Sebastien Buemi may come across as a cocky sod (he nominated Jenson Button as his preferred team-mate at Toro Rosso, even though he has yet to secure a seat with the team), but he clearly knows how to drive, so we’ll let him off.
The Swiss youngster continued to impress in testing at Jerez, setting the pace for the fifth day in a row. He was quickest around the Spanish circuit last week on each of the three days when he tested for a seat at Toro Rosso. And so far this week, in his day job as Red Bull’s test driver, Buemi has again proved untouchable (not all the teams were testing, admittedly).
“It’s been a very good test so far, we’ve been improving with every lap, which is really good for next season and I’m happy,” he said.
“We’re learning more about the slick tyres too, which is important. I’m looking forward to tomorrow and trying to improve myself more.”
Sebastian Vettel made it a 1-2 for Red Bull on Tuesday as he finished just under two tenths behind Buemi. The two Sebs were followed by the BMW Sauber pair of Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, with Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima in fifth.
In which Seb Vettel gets very, very close and personal with a German studio audience. Excellent close control from the new Schumi, we’re sure you’ll agree.
Twelve-year-old German F1 star Sebastian Vettel has been in a relationship with schoolyard sweetheart Hanna Prater for some time, but the folks at Bild have noticed the relationship status on his official website has changed from “ledig” (”unmarried”) to “single” (er, single).
Unlike Hamilton and Nicole ‘I like to hang around in the pits and hug people’ Scherzinger, Vettel seldom took his lady to the track on race day. When asked why, he simply said: “Other men don’t bring their wives to the office.”
Seb Vettel topped the timesheets on the second day of testing in Barcelona, silencing those observers who believed the young German made a mistake by leaving Toro Rosso to take a seat in an apparently slower car.
However, as good as Vettel’s first day at the new office was, it’s still far too early to glean anything from testing, as each team is experimenting wildly with new aero parts ahead of the new season. For example, the two Ferraris, driven by Luca Badoer and Marc Gene, finished down in 12th and 13th.
The most interesting aspect of the Barcelona sessions is the Toro Rosso drive-off between Seb Buemi, Seb Bourdais (what is it with Toro Rosso and Sebs?) and Takuma Sato.
Watch as Robert Kubica unlaps himself, then Seb Vettel takes fifth. You can almost sense the panic in Lewis as Vettel threatens to ruin his title chances.
After one of the greatest F1 seasons of all time - in terms of drama, at least - we have one question: who’s your driver of the season? Lewis Hamilton won the title, but do you think another driver had a better season in a lesser car?
First things first: Brazil produced a wonderful, scary, thrilling, unpredictable, dramatic race. If ever it felt like a good time to dust off the old “sport is the real winner” cliche, now is that time. Bernie Ecclestone couldn’t have asked for a better climax to an already memorable season.
Was it the greatest grand prix of all time? Yes, without a doubut, especially given what was at stake. The last few laps, when the rain started to fall again, were some of the most tense minutes in sporting history. For Hamilton fans, never has a scratchy fifth place felt so good. For Massa fans, their man drove the perfect race, but what a hollow win it was.
So, congratulations to Lewis Hamilton, who deserves to be crowned world champion… just. He made mistakes throughout the season (Montreal, Spa, Brazil), but then every driver did - and it’s too easy to forget that this is only his second season in F1. More importantly, he also drove quite brilliantly at times (Monaco, Silverstone and Shanghai), making his peers look mediocre.
Gridcrasher bonus! Watch the nail-biting final lap below (if you dare):
