A Competitive F1 Season
At the three quarter point in this years F1 season. We see that last years champs Red Bull are about to put the finishing touches on what will be back to back constructors and drivers championships.
I can remember 3 for 4 years back when they contracted Adrian Newey away from Mclaren, that Red Bull would soon become a dominant Formula1 racing team. Which has come to pass.
Adrian Newey is a Master Aerodynamicist Every team he has been a part of has wound up with a car that becomes a winner. He is the only designer to have been part of 3 different teams that have won the constructors championship in Formula1.
There are now 7 races left. Sebastian Vettel has a 92 point lead on his nearest challenger, teammate Mark Webber. While Webber is showing good form this year, his mis-starts and occasional mishapps, some his, some not his fault, are part of a continuing lack of attention to detail, that are propelling Vettel again to another well deserved drivers title.
Can Webber shuck these little issues and actually take the battle to Vettel? We will see. However, something tells me that Vettel just has this little extra edge and quickness that keeps him consistently one step ahead of Webber. this is unlikely to change.
Right behind Webber is Fernando Alonso from Ferrari. Fernando is just 10 points off Webber and 102 points off championship leader Sebastian Vettel. The Ferrari’s have been coming on strong in the second half of the season with Alonso winning at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.
If the Ferrari can consistently get good results, it is possible that Alonso could challenge RedBulls’s Webber for 2nd place in the drivers championship, but first place is probably out of reach at this point unless championship leader Vettel completely messes up and crashes out or finishes out of the points in a few races. With only 7 races left, this is unlikley to happen.
Monza is this weekend. Strait line speed will be the order of the day and their are chances for other teams to score good points. Mclaren are sitting pretty in 2nd place of the constructors championship 131 points short of front running RedBull. Their 2 drivers are 4th and 5th respectively. Jenson Button at 149 and Lewis Hamilton at 146.
Either of these guys can challenge webber for 2nd place in the drivers championship at this point. The Mclaren is fast and getting stronger. I expect to see them stay at 2nd in the constructors championship, but neither will be able to challenge Vettle for the driers title.
It is shaping up to be another fun conclusion to the 2011 Formula 1 season. I am excited to watch each and every race and see how it all unfolds.
