A slow burner to set the scene for a three way scrap next week...


A Procession To Give Us A Fitting Occasion

Honesty doesn't make for a good tale, but truth be told this wasn't a great grand prix - or indeed a great weekend for Brazil. Excitement at the incredible Hulk's pole position quickly dissipated into the prescient expectation that, once Sunday dawned under blue skies, his career-high would be a brief anti-climax and his Williams would hinder rather than help racing. So it proved. The time Fernando Alonso lost behind Hulkenberg was the time when the race was lost to the Red Bulls.

"We are very close in race pace, maybe one or two tenths quicker some laps, one or two tenths slower some of the laps, so when you lose 12 seconds probably it is over," the Spaniard acknowledged afterwards.

From that stage onwards, the only hint that the position of the first three cars might change was when Mark Webber began to gradually eat into Sebastian Vettel's lead. A tenth here, a tenth there. But with the Aussie cooking his engine, it was probably just as well from Red Bull's perspective that Vettel's lead had grown to almost four seconds in traffic before the Safety Car was summoned. Otherwise, the team would have had to instruct Webber to turn the wick down just as he caught Vettel. Just imagine the furore that would have caused.

Alonso Keeps His Calculations Pointed

The body language in the post-race press conference was fascinating to behold with Webber and Vettel acting oblivious to each other and Alonso sitting smugly to the side. When the Spaniard took his turn to speak, it was immediately noticeable that both the Red Bull drivers turned to listen to his views as if Fernando would be providing the definitive judgement on the race result. Which is perhaps what he duly did.

Asked if he remained confident of winning the title next weekend following Red Bull's refusal to alter the order in Brazil, Alonso effectively threw down the gauntlet as he replied: "Hundred percent. I just need to finish second. It doesn't matter who wins in Abu Dhabi if I finish second. So the main goal for us is to be on pole on Saturday and to win the race on Sunday. If we cannot do that, because we are not quick enough, then we will try to be second. With that, the problem is finished."

Easier said than done, of course, but that's just how Alonso thinks. All of his calculations and focus are solely bent on winning the World Championship. It's that dedication to a single cause that makes him such a truly awesome competitor - and the cause of so much anxiety in the Red Bull garage next weekend. Their problem is that, by not instructing Vettel to let Webber through, neither of their drivers can win the title simply by claiming victory in the desert in a week's time regardless of what occurs down the road. As such, given licence to complicate, Alonso remains the pivotal protagonist.

A Deserved Review For Vettel

Never before in the history of F1 have four drivers still been in the hunt for the Championship with one race remaining in a full season, but the reality is that this is now a three-car race. In his own word, Lewis Hamilton requires a "miracle" to prevail, and it was evident in Brazil that he has lost confidence in a car that McLaren simply haven't been able to improve since Belgium. In the final reckoning, both Hamilton and Jenson Button deserve credit for out-driving their sub-elite machinery to stay in the race for so long.

For Vettel, a frustration of a different sort awaits in the desert of Abu Dhabi. But for his luckless retirement in Korea, he would be on the verge of being crowned king. Instead, the likelihood is that his job next Sunday will be that of Red Bull kingmaker. With the McLarens unable to keep up, it's difficult to envisage the forward runners being anyone other than Vettel, Webber and Alonso. In which case Vettel's role will be to either stand aside for Webber or stand in the way of Alonso. Either way, he does not win.

Due to his Chosen Son status at Red Bull and occasional acts of brattishness, sympathy has been in short supply for Vettel in recent months, but in a season of 'what ifs' his sob story is the most poignant. Given the task of winning the remaining four races to secure the title after trailing home Alonso by less than a second in the Singapore procession, the youngster would be three-quarters of the way there but for his engine failure in Korea. As pointed out by the Beeb:

'Four times Vettel has lost major points with a retirement or other serious problem that has dropped him down the order, and without them he would be World Champion already, regardless of those errors. Webber, by contrast, has basically had no serious mechanical issues at all.'

Furthermore, six races have been run since he last won and five since he last out-qualified his team-mate.

So already there's a question begging to be asked: Would Webber be a deserved Champion? Any answer at this stage would be pointless because the Aussie could ridicule any reply of dissent with a just Champion lights-to-flag victory next Sunday, but it's not unreasonable to set the scene for next weekend by observing that's what is required if Webber is to be crowned a Champion's Champ.

Schumi Proves He Is Settling In At Mercedes By Losing Out

Another driver whose end-of-season review requires considerable revision is Michael Schumacher. Since the novice-like nadir of Singapore, the German has driven with an overdue hint of his old panache in China, Korea and Brazil.

All talk of retirement has been banished and it's a telling indication of his confidence and security within the Mercedes team that Schumacher felt able to let Nico Rosberg past in the closing stages of the race because his team-mate had "fresh tyres and a better chance to fight Jenson in front of us." Clever. Such goodwill will not have gone unnoticed within a Mercedes team that, one suspects, Schumacher is gradually realigning towards his favour. Rosberg would be wise to be wary of the German bearing gifts.

Oxford Street Has Never Seemed As Dangerous As This

Not so clever was Bernie Ecclestone's response to the multiple acts of crime committed against F1 personnel in Interlagos this weekend:

"I've been coming here for 40-odd years, walking about, and I've never, ever had a problem. You have to remember we have a lot of problems in England, Oxford Street and places, and in New York people get mugged."

Good grief. Oxford Street may fleece a lot of shoppers, but at least it does so without the enticement of machine guns.

PG (PF1)