5 Points of Intrigue for the Remaining 5 Races

Will Vettel win all 5 of the remaining races?  His Jimmy Clark-esque blistering first laps, where he gaps the field by 2 seconds, allow him to settle into a nice rhythm and manage his tires without even having to glance at the vanishing competitors in his mirrors.  It’s really textbook stuff.  I haven’t seen winning look this easy since Mansell in ‘92.   My crystal ball says: Vettel wins the next 4, then in Sao Paulo decides to gift the win to Webber on the very last lap as a retirement/Malaysia payback present, but Webber’s motor lets go on the run up the hill to the flag and Vettel has to accelerate by for the win.  I can hear the crazed Brazilians jeering the podium ceremony now.

Who gets the Lotus seats?  The way I see it, Grosjean, Massa, Hulkenberg and DiResta are on stage auditioning for the two seats.  I would have included Sutil in this group if he hadn’t attempted to murder the team owner a few years ago!  But in F1 it’s a “what have you done for me lately” mentality so I will give Grosjean and Hulkenberg the nod this week based on merit.  Hopefully, the Lotus decision will be based on merit rather than the racing Golden Rule of: “He who has the gold gets the drive.”

Will interest in Austin start to wane in year 2?  There are multiple factors conspiring against the promoters this year: Last year, Alonso in the Ferrari was still very much alive in the title hunt against Vettel.  This year, Vettel will likely have everything wrapped up.  Last year, Checho Mania was all the rage with Mexicans pouring through the gates in droves to support their young upstart countryman.  This year, the buzz is gone and with Mexico City hosting a round next year, maybe some of the Checo fans will pass on attending.  Finally, there is a UT/Oklahoma St game on Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.  Don’t mess with football in Texas!

Will heads roll at McLaren?  This season has been a complete debacle by McLaren standards and there must be quite a bit of nervous tension among the ranks back at the home base in Woking as the team fights to keep a distant 5th place in the constructors championship.  Somebody is destined to receive their walking papers for producing the dog-slow MP4-28.  If neither driver can luck into a podium in the remaining races, it will be the first time since 1980 that a McLaren driver didn’t stand on the top three steps!  And for the sake of trivia, their drivers that year were John Watson and a promising rookie named Alain Prost.  With 2014 being somewhat of a transition year before becoming the works Honda team in 2015, will McLaren look to save a few million pounds by opting for Hulkenberg over Button or would they consider making a goodwill gesture to their future partners by bringing in Kobayashi over Perez?  Pure speculation but I like it!