The Rejectful(?) Career of Ayrton Vasser

[MansellsEyebrows]

With the new F1 season underway, I've gone and got all over excited and I've started a new career on F1 2011 (on the PS3). With myself being a very rejectful driver on this game in my own right, my career as the fictional Canadian driver Ayrton Vasser should be interesting.

First of all, the settings I'm using, reflecting my poor ability:
Driving Assists: ABS On, Traction Control On, Driving Line On, Pit Assist Off,
Settings: AI ability professional, Tyre Wear on, Fuel Load on, Damage full
Races: Race Length 20%, Short Race Weekend setting
Rules: Regulations Reduced, Safety Car on (At least I think it is)
Career length: 5 seasons maximum

Pre Season
'I'm a Gran Turismo World Championship World Champion, I can do this, surely?' I ask myself as I sign the contract that means I will be a Marussia Virgin Racing Formula One driver for 2011. Technically I'm a pay driver for a reject team, but even so I will try my very hardest to show some respectability. This is my opportunity to shine.

And with that, roll on 2011....

[tommykl]

Obvious portmanteau is obvious

Apart from that, looks interesting. The AI on professional means you won't monster the field like Wizzie, which is good.

[the Masked Lapwing]

Obvious portmanteau is obvious

Apart from that, looks interesting. The AI on professional means you won't monster the field like Wizzie, which is good.

You overestimate the AI on F1 2011

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 1: Australia

Practice: To my disappointment it was raining lightly in Melbourne for Friday Practice, not the ideal conditions to start my career. Still, I added some extra downforce to an already high downforce set up, kept the ultra hard suspension and low ride height and ventured out for my first laps of my new career. I completed a whole 3 quarters of a lap before spinning for the first time, but it was the out lap, so who cares? Starting to set some flying laps I gradually got more comfortable with no major incidents, but I still ended the session some five seconds off my team mate Timo in dead last. Wet weather driving isn't my forte.

Qualifying: To my relief, the sun was shining over the Saturday Qualifying session in Melbourne, and despite the fact that I'd never driven the Virgin in Melbourne before, I was immediately more confident. The team set me a target of 19th on the grid, and an incident free session later I had duly hit this target, half a second and 2 places ahead of Timo. This left me the leader of the bottom teams clan, which for a rookie was pleasing. Meanwhile, Webber took pole in front of his home crowd.

Race: Race day was again bright and sunny, and the anticipation and excitement of the new Formula One season was felt by everyone. Australian Grands Prix have a habit of producing weird results and events, particularly at the start, and 2011 was no different. After a good start I found myself steaming down to turn one on the inside, where ahead of me several cars got together. Though no one spun, a few cars found themselves losing momentum from everyone getting in everyone elses way. Indeed, from the inside I found myself three wide right behind Alonso, who had been slowed in turn one. As he recovered in turn two, I swept round the outside, and along with an outbraking manouvre on a Renault, I found myself in a miraculous 7th place. As the race calmed down after the first lap I had been able to keep the position, immediately having created a train of following cars. Forget a Trulli Train, this was an Ayrton Express. Just slower than the name would suggest, a lot slower. Cars were indeed all over my, but with a constant position swapping exercise going on behind. The Mercedes cars, Heidfeld and Di Resta all had goes at overtaking me, before I defended from them, causing them to lose momentum and be overtaken by the next car. To my surprise and pride, the good defensiveness lasted until lap 6 of 12 (I had only lost one position to a Mercedes when I locked up my breaks at turn 13) when I pitted for my one and only pit stop. By then Alonso had fought his way through the field and had got behind me before the pit phase. As everyone pitted on laps 5 and 6, I emerged 12th in the order, 4 drivers including Alonso had managed to undercut me. However, to Heidfelds frustration, I had managed to stay ahead of him as we and others pitted on the same lap. Heidfeld was kept at bay until lap 9 until he got past as I ran slightly wide. Petrov then followed through, but in the DRS zone. I'd slipped to 14th but with cars still coming up behind including the Williamses, I still had work to do. I kept a charging Maldonado at bay for the rest of the race to finish 14th. However, the 12th and final lap had a fantastic ending, as the Venezuelan had managed to get right up behind and use the DRS on the final straight. He got alongside and we crossed the line neck and neck for 14th. The timing showed me ahead, but with exactly the same time gap between us and the winner Mark Webber. I had beaten Maldonado to 14th by tenths of thousanths of a second. For a debut race, and having finished 6 places ahead of my team mate, I had surprised everyone in the paddock and myself. Webber had broken his tough lack at the Australian Grand Prix with a brilliant victory, as f1 headed to Malaysia for round 2.

[MansellsEyebrows]

Obvious portmanteau is obvious

Apart from that, looks interesting. The AI on professional means you won't monster the field like Wizzie, which is good.

You overestimate the AI on F1 2011

Not for my skills he doesn't.

[TomWazzleshaw]

Obvious portmanteau is obvious

Apart from that, looks interesting. The AI on professional means you won't monster the field like Wizzie, which is good.

Oi! It's not my fault that I'm so damn good on GP4 that I demolish the field even on ace difficulty

And besides, I'm nowhere near as bad as our friend Nathan McKane

[RealRacingRoots]

Apart from that, looks interesting. The AI on professional means you won't monster the field like Wizzie, which is good.

You overestimate the AI on F1 2011

Some tracks, the Ai on Pro are piss-easy (Singapore, Canada) and others the straight line performance and little bit more mid-speed corner grip makes some tracks especially hard (Turkey, Spa).

I don't know the differences between the Marussia-Virgin and the HRT, it should be minor.

And besides, I'm nowhere near as bad as our friend Nathan McKane

[MansellsEyebrows]

The problem with the AI is that at many tracks they just brake too early on many corners, especially at the start. Though their carefulness at the start is realistic, I find it too easy to grab positions at the beginning of races. I've done 3 races now for Virgin and it's happened in all three. Mind you, It has produced some great racing as I've had to constantly defend, so I can't complain.

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 2: Malaysia

Practice: Once again, Friday practice was wet wet wet. Once again, cue some carefulness and mediocre times.

Qualifying: Once again, the rain had gone for Saturday to be a dry qualifying session. Brilliant news, and with that I again qualified 19th, ahead of the rest of the 'newbies'. Meanwhile, Alonso grabbed pole from Vettel and Button.

Race: In Australia I'd managed to get to 8th by turn 3, and by turn 4 in Malaysia I was a miraculous second. Diving down the inside at turn one into 11th, round the outside at 2 to move up to 6th, before Rosberg and Massa left great big gaps on the inside at turn 3 for me to steam by. Going in to turn 4, Vettel was defending on the inside from Button, but both braked ridiculously early and I was left to sweep round the outside. Alonso took his opportunity to build a gap with me immediatly holding up the 2010 World Champion, streaking away into the distance and indeed, he would go on to win from Vettel and Button. It took 2 laps for Vettel to get by, by which time Alonso was long gone. Button swiftly followed and by the time I pitted on lap 6 I was down to 6th. The pit stop phase left several people gaining the undercut in vastly superior cars to me leaving me 10th. I was still on the cusp of a point though with 5 laps to go, But with a Lotus and a Sauber pressing hard. Indeed the Sauber turned out to be Kobayashi, who got past what turned out to be Heidfeld before pressurizing me. I finally cracked under the pressure on lap 9, locking my brakes and letting Kobayashi by. Heidfeld was still behind however, even though I was out of the points, and he pushed hard for a lap. That was until I defended rather robustly and forced him slightly onto the grass, causing him to spin. I escaped without punishment and duly held on to a fine 11th. Being so close to points was tough, but there was still so much of the season to go....

Standings after round 2:
Drivers:
1. Webber 37
2. Button 33
3. Alonso 26
4. Vettel 24
5. Massa 22
6. Hamilton 19
7. Petrov 16
8. Rosberg 16
9. Kobayashi 5
10. Schumacher 2
11. Alguersuari 2
......
12. Vasser 0

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 61
2. Mclaren 52
3. Ferrari 48
4. Mercedes 18
5. Lotus 16
6. Sauber 5
7. Toro Rosso 2
8. Virgin 0
9. Force India 0
10. Williams 0
11. Hispania 0
12. Caterham 0

Round 3 coming tomorrow though I have already completed the race, which was eventful to say the least....

[wmetcalf68]

This is a great read!

[MansellsEyebrows]

This is a great read!

Thanks, it's nice to know my adventures are of interest to some people! Lets hope the interestingness continues...

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 3: China

Practice: Rain on Friday has become a bit of an annoying coincidental occurance, yet around the Shanghai track I managed to post some stable times. At one point I was 4 seconds ahead of Trulli who had set his time just seconds before I started my own, showing some better promise in the rain. The failure to run once the track had dried caused me to post the slowest time yet again though, but only by half a second from Karthikeyan.

Qualifying: The team set me the rather ambitious target of 17th on the grid in the dry Saturday session, meaning I would have to qualify ahead of two of the 'old teams'. On pace alone this was unrealistic, though my hopes were helped when Petrov failed to set a time in the session. After two events to get further up the grid I ended up 18th ahead of the two Caterhams, but to my surprise and pride enhancement this was only half a second off Barrichello in 17th. Timo had qualified down in 22nd while Alonso claimed pole for the second weekend running.

Race: Once again Race Day was beautiful and dry and I was feeling hopeful, not least thanks to the knowledge that I could gain places at the start easily. This is exactly what happened, as a good start meant I had dived down the inside of Maldonado at turn 1 for 14th, before banging wheels with Alguersuari forcing the Spaniard wide. I then got caught up in the usual Chinese turns 2 and 3 traffic, trying to squeeze myself round the corner and taking off Rosberg's front wing. I was subsequently awarded a 10 second post race penalty, but I soldiered on regardless. I had managed to grab 11th on the track, but only for the matter of one and a half laps. Buemi had followed closely and pressured me for a whole lap, before he and Kobayashi finally got by at turns 8 and 9. Fighting back, I dived down the inside of Kobayashi again at the tight turn 11, Only for myself to brake too late and end up dangerously close to Buemi on the inside. I tried to back out but we touched, causing us both to spin round. Miraculously and Bemusingly, Kobayashi managed to avoid hitting the pair of us, but Di Resta, who had followed close behind, had no where to go but head on into me, costing himself his front wing, wheel and subsequently his ability to complete the race. This crash cost me my front wing, as well as gifting me yet another post race 10 second penalty. Luckily, the safety car was deployed to clear the mess, giving me chance to get back to the pits, change tyres and not have a disadvantage in time. Foolishly, 21 of the remaining 23 runners did not take the opportunity to pit under the safety car, with only myself and Liuzzi doing so. Rosberg had pitted at the end of lap one to replace the damage that was supposedly caused by ones self, meaning he was now in 20th place after my and Liuzzi's pit stops. By this time, Button had gained the lead from Alonso somewhere unknown to me. This was until he and perhaps 10 others all pitted as soon as the safety car went in. This was crazy, as in the extremely bunched field, I was now in 10th. A lap later, another 7 or 8 cars pitted, Leaving Rubens Barrichello the leader of the race. What's more, Sutil was second, and Rosberg third, the latter having already made his mandatory pit stop. This left me fourth, and like Rosberg, without the need to pit again. Sadly the 20 second time penalty meant I knew my chances of points would likely be ruined. In the same position was Liuzzi in 5th, but he soon lost his position to the much faster chasing pack and predictably fell down the order. Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel soon caught me up having passed the Hispania, with the former two both getting by with 3 laps to go. At the end of this lap Barrichello and Sutil dived in for their pit stops, sadly ruining the chances of an incredible Williams victory. This left Rosberg out front and in a comfortable lead, but meanwhile I was fighting off Vettel. Coming out of the Turn 14 hairpin, he got the traction to pull ahead of me, only for me to make a rookie and over zealous error, leaving my nose in at the final corner and causing the defending world champion to spin. Another penalty was awarded, and rightly so after a shambolic performance had seen me spin two drivers, end another drivers race and knock off another's front wing. Vettel would fail to finish from this, and as I later found out Webber had also mysteriously retired, meaning a disastrous Chinese Grand Prix for Red Bull was secured. One more trip through the gravel in trying to avoid the world champion driver that I had spun left me falling down the order, eventually finishing 11th on the track, but with the penalties leaving me 17th in the official classification. Frankly the race was a disaster for me and the team weren't happy. I apologized to them, though eventual winner Nico Rosberg came over and thanked me post race for essentially putting him in the position to win, which he duly took. Button beat Alonso to second, with Massa fourth, Barrichello a fantastic fifth, Petrov an amazing sixth after starting 24th ahead of Hamilton, Sutil, Schumacher and Perez, in what was a crazy, shambolic but scintillating Grand Prix.

China Results:
1. Rosberg
2. Button
3. Alonso
4. Massa
5. Barrichello
6. Petrov
7. Hamilton
8. Sutil
9. Schumacher
10. Perez

Standings after round 3:
Drivers:
1. Button 51
2. Alonso 41
3. Rosberg 41
4. Webber 37
5. Massa 34
6. Hamilton 25
7. Vettel 24
8. Petrov 24
9. Barrichello 10
10. Kobayashi 5
11. Sutil 4
12. Schumacher 2
13. Alguersuari 2
14. Perez 1
.....
15. Vasser 0

Constructors:
1. Mclaren 76
2. Ferrari 75
3. Red Bull 61
4. Mercedes 45
5. Lotus 24
6. Williams 10
7. Sauber 6
8. Force India 4
9. Toro Rosso 2
10. Virgin 0
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 4: Turkey

Practice: After the disastrous race in China, I knew I needed a great performance in Turkey to redeem myself. On Friday, the weather didn’t help me, with it once again being wet. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday was again all dry, meaning for the fourth time in a row, Friday practice would be of little use. Still, a few times set were still made and I felt confident with the car in the conditions.

Qualifying: I had gone for a particularly high downforce set up in Turkey, knowing that there was no point going for a low drag set up when no KERS and mediocre aerodynamics rendered it impossible to compete on straight line speed. This strategy paid dividends, as after five minutes of the session I amazingly posted the fifth fastest time, just over a second off eventual pole man Alonso’s time. As the session went on I dropped steadily down the order and others set faster times leaving me one and a half seconds off the pace. However, this was still good enough for a fantastic 14th place. A late run to improve on that produced a quicker time but no higher grid position, but it still put me in a competitive position for the race. It was made ominous when Timo was 24th and last.

Race: This was my best chance yet for a points finish, and I knew it. Once again, I immediately improved upon my 14th place grid slot at the start. The two Toro Rosso’s and several others were dispatched with by turn three, leaving me 7th. However, my competitiveness kept going thereafter, as I dived passed Rosberg at the end of the first lap. Half a lap later I forced my way passed none other than championship leader Jenson Button, meaning I was up to fifth. Hamilton was slightly further ahead in 4th, but even he wasn’t pulling away from me. I was comfortably in 5th place until the lap before my pit stop, where I turned the fuel mixture down to conserve the engine and fuel. Immediately, Button was on my gearbox and pressuring me, but I managed to keep him behind until I made my stop. With leader Alonso and Hamilton among the other stoppers on lap 6, I emerged 9th behind the Mclaren driver. With several drivers ahead who would stop over the next couple of laps, I moved back up to 6th, meaning I only lost one place in the pit stop window to Massa. However, a thrilling fight was about to ensue with Rosberg emerging from the pits directly behind me, with Perez and Petrov not too far behind. For 3 laps, me and Rosberg traded positions until eventually the German got past and made it stick. This left me in 7th and having to defend from Perez and Petrov, but with no one else close to us, it was clear that with just 2 laps to go, points were very likely if I kept my cool. Rosberg may have got past, but I wasn’t letting the other two get by, even though both did on the back straight before I made a brave dive down the inside of the pair in retaliation, and it stuck. Petrov got ahead of Perez here, although as we entered the final few turns, all line-astern, Perez was directly behind the Russian. Eventually, the three of us crossed the line split by less than half a second, as I grabbed an incredible 7th place. The team and I duly celebrated in style, after enjoying what had been another fabulous race. Alonso had won from Vettel, Webber and Hamilton whilst Button was for some reason all the way down in 16th place….

Turkey Results:
1. Alonso
2. Vettel
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Massa
6. Rosberg
7. Vasser
8. Petrov
9. Perez
10. Buemi

Standings after round 4:
Drivers:
1. Alonso 66
2. Webber 52
3. Button 51
4. Rosberg 49
5. Massa 44
6. Vettel 42
7. Hamilton 37
8. Petrov 28
9. Barrichello 10
10. Vasser 6
11. Kobayashi 5
12. Sutil 4
13. Schumacher 4
14. Perez 3
15. Alguersuari 2
16. Buemi 1

Constructors:
1. Ferrari 110
2. Red Bull 94
3. Mclaren 88
4. Mercedes 53
5. Lotus 28
6. Williams 10
7. Sauber 8
8. Virgin 6
9. Force India 4
10. Toro Rosso 3
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

Just out of curiosity, does Ayrton have any relation to Jimmy?

[MansellsEyebrows]

Just out of curiosity, does Ayrton have any relation to Jimmy?

If stealing the name because you think it's a cool racing driver's name even if your driver is from Canada and not the United States in this fictional world counts, then yes

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 5: Spain

Practice: Practice was dry for the first time in 2011, and this combined with the result in Turkey meant I was confident for the Spanish Grand Prix. Practice duly went reasonably well as I was able to set the 15th fastest time.

Qualifying: Qualifying started off damp at the Catalunya circuit, but I decided to set a banker time anyway. Despite the conditions I really pushed, and I posted the fastest time of the session so far. To my surprise, the likes of Kobayashi, Barrichello, Sutil and Di Resta had failed to better this time along with the 'fellow clunkers'. What's more is that the rain continued to fall, and the track was getting wetter and wetter. I proved this myself in being unable to better my first time. However, as the rain fell, the other 23 drivers couldn't better it either, and to everyone's astonishment, I found myself on a freak pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton and Webber headed the rest of the field, while Vettel and Alonso were down in 8th and 9th.

Race: Unlike Saturday, race day was warm, dry and sunny. The beauty was added to with pole position, and the knowledge that once again, serious points were possible. Another good start saw me keep the lead through turn one from Hamilton and Webber, but before the end of the lap they were both past. In the dry weather I didn't have the car to compete with the Red Bulls and the Mclarens. Jenson Button was next up behind me, and he got by on the straight going down to La Caixa. I was still in 4th position, until a spin at the horrible final chicane relieved me of this position. This put on-form Petrov into 4th, and left me in 9th ahead of Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel, and behind Maldonado. The championship leader put the pressure on for a while, but towards the end of the first stint he dropped off and I was comfortably ahead. The pit stops changed this though, putting him right on my tail. he finally got by with 5 laps to go, putting me right in front of Vettel. The defending champion had so far had a hard 2011, and this continued at Repsol with 4 laps to go as he put himself into a spin as he tried to take me down the inside. Replays showed no contact was made between the two of us. He would fail to finish the race in another disappointing weekend for the German. Alonso had failed to pull away from me, and with 3 laps to go I had the audacity to pass the Spaniard at his home event, in front of his home fans, with DRS into turn 1. From there Alonso faded whilst I managed to catch Maldonado, passing him on the final lap for another fine 7th place. More team celebrations followed with another fantastic and surprising result, as did Red Bull with Webber taking victory from Hamilton, Massa, Button and the ever impressive Petrov. Monaco now beckoned, and I couldn't wait to take to the tight street circuit for the first time...

Spain Results:
1. Webber
2. Hamilton
3. Massa
4. Button
5. Petrov
6. Kobayashi
7. Vasser
8. Maldonado
9. Alonso
10. Buemi

Standings after Round 5:
Drivers:
1. Webber 77
2. Alonso 68
3. Button 63
4. Massa 59
5. Hamilton 55
6. Rosberg 49
7. Vettel 42
8. Petrov 38
9. Kobayashi 13
10. Vasser 12
11. Barrichello 10
12. Maldonado 4
13. Sutil 4
14. Schumacher 4
15. Perez 3
16. Alguersuari 2
17. Buemi 2

Constructors:
1. Ferrari 127
2. Red Bull 119
3. Mclaren 188
4. Mercedes 53
5. Lotus 38
6. Sauber 16
7. Williams 14
8. Virgin 12
9. Force India 4
10. Toro Rosso 4
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 6: Monaco

Practice: I was riding high thanks to two great results in Turkey and Spain, but it was back down to Earth in a wet Monaco Thursday morning. A tough session saw me post the 19th fastest time, while the forecast was for rain all weekend, and plenty of it.

Qualifying: Saturday was even wetter than Thursday, but there was to be no repeat of the qualifying heroics in Spain. I had posted the 19th fastest time and at the end of the session went out again. The traffic is always high in Monaco qualifying, and as I exited Casino on my last lap to get higher up the grid I could see a gaggle of cars ahead, all going at a slow pace. However, the traffic wasn't to blame for what happened next, as I locked my brakes, careering into the back of Kobayashi as I did so. The result was Kobayashi's front end was destroyed as he was forced into the barrier whilst by front wing was knocked off. I was awarded a 10 place grid penalty, meaning I would start the race in 24th and last place.

Race: The weather was exactly the same as Saturday for the Monaco Grand Prix, detracting from the glamour somewhat. The combination of rain and a tight circuit made anything possible, giving me hope despite starting last. Off the line I rocketed past the Hispanias, Caterhams, Glock and a couple of others before turn one. A collision involving a Williams and a Mclaren ahead meant cars were slow through turn one, as I took the opportunity to dive up the inside of the lot of them and into 14th place. Once there I kept up with the pace well, and as the race developed I was becoming faster than the cars I was following. I decided to push even more, and it paid off. One lap it was Di Resta who I got past, the next Sutil, and a couple of more overtakes saw me in 10th place. About 4 seconds up the road was Alonso, but that gap gradually began to decrease. At the half way point of the race, Coming through the tunnel I noticed a load of slow cars ahead. As I got closer, I could see Karthikeyan in front of a couple of other cars. As quick as a flash, I darted past all of them before the chicane. It become apparent that the situation was that Narain was holding up a group of drivers as they lapped him, with my opportunistic move elevating me to my new favourite position of 7th. As quickly as I had passed this group, as quickly they dissapeared into the distance behind, as I began to close the gap on Jenson Button ahead. With 5 laps to go I approached La Rascasse to find Jenson with no front wing behind a Caterham, gifting me 6th place. Massa must also have lost time as I was soon on his tail, and I had enough pace to pressurize him. At La Rascasse I made a brave dive down the inside, we banged wheels, but I was past. Continuing my push up the order, I had soon caught Petrov and Rosberg in 3rd and 4th respectively. I pulled the same move on Rosberg at la Rascasse that I had on Massa, and it duly worked. I was in fourth, but with 4 to go I could sniff a miraculous podium. I put myself in the perfect position for it with a ridiculously opportunistic move at Anthony Noghes, with another banging of wheels and a position gained. No harm was done however, and once I was in third I was comfortable. That was until on the penultimate lap I came up to lap Trulli just after the chicane. As I pulled alongside to pass I could feel the car lag massively and jolt slightly. My tyres were fine, but it happened again coming out of Tabac. I still managed to get by Trulli, but the car was not at 100%. I then checked my fuel gauge, and found that I was seriously low on fuel, and getting to the finish was going to be a challenge. Fuel mixture down to lean and the gentle touch in play, I cruised round on the final lap. Coming out of the tunnel Petrov had caught me and went for the overtake, only for me to defend robustly. We didn't make contact, but Rosberg immediately behind Petrov subsequently hit the back of the Russian and lost his front wing. This put him out of the equation, but with me still struggling to keep Petrov back. However, despite the jolting nature of the car, I managed to just hold him off, though Petrov got a good run on the main straight and almost pipped me to the podium. However, I had done it, just. It was incredible, from 24th to 3rd with a lot of luck and speed. I must have brushed the wall at least 10 times during the race and I nearly ran out of fuel thanks to pushing ridiculously, but I was there. 3rd place, unrejectification, and 15 more points. It couldn't get any better...

Monaco Results:
1. Vettel
2. Webber
3. Vasser
4. Petrov
5. Massa
6. Rosberg
7. Alonso
8. Perez
9. Kobayashi
10. Schumacher

Standings after round 6:
Drivers:
1. Webber 95
2. Alonso 74
3. Massa 69
4. Vettel 67
5. Button 63
6. Rosberg 57
7. Hamilton 55
8. Petrov 50
9. Vasser 27
10. Kobayashi 15
11. Barrichello 10
12. Perez 7
13. Schumacher 5
14. Maldonado 4
15. Sutil 4
16. Alguersuari 2
17. Buemi 2

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 162
2. Ferrari 143
3. Mclaren 118
4. Mercedes 62
5. Lotus 50
6. Virgin 27
7. Sauber 22
8. Williams 14
9. Force India 4
10. Toro Rosso 4
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 7: Canada

Practice: I knew I had to perform this weekend, as it was in front of my home crowd at a fabulous race track. Trouble was the circuit didn't suit our car, as long straights is where we are really lacking at the moment. Inevitably, any good result would have to come through a bit of luck, but with rain forecast for the race, anything could happen. practice was predictable though, with me once again setting the 19th fastest time ahead of the obvious.

Qualifying: With the circuit not suiting our car, I simply targeted 19th. I still pushed to the maximum, nearly hitting the wall of champions on my flyer, to end up 18th, ahead of Di Resta along with the Caterhams, Hispania and Timo down in 24th. Meanwhile, Hamilton grabbed pole from Webber.

Race: Race day was cloudy, but the rain wasn't forecast until late in the race. I decided to start on the harder prime tyre when everyone else started on the softer options, and this would turn out to be a great call. I made my usual good start and got myself up to 12th on the first lap between the two Ferraris. Going into the hairpin, still on lap one, I dived up the inside of Massa and made it by. However, Massa kept on the outside, and I failed to see his front wing level with my rear wheel on the exit of the hairpin. As a result inevitable contact was made, Massa's front being squeezed between my real wheel and the wall, knocking off his front wing. Alonso then had no where to go but into his team mate, damaging his car, as well as damaging the championship chances of both. I received no damage from this weird incident and was able to continue. However, on the straights I had my work cut out defending my 11th place, but the Ferrari incident had given me a comfortable gap. However, within 3 laps the other cars had caught me, and eventually Sutil and Kobayashi managed to get by in the DRS zone. However, soon afterwards they made their first pit stops along with almost everyone else. The trouble for them was that by this time, it was beginning to spit with rain. If it got worse and the track got wet enough, they'd have to pit again. With my prime tyres, if I could hold out long enough, I'd only need to pit once. The first pit sequence elevated me to 4th position as the Mclarens led one two from Heidfeld. Other cars started pressuring me for my fourth place, and it wasn't long before Webber got my with my wearing tyres. The rain was starting to come down harder and the track was getting wetter, before I could use my tyres no longer, with enormous amounts of wear on them. I took the risk of pitting for intermediates early, but luckily there was no need to worry as these tyres we fine on the slippery surface. I was down to 17th, but on the ever wetting track I quickly became the fastest man on the circuit. But the other cars were holding out, leaving me to easily catch and a pass several cars. By the end of the third to last lap I was in 14th and on the tail of Kobayashi, before he and almost everyone else finally gave in with their struggles and pitted again for intermediate tyres. In the space of one pit straight I went from 14th to 4th as everyone pitted at the same time. The Mclarens and Heidfeld were too far ahead for me to catch and duly sealed their podium positions, as I managed to comfortably hold off Webber for the last two laps for an incredible 4th place.

Canada Results:
1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Heidfeld
4. Vasser
5. Webber
6. Rosberg
7. Perez
8. Petrov
9. Maldonado
10. Alguersuari

Standings after round 7:
Drivers:
1. Webber 105
2. Button 81
3. Hamilton 80
4. Alonso 74
5. Massa 69
6. Vettel 67
7. Rosberg 65
8. Petrov 54
9. Vasser 39
10. Heidfeld 15
11. Kobayashi 15
12. Perez 13
13. Barrichello 10
14. Maldonado 6
15. Schumacher 5
16. Sutil 4
17. Alguersuari 3
18. Buemi 2

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 172
2. Mclaren 161
3. Ferrari 143
4. Mercedes 70
5. Lotus 69
6. Virgin 39
7. Sauber 28
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 5
10. Force India 4
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 8: Europe

Practice: Back to Europe after 4 very successful races in a row and confidence was high at the Valencia street circuit. The problem was, not only was it wet again (and forecast to be wet all weekend) but the street circuit didn't suit our car-just too many straights for us to be competitive. Hence in practice, cue some sliding about and another 19th best time.

Qualifying: More rain on Sunday, and more mediocrity with another 19th place grid slot. Still, the incident free nature of the weekend so far was a good sign, whilst our race pace has always managed to be stronger than qualifying pace so far this year. (bar that freak Saturday in Catalunya). The Mclarens locked out the front row in the conditions.

Race: It was wet from the start, but I made my usual good getaway to climb to 14th on lap 1. I managed to keep this position for two laps, until the weekends hard work all came undone in one go. Going through the final quick corners of the circuit, I got out of shape as the rear stepped out, sending myself off the circuit. I clanged the wall on the exit of turn 24, subsequently bouncing off it and straight into a small wall on the inside of turn 25 at over nearly 100 miles an hour. Inevitably my car was completely destroyed, leaving me with my first retirement of my career. The Mclarens would go on to dominate the race and put themselves right back in the championship fight.

Europe Results:
1. Hamilton
2. Button
3. Massa
4. Webber
5. Vettel
6. Rosberg
7. Alonso
8. Schumacher
9. Heidfeld
10. Buemi

Standings after round 8:
Drivers:
1. Webber 117
2. Hamilton 105
3. Button 99
4. Massa 84
5. Alonso 80
6. Vettel 77
7. Rosberg 73
8. Petrov 54
9. Vasser 39
10. Heidfeld 17
11. Kobayashi 15
12. Perez 13
13. Barrichello 10
14. Schumacher 9
15. Maldonado 6
16. Sutil 4
17. Alguersuari 3
18. Buemi 3

Constructors:
1. Mclaren 204
2. Red Bull 194
3. Ferrari 164
4. Mercedes 82
5. Lotus 71
6. Vasser 39
7. Sauber 28
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 6
10. Force India 4
11. Caterham 0
12. Hispania 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 9: Great Britain

Practice: Friday was refreshingly dry, but rain was forecast for the race. Silverstone was another circuit which didn't really suit our car, and so another 19th fastest time from me was predictable.

Qualifying: Saturday qualifying was thankfully dry, but nothing could be done to get near the top 18, and I once again qualified 19th. The race was going to be tough tomorrow unless the rain produced some freak results again. Sebastian Vettel put it on pole.

Race: Like the European Grand Prix, the race would start in the wet. It was another good start that got me as high as 10th, pressurizing Alonso. In the wet and at this stage of the race, the Virgin had good pace. But I would once again throw it away, diving up the inside of Alonso into copse. The Spaniard took his normal line, sending me into a frighteningly fast spin. Luckily I spun to the inside of the track so every car could avoid me. I then went to spin round and carry on once the cars had gone through, only for Liuzzi to blast round Copse out of nowhere and smashing into me. He had destroyed his car but remarkably I could continue. However, I got a 10 second penalty for this mishap. Sadly I was unable to pull the field in again, but it wasn't long before everyone made their one and only pit stops. That was everyone except two drivers: myself and Narain Karthikeyan. I had decided to go non stop and be careful on my tyres in the hope of any result, and this tactic put me 6th on the road despite my earlier spin. Narain was obviously do the same ahead in 5th, but he would manage his tyres better. Ultimately, I found myself losing grip every lap to the point where I was sliding round aimlessly. Indeed, during this time I had dropped from 6th to 20th from this tyre wear, until a full spin demoted me further down. It was down here with just 2 laps to go that I encountered Alguersuari with a puncture, and we pitted at the end of the penultimate lap, as I was unable to continue with my tyres any longer. I beat Alguersuari to 22nd on track but with my penalty I was classified as last of the finishers, in another disastrous race. Meanwhile, Vettel won in style to enhance his championship chances. Also worth note was Karthikeyan, who managed to secure a brilliant result for the tiny Hispania team...

Great Britain results:
1. Vettel
2. Button
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Massa
6. Alonso
7. Heidfeld
8. Schumacher
9. Rosberg
10. Karthikeyan

Standings after round 9:
Drivers:
1. Webber 132
2. Hamilton 117
3. Button 117
4. Vettel 102
5. Massa 94
6. Alonso 88
7. Rosberg 75
8. Petrov 54
9. Vasser 39
10. Heidfeld 23
11. Kobayashi 15
12. Perez 13
13. Schumacher 13
14. Barrichello 10
15. Maldonado 6
16. Sutil 4
17. Alguersuari 3
18. Buemi 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 234
2. Mclaren 234
3. Ferrari 182
4. Mercedes 88
5. Lotus 77
6. Vasser 39
7. Sauber 28
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 6
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 10: Germany

Practice: The forecast for friday was wet, but luckily there was at least half an hour of dry running before the rain came. Despite recent results I went into the weekend hopeful of a good race, so I was disappointed with just the 19th fastest time in practice again.

Qualifying: Qualifying was dry but again disappointing as I could only claim 19th place again. Still, the car was handling well so there were higher hopes for the race, maybe to challenge on the fringe of points.

Race: Another race, and another fantastic start. Up to 12th by turn one, I had moved up to 10th by the end of the first lap. Sadly it wasn't to last, as Heidfeld and Perez got back past, before Kobayashi applied the pressure. The Japanese driver eventually got by, before I was caught by both Williams cars for a race long battle with them. In the pit phase myself, Barrichello and Maldonado managed to get jumped by both Force Indias, while Hamilton had obviously had contact somewhere as he tumbled to the back of the pack. After going wheel to wheel with me Maldonado eventually managed to get by, but I managed to hold off Barrichello for 16th place at the end of an exciting battle. Meanwhile, Webber had jumped poleman Alonso to win, with Button third.

Germany results:
1. Webber
2. Alonso
3. Button
4. Vettel
5. Schumacher
6. Petrov
7. Perez
8. Massa
9. Heidfeld
10. Rosberg

Standings after round 10:
Drivers:
1. Webber 157
2. Button 132
3. Hamilton 117
4. Vettel 114
5. Alonso 106
6. Massa 98
7. Rosberg 76
8. Petrov 62
9. Vasser 39
10. Heidfeld 25
11. Schumacher 23
12. Perez 19
13. Kobayashi 15
14. Barrichello 10
15. Maldonado 6
16. Sutil 4
17. Alguersuari 3
18. Buemi 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 271
2. Mclaren 249
3. Ferrari 204
4. Mercedes 99
5. Lotus 87
6. Virgin 39
7. Sauber 34
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 6
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

Guess what? Mr Vasser now has his own wiki article for you to do whatever the hell you want with it.

[MansellsEyebrows]

Guess what? Mr Vasser now has his own wiki article for you to do whatever the hell you want with it.

Yes! Ayrton has made it to the legendary F1 alternate wiki! He is a proud man, I assure you. Only trouble is I've never edited a wiki style article before so don't expect anything amazing on there anytime soon, unless anyone who knows what they're doing wants to do something with it. Despite that, thanks Wizzie, I'll definitely have a go at editing it.

let the racing exploits of Ayrton continue....

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 11: Hungary

Practice: A bright and beautiful friday greeted the paddock on Friday, and I was looking forward to a good weekend. The car had been developed through the season, and I felt on handling at least the Virgin was good enough to compete with the best of the midfield teams. However, we are still lacking greatly in straight line pace. Thanks to this, I've recently been using an extremely high downforce set up to maximize the cornering strengths of the car, trying to outweigh the straight line weakness as a result. With a lot of straights on the last few circuits results had been varied, and such a tactic would be fully tested at the Hungaroring where straights are relatively short. This was the perfect opportunity for another points finish, and practice turned out to be promising with the 10th best time.

Qualifying: The track was wet on Saturday, which would certainly help throw the form book out of the window. This was proven when Sergio Perez claimed a brilliant 4th for Sauber, while Webber and Button were further down in 10th and 12th respectively. Meanwhile I managed to grab an excellent 8th, with the car clearly strong through the turns at Budapest in any conditions.

Race: This was always going to be a big race and a test of our cars development at Virgin. As the lights went out I made my usual great start, getting past Alonso, Perez and the two Mercedes through turn one to get into a fantastic 4th position on lap one. Hamilton lead from Vettel and Massa, but before any of them could pull out a gap I was on their tales. By the end of the first lap, I had stormed past Felipe Massa. Immediately on Vettels' tale, I could see that through the tight corners, I was just as quick if not quicker than the Red Bull. Despite the defending World Champion managing to easily pull away on the mains straight at the start of lap two, I was also much more confident on the brakes, diving down the inside from a long way back into turn one for an incredible second position. And it wasn't over there, as the following lap I managed to pull the exact same manouvre on Lewis Hamilton, putting me into the lead of the race. Clearly, the others were much more cautious on the brakes at this tight circuit. This was already looking like 1997 and Damon Hill at this circuit all over again. Sure enough, just like that race in which Damon upset the establishment, no one had an answer for my pace. While I wasn't pulling away much, I managed to create a steady gap between myself and Lewis of about 2 seconds, and that didn't change at all. That was until I made a small mistake on my in lap for my first stop, meaning as we entered the pits at the same time, Lewis was right on my tale. Sure enough, the Mclaren pit crew got him out ahead of me, meaning I was going to have to overtake him all over again. And that's exactly what happened, again into turn one, extremely late on the brakes while the others were still cautious with new tyres. With no traffic directly ahead I was able to again enhance the lead to about 2 seconds before making it stable, and from there I could control the race. We were both pulling away from Vettel in third though in this wonderfully surprising race. Despite some added pressure from the Mclaren on the final laps as my tyres wore away quicker than his, I managed to hold on, and take an incredible victory. My team where ecstatic, and together we had shocked the F1 paddock. The car may still be inferior on many tracks, but through hard work and some ingenuity we had managed to gain stun the establishment on this tight and twisty track, reminiscent of our race day pace on that wet Sunday afternoon in Monaco back in May. We would go into the summer break looking to improve for Spa, where things would undoubtedly be harder. Regardless, this would be a great memory from my career and for my team.

Hungary results:
1. Vasser
2. Hamilton
3. Vettel
4. Massa
5. Alonso
6. Webber
7. Perez
8. Button
9. Buemi
10. Schumacher

Standings after round 11:
Drivers:
1. Webber 165
2. Button 136
3. Hamilton 135
4. Vettel 129
5. Alonso 116
6. Massa 110
7. Rosberg 76
8. Vasser 64
9. Petrov 62
10. Heidfeld 25
11. Perez 25
12. Schumacher 24
13. Kobayashi 15
14. Barrichello 10
15. Maldonado 6
16. Buemi 5
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 294
2. Mclaren 271
3. Ferrari 226
4. Mercedes 100
5. Lotus 87
6. Virgin 64
7. Sauber 40
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 8
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 12: Belgium

Practice: After the miracles of Hungary, I was being realistic for Belgium and Italy: Points in these races were going to be almost impossible in dry weather due to the long straights and fast nature of both circuits. Luckily, rain was forecast all weekend in Belgium. Practice was wet at the beginning and I had set the 15th fastest time at about halfway, before the sun came out and the track dried. Not getting any dry running, my best time was 11 seconds off Webbers'.

Qualifying: Again, it was wet from the start on Saturday. I duly took the opportunity in the conditions and posted the fastest time by over a second from Button. My wet weather form seems to be strange; I was outside 107% in the rain in Australia, and yet I stormed from 24th to 3rd in Monaco. The rain is always exciting for me it seems. Sadly, the track dried up again by the end of the session, and I could only post the 19th fastest time in the dry.

Race: Race day started off dry, and so I chose to put the harder compound tyre on for the race. With the likelihood of rain I was hoping that this tactic, when everyone else started on the softs, would work like it did in Canada. The lights went out and as usual by the first corner I was up into 12th. With others still being cautious on their tyres vs my all guns blazing approach, I managed to get passed the car of Petrov along with a Williams and into 10th place. Despite Petrov and the Williams' straight line speed advantage, my defending meant they couldn't get past. Meanwhile, Perez ahead was pulling away, but only at a very small rate. That was until about half distance, when the other drivers' tyres started to wear. The pressure from behind was off, and I could concentrate on catching Perez and the others ahead. I didn't quite manage to catch them before they all pitted, but the fact that this elevated me directly to the lead was promising. Having seen the others pit once, I was praying for rain so they would have to pit again. It had started to spit with rain a lap before, and as I lead it started to intensify, notably at La Source and Stavelot. My tyres were wearing now, and I knew I had to pit. The track was still a little dry for my liking as I wanted to get straight onto inters, but I had no choice. I exited the pits on my brand new inters with four laps to go in 12th, but immediately I could see that it was the right decision. The track was getting wetter all around the circuit, and indeed Stavelot and La Source were very wet indeed. I was the fastest driver on the circuit, and I was soon past Perez and Hamilton. Everyone held out until 2 laps to go to pit, by which time I was not too far away from the leaders. Their second pit stops elevated me to the lead with 2 laps to go, an open goal for a second successive win. Heidfeld had managed to grab second position and exited the pits just 4 seconds behind me. But with my tyres wearing, he caught fast. But I managed to hold on, though by the end of the race he was just half a second behind. But I had done it, a second career win, in difficult conditions. This season so far had been miraculous.

Belgium results:
1. Vasser
2. Heidfeld
3. Webber
4. Massa
5. Button
6. Rosberg
7. Alonso
8. Schumacher
9. Buemi
10. Perez

standings after round 12:
1. Webber 180
2. Button 146
3. Hamilton 135
4. Vettel 129
5. Alonso 122
6. Massa 122
7. Vasser 89
8. Rosberg 84
9. Petrov 62
10. Heidfeld 43
11. Schumacher 28
12. Perez 26
13. Kobayashi 15
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 7
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 309
2. Mclaren 281
3. Ferrari 244
4. Mercedes 112
5. Lotus 105
6. Virgin 89
7. Sauber 41
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 10
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

Is it true that Mr Vasser is looking at a move to the F1RWRS in the next few years or so should the series continue the phenomenal growth it's experienced in the last year and a half since its inception?

Oh and don't worry about the wiki article too much. Just write what you want and I'll get around to formatting it properly.

[MansellsEyebrows]

Is it true that Mr Vasser is looking at a move to the F1RWRS in the next few years or so should the series continue the phenomenal growth it's experienced in the last year and a half since its inception?

Oh and don't worry about the wiki article too much. Just write what you want and I'll get around to formatting it properly.

Well, I want my F1 career to last the maximum 5 years, but after that Ofcourse I'll be looking at other series to compete in. That means I'll be in F1 to the end of 2015 hopefully, but beyond that F1RWRS will definitely be an option.....

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 13: Italy

Practice: For the first time this year, the forecast was fully dry for the whole weekend. This was disappointing as it made a good result very unlikely, with the long straights of Monza not suiting our car at all. Indeed practice was predictable with the 19th fastest time for myself.

Qualifying: With dry qualifying, 19th fastest was only ever going to be the best result at Monza, and so it proved with a time that was a second off 18th fastest.

Race: My usual good start promoted me to 13th place at turn one, but disaster was soon to strike. Coming out of the second lesmo on lap 2, the slow starting Vitaly Petrov tried to get alongside down the straight. Alongside him and the other side of me was a Force India car. Petrov kept going down the inside where there was no room, meaning I had to move over to give him more. But as I did so the Force India's left front tapped my right rear wheel on the other side, sending me into a frighteningly fast spin. I smashed into the barriers at the side of the track, bouncing back onto it into the path of other cars. Several cars had nowhere to go including Caterham and a Williams, causing carnage and destroying several cars including my own. After two brilliant races, this was back down to Earth.

However, good news came in the form of Williams offering me a contract for 2012. Virgin had already offered a contract renewal, with Caterham and Hispania also expressing interest. I hadn't made any decision on my future yet, but both a stay with Virgin and Williams seemed like good options.

Italy Results:
1. Button
2. Vettel
3. Webber
4. Alonso
5. Schumacher
6. Rosberg
7. Heidfeld
8. Hamilton
9. Massa
10. Perez

Standings after round 13:
Drivers:
1. Webber 195
2. Button 171
3. Vettel 147
4. Hamilton 139
5. Alonso 134
6. Massa 124
7. Rosberg 92
8. Vasser 89
9. Petrov 62
10. Heidfeld 49
11. Schumacher 38
12. Perez 27
13. Kobayashi 15
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 7
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 342
2. Mclaren 310
3. Ferrari 258
4. Mercedes 130
5. Lotus 111
6. Virgin 89
7. Sauber 42
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 10
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

[alternate universe crossover] With Rhys Davies saying he's considering his options for next year, would it be an hounour for you to team up with someone of his caliber at a team like Williams next year or even be the one to replace him? [/alternate universe crossover]

[MansellsEyebrows]

[alternate universe crossover] With Rhys Davies saying he's considering his options for next year, would it be an hounour for you to team up with someone of his caliber at a team like Williams next year or even be the one to replace him? [/alternate universe crossover]

It would be a great honour indeed. However with Williams keen to continue with a similar level of sponsorship money they currently get from their all South American partnership, I'd imagine there would be space for 1 of us at most.

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 14: Singapore

Practice: The start of the second Asian leg of the season was in Singapore, and the marina bay track promised good things for the weekend. The tight and twisty layout suited our car, and so it was disappointing to come away only 19th fastest again in friday practice, but yet to try the softer compound tyre around the circuit.

Qualifying: On with the softer compound, and an immediate difference was felt. The car felt good around a track I usually struggled at, making the developments we made seem very useful indeed. In the early part of qualifying I posted the fastest time of the session, though with a couple of minutes to go this time was down to 10th. Still, I gave it one more go and to the shock of the F1 establishment, I posted the second fastest time. I would start 2nd on the grid, just a tenth off poleman, no less than Michael Schumacher....

Race: I was excited for the race, but come Sunday it was wet. It was partially disappointing in that my dry weather pace had been brilliant anyway, but interesting as with me in the rain , anything can happen. I knew I could be either phenomenally slow in the wet, or incredibly fast, depending on the circuit. Sadly, it turned out that in Singapore it was the former. My usual brilliant start didn't arise, instead I lost second to Massa after going wide at turn one. Somehow Webber managed to lose his front wing and Button got into 4th behind me. It was quickly evident that I was not confident on the damp surface and within two laps Schumacher and Massa were 10 seconds ahead. Pretty soon Button got by and a train of cars behind me had formed. Alonso was next to challenge, but he dived down the inside at turn 3 in my blind spot and we touched, causing the Spaniard to spin. After slipping behind two fast Saubers, I had Vettel to contend with. On my in lap for the pits I managed to hit the wall and lose my wing in the section under the grandstand. This slowed me down but through the next 3 corners Vettel still couldn't get by. I went to go to the pit entrance, only for Vettel to dive down the inside also looking to pit. We banged wheels, we did so again at the actual inside of the turn that leads into the pits. I was forced wide by the aggressive German and immediately went to get back to the pit entrance lane, Only for Rosberg to be there. I hit him and then slammed into the pit entrance. As I selected reverse gear to enter the pits I had lost at least 8 places, and ironically I rejoined just behind Mark Webber who had lost a lot of time with his broken wing at the start. He pulled away comfortably with my race ruined, but he then encountered the Caterham of Jarno Trulli. I was quickly on his tail again and went for the inside and took the position as Trulli held him up. Pretty soon I got past the Italian and would go on to finish in 18th, with Webber pressurizing me right at the death after getting past Trulli. It was a disastrous result considering where I started, meanwhile Massa took his first victory of the year and became the 8th different winner this season. The championship battle was really hotting up with Webber's lead down to 6 points with 5 races to go...

Singapore Results:
1. Massa
2. Button
3. Schumacher
4. Hamilton
5. Petrov
6. Kobayashi
7. Vettel
8. Perez
9. Rosberg
10. Buemi

standings after round 14:
Drivers:
1. Webber 195
2. Button 189
3. Vettel 153
4. Hamilton 151
5. Massa 149
6. Alonso 134
7. Rosberg 94
8. Vasser 89
9. Petrov 72
10. Schumacher 53
11. Heidfeld 49
12. Perez 31
13. Kobayashi 23
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 8
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 348
2. Mclaren 340
3. Ferrari 283
4. Mercedes 147
5. Lotus 121
6. Virgin 89
7. Sauber 54
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 11
10. Force India 4
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 15: Japan

Practice: With very competitive times in the dry in Singapore, I had reason to be optimistic for the Japanese Grand Prix. With the 13th fastest time in the dry friday practice session there was even more reason to be confident of a result, especially as the forecast was dry for the whole weekend.

Qualifying: Whilst Vettel claimed pole, i managed a steady 12th, but with a couple of small errors on my best lap. I knew I could have broken into the top 10, but in a way 12th was just as good as had more options strategy wise.

Race: I decided to go against what everyone was doing and started on the medium compound tyres instead of the softs. In the race I could just about manage to make both tyres last just as long, which would be crucial position wise as it was obvious that the less clean air I gave the people behind me, the better. With my usual good start I rocketed into 6th, with Petrov and Alonso directly behind. They were clearly faster with their softer tyres but they couldn't find a way through. Just before the midpoint of the race cars were starting to pit, but luckily Petrov and Alonso had yet to do so. I knew they would come in on the next lap, and so I pitted as well. Indeed all three of us pitted at the same time, but to my annoyance they both manged to jump me in the pits. However, with my softer tyres I was quicker than them, and I managed to force my way past Alonso within 2 laps. By this time Petrov had pulled a slight gap, and I wasn't able to reduce it enough before the soft tyres I was on started wearing badly. Defending from Alonso was my new priority, and I actually held him up so much that Schumacher got past him. I just managed to hold on to 7th though and another solid points finish. Meanwhile, Massa made it 2 wins in a row and moved to 3rd in the drivers championship, but still a way off main championship contenders Webber and Button, with the points gap down to 1 with 4 races to go.

Japan Results:
1. Massa
2. Vettel
3. Button
4. Hamilton
5. Webber
6. Petrov
7. Vasser
8. Schumacher
9. Alonso
10. Di Resta

Standings after round 15:
Drivers:
1. Webber 205
2. Button 204
3. Massa 174
4. Vettel 171
5. Hamilton 163
6. Alonso 136
7. Vasser 95
8. Rosberg 94
9. Petrov 80
10. Schumacher 57
11. Heidfeld 49
12. Perez 31
13. Kobayashi 23
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 8
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Di Resta 1
20. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 376
2. Mclaren 367
3. Ferrari 310
4. Mercedes 151
5. Lotus 129
6. Virgin 95
7. Sauber 54
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 11
10. Force India 5
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

Massa taking Alonso to the cleaners? Something's not right

[RonDenisDeletraz]

Massa taking Alonso to the cleaners? Something's not right

And Webber leading the championship.

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 16: South Korea

Practice: Practice at this dreadful circuit didn't go particularly well, with only the 19th fastest time posted. I wasn't really looking forward to this race as much to all the others If I'm honest, as despite the track theoretically suiting our car (apart form the long straights obviously) I had never driven competitively here in any formula.

Qualifying: Predictably, I set the 19th fastest time. Meanwhile, Alonso claimed pole for Ferrari.

Race: At the start there was chaos at the first corner with Rosberg being forced out. In the melee, I found myself in 10th place. However, thanks to everyone being cautious on the opening lap I was up to 7th, where I would battle with the two Saubers and Lotuses for most of the race. I was down to 8th as we entered the final lap of what had turned out to be an exciting battle all race long, before I ruined it all by locking my brakes at the end of the main straight, hitting Heidfeld and losing my front wing. I would have to battle nearly the entire last lap without any front downforce, and Perez flashed by immediately with ease. Pretty soon Button, who had been slowed at the first turn melee, got by and Webber, who also was involved in the first lap incident, was part of a chain of cars now pressurizing me. As we entered the final few twisty corners I ran wide at turn 13, meaning Buemi was able to pass me and Webber tried to follow through. The Australian did indeed get fully past and was on the outside for turn 14, but I kept in it on the inside and contact was made. Webber was forced into a spin while ran off the track, and we ended up 18th and 19th respectively in a last lap disaster. Despite only being 8th, Button now led the championship.

Korea Results:
1. Alonso
2. Hamilton
3. Massa
4. Vettel
5. Schumacher
6. Heidfeld
7. Kobayashi
8. Button
9. Perez
10. Buemi

Standings after Round 16:
Drivers:
1. Button 208
2. Webber 205
3. Massa 189
4. Vettel 183
5. Hamilton 181
6. Alonso 161
7. Vasser 95
8. Rosberg 94
9. Petrov 80
10. Schumacher 67
11. Heidfeld 57
12. Perez 33
13. Kobayashi 29
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 9
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Di Resta 1
20. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Mclaren 389
2. Red Bull 388
3. Ferrari 350
4. Mercedes 161
5. Lotus 137
6. Virgin 95
7. Sauber 62
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 12
10. Force India 5
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

Massa taking Alonso to the cleaners? Something's not right

And Webber leading the championship.

I know, it's wonderful isn't it! If only such things had have happened in reality last year, the championship fight would have been another thriller. I'm personally supporting Jenson!

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 17: India

Practice: Practice was dry at this new track on the World Championship schedule. I immediately found the track both challenging and enjoyable, and managed to set the 12th fastest time in a quiet session.

Qualifying: Qualifying was even better than practice, as I held provisional pole for much of the session. I had dropped to 10th by the end, with time for one more run. I managed to set a better time as I moved myself up to a delightfully satisfying 7th place starting spot. Vettel was on pole while championship leaders Button and Webber were 9th and 4th respectively. Rain was also forecast for the race, which would be certain to spice up the action.

Race: On the wet track intermediates were the only option. As the first ever World Championship Indian Grand Prix got underway, I moved up to 5th position behind the two Red Bulls, Hamilton and Massa. Alonso had been forced wide at the first turn and Button lost his front wing, a disaster for the championship leader and one that would ruin his race. Immediately into some clean running and I was clearly faster than Massa. At the start of lap 2 I out braked him into turn 1 and moved up to 4th with relative ease. Hamilton was next and I managed to dive down the inside at turn 3 on the next lap, only for the Brit to be far superior on the back straight and re-pass me. However, into turn 4 I was once again more confident on the brakes and was back in 3rd position, this time for keeps. By now Webber was 2 seconds ahead, but within 2 laps I was right on his tail and pulling the same move at turn three that I had done on Hamilton. Again, the Aussie came back on the straight, only for me to seal the move at the following corner. From there I tried to eat in to Vettel's 4 second lead, but this was rather fruitless as the German proved unreachable and was able to control the race. However, he wasn't getting away and I wasn't under pressure from Webber, and so 2nd was where I would stay for the rest of the race. towards the end the Red Bull pressured me more as my tyres seemed to wear more than his, but I beat him to the line by just over half a second for a fine 2nd place. With a win for Vettel, Webber 3rd, Hamilton 4th, Massa 5th and Button not scoring, the championship race was thrown wide open from a relatively inevitable 2 horse race to a 5 way tussle for the title with 2 races to go....

India Results:
1. Vettel
2. Vasser
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Massa
6. Petrov
7. Rosberg
8. Heidfeld
9. Perez
10. Schumacher

Standings after round 17:
Drivers:
1. Webber 220
2. Vettel 208
3. Button 208
4. Massa 199
5. Hamilton 193
6. Alonso 161
7. Vasser 113
8. Rosberg 100
9. Petrov 88
10. Schumacher 68
11. Heidfeld 61
12. Perez 35
13. Kobayashi 29
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 9
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Di Resta 1
20. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Red Bull 428
2. Mclaren 401
3. Ferrari 360
4. Mercedes 168
5. Lotus 149
6. Virgin 113
7. Sauber 64
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 12
10. Force India 5
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 18: United Arab Emirates

Practice: Lots of slow corners, an improved car and a good result last time out showed promise for the penultimate race of the season. At the end of a predictably dry practice I was 5th fastest and looking good for qualifying.

Qualifying: A relatively average first outing saw me in 16th place for much of the session before my final run. Here I was lucky enough to get a clear track all the way round (which can be a rarity) and with a great lap I claimed my second career pole. Alonso was second, while championship rivals Hamilton, Webber, Vettel, Massa and Button lined up 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 9th respectively.

Race: A usual good start from me meant I took the early lead and started t slowly build a gap to second placed Alonso. However, within one and a half laps the safety car was deployed. Vettel tumbled down the order at the same time so I assumed he'd been involved in some sort of incident, seriously damaging his championship chances as things stood. Button was up to 6th as a result and boosting his title chances after a poor qualifying. The drama was set to continue at the safety car restart. Trying to build a gap between myself and the safety car I slowed a lot approaching the final corner. As I rounded the final turn about to put the power down, I felt contact from behind. It turned out Alonso had tried to dive up the inside and had hit me, losing his front wing. As I hesitated, Hamilton drew up alongside me and by the end of the main straight he was past. Hamilton now led from me, Webber, Petrov and Button with Alonso tumbling down the order. Still startled by the events of a crazy few laps, I ran wide at the hairpin on entrance to the main straight, letting Webber get alongside. With superior straight line speed he was past, but going into the the next turn I drew up alongside again on the inside. Sadly I locked my wheels and the pair of us touched wheels and ran wide. Whilst I managed to get back to the track only losing two positions to Petrov and Button, Webber fell back outside of the top 10. Massa would also jump me in the pit stops in the remainder of a crazy race, while Webber clawed his way back to 9th. Hamilton won and Petrov held on to a fine second from Button, who now led the championship by just 1 point, with 1 race to go. Hamilton was very much in the championship hunt again with Massa and Vettel slightly further back, but an astonishing 5 drivers would go to Brazil with a chance of taking the title. A 5th place finish for me was disappointing, but that showed how far we had come through the season: To be dissapointed with 5th was a world away from where we were in Australia....

United Arab Emirates Results:
1. Hamilton
2. Petrov
3. Button
4. Massa
5. Vasser
6. Perez
7. Schumacher
8. Heidfeld
9. Webber
10. Rosberg

Standings after round 18:
Drivers:
1. Button 223
2. Webber 222
3. Hamilton 218
4. Massa 211
5. Vettel 208
6. Alonso 161
7. Vasser 123
8. Petrov 106
9. Rosberg 101
10. Schumacher 74
11. Heidfeld 65
12. Perez 43
13. Kobayashi 29
14. Barrichello 10
15. Buemi 9
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Di Resta 1
20. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Mclaren 441
2. Red Bull 430
3. Ferrari 372
4. Mercedes 175
5. Lotus 171
6. Virgin 123
7. Sauber 72
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 12
10. Force India 5
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0

[TomWazzleshaw]

Interesting fact: The driver leading the championship heading into the last race has NEVER won the world championship if three or more drivers were in mathematical contention heading into the last race. I think you can see where this is going...

[MansellsEyebrows]

2011 Round 19: Brazil

Practice: It was to be wet all weekend, and with the 5th fastest time in practice, things were encouraging. Button was on top in the session for this all deciding weekend.

Qualifying: The session started off wet and so put in a couple of banker laps, but with a couple of mistakes these were only good enough for 17th place as it stood. But as the session evolved the track got dryer, and I left it late to try and set a lap.I was on inters, but quickly realized that I could do a good lap on dries, and after another mistake I pitted to change. But the problem was I was running out of time for my out lap, and so I had to push ferociously hard to even manage to start a lap before the time ran out. Unfortunately I was too late, meaning I couldn't set another time and I would start from 23rd place, which was where I had slipped to by now. Meanwhile Jenson Button had claimed pole, Webber was 2nd, Buemi and Kobayashi a surprise 3rd and 4th, while Vettel was down in 8th, and Massa and Hamilton further down in 11th and 12th respectively. It put the front row men at a major advantage in the championship, and if either one of them won, whoever did so would be world champion.

Race: The race start was very wet, and the sprint down to turn one was a spray filled affair. Diving down the inside up against the pit wall, I managed to grab 15th place by turn one. It was quickly evident that I was faster and more confident in these conditions than many others, as I quickly got past Alguersuari, Perez and Di Resta. Meanwhile Mark Webber had grabbed the lead of this all important race. I managed to catch Alonso and Hamilton who were pressurizing some other cars in front, and with them being held up I was soon past. By now I was 8th with Heidfeld my next target. He was soon dispatched with at the hairpin. Vettel was next up, and I caught him with surprising ease when I dived down the inside at the same corner. This time the manouvre wasn't as clean as we banged wheels and both ran wide off the track. I managed to continue in the same position but Vettel lost some momentum and some positions. Buemi was next up the road and he was soon dispatched with, while Rosberg lied 4th. Catching everyone so far had been easy and overtaking had been pretty much just as easy on the wet track, and Rosberg was different as I slipped by at Laranja. Kobayashi was an impressive 3rd, but I had to pry it away from him with my greater pace. Pretty soon I had caught the lead battle and the fight for the championship between Webber and Button. The gap between them was about a second, but I decided I didn't want to interfere in the championship battle. However, I was here to win, so I decided that I would overtake with caution if I got the opportunity. But I did have the opportunity and got by Button into turn one. Getting past Webber only took until turn 4, and the gap between the two was about the same as when I caught them. So by the half way mark I had gone from 23rd to the lead on the wet track. By now everyone's tyres started to wear and so the pit stops began to flow, myself included. I retained the lead after the pit window and proceeded to pull away at a rate of 3 seconds per lap. Pretty soon I was lapping people, while Webber remained in second and on course for the championship. But Button was close behind and a few laps before the end he had caught Webber, and they swapped positions several times. The fight for the world championship was happening on track some way behind me. As we entered the final lap I had a 20 second lead, while Webber was ahead of Button by a mere 0.3 seconds. I crossed the line and won the Grand Prix in emphatic fashion, but I waited to see who was second. It turned out to be Button by just over 0.1 seconds, who managed to get past Webber on the last lap of the last race of the season, and thus claim his second world title. This was well deserved, and especially amazing considering he had won only 1 race all season, the first time this had occurred since Keke Rosberg in that infamous 1982 season. Hamilton had climbed to 4th and so Mclaren were constructors World Champions for the first time since 1998. It had been a fantastic season to participate in even If I hadn't been in the title hunt, it was my debut season after all, and it left me hungry for more in 2012.....

Brazil Results:
1. Vasser
2. Button
3. Webber
4. Hamilton
5. Kobayashi
6. Rosberg
7. Alonso
8. Buemi
9. Vettel
10. Heidfeld

Final World Championship Standings after Round 19:
Drivers:
1. Button 241
2. Webber 237
3. Hamilton 230
4. Massa 211
5. Vettel 210
6. Alonso 167
7. Vasser 148
8. Rosberg 109
9. Petrov 106
10. Schumacher 74
11. Heidfeld 66
12. Perez 43
13. Kobayashi 39
14. Buemi 13
15. Barrichello 10
16. Maldonado 6
17. Sutil 4
18. Alguersuari 3
19. Di Resta 1
20. Karthikeyan 1

Constructors:
1. Mclaren 471
2. Red Bull 447
3. Ferrari 378
4. Mercedes 183
5. Lotus 172
6. Virgin 148
7. Sauber 82
8. Williams 16
9. Toro Rosso 16
10. Force India 5
11. Hispania 1
12. Caterham 0