I have always been considered as a
second-rung driver, since right back in 2000 when I debuted in Formula 1 with
Williams. Seven team changes (by name only) and a world championship later, I
am still not deemed as one of the best on track. Formula 1 is about the right
driver in the right car, and after a long hiatus that came true for me in 2009
with Brawn. The car clicked and we were one. Driver and car. Race after race.
Regrettably, that has not been taking place after I left Brawn- now
Mercedes- to join F1 giants McLaren. Joining them was a no-brainer; who in
their right minds will refuse a seat at the one of the oldest teams in Formula
1?
Winning the coveted title with Brawn in 2009
At McLaren, I suppose I did pretty well
against their 2007 rookie sensation Lewis. Nevertheless, McLaren had not learned
their lesson from the fireworks generated by driver rivalry in 2007, resulting
in a lost championship. When I came in, they were all about equal driver status
again. But yeah, they had always been about equal opportunity, which is an
admirable thing about a team. I liked them from the get go, except a few too
many endorsements that were obligatory. Case in question: I have always had a
little stubble, but when Gilette became a sponsor of McLaren I was given strict
instructions to shave clean. Maybe the rigidity made Lewis leave, but I don’t
mind it much.
With Kevin during the Wig Wednesday for a cancer charity for children
In 2014, Kevin Magnussen replaced the brief
intern Sergio Perez, who was thrown out unceremoniously. Kevin has shown
promise, but I have outdriven him on most occasions so far. Papa’s passing made
a huge impact on my psyche, but I did not let that deter me from performing my
best. I put on the race suit, donned my helmet, pulled down the visor and
raced. That is what I know best. And yet, there is uncertainty about my future
at the team. Do I have to be the one to step out to make way for whoever is
coming? Am I so unreliable that my team cannot have faith in my talents? Rumour
is Kevin might go out too, or both he and I might get to continue. I detest it
when the driver market is buzzing with transfers and retirements and Sabbaths
looming. Sebastian triggered it by saying he will move to Ferrari next year,
and Fernando seems so disillusioned with Ferrari that he will definitely leave.
And possibly join McLaren.
Tribute helmet for Papa
This year has been the most difficult of my
entire life, with my old man not having my back anymore. But I raced on as
usual, and have had the upper hand in points to Kevin. After Japan, I needed to
make a strong statement that I am still the driver that won the championship. I
know I am not young anymore, but I still have got what it takes. And though I
never expected Sochi to be the place where I prove my worth, it turns out it
was.
Russian GP
A week was very less time to recover from
what happened to Jules Bianchi in the Japanese GP. He is still fighting for his
life after that freak accident, and the whole F1 world is united in their
support for him. What took place is a sign that motorsports is dangerous no
matter what they say. Even a sport as safe as F1 is not really safe. I hope
with all my heart that Jules comes back to racing sooner rather than later.
A Formula 1 race has never been held in
Russia after the sport was christened so in 1950. The last F1-like event was
held in St. Petersburg in 1914. So, Sochi and Russia was a new experience for
both the Russians and the drivers. On first glance, the track looks a lot like
Abu Dhabi in terms of its environs, with the Black Sea replacing the Marina
Bay. Hermann Tilke ‘designed’ the street circuit, and it seems he wasn’t given
much leeway in terms of any ‘designing’. The flow of the track is like
Valencia, and despite the praise I showered upon it on live TV, I think Sector
1 is its only saving grace. The track is not very exciting, with all the turns
feeling exactly the same, and it has way too many 90-degree ones. That may have
been because of the constraints of integrating it in the Olympic stadium.
A panoramic shot of the circuit
We all watched the GP 2 race for getting
maximum information about the track, as no one had gone racing here before. It
seems the first sector, especially Turn 2 and the sweep into Turn 3 was a good
place to overtake. The start was going to be extremely crucial because it was a
long 800-metre run to the braking point of Turn 1. DRS zones could also have
some overtakes. The race was predetermined to be a one-stopper, because Pirelli
did not want to take chances with an unknown variable and went conventional on
the tire compounds. It turned out the tarmac was very grippy and not so
abrasive, which is unusual about a new track.
Sochi track map
Friday & Saturday practice sessions
Practice was mostly about getting a feel of
the track and trying it out for real after all those long hours in the
simulator. In FP1, I did the installation lap and then proceeded to understand
the track. Six minutes into the session I start trading a few fastest laps with
the boys. After the first runs, I top the list with a second clear over all. I
get a spin at Turn 8 in the second run, and the asphalt run-off came in handy.
The session ended with me third after the two Mercedes cars. The car continues
to feel good in FP2 and I post a fastest time of the day. I start exchanging
laps with Lewis and Nico, who beat me by a few hundreds of a second every time.
But that was inevitable with them being Mercs. FP2 results see me 6th
on the charts with Kevin going second after Lewis. That could only mean one
thing. There is pace in the car this weekend. FP3 was a slight anti-climax with
me in 9th position and Kevin in 15th after he suffered a
driveshaft problem. We had gone a bit radical with the car setup and it didn’t
work out. So it was a real challenge to pick ourselves together and do better
for qualifying, on the old car setup. Well, let’s see if we do redeem our
performance, shall we?
Qualifying
The first few runs in Q1 saw me in 13th
position. I decided I had had enough and put up a lap that pushed me up to 5th.
The next run I go 4th fastest, and Kevin tails me in 5th.
Q1 saw the Felipe eliminated with some problem, along with Pastor. And the
Marussia and Caterhams. I do well in Q2 as well, with initial laps placing me
at 5th, but Kevin and Daniel Kvyat beat me down to 6th
place at the end of Q2. Q3 was a scrap between the Mercedes at the front and
amongst the rest of us behind them. The
first runs see me go 3rd fastest, but Lewis promptly relegates me
downwards. I get a few more runs, but at the end I am not able to best
Valtteri, who looked good enough to play with the Mercs. Kevin finished 6th,
and local hero Daniel Kvyat got rousing applause for a well-qualified 5th.
The pole, you ask? Lewis, of course! I was very elated to find the speed on the
car again, and it was a cheery Saturday.
Race
I will not take long to finish this,
because despite being a 53-lap race, nothing interesting really happened. The
sure-to-feature safety car, as predicted by most pundits failed to turn up too.
Fuel-saving was going to be a crucial factor, and a safety car would’ve helped
with that. The race was reminiscent of the late races in 2013, when Pirelli
went conventional with tire compounds, and it resulted in one-stop races. Nevertheless,
flat-spotting the tires was a major concern here, so we needed to try our best
not to lock-up or spin. We had gathered from the sessions so far that the race
was going to be heavy on fuel, and not-so-heavy on the tires. Qualifying 4th
after the bad showing in Q3 had given me some hope going into the race. I was
going in with a determination to do my best.
Marussia with a message for their driver Jules
Before the race starts, we follow some new
protocols regarding the national anthem where all drivers have to line up at
the front of the grid. We also shook hands with Vladimir Putin and other
Russian politicians. The Russian fans had turned up in full capacity, and it
was good to see that. The main objective for me in the race was to get ahead of
Valtteri Bottas, and snatch the third podium step.
The race starts and I get off pretty clean.
It is a long dash to the first braking point, and I see a Mercedes car having a
massive lockup into Turn 1. Turns out it was Nico, who got bad flatspots and
had to pit immediately. Thanks to Nico hitting the pits, I am up to 3rd
position. The start proves to be a blinding one for Fernando who started from 7th
position, and he is in my mirrors by the end of lap 6. The team reminds me on
the radio that he is 0.8 seconds behind me. He is rapidly closing in on me, and
Valtteri is 5 seconds ahead. Which means I am falling off on pace. By the end
of another lap, I pull away slightly from him, though still within 1 second and
DRS range. The Ferrari goes off my trail in the next lap by 2 seconds, when
Fernando puts in a slow lap. The drop-off continues with Fernando and me, and
at the end of 10 laps, he is 3.6 seconds behind me, and I am trailing Valtteri
by 9 seconds. Nico’s relegation to the back may have changed things, or not.
The team lets me know that he intends to run the whole race on the tires he
just put on. I grin to myself saying it is too early for him to do that because
he doesn’t know if the tires will last.
Valtteri and me squabbling over grid position at race start
The next few laps involve me nursing my
tires and keeping Fernando at bay. He closes in, and then I start matching his
pace. It was the good old back and forth, with no one losing or gaining in the
end. The team and I decide to stick with Plan A, which is to do 20-odd laps on
the soft tires and then pit. The Ferrari doesn’t prove to be much of a threat,
and I keep Fernando at a respectable distance. I pit on Lap 21 and go out in 9th
position after a good one. I get Kimi in front of me, who pits in a while.
Meanwhile, Nico has managed to overtake or stop-jump a lot of cars and is in
front of me after JEV pits. Mercedes have managed to make it work till now, but
will they be able to carry on with such heavily-used tires till the end? I am
hoping Nico’s tires go off and I am able to overtake him in my new boots.
Fernando was in my mirrors for half the race
The next few laps sees me maintain a steady
gap to Nico at 3 seconds, and even though his tires are old, the car is working
good. After lap 28, I am in 5th position, having achieved the
undercut on Fernando, who is now down in 7th behind Kevin. Valtteri
and Nico are still ahead of me, and it looks like I will finish 4th,
unless Nico’s tires go off in closing stages. But by lap 30, Nico is closing in
on Valtteri, and both of them are stuck behind Sebastian, who hasn’t pitted. He
pits, and they are unleashed into clear air. Nico takes the opportunity and makes
a bold overtake on Valtteri. He seems desperate to do damage control.
With 19 laps to go, the result seems
written for me and Kevin, in 4th and 5th position. Unless
a safety car features. Valtteri is 3 seconds ahead of me, and I start in
pursuit of him. To no avail. The Williams car too is racing after the Mercedes
of Nico, who is still expected to drop pace due to old tires.
With 10 laps remaining, I am still in 4th,
and fuel consumption is looking good according to the team. The effort to rope
in Valtteri proves futile as he notches up fast laps one after the other in the
chase for Nico. The race ends in the same positions and that is that. I am
obviously happy with a good showing, but a racer always wants to win. I feel
that we did the best we could. And I hope I made my mark to be considered for
the seat next year. Wrinkles or not, I beat Kevin and 45 points ahead of him in
the championship. And congratulations to Lewis and Nico for the now mundane one-two and Mercedes for winning the Constructors' World Championship.
That pink helmet really stands out
- Jenson Button, driving the MP4-29 for McLaren
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