Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: Adam Macdonald.
[For those who are new to the page; TJ13 attempts to remove certain aspects of the race to give a fairer reflection of the race result.]
The last Grand Prix in India for the foreseeable future was all but decided at the front of the grid, with the rest of the positions being a tyre battle instead. Raikkonen’s eventually went off as we saw the true side of Lotus (in particular Alan Permane) over a heated radio conversation, as Romain Grosjean came home to secure his third podium finish in a row.
A bad weekend for Sauber and a 5th place finish for Checo Perez will have been a relief, as that all but secures their place in the World Constructors’ Championship. With only 3 races left, it really is getting down to the wire for some drivers and teams in terms of race seats. It was the perfect time for Felipe Massa to state his claim for a drive next season.
One thing I found particularly strange was the answer Christian Horner gave in the pre-race press conference regarding celebration t-shirts. Who did he really think he was fooling by saying there would were none already made? Helmut Marko was almost wearing one before Vettel had even crossed the line. Was this on purpose from Dr Marko deliberately putting egg on Horner’s face?
So what really happened?
Mark Webber: There would be few who would challenge the idea that Webber would have taken 2nd without his alternator failure. The Red Bulls were once again in a league of their won. He is reinstated to 2nd place.
Fernando Alonso: As he was the one who drove into the rear wheel of Mark Webber, which subsequently compromised his strategy he is not altered in position. He remains in position, minus the reinstated cars ahead of him.
Jenson Button: The Briton was the innocent bystander as Fernando Alonso took avoiding action into his McLaren. It was an uncharacteristically clumsy first lap from the Spaniard who normally is much tidier. There was nothing the man from Frome could have done to avoid the Ferrari, but at best would have been 7th after the ailing tyres of Kimi Raikkonen gave way. Raikkonen and Hulkenberg are inserted ahead of him, so he is awarded 9th.
Nico Hulkenberg: The impressive performances of late were brought to an end by a problem with the floor of the Hulk’s car. He had been on for a comfortable 8th place finish, which becomes 9th when Mark Webber is added back in.
The Verdict
This leaves the revised results table looking like this:
| Revised Race Position | Driver | Result comparison | Points | Points Difference | Grid Position | |
| Start | RevisedPosition | |||||
| 1 | Sebastian Vettel | = | 25 | = | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | Mark Webber | RETIRED | 18 | +18 | 4 | 2 |
| 3 | Nico Rosberg | -1 | 15 | -3 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | Romain Grosjean | -1 | 12 | -3 | 17 | 4 |
| 5 | Felipe Massa | -1 | 10 | -2 | 5 | 5 |
| 6 | Sergio Perez | -1 | 8 | -2 | 9 | 6 |
| 7 | Lewis Hamilton | -1 | 6 | -2 | 3 | 7 |
| 8 | Kimi Raikkonen | -1 | 4 | -2 | 6 | 8 |
| 9 | Nico Hulkenberg | RETIRED | 2 | +2 | 7 | 9 |
| 10 | Jenson Button | +4 | 1 | +1 | 10 | 10 |
| 11 | Paul Di Resta | -3 | 0 | -4 | 12 | 11 |
| 12 | Adrian Sutil | -3 | 0 | -2 | 13 | 12 |
| 13 | Daniel Ricciardo | -3 | 0 | -1 | 11 | 13 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | -3 | 0 | = | 8 | 14 |
| 15 | Pastor Maldonado | -3 | 0 | = | 18 | 15 |
| 16 | Jean-Eric Verge | -3 | 0 | = | 14 | 16 |
| 17 | Esteban Gutierrez | -2 | 0 | = | 16 | 17 |
| 18 | Valtteri Bottas | -2 | 0 | = | 15 | 18 |
| 19 | Max Chilton | -2 | 0 | = | 22 | 19 |
| 20 | Jules Bianchi | -2 | 0 | = | 19 | 20 |
| 21 | Chales Pic | 21st | 0 | = | 21 | 21 |
| 22 | Giedo van der Garde | 22nd | 0 | = | 20 | 22 |
Below, the revised World Drivers’ Championship:
| Driver | Revised WDC | WDC Points Difference | |
| Position | Points | ||
| Sebastian Vettel | 1 | 333 | +11 |
| Fernando Alonso | 2 | 210 | +3 |
| Mark Webber | 3 | 189 | +41 |
| Lewis Hamilton | 4 | 164 | -5 |
| Kimi Raikkonen | 5 | 163 | -20 |
| Nico Rosberg | 6 | 155 | +11 |
| Romain Grosjean | 7 | 109 | +7 |
| Felipe Massa | 8 | 98 | -4 |
| Jenson Button | 9 | 49 | -11 |
| Adrian Sutil | 10 | 40 | +12 |
| Nico Hulkenberg | 11 | 28 | -11 |
| Paul Di Resta | 12 | 24 | -16 |
| Jean-Eric Vergne | 13 | 16 | +3 |
| Sergio Perez | 14 | 20 | -9 |
| Daniel Ricciardo | 15 | 11 | -8 |
| Esteban Gutierrez | 16 | 4 | -2 |
| Valtteri Bottas | 17 | 0 | = |
| Pastor Maldonado | 18 | 0 | -1 |
| Jules Bianchi | 19 | 0 | = |
| Charles Pic | 20 | 0 | = |
| Giedo van der Garde | 21 | 0 | = |
| Max Chilton | 22 | 0 | = |
*Those with 0 points will not be ordered
What they would have said
Once again the two Lotus’ were allowed to race. TJ had alluded to in the news whether this was down to the team assuming Kimi already knew or not being brave enough to tell him to let his teammate past. Either way it produced some great headlines, but it could have been the difference between 2nd in the WCC an 4th had the drivers taken each other out. Some assertion of authority is required from Mr Boullier I feel.
Had Mark Webber have finished the race at the normal time and on the podium, the podium ceremony would have been another awkward affair with the Aussie not really wanting to be there. In the end, it was a good day for the conspiracy theorists who want to find some kind of hatched plan to ruin Webber’s races while his German teammate cruised home to victory, as well as affording the Aussie an exit from the Vettel love in that followed the race. In the end, probably a good job that the alternator failed, otherwise who knows what the Aussie would have said!
Quote of the Day
Jordan GP were sensible enough to implement team orders at Spa in 1998, as can be seen in the video below.
The quote for this week is one that should have come, but never did from Eric Boullier.
“Kimi, Romain behind you is a lot quicker. Romain is 3 seconds a lap quicker”
As well, I thought I would add in the reason the Jordan GP cars were in a fight for first and second. Murray Walker’s commentary is truly something special as the drama unfolds.
