Mid-season review

Lotus F1 Team’s Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen drives at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest on July 28, 2013 during the Hungarian Formula One Grand Prix. (ALEXANDER KLEIN/AFP/Getty Images)

Lotus: The Lotus F1 team has continued the great momentum from last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, where Kimi won. Their constant evolution and the way the tyres work for them has made this team a contender for the podium at every venue around the world.

Kimi Raikkonen, who recently displaced Alonso from second place in the driver’s championship, is now chasing his likely team-mate for next season – Sebastian Vettel. His consistency, and of course a good car, has added vital points in both the championships.

His team-mate Romain Grosjean, who was formerly known as ‘first lap nutcase’, also sprung in good results for the team. His pace in Germany and Hungary proved the fact that he has grown to be a better driver than he was last year.

McLaren: McLaren are possibly having one of their worst seasons in Formula One. It can be said that from Australia, they’ve only gotten better.

Jenson Button’s strategy calls have worked wonders for him, as in the last four races, he was seen challenging for 5th and 6th places constantly. His MP4-28 is certainly not the choice of his car, and his radio messages during qualifying are classics.

Sergio Perez, the new McLaren driver replacing the well-off-in-Mercedes Lewis Hamilton, is performing fairly well. Though the car won’t let him, Sergio tries hard to place his car higher, even if it means fighting hard and beating his world champion team-mate, Jenson Button.

The information that McLaren has released is that they are working on the 2014 car rather than work on this year’s car. Hopefully, next season will be their year.

Force India: Force India was a strong contender early in the season, but along the way, both their cars lost pace and fell back on strong upgrades.

Adrian Sutil, who celebrated his 100th race last weekend, had lead several laps in the very first race and looked strong in several others. He drove immensely well in Monaco with mind blowing overtakes on a street narrow track. But just like his team-mate, he has failed to keep his pace up in the last few races.

Paul Di Resta was threatened by his team-mate’s strong comeback early in the season, but his strong drive in Canada and Spain brought him level with Sutil. Both the drivers have worked to take McLaren’s place in the Constructors’ championship.