Jenson Button, Adrian Newey, Sebastian Vettel, and Fernando Alonso
By Pete Vack
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media
Bully for India and Formula One
One of our more illustrious Presidents, Teddy Roosevelt, was a member of the Bull Moose Party and was given to using the word “Bully” in a positive manner, as in meaning “good”, “great” or “excellent”. Roosevelt also coined the term “Bully Pulpit”, which has an additional meaning here—the “Bully Pulpit” being the ability of the President to use his ‘pulpit’ in an influential manner. And a pulpit is what we have here, what you are reading; a podium, a platform, an opportunity to speak our mind and to have thousands hear it or read it.
Nothing wrong with opinion, of course, as long as it conforms to yours/mine/his/hers. So here’s ours, and the difference between your opinion and ours is that we have the pulpit. Oh well, we’ll try not to abuse it.
Despite the many recent often negative opinions put forth here and on other pulpit sites regarding the State of Formula One, we return to our Bully Precedent, and say “Bully to Formula One”, Bully for Singapore, Korea and Abu Dhabi; Bully for the Formula One Constructors Association; ditto for Bernie Eccelstone, Adrian Newey, DRS, KERS, aerodymanic aids, advanced technology and in effect, just about everything else in F1 today including the Massa/Hamilton (oh, hit him again, Massa!) off road excursions.
In a world of lingering recession, Formula One is a vibrant, thriving, wealthy industry which far exceeds any other form of racing in every aspect, including the much watched but low tech NASCAR events, checkers compared to the chess that is F1. That F1 refuses to be merely entertainment ala NASCAR is proven by the seemingly inopportune superiority of one car and driver (a historically typical scenario in F1), something rarely tolerated in other forms of racing.
FOCA brings “our” sport to new venues on the globe, which in turn encourages larger markets for the automobile industry. Formula One remains a technical tour de force of the Western World brought into developing nations for the betterment of both. It actively involves the major manufacturers and although not highly visible, doubtless improves the breed as it has done for 110 years. It’s safety record is outstanding and again better than both NASCAR and Indycar.
There are some among us who don’t care to be involved on any level in current racing. This is understandable, but not Bully. To be lost in the past is hopeless, but to watch, understand and enjoy today’s Formula One is to be part of the exciting present and promising future and advanced technology. Cars are cars and drivers and drivers, designers are designers, and today, were they still alive, Vittorio Jano and Tazio Nuvolari, would probably be staying up ‘til the wee hours watching these magnificent events from all over the globe.
To be sure, there is a lot wrong with Formula One, of course. Or so we think there is. There is always plenty to give us munitions for criticism. It wouldn’t be alive and vibrant if that were not so.
And India? Bully for India, Bully for Vettel, who did the old 1-2-3. And here are the results, without opinion.
Race Results
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 1h30m35.002s |
| 2 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 8.4s |
| 3 | ALONSO | Ferrari | + 24.3s |
| 4 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | + 25.5s |
| 5 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | + 65.4s |
| 6 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | + 66.8s |
| 7 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | + 84.1s |
| 8 | ALGUERSUARI | STR-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 9 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 10 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | + 1 lap |
| 11 | PETROV | Renault | + 1 lap |
| 12 | SENNA | Renault | + 1 lap |
| 13 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | + 1 lap |
| 14 | KOVALAINEN | Lotus-Renault | + 2 laps |
| 15 | BARRICHELLO | Williams-Cosworth | + 2 laps |
| 16 | D’AMBROSIO | Virgin-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 17 | KARTHIKEYAN | HRT-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 18 | RICCIARDO | HRT-Cosworth | + 3 laps |
| 19 | TRULLI | Lotus-Renault | + 5 laps |
| 20 | MASSA | Ferrari | + 28 laps |
| 21 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | + 36 laps, technical |
| 22 | MALDONADO | Williams-Cosworth | + 48 laps, gearbox |
| 23 | GLOCK | Virgin-Cosworth | + 58 laps, accident damage |
| 24 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | + 60 laps, accident damage |
| Fastest Lap |
VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 1m27.249s |
Note – Petrov penalised 5 grid spots for causing crash in Korea; Hamilton & Perez 3 spots for ignoring yellow flags in FP1; Ricciardo 5 spots for gearbox change; Karthikeyan 5 spots for blocking. Glock didn’t meet 107% requirement, races at stewards’ discretion.
Driver’s Championship Standings
| 1 | VETTEL | RBR-Renault | 374 Points |
| 2 | BUTTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 240 Points |
| 3 | ALONSO | Ferrari | 227 Points |
| 4 | WEBBER | RBR-Renault | 221 Points |
| 5 | HAMILTON | McLaren-Mercedes | 202 Points |
| 6 | MASSA | Ferrari | 98 Points |
| 7 | ROSBERG | Mercedes | 75 Points |
| 8 | SCHUMACHER | Mercedes | 70 Points |
| 9 | PETROV | Renault | 36 Points |
| 10 | HEIDFELD | Renault | 34 Points |
| 11 | SUTIL | Force India-Mercedes | 30 Points |
| 12 | KOBAYASHI | Sauber-Ferrari | 27 Points |
| 13 | ALGUERSUARI | STR-Ferrari | 26 Points |
| 14 | DI RESTA | Force India-Mercedes | 21 Points |
| 15 | BUEMI | STR-Ferrari | 15 Points |
| 16 | PEREZ | Sauber-Ferrari | 14 Points |
| 17 | BARRICHELLO | Williams-Cosworth | 4 Points |
| 18 | SENNA | Renault | 2 Points |
| 18 | MALDONADO | Williams-Cosworth | 1 Point |
Constructor’s Championship Standings
| 1 | RBR-RENAULT | 595 Points |
| 2 | McLAREN-MERCEDES | 442 Points |
| 3 | FERRARI | 325 Points |
| 4 | MERCEDES | 145 Points |
| 5 | RENAULT | 72 Points |
| 6 | FORCE INDIA-MERCEDES | 51 Points |
| 7 | SAUBER-FERRARI | 41 Points |
| 8 | STR-FERRARI | 41 Points |
| 9 | WILLIAMS-COSWORTH | 5 Points |