With the World F1 Championship for both Drivers and Constructors already decided ahead of this week’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix at Greater Noida, the battle to finish runner up to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel is becoming more and more heated with only three races left in the season.
McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton is the favourite to finish second in the Drivers Championship standings after the 26 year old Englishman has been losing sight of those three drivers immediately ahead of him but managed to put himself back into contention with a tremendous second place behind Vettel in the Korean Grand Prix a fortnight ago. The 15 points earned from that race bought him up to 196 points which leaves him in fifth place, in striking distance, but still 26 points in arrears of his McLaren Team mate, Jenson Button, who currently occupies the now coveted runner up spot. Button is the second favourite, with Mark Webber third, and Fernando Alonso fourth.
Current Points Standings:
349 – Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull (Already Declared World Champion).
222 – Jenson Button, McLaren.
212 – Fernando Alonso, Ferrari.
209 – Mark Webber, Red Bull.
196 – Lewis Hamilton, McLaren.
There is plenty for the Drivers to aim for this weekend in India, with the first job of all four drivers to get themselves on Pole Position, a position that Vettel has dominated all year.
However, this will not be an easy task for anyone as this is the first race on this new track, which is believed may become the fastest on the F1 circuit. It is just over 3 miles in length with 16 medium corners with a very fast back straight where it is believed F1 cars will reach speeds of around 320 kmh. It will undoubtedly be won by a driver with a very fast car and as Red Bull has dominated in this area, it could be an opportunity for the Red Bull team to win yet another race. However, they would love nothing more than for their two drivers to finish first and second in the championship, which could see Vettel helping Webber to win.
Obviously, that is something that would raise questions but it is a realistic possibility which means that Hamilton, Button and Alonso might have it all to do.
F1 fans can therefore expect huge efforts from all four of these drivers, particularly in the race for pole position in practice. Hamilton would have to be a strong fancy to be the best of these four in that particular race and although he has not quite found enough to better Vettel over the season, he knows he can race faster than any of the rest.
Ignoring accidents or mechanical damage, if Hamilton can get on the front row, then he has a huge chance of finishing in the first two, if not winning the race, which would earn him the points that would automatically close the gap on Button and Co. further and a task that he is more than capable of.