AL2 From the Cockpit: YEEE-HAAAWW! We're in Texas, Y'all! Sorry, I'll stop that now...

Race Account

I must be starting to sound like a broken record here, but once again, but Thursdays race around the Circuit of the Americas was another absolute epic that had everything; there was rain, overtaking and some bizarre moments. This means that the write up will be a big 'un!

Qualifying was wet throughout, despite the weather monitor suggesting a 0% chance of rain. I really struggled for grip and was disappointed with a distant 4th, which might have been 3rd having been improving on my final lap before a marginal corner cut. However, there is no way I could have beaten Barwell, who lit up the sodden track with a time that looked unbeatable...until Con turned up and obliterated it. Behind these two was Will, who harboured hopes of challenging for a position at the front. It must be said though, that it was the least close qualifying session that has been seen this year, with a 4 seconds covering the top 6, which was rounded off by justanumber and a very disappointed S007PS.

Off the line little changed among the top 4, although somebody tried a ridiculous move into turn 1 which hit the back of my car and I was very fortunate not to spin. If anyone knows who this is please send your answer on a postcard! Anyway, over the course of the first few laps there was much swapping of positions among the top 4. Much of this was due to my arrow buttons continually activating, causing my fuel mix, brake balance and even tyre choice to be constantly fluctuating. This was not only very distracting to have on the screen, but changes of brake balance to fully forward twice cost me a position at turn 11 cost me positions. A couple of sharp bashes of the controller made this settle down though, and I was able to overwhelm Will and Barwell and take the challenge to Con up front.

after that, nothing really happened as the gap remained at about 2secs. That is until it started to rain, at which point Con pitted a lap earlier than me, which worked out for me as I emerged in front and the situation was reversed as now I managed a gap of about 2secs, with Barwell continuing to lurk behind with menace.

the rain continued to increase in intensity, and soon full wets were required. this time pitting a lap early worked out for Con, as he leapfrogged me. However I was able to stay close enough to get back past on the straight. After that he was unable to pass as I seemed to have an advantage in straight-line speed despite him clearly having an overall speed advantage in the wet. Some of my defending was fairly robust, but there is a championship on the line after all!

At the end of the stint the wet tyres were destroyed, so when the rain began to relent I pitted early for inters, thinking they would be faster than Con's old wets. However Con demonstrated his superiority in those conditions by emerging from the pits a lap later in the lead. Again though, I was able to pass him on the long straight and hold the place. the rest of the stint followed exactly the same pattern, with me defending. By this point Barwell was lurking much much more closely.

Disaster struck as the rain stopped and we pitted for dry tyres. The time to pit was obvious and it seemed every driver pitted at that same time, however by this point we were approaching my teammate goodhead to lap him. This caused me a problem as I was forced to queue behind, costing me about 3-4 secs and the lead. I don't blame my teammate though, he would have lost a ridiculous amount of time if he hadn't pitted that lap and can't have known that I was there.

On the slick tyres though, I was able to reel con back inover the next few laps, and eventually I was within DRS range, where I passed him down the inside into turn 12 for the lead. After this I built a small lead of about 2secs (again!) and this remained the case all the way to the finish. Barwell kept lurking menacingly to the finish, meaning that with Con's penalty from India those two swapped places. Will-I-Am_3001 finished a distant 4th but managed to avoid being poor.

Drivers' Championship

This week, instead of my usual assessment, I will simply provide you with the essential equations of what each party needs to do to be champion:

1st.  con_reece/ConnorH1996 272pts
2nd. RosstheIcon                   262pts (-10)

If I finish:                             1st   2nd 3rd 4th 5th
then Con will need to finish:   2nd  6th  7th 8th N/A

If points are equal, Con will win on either most 2nd places (4-3, If I finish 3rd or lower) or most 3rd places (3-1, If I finish 2nd), but if scores are equal and I have won then I will win on most races won (8-7). Yes, it's very complicated.

Constructors' Championship

1st. Toro Rosso 394pts
2nd. Red Bull    379pts (-15)

In this championship there are so many possible outcomes that I won't go through them all, but Toro Rosso have opened up a sizeable lead that will be difficult for Red Bull to overturn, even with their strong driver line-up.

Awards

DOTD: RosstheIcon (yeah, I gave it to myself. It's the first time in 18 races and I drove well, give me a break already!)
Romain Grosjean award for ceasing to be poor: Will-I-Am_3001
McLaren Award for not having a fast enough pit-crew: Sauber
Eddie Irvine award for failing to help his teammate: Will-I-Am_3001
Dennis award for Menace of the Day: barwell74