It’s only race two into Formula One’s first significant post-season since 2004 and the tedium is already mounting. Even if the new track in India is pretty damn good. Warning: spoilers.
The last, most dominant year of Schumacher-era Ferrari was 2004, when the man with the scary chin won 13 of 18 races and the fifth straight title in a row. Sebastian Vettel is now at 11 of 17, and it was actually a very interesting and complex season until it was over in Suzuka. But now it’s over and unless Bernie Ecclestone organizes a Grand Prix between Vettel and a Saturn V, the remaining two races in Abu Dhabi and, sadly, at Interlagos will be just as pointless and tedious as the ones in Korea and India, little more than exercises for Seb Vet to polish his inhuman stats to an even fiercer shine.
That said, the new circuit in New Delhi is great. Aside from the overly long main straight and all the construction dirt, it has great flow and character, and even a fancy blind corner on the top of a hill. But it just so happened that the inaugural Indian Grand Prix was little more than an encore for the most dominant car-driver combination since Schumacher in the F2004. Yeah, guess the results: starting from pole, Vettel was already 1.3 second ahead by the end of lap one, he led every lap of the race and even drove the fastest lap. It’s time for a new season!
It will be a season to watch Jenson Button in, who’s become the first man to beat Lewis Hamilton in the same F1 car. Button was fantastic in India, collecting yet another second place finish, and keeping Vettel under continous pressure, ready to pounce on any mistake. I was terribly worried for him two years ago, leaving scrappy little Brawn for the lion’s den of McLaren under Lewis Hamilton, and look what’s happened.
In other news, Hamilton collided with Felipe Massa yet again. This time, it was officially Massa’s fault. We need a proper fistfight. Or a new season. Or a new season of fistfights.
You do miss the ludicrous cliffhangers of 2007, 2008 and 2010, don’t you?
The 2011 Formula One Season in Crayola
Australia | Malaysia | China | Turkey | Spain | Monaco | Canada | Europe | Britain | Germany | Hungary | Belgium | Italy | Singapore | Japan | South Korea | India | Abu Dhabi | Brazil
Illustration by Peter Orosz. Gallery curated by Natalie Polgar. Photography by Paul Gilham/Getty Images, Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/Getty Images, Mark Thompson/Getty Images and Clive Mason/Getty Images.