There may still be three races to go in 2013, but the drivers and constructors championships were wrapped up in India today as Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull became four-time champions. This week on #F1Chat we’ve got lots to discuss, from the race itself to the post-race celebrations, so here’s what’s coming up…
What did you think of the race? Strategies were split in qualifying, which made the Saturday session interesting. In the race, Vettel quickly pitted to get rid of the option tyre, meanwhile, those who started on the primes stayed out longer and played it to their advantage as the race went on. What did you make of the strategies? Should racing be about tyre strategies?
Romain Grosjean started on the option tyre, making it last 14 laps, getting himself up to fifth from 17th on the grid. It was to be his only stop and he finished on the podium. Thoughts on his race? Towards the end of the race, he was battling teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who had been on his primes even longer than the Frenchman, but following a scrap on track, there were heated words exchanged between the team and Raikkonen as he failed to make life easy for Grosjean. Thoughts on this scrap?
Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso both started on the harder tyre, but both had little luck. After making contact with Webber on the opening lap, Alonso made an early pitstop and struggled to make his way back through the field. He finished out of the points. Webber managed to make progress after a poor first lap, and took the lead of the race as Vettel, Massa and the Mercedes drivers pitted to switch from options to primes early in the race. But he later retired with alternator failure. Thoughts on both of their weekends?
After the race, Sergio Perez said that he thought his performance in the race has proved his worth to McLaren – he started ninth on the harder tyre and finished fifth – his highest result of the season. Thoughts on his race?
What did you make of Mercedes’ race? Nico Rosberg finished second, but Lewis Hamilton struggled towards the end of the race and finished sixth. Thoughts on the team’s weekend?
Vettel has now been crowned the 2013 World Champion. He celebrated his fourth consecutive title with donuts for the crowd – what did you think of this? And what about the subsequent reprimand for Vettel and the fine for the team? Was it fair? Do we want to see more of this?
Having discussed all of that, who was your driver of the day? Overtake of the race?
Finally, looking ahead to Abu Dhabi next weekend – what are your predictions for pole and the win? Will Vettel be going for another win in an attempt to match Michael Schumacher’s record of 13 wins in one season?
Join us tomorrow for #F1Chat. Don’t forget, the clocks have gone back in the UK, which means for those in Eastern US, #F1Chat is an hour later than usual at 5pm (9pm UK). Don’t forget to include the hashtag in your answers! We’ll see you tomorrow.
