Uh...The Indian Grand Prix. Or something.

So the Indian Grand Prix was last weekend, and as interested as I am in F1, I only watched the first 5 laps, marking the first time I haven’t watched a full race in over half of a decade. Why? I have no idea. The Alonso, Hamilton, Button scrap at the start was incredibly...well, incredible, in the first few laps, but, for some reason, it just never grabbed my attention. Nothing that happened, whether it was the three-wide barnstorming early on or the---well whatever the fuck happened later---seemed to really jump out at me.

                But, that, after all, is the true hallmark of a Hermann Tilke design, and because of that, I will segue past qualifying by saying that Red Bull once again locked out the front row. Hamilton and Button did indeed lockout the second row, as did the Ferrari’s of Alonso and Massa on the third.

                With all due respect, the opening sequences of corners were pretty great. Alonso made a good move to get past the McLaren’s, at times going three abreast, solidifying his third position.

                From there, however, it was same story, different track. Sebastian Vettel, on pole, ran away from the rest of the pack on the first lap like Mo Farrah in the final 400. His unbelievable capability to reduce all contesters to rubble within the first few miles of a race is nearly incomparable in all of racing’s history---regardless of the discipline.

               Regardless of the car he drives or the team, or, more specifically the aerodynamicist behind him, he always seems to have the immediate killer instinct all so lacking in today’s driver.

                And from there, basically the first lap of the Grand Prix, the race was won. When Mark Webber didn’t beat Vettel into the first corner, it was a foregone conclusion.

                That is the Indian Grand Prix of 2012 in a nutshell. Game over from Saturday, and not even in the least to disparage the newest Tilke-track, which is quite a circuit. It’s as certain as taxes and death (outside of Monaco) to throw a Sebastian Vettel victory in the bag once he claims pole position.

                But that is not really the story of the weekend. Instead, let’s focus on the rather topsy-turvy, ridiculous offseason that lies ahead. Forget about Vettel planting a German flag on the 2012 championship.

                In the midst of the short week between India and Abu Dhabi, Nico Hulkenberg was ‘confirmed’ as a driver at Sauber next season. Albeit a lateral step in what has become an intriguingly good drivers’ progress, his work with aero-chief William Toet’s car design could be an interesting development. Remember, it was only a few years ago in which we could confidently say Sauber’s name along with the Ferrari’s and McLaren’s of the world.

                That’s not to say anything spectacular will happen. With Segio Perez’s departure to McLaren next season, the second driver spot, behind Hulkenberg, seems to be up in the air. Someone like Heikki Kovaleinen would be great for the team, in my opinion, although Esteban Gutierrez, a young phenom from Mexico cut from the same cloth as Perez, IE a Telmex sponsorship, could be an easy choice in the wings, being the third driver for the for the past two seasons.

                Either way the team goes, whether with Kovaleinen or the young Mexican, the transition from modern-day Sauber-Ferrari will be interesting. With Monisha Kaltenborn as the new team principle, and with Peter Sauber, having taken a step back into a more board-predominant role, there could be a slightly different philosophy amongst the relatively small Sauber team. A veteran, like Kovaleinen, to go along with a still relatively young Hulkenberg could go quite far in terms of car development, building off of what has already been an extraordinary year, especially with Toet operating behind the scenes.

                Then again, Sauber are nowhere near where they were in their BMW days, with a brilliant driver like Robert Kubica manning the wheel, competing for poles, podiums and wins on a regular basis. With the backing of the world’s richest man, bringing in Gutierrez wouldn’t be a terrible choice, and it could certainly continue in the development of the undermanned Sauber operation.

                And this brings me to mention Heikki Kovaleinen again, who seems to completely not be in the picture at Caterham next season. The team is apparently courting Marussia rookie Charles Pic, who, after a season respectively meddling along , challenging his more experienced teammate Timo Glock in the slow Russian car with primo-sponsorship, to bare the green and yellow next season, with current third-driver Giedo van der Garde rumored to be in the second seat.

                Kovy’s undeniable intellect and speed are apparently in question. The cash-stricken Force India are looking for a second driver following Hulkenberg’s departure, but Heikki is in a position to not have to pay for a race seat. With Toro Rosso having confirmed their current lineup for next season and GP2 driver Max Chilton seemingly having Pic’s Marussia ride locked up, there isn’t exactly a world of change available to the Finn.

                Either way it really is shaping up to be a great battle on and off the track as the season winds to an end. Next week, we go from daylight to dusk at Abu Dhabi, and in two weeks, onto the greatest racing circuit in the history of mankind, The Circuit of the Americas, in Austin, Texas, for the re-re-re-re-re-re inaugural United States Grand Prix.

                Until then, enjoy this picture, and enjoy this unbelievable pitstop by McLaren. (Link below because…)

Sebastian Vettel, shocked to win a Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso, not impressed.
Mark Webber, hankering for kangaroo meat. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxiV5WPCyLU

The End of an Era

Earlier this weekend, I was deeply saddened to hear the announcement that our American F1 coverage on Speed had not been renewed for next season, instead being bought by NBC, where it will air on NBC Sports Network.

The Motorsports Authority, or whatever.

Since I began watching as a seven year old, with legitimately no knowledge of the sport aside from a Playstation 1 video game and a boyhood idolization of Juan Pablo Montoya fresh off of his Indy 500 victory, plenty has changed. I could have simply woken up at 6:30 in the morning, saw a procession of cars going around and around in distorted circles, and easily dismissed it as boring. But instead, I found every bit of it absolutely fascinating, and in return I’d routinely find myself waking up earlier and earlier, or staying up later and later, just to catch a glimpse.

Through time, and through every single season since, I've been addicted. In grade school I’d much rather miss class than miss an opportunity of watching something as silly as Free Practice 2 from Imola. I’d much rather forgo doing things with friends on Saturday nights, to ensure that I’d be able to wake up early enough the next morning to watch a race in Monaco.

The Three Musketeers, circa prehistory

Now that I think about it, regardless of the teams, or the drivers for that matter, there has always been one constant for met: Bob Varsha, David Hobbs and Steve Matchett. If not for them, I highly doubt that I’d still be a fan today. They’re wit and humor; along with an incredible knowledge for racing as a whole, are simply not the types of things you’d usually find in a broadcast of a sporting event, at least not over here or in such an uppity genre. Over the years, those three have almost fertilized my brain with F1 knowledge, planting copious amounts of seeds that leave me with an undying thirst to continue on learning about it. In other words, without them and their stories, I would never, ever give two shits about how the 1961 World Championship ended nor would I spend my free time going through endless Wiki pages covering the most lame duck of drivers from the mid-80’s.

In short, without Varsha, Hobbs and Matchett, I might be watching NASCAR instead, fawning over orchestrated hillbilly soap opera storylines instead of getting a taste of the world and its wonders, even if it may only be through my television.

The best gridwalker in North America.

All of these things and more make me wish that NBC and/or NBCSN will bring these guys along to announce their newfound coverage of Formula 1. They are, after all, the voices of Formula 1 in America*.

*Along with Will Buxton, it wouldn't be the same without him, either. 

Yeongam Style: The 2012 South Korean GP

          Ever since Formula One announced it was holding a race in South Korea, more specifically Yeongam, hopes were high that a world class circuit, designed by monopolized F1 track designer Hermann Tilke, would bolster the nation’s interest in the sport. After two races, not much has changed.

 

Friday Practice, not exactly well-attended. 

                In my opinion one of Tilke’s finest creations when stacked up against the likes of Shanghai and Istanbul, it’s still quite obvious that the growing pains of the nice Korea’s F1-savvy are still there. The intriguing pit entry, right off of the racing line following the final, breathtakingly walled-in complex before the circuit undulates into an incredibly fast first sector followed by the downforce-heavy second and third sectors are lined with one empty grandstand after another. The plan to turn the area surrounding the Korean International Circuit into an urban hotbed has not yet started to wholly take shape, and in return, leaves the perimeters of the track looking like a ghostly wasteland.

                Despite the challenging nature of the circuit, no one in Korea seems to be all that interested. From the world feed pictures, it only appeared that the stands along the mainstraight were completely packed, which is a damn shame.

                The racing, however, unlike the circuit and most like other Tilke-tracks, is exceedingly bland. Given Tilke’s mantra of, “Long straights, sharp turns,” in order to promote overtaking, not a whole lot of interesting seems to happen, outside of the inaugural grand prix, which was rain-soaked and saw a drastic change in the championship picture when Sebastian Vettel’s engine blew.

                Regardless of all of these things, Yeongam is still an interesting circuit to go racing on. Completely green from little use and with a lack of engineering knowledge, the demanding twists and turns are only half of the story when trying to figure out the correct setup. And that leads us into the first dry weekend in the short history of the Korean Grand Prix.

                The Red Bull’s of the aforementioned Vettel, looking to take the championship lead from Fernando Alonso with a victory, and Mark Webber, simply trying to keep his head in the championship quest, looked strong from the onset, stamping their authority on the Asian leg of the schedule coming off of Vettel’s win last week in Japan. Only being four points out from Alonso, Vettel knew that with a solid race, he would indeed reclaim the spot he’s been so accustomed to over the past few years.

A band of misfits, also known as
the top three qualifiers. 

                The RBR’s dominance in practice led to little doubt in qualifying, where, for the second straight week, the team locked out the front row, only this time with Webber snatching his first pole of the season. Lewis Hamilton and Alonso managed to set their cars on the second row, with the only real shocker from qualifying being Jenson Button failing to make Q3, his McLaren looking from the outside in, all the way back in 11^th.

                The start of the race was fairly exciting, with Vettel and Webber both getting good launches off the grid. Hamilton attempted to find a way around the Red Bull tandem into the first corner, but the two were perfectly matched side by side, leaving the McLaren to outmaneuver itself, giving Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari a clear-cut overtaking opportunity, while Vettel finally beat Webber off of the first corner.

                Further down the field, McLaren’s new man for 2013, Sergio Perez, drove in a bit too deep, ramming into the rear wing of Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India, though both were able to continue with only cosmetic harm done. That wasn’t the case for Perez’s Sauber teammate though, as Kamui Kobayashi, fresh off his maiden podium finish in front of his home crowd, locked up his brakes and careened into both Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg, providing immediate retirements for the two innocent parties.

                Kobayashi was given a drive through penalty before his stricken car was finally deemed undriveable 18 laps into the affair. The entire brouhaha gave Button his first opening-lap retirement since Spa, 2009, and led the always-gentlemanly Brit to call Kamui ‘special’ to the media circus after making it back to the paddock, of course, in the classiest way possible.

Kamikaze Kobayashi making a Japanese Sandwich

                From there, Vettel and Webber traded fast laps for a bit, only for Webber to see Vettel work his early-lap magic that he has just about trademarked. Yellow flags waved along the never-ending straight that leads into the third turn until lap 9, disabling the DRS’ from being deployed after the Kobayashi-Button-Rosberg rendezvous and the trackworkers’ inability to get Rosberg’s abandoned machine into a spot deemed safe enough for green flag racing.

                The first round of pit stops was christened on lap 13, with Hamilton coming in from P4, followed by Hulkenberg, Grosjean and Schumacher, without much fuss. Lap 14 saw Webber, Massa and Raikkonen come in, and lap 15 saw Vettel serviced in 2.6 seconds, cementing the lead over his teammate and Alonso.

                The action on-track resumed when a battle for fourth broke out, as Perez, who had not stopped yet, was quickly dismissed by Alonso and Hamilton, who waged a slice and dice of their own until Hamilton’s supersoft tires began wearing soon thereafter. Perez’s dilapidated tires began falling off of the cliff as well, dropping him all the way back to P10 before getting them changed on lap 18. Pastor Maldonado’s Williams also quickly fell from P3 while trying to stretch into a one-stop strategy.

                After the craziness subsided and the pit stops cycled through, there wasn’t much doubt in who’s hands the Grand Prix rested in. Vettel had stretched his gap to over eight seconds, and barring any mechanical mishap, he was well on his way to his third consecutive victory.

                Behind him, battles were still waged and won. Hamilton’s tires didn’t seem to last him nearly as long as anyone else’s and he consequently spent most of his time in the car complaining about his always-decreasing level of grip. The sole-remaining McLaren continued to drop like a stone through the pack, being overtaken by Raikkonen under DRS only to counterattack in turn 4, and subsequently lose out yet again under the second round of pit stops.

Oppan Yeongam Style

                Towards the dying stages of the race he was found in the lower scoring point positions, losing out to the likes of Grosjean, Vergne and Ricciardo. In the final few laps, he even picked up a piece of astroturf that had lined the curbs with an aerodynamic bit on the side of his car, reassuring that his swan song with McLaren is getting increasingly sadder on a weekly basis.

                By the time Psy, the South Korean rapper behind the ‘Gangnam Style’ international phenomena waved the checkered flag, the grandstand doldrums had seen the end result coming since the end of qualifying. Vettel crossed in first, his teammate Webber in second, securing RBR’s first 1-2 of the season, and Alonso in third.

                Lost in the podium shuffle is Felipe Massa, who, while driving for his job, has put in three impressive races in a row for possibly the first time in his career. A hard-earned 8^th place in Singapore, followed by his first podium in three years at Suzuka, and then a 4^th place at Yeongam may just be enough to save his ride for another season at the Scuderia.

 

                The South Korean GP victory puts Sebastian Vettel quite literally in the driver’s seat for the rest of the season, six points ahead of Alonso, and over 40 points ahead of Raikkonen, all the while seeing the Red Bull continuously improve into what looks like the strongest car on the grid by some margin.

                The circus packs up and returns to another tricky Tilke-circuit in two weeks’ time, for the second running of the Indian Grand Prix. Until then, hope and pray that the Ferrari’s and McLaren’s can make this championship a bit more than a foregone conclusion.

Night Fever: The 2012 Singapore GP In Review

It’s a spectacle truly like none other in Formula 1. So when the calendar reaches Singapore after a two week layoff, there isn’t a whole lot of letdown in the paddock coming off of the Spa-Francorchamps-Monza back-to-back.

Ever since its inception to the schedule in 2008, it’s built an image different from that of its sister track of many ways, Valencia. From the outside, it’s easy to tell the differences, the most obvious being the nighttime and the even more so festive atmosphere that it brings.

But that’s not the only difference, nor is it the only thing that makes the streets of Singapore so special. There’s a concert, this year headlining Katy Perry. There’s the location itself, Singapore, a place as exotic as any other locale on the Formula One calendar. There’s the fact that it’s a street race, a true street race, with little to no runoff whatsoever with an exception of only a few corners. And for goodness sake, the circuit goes under a grandstand. How the fuck do they even do that?

There are a few words that come to mind when I think of the Grand Prix of Singapore, but honestly the only one that I keep coming back to is spectacle. The aerial footage of the Flyer, one of the world’s largest Ferris Wheels, illuminated in use as the cars glimmering the blurred reflections of the floodlights storm past it in the final complex of the track at nearly 170mph is absolutely stunning. The skyline is lit up not too far away from the action, complete with a skyscraper connected by a boat-shaped lounge at the top. All of these things and more make the Marina Bay Circuit one of the finest in the world.

In only five years, it has become one of the ‘Crown Jewels’ of any driver’s career. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that in the grand scheme of things, the circuits that are most important to a driver include Marina Bay now, along with the mainstays, tracks with such historical significance, like Monaco, Monza, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps. Although it has a history that pales in comparison to the GP’s I just mentioned, the glitz and glamor of the place has truly made it the Monaco of the Far East.

The race weekend itself started off somewhat unusually, with Free Practice 1 being held on a dampened circuit, and seeing reigning Double World Champion Sebastian Vettel claim one of his few practice fastest laps of the season.

On a thoroughly dried second practice, Bruno Senna managed to bring out a red flag as he bumped the wall out of Turn 19, spinning out down the short straightaway, before coming to rest in the middle of the following chicane. Vettel again claimed fastest lap.

The next morning, FP3 was again topped by Vettel, although slightly shortened by Vitaly Petrov breaking his suspension on the turn leading into the main straight with two minutes remaining.

Sebastian Vettel: On an issue
of GQ Magazine near you.
#Fabulous

Heading into qualifying it seemed that the Red Bull’s held the upper hand, Vettel especially. But his luck soon ran short at the hands of Lewis Hamilton, claiming his second consecutive pole with an absolutely blistering Q3 run, finishing nearly half a second in front of the overachieving Pastor Maldonado in his Williams. Vettel and Button made up row two, Alonso and Di Resta on row 3, Webber and the unsuspended Grosjean on row 4, and the Mercedes’ of Schumacher and Rosberg on row 5, after both did not attempt a run at pole in Q3.

Hamilton publicly warned the oft-troubled but blindingly quick Maldonado to avoid confrontation on the narrow run down to the first corner, and rightfully so, seeing that both are sometimes overly-aggressive, and have been involved some pretty major incidents (including one together at Valencia) over the past two seasons.

Someone locks up at the first
corner, resulting in madness
for those behind.

But as expected, when it came down to business on the start, Maldonado quickly filed in behind Hamilton, braking a little too deep, and running wide in the first left-hander. This opened to door for Vettel to overtake him on the outside, and seeing as turn one is more than just one turn but a complex, Maldonado’s mistake cost him in Turn 3, as Button took advantage of his faulty line choice while accelerating out of the hairpin.

                Felipe Massa picked up a puncture soon thereafter, most likely from the first corner shemozzle in which Petrov’s Caterham emerged without its front wing. This put him in an interesting spot strategy-wise although running well behind in last place before the first string of pit stops.

                The first stint went relatively to plan for all outside of the first corner incident, with the bumpy metropolitan street roads eating up the tires. Within lap 12 of the 61-lap affair, Alonso and Vettel pitted from fifth and second respectively, with Vettel being released behind Kimi Raikkonen’s Lotus. Without that misfortune, Vettel could have possibly cycled through ahead of Hamilton, who let his tires degradate for an extra lap before pitting on lap 13. But unfortunately for Hamilton, that would shortly become irrelevant.

This motherfucker. 

                On lap 23, while leading Vettel at the same 1-2 second gap that he had been for most of the race, Hamilton lost all gears while entering the first chicane, as denoted by the big ‘0’ on his steering wheel. Although cycling feverously up and down the paddle shifters, no gear was available and he was forced to retire. This gave Vettel all he needed, coasting at a comfortable distance until Narain Karthikeyen stuffed his HRT into the barrier at the incredibly tight corner that goes under the grandstand on lap 32.

                This brought out a Safety Car, which coincidentally led to another retirement while the cars paraded behind it following many well-placed pit stops immediately after the SC was deployed, this time; a hydraulics issue for Pastor Maldonado meant that his day in podium contention was over.

                But even once the Safety Car came in and the race resumed, it didn’t last for very long. In the manic laps following the drop of the green flag, Michael Schumacher locked up his brakes, scrubbing little speed, and rammed into the rear wing of the unexpecting Jean-Eric Vergne’s Toro Rosso, who was engaged in a side-by-side battle further up the track.  Schumacher has adamantly insisted that there was a fault with his car, stating that he couldn’t slow down. Both drivers walked away from this somewhat scary incident, but yet again the Safety Car was deployed. (Link below)

                From then to the end, the result never seemed much in doubt for the newly-invigorated Vettel, who’s victory would bring him to second in the championship, within a stone’s throw of Alonso, who ran in 3^rd following the retirements of Hamilton and Maldonado.

                That’s not to say that the final third of the race was without excitement, however. Felipe Massa was involved in a scrum with Bruno Senna while challenging for P9, leading to quite possibly one of the best saves and overtakes of the season, and possibly a job-saving drive (link below). Kimi Raikkonen, who had been stricken by a 12^th place result in qualifying, finished 6^th, and Paul di Resta came home in a career-best 4^th.  Timo Glock also had a race to note, finishing a remarkable 12^th in his Marussia, ahead of the likes of Kamui Kobayashi and Nico Hulkenberg.

The 2012 Formula 1 SingTel Singapore Grand Prix Podium.
Vettel, Button, Alonso.

                

            But in the end, it all came down to Sebastian Vettel, and the brightening of his once-darkened hope of a third consecutive world title. Leaping over Hamilton and Raikkonen in the championship table, he now holds 165 to Fernando Alonso’s 194 points, and has issued a warning shot to the rest of the contenders as the 2012 season reaches its homestretch, and packs up for Suzuka in two weeks’ time.

As stated in the text, here are links to the Schumacher-Vergne crash, and Massa's big save, in that order. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olkPtcd1R04

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrF9PYou6ZE


Included: Lewis Hamilton interview after his disappointing race.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92XG1RwDens

To Silly Season, and Beyond...

As if Silly Season ever officially ends, it unofficially begins--- or at least picks up--- every calendar year as soon as the Formula 1 circus sets down their cargo in the hauntingly beautiful Royal Villa of Monza.

The ever-pristine Autodromo Nazionale Monza

 In the midst of the beautiful woodlands sits a piece of history itself, a name synonymous with motor racing: Monza. The sheer speed of this Northern Italian masterpiece is enough to send quivers up any Formula 1 fan’s spine, let alone the driver's themselves.

In the paddock, it’s almost as if you can hear the whispers of F1 past, those who showed up in hopes of Grand Prix glory only to never again return home. Ascari, von Trips, Rindt, Peterson: A list of legends who were lost on the fastest track in the entire world, names that will forever go down in history not for their mortality, but for their courage and tenacity in attempts to conquer this concrete jungle.

On a circuit with so much history taunting at every corner, chicane and straightaway, the ghostly chill that sweeps over you isn’t so much the drivers of the past, but the drivers of the present, and the drivers of the future. Those whispers you hear aren’t from the championed souls of Alberto Ascari or Jochen Rindt. Nor are they from would-be champions like Count Wolfgang von Trips or Ronnie Peterson. Instead, those whispers are replaced by current drivers, team principles and sponsors, and to an even more amplified extent, the journo's and the exuberant crowd.

The only given on a season-to-season basis at Monza is that nothing trumps Scuderia Ferrari, especially amongst the Tifosi, their raging fans who clammer into it's rusted confines each and every year, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Prancing Horses galloping to victory in their own backyard. But this year, the mere sight of a Ferrari automatically segues into a question about Felipe Massa’s tumultuous season, and what may lay ahead in his future with the team, if there even is one.

Felipe Massa is slowly
falling from Ferrari's
good graces.

 Sitting in 10^th place on the points table, Massa came into the Italian Grand Prix well over 100 points behind teammate and current championship leader, Fernando Alonso. Despite Alonso being the clear-cut number one in the Ferrari garage, to say that Massa is underperforming is a gross understatement. Ever since returning from the freak accident that nearly ended his life at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix, he hasn’t been the same---gone is the Massa that came within a corner of winning the 2008 Championship, in is the careful Massa---one who cannot find pace in the same car that Alonso has found success in.

                Due to Massa’s shortcomings on a week-to-week basis, Ferrari find themselves in third place in the Constructor’s Championship, well off the pace of frontrunner Red Bull, which opens up an interesting dilemma in the Scuderia’s overwhelming quest for the WCC: Can they win with only Alonso keeping the team's hope alive?

                In short, no. In long, maybe, but only if Alonso puts together an ungodly string of results with help from others’ misfortune. If anyone in the paddock is capable of shouldering the load, it is Alonso, arguably one of the greatest to ever get behind the wheel of a race car. But this leads me into my next question: What happens if he can’t?

                If he can’t, Felipe Massa’s seven year tenure at the Scuderia is almost certainly over. If any team loves having a bonafide support driver to their ace, it is indeed that damned red team from Italy. But at a certain point, if that support driver can’t be the Barrichello to their Schumacher, can't contest for race victories and pole position's, or most importantly can't even help claw the points away from the team leader's closest of challengers, there is no point to retain him for 2013. And this, ladies and gentlemen, is where Silly Season begins.

                Given the hypothetical (although perhaps not, his contract expires at the end of this season) that Massa is unfit to support Alonso in the Constructor’s and Driver's Championship charge, who does Ferrari turn to? There are options.

                Example A would be the hottest commodity on the grid at the moment, Sergio Perez. The young Mexican burst onto the scene in Round 2 at Malaysia. On a drying Sepang International Circuit, Perez came from anonymity to challenge Alonso’s then-sluggish Ferrari in an even sluggish-er Sauber, in what was one of the most exciting battles of the 2012 season to this point. Since then, he has routinely qualified higher than he should be, and found himself competing for positions that, in actuality, he shouldn’t even be near. 

               Monza marked his third podium of the season following a brilliant, late one-stop strategy employed by Sauber, charging from fifth to second in the dying laps, flying past both Ferrari’s stricken by tire wear. His cool head and even cooler approach to tire management could be just the anti-Massa Ferrari need, and his youth may provide them with a driver they can build around for the future, in the post-Alonso days.

                However, signing Perez could prove to be hazardous. Alonso’s first go-round with an exciting young phenom as his teammate didn’t go so well, and if the two end up competing for a championship, things could take a turn for the worse. But buyer beware, if Ferrari don’t sign the upstart Perez this offseason, there is a very, very good possibility another top-tier team will. And why’s that?

Not the brightest of ideas to Tweet this, Lewis

                Rumors were abound at Monza that following his tantrum at Spa-Francorchamps, which included the old ‘TwitPic-ing of a highly classified graph of team information’ stunt, Lewis Hamilton may have worn out his welcome with the very outfit that signed him before he hit puberty. Hamilton would move down a step from McLaren to team with Mercedes and Nico Rosberg, filling in Michael Schumacher’s disappointing, post returning from retirement, shoes.

                Although replacing, statistically speaking, the greatest driver to ever slide himself into a Formula 1 cockpit would be quite the challenge, it wouldn’t be as much of a culture shock as one would think. Hamilton and Rosberg are close friends, amongst the closest on the grid, and, not to be overlooked, Team Principle Ross Brawn is nothing short of genius. Mercedes have won a race this season, their first since leaving the sport in the 1950’s, and have all of the necessary components to turn their team into a perennial championship contender.

                The funds that the most popular driver on the grid would bring to MercedesGP could be endless. Two brand names in the racing world, Mercedes and Hamilton, together, under the guidance of one of the greatest bosses in the history of F1. That’s a marketers dream for a team that already has pretty good financial backing. But could this dream become reality, is the real question.

                Considering the source of the rumors are none other than Eddie Jordan, notable shit-stirrer and Irish hero, the answer to that, at least from me, is a resounding no. McLaren are still in with a shot at both championships, and if they can bring at least one home, it’d be silly to handoff one of the most talented drivers we’ve seen in quite a while, simply for his off-track social media journal entries. But, again, hypothetically if they did, Perez would likely be one of their top prospects to replace Hamilton, possibly snatching him away from Ferrari’s iron fist and putting him in a spot that he could thrive in immediately, equal status to Jenson Button.

                If not Perez, one of the youngsters at Force India, who have become McLaren’s junior team over the recent years, Paul di Resta or Nico Hulkenberg, would certainly both be viable options to help Button take on Red Bull and Ferrari. Di Resta, a former DTM driver, has impressed in his transition to open-wheelers, routinely running in the points. His teammate, Hulkenberg, has been no less impressive, following a season-long testing solace with the team last year after a notable rookie season with Williams in the year prior. Both are quicker than most, but I feel Hulkenberg is a star in the making.

                That would leave Ferrari at an impasse, keep the fledgling Brazilian in Massa, or look elsewhere for a second driver.Which leads into Example B. 

"Heikki, Fernando is
                is faster than you."

                One interesting name to bring up as the heir to Massa's prince-hood is Heikki Kovalainen. Lewis Hamilton’s number two during his successful 2008 World Championship campaign, Kovalainen brings something young drivers cannot: Experience. His work in the research and development department at the newly-formed Caterham isn’t overlooked in the paddock, as he’s played an integral part in turning the young team into the best of the other two outfits that joined Formula 1 in 2010, Hispania and Marussia. Although he hasn’t finished in the points, he has turned heads, routinely outpacing his teammates while using his unique insight from being a part of McLaren to build the Caterham up from scratch into a fairly competitive car, reasonably speaking.

You know what you’re going to get from Kovy, that signature car control that all Fin's are apparently born with, and a heady racer who may not contest for wins, but will be on the podium and running in the top five regularly. That’s why I think he might be an even better fit at Ferrari than Perez, although passing on a future World Champion could come back to bite the Scuderia in their already red asses.

Ahhh, it’s all in the fun of Silly Season. You get a little bit of everything, aside from, of course, actual racing. A wannabe fortune teller like myself enjoys this part of the year, and it also relieves the tension on what has been a fantastic, but dramatic season on the track thus far.

Although the talk of driver lineups will be on the backburner until the end of the season, I always enjoy putting forth my predictions for next season a little bit earlier than most, just in case I actually get something right. There will be more updates as the season progresses. 

With that, I give you my preliminary predictions of what the 2013 starting grid will look like.

(Please disregard the order used, this is in no way a prediction of how this season will finish)

Might this be the next 'Superteam'?

Ferrari:

1. Fernando Alonso (ESP)

2. Sergio Perez (MEX)---I just think this fits, especially given his Ferrari background.

McLaren:

3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR)--I don't believe McLaren would sever the cords on this lovefest.

4. Jenson Button (GBR)

Red Bull:

5. Sebastian Vettel (GER)

6. Mark Webber (AUS)

Lotus:

7. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN)

 8. Romain Grosjean (FRA)---A bit controversial, but really all for one incident, everything else he's been caught up in have either been 50-50's or to no fault of his own. Talented driver.

Mercedes:

9. Nico Rosberg (GER)

10. Paul Di Resta (GBR)---One day he will be winning races at McLaren on a regular basis. That day won't come until Button retires or Hamilton moves out. A move to MercGP is a natural progression. 

Sauber:

11. Kamui Kobayashi (JPN)

12. Esteban Gutierrez (MEX)---Big, big sponsorship from TelMex like Perez. An alright season for him in GP2, but it seems that he is on the fast track to F1, with Mr. Slim spinning the wheels. 

Force India:

14. Nico Hulkenberg (GER)

15. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN)---He deserves a ride where he can compete for points, and I don't think Force India will hold onto both drivers. He would work well with a younger driver. Makes sense. 

Williams:

16. Pastor Maldonado (VEN)---I think in the end, the money he brings is too valuable to let go.

17. Valtteri Bottas (FIN)---One of the hottest prospects around as Williams' test driver this year. I think he'll make the jump into a race seat sooner rather than later. 

Toro Rosso:

18. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS)

19. Davide Valsecchi (ITA)---Not sure where he's at sponsorship-wise, but he will likely be GP2 champion and will likely get a ride out of it.

Caterham:

20. Felipe Massa (BRA)---He tried. 

21. Felipe Nasr (BRA)---Exciting young Brazilian, would be a stretch as he's barely out of his teenage-years, but undoubtedly quick and a decent Caterham with his countryman could be a stepping stone to bigger and better things. He can fund himself in if need be. 

HRT:

22. Narain Karthikeyen (IND)

23. Ma Quinghua (CHN)---Became the first Chinaman to participate in a race weekend at Monza, with more than likely tons of government-backed money behind him, ought to find himself in a race seat in the struggling Hispania. 

Marussia:

24. Timo Glock (GER)

25. Vitaly Petrov (RUS)---A driver that's never gotten his fair shake. Wouldn't be surprised to see him at Marussia for awhile, at least until the race at Sochi in 2014.