In the round-up: Anthony Hamilton says his son needs “a driver-manager in his life, not people from a company.”
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Felipe Massa slams Lewis Hamilton as Sebastian Vettel nears F1 title (The Guardian)
“You look up and down the pit lane and every driver, except for Lewis [Hamilton], has a driver-manager in his life, not people from a company. I am sure his management are very good – I don’t know – but Formula 1 drivers need people personally involved in the driver’s life because it is a big pressure. They have got to be here and I don’t think you can do the job by sending someone else.”
Alonso: Hamilton has learned from F1 the hard way, just like I did (Daily Mail)
“It is frustrating when you are at your best in the sport, or you think you are better. I am sure that Lewis thinks he is a better driver now than in 2008 when he won the title. But now he maybe doesn’t have the car, the luck or not everything coming together to win the championship. It is the same for me, you try to learn as many things as possible in these difficult times to be a better driver for the next opportunity.”
“Judging by the lack of interviews and no comment in the press release, McLaren’s official line is now to ignore any Hamilton errors. Classy.”
Via the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app
Singapore GP – Conference 4 (FIA)
Sebastian Vettel: “Coming around the last corner on the last lap, I probably lifted off a bit too early so 1.7 seconds was obviously still enough.”
Paul di Resta delight at ‘best Formula 1 race’ (BBC)
“After missing Friday, no high-fuel runs, going into the race completely unknown, it’s a big credit to the team.”
New engine and KERS deal (Lotus)
“Team Lotus and Renault Sport F1 have confirmed that their existing engine deal is to be extended for a further year to the end of 2013 and the end of the V8 engine formula, with the aim to continue working together when the new engine regulations come into force. Renault Sport F1 and Red Bull Technology will also provide the Anglo-Malaysian squad with KERS systems for the first time for the duration of the agreement.”
Ecclestone Says India Ready For First GP (Speed)
“We’re very happy, they’re doing a good job.”
Maltese race track proposal for Libya (Times of Malta)
“The Libyan circuit could be capable of hosting several FIA-sanctioned events, from Formula 3 and Formula GP2-GT races to quarter mile sprints and karting or motorbike races.”
Thanks to Patrick for the tip
Michael hoping for early release (Autosport)
Sam Michael: “I’m hoping it’s only going to be a month off. I’m waiting for the letter [giving permission] from Williams. McLaren are pushing pretty hard for that.”
Follow F1 news as it breaks using the F1 Fanatic live Twitter app.
Comment of the day
Gerald Carpenter finds fault with the Singapore circuit:
It really is a boring track and this is coming from someone who has lived there for 24 years. they should look into whether the track layout or configurations can be tweaked.
As it stands, only turn seven allows any overtaking at all and the rest of the circuit only aids a procession race. Hardly what fans want to see.
Gerald Carpenter
From the forum
Yesterday’s race re-opened the debate about moving lapped cars away from the leaders at restarts.
Happy birthday!
No F1 Fanatic birthdays today. If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Fernando Alonso became the youngest ever Formula 1 champion today in 2005.
He broke the record Emerson Fittipaldi had held since 1972. I would never have thought at the time that record would be broken again – twice – within the next five years.
Image © McLaren
Manuel
26th September 2011, 0:13
Sour grape from Sr Hamilton. Vettel doesn’t have a manager 24 hours with him and his father support him as a father without a pay check. I think he’s mad he no longer control Lewis money.
celeste (@celeste)
26th September 2011, 2:40
+1
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th September 2011, 3:40
I don’t think so,but Lewis have been a little bit out of control after he lost his father’s support.
KNF (@knf)
26th September 2011, 4:51
Note that while Lewis is in the wars, Paul di Resta seems to be doing pretty well himself with Hamilton Sr in the FI garages…
xxiinophobia (@xxiinophobia)
26th September 2011, 5:55
Keen observation, that.
sumedh
26th September 2011, 7:25
Hadn’t spotted that. Nice!
It does seem that Hamilton Sr. is more than just trying to make bucks off his son’s name in the sport.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 7:43
You never know … if Hamilton were to walk away from McLaren and Mercedes retained their current line-up, Paul di Resta could find himself alongside Jenson Button at some point.
Of course, that would require Hamilton to actually go somewhere, and right now, McLaren is the best option for him. Unless he thinks Force India are onto something.
JCost (@jcost)
26th September 2011, 7:31
I’d go with Alonso’s explanation on the matter. Lewis knows he’s better than he was 2 years agor but he doesn’t have the car to deliver, that’s frutrating. But the hit on Massa is no brainer. I think lack of visibility paid a big role.
Alonso hit Lewis in China or Seapang (?) the same way and was not penalized because he was the only one breaking his front wing. Massa is a crying baby. “He could cause a big accident?” Really? Should FIA penalise Schumacher as well?
GameR_K (@gamer_k)
26th September 2011, 7:37
Alonso was penalised with a drive through which meant he finished behind Massa. let me guess, you are from the only-Lewis-gets-punished band. Kinda funny that nobody sees him as a repeated offender.
JCost (@jcost)
26th September 2011, 14:29
@Game, I think Alonso was not penalised and I think that was correct once Lewis was not hardly hurt. More important than being penalised is to notice that his hit on Massa was a pure racing incident but Massa wanted to make a soap opera out of that.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th September 2011, 9:14
Sure, there might be an extent of sour grapes in that, but he is right about the management of Hamilton, most of us posed exactly the same questions when Hamilton announced who his new management were.
Manuel
26th September 2011, 10:36
Why doesn’t he support his son for free or does he need a pay check to do so?
DVC (@dvc)
26th September 2011, 13:01
I think he needs his son’s permission to do so.
Manuel
26th September 2011, 0:16
I don’t understand why so much controversy again about Lewis. He made a silly mistake got a drive thru and he didn’t say nothing schocking after the race. He isn’t the only driver who received a drive thru. No ones are saying nothing about Schumacher. Is it that hard to give him a break?
Kenny (@kenny)
26th September 2011, 5:30
It’s because he does this sort of thing at every race meeting, or so it seems, then has the nerve to announce that there is a limit to his patience with McLaren. Hamilton is a huge talent, but he’s gone counterproductive this year…severe case of recurring brain fade.
JCost (@jcost)
26th September 2011, 7:37
Manuel is right, Seb Vettel is one point away from double WDC and Lewis is still the talk of the town. He’s clearly the golden egg of F1, but he did nothing ridiculous in Singapore. He lacked visibility avoided kerbs and hit the front car, it’s gonna happen tons of time, was that avoidable? Pretty much every accident is avoidable at some point.
bearforce1 (@bearforce1)
26th September 2011, 8:37
+1 Lewis in multiple incidents almost every race weekend.
I’m not a Lewis fan but it is even doing my head in.
Ola Ray
26th September 2011, 15:21
he did nothing in Monza the whole world jumped on him…
Spa collided with Kobay… got hammered whereas
Kobay jumped over the chicane on saturday and crashed (it wasnt his fault) in
Hunagrionring Lewis had a spin in the rain got hammered, vettel had a spin in the same race…. his team placed the wrong tyres on him.
Nurburgring he won people were not happy
Silverstone he was short fuelled
David-A (@david-a)
26th September 2011, 15:49
Vettel did not spin at Hungary. And when Ham won in Germany, the majority here did appreciate his driving that day.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th September 2011, 0:24
I’d fix Valencia before Singapore to be honest. Yesterday’s race was alright, plus we saw some overtaking all around the racetrack… even before Turn 10!
capu80 (@capu80)
26th September 2011, 0:31
surprised there isn’t anything on how Team Lotus beat LRGP! Surely there would have been some looks of satisfaction at the TL garage after the race…
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th September 2011, 0:39
Renault’s weekend was abysmal. Specially Petrov’s… and they even managed to tell Senna to try and overtake Perez, who was 1 lap ahead.
I remember reading somewhere that they didn’t fit the upgrades they had because of some cooling issues. Wonder if it has anything to do with the front exhaust exit. Has it produced more problems than benefits in the end…?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2011, 8:04
Well, it’s partly because they didn’t. Obviously Kovalainen was ahead of Petrov which, as you say, is a coup for Lotus, but Senna was ahead of them both.
If I put up a headline saying “Lotus beat Renault” you’d all tear me down and rightly so!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 8:48
I’m willing to give Renault the benefit of the doubt here. Petrov – it’s a little hard to judge Senna after just three races – has put the R31 into Q3 on every occasion when Q3 has been possible (with maybe one exception). And both drivers were doing it at recently as Monza and Spa. The fact that he started 18th and Senna 15th, and that they both finished so far down the order is a huge discrepancy, and one that suggests that the problem was with the car, and not the drivers. They were struggling for downforce and for grip all weekend, and were forced to shelve and upgrade. I suspect the pre-Singapore design was not particularly conductive to the nuances of the Marina Bay circuit. They showed Petrov early on and he was all over the place, bleeding positions. Senna did the same. The R31 didn’t so much fall off the infamous Pirelli cliff as it took a running dive off it. After all, Petrov commented after qualifying that one twitch under braking changed the tyre pressures, and it was game over. The R31 had to be in perfect condition around the Singapore circuit in order for its drivers to extract the fastest lap times from it – but even then, it was horridly slow.
The only reason why Senna was able to get ahead of Kovalainen was because he was first on the road for Renault, and because of Kovalinen’s strategy. I don’t think Senna ever actually passed Kovalainen on the circuit; he got past when Kovalainen pitted, and he was able to stay there until he himself had to pit. Senna got in front with Kovalainen’s first stop, then fell behind. Petrov got in front with Kovalainen’s second stop, and likewise fell behind. Senna got back in front with Kovalinen’s final stop, and since he did not have to stop again himself, he was able to stay in front until the end of the race.
Suzuka should be much more representative of Renault’s track position.
capu80 (@capu80)
26th September 2011, 12:29
Quite right Keith, I also thought that…. but having that single Green & Yellow car ahead of the Black & Gold one still merits an honourable mention… as I can see you have done already in the team by team. Bet TF never thought that would happen so soon! Cheers
Cacarella (@cacarella)
26th September 2011, 1:10
I’m gonna have to agree with Anthony Hamilton and Felipe Massa on this one. Lewis’ driving and attitude seems to have gotten progressively worse since his split with his father and since he’s decided to go all ‘Hollywood’.
Priceless!!!
GameR_K (@gamer_k)
26th September 2011, 7:50
Too bad that he touches every other car on track
bearforce1 (@bearforce1)
26th September 2011, 8:39
lol
Fixy (@)
30th September 2011, 18:05
Massa’s reaction was a bit harsh, but obviously Lewis was at fault.
Ernie Becclestone (@ernie-becclestone)
26th September 2011, 1:13
Is Lewis a member of the GPDA, he really should be, and yes, a very poor choice of management, unless Lewis main goal is to be a celeb.
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
26th September 2011, 7:58
i believe all current drivers are members. the last non-member might have been kimi.
BasCB (@bascb)
26th September 2011, 9:23
Didn’t Schumacher opt out of it on last year?
capu80 (@capu80)
26th September 2011, 12:30
as a founding member he would be a lifer, right?
pukz (@pukz)
26th September 2011, 10:04
I’m starting to think just that to be honest. I reckon he will keep himself in the press as much as possible until he quits formula One to join the Pussy cat Dolls.
JACoz (@)
26th September 2011, 1:16
I couldn’t agree more Mr. Hamilton. Ever since Lewis sacked his father he seems to have lost all sense behind the wheel and a microphone. Its such a shame because he’s a spectacular driver, but the brilliant moves he could pull off in his first 2 seasons now result in him losing bodywork or getting penalties.
WillP
26th September 2011, 9:22
I am inclined to agree about the PR side of things. I am not sure I agree that better management would give him a greater awareness of the boundaries of the car though.
matt90 (@matt90)
26th September 2011, 1:21
A very, and surprisingly, balanced view on Hamilton from Alonso. And I wonder if Massa’s suggestions about not have a proper manager being a contributing factor might be accurate.
matt90 (@matt90)
26th September 2011, 1:21
Misread it, it was his Dad, not Massa.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 2:10
What is this fixation on building circuits with the maximum number of overtaking places? When you take that to extremes, you get Valencia.
Valencia’s problem is that is has five (or more) corners that were deliberately designed to facilitate overtaking. However, immediately after each of these corners is a traction zone, a place where a driver must accelerate hard away from the corner. As we saw in Valencia, the car in front can easily extend a gap over the car behind.
Circuits should not be judged on the number of corners that are designed to produce overtaking.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th September 2011, 3:08
Agree. Circuits should be designed to be as challenging as possible. Most of the great circuits produce very little overtaking, like Suzuka or Monaco.
To be honest, Singapore is as good as it can be IMO (appart from that hideous turn 10) and Valencia shouldn’t have been built in the first place.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 3:21
Valencia can be fixed. Get rid of the chicanes in the first sector so that the cars go flat frmo the start lin to the bridge. And modify the three hairpins at the bottom of the circuit to become one corner.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 2:12
Or they have no idea how to handle the problem.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2011, 8:02
Well, it’s not like he hasn’t given them chance to practice!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 8:06
And nothing has worked. I suspect they’ve run out of ideas.
Personally, I’m going to suggest charging Hamilton for every front wing he destroys.
Steph (@)
26th September 2011, 12:30
LOL Keith! I think maybe at this point they’re hoping if they pretend nothing happened then it means nothing did happen :P
DVC (@dvc)
26th September 2011, 13:06
Or they are bored of trying?
Err Bob
26th September 2011, 2:24
Have just seen the Massa interupt for the first time, If I was Lewis I would off put him on He`s A*s with a fast right.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th September 2011, 8:16
Wouldn’t really help the situation though, would it?
roberttty (@roberttty)
26th September 2011, 2:55
I agree that it is time to review the layout of Singapore circuit. Some Turns can be removed with some tweaks, such as the Turn 7 going outside of the War Memorial and the Turns 17 to 22 around the Bay area.
Herman Tilke was the consultant for the design of this layout and lets seek the views of other designers, PLEASE!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 3:19
Actually, Tilke designed the original concept. But someone else modified it.
The big problem with modifying the circuit is the available space. A friend of mine was in the Singapore Army, and he says the government controls growth and development by selling land around the city to the army on the cheap, and then buying it back for the same price. The army owns the land along the waterfront (Turns 17 to 22), and my friend reckons the army won’t give it up for the Grand Prix. Especially since the race it very unpopular with a lot of residents. Secondly, he also believes the roads around the War Memorial are too narrow for the race. If you look at a map of the city, the road on the north side appears straight. But if you look at a satellite photo, it kind of weaves left then right, and right in the middle of the braking zone.
This, I think, would be the smarter option, though it requires the land along the waterfront to be available. The construction of a temporary flyover would also provide a challenge, but it would have the added advantage of removing the need for the Singapore Sling because the cars would be slower going into that corner.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
26th September 2011, 10:27
The problem with Singapore is that it’s a 5 km street circuit. FIA should impose a maximum length for these kind of tracks, instead of the usual “every track must be 5,5 km”.
I think they should try something like going straight from T8 to T14, cutting of the T10 area and Anderson bridge completely. That should spice things up a bit.
Having said that, we actually saw a couple of overtaking moves from T13 to T14. That was of course due to the tyres, but still, T7 wasn’t the only spot this year.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
26th September 2011, 3:30
@Gerald Carpente
You can say Hamilton & Webber demonstrated in this race that you could also overtake outside turn 7. Yeah but I agree they need to come up with something new in the future.
javabyte (@javabyte)
26th September 2011, 4:24
well it has to be said that Lewis’ off track and on track behaviour has suffered since losing his Father/Manager – seems he needs someone like Anthony keeping him in check, no big deal really some people are like that.. hopefully Lewis will realise this sometime soon :S
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
26th September 2011, 8:14
again, i say it’s time to change from “constructor’s championship” to “team championship” and re-introduce customer cars. as it currently is, a team can be constructing as little as half of the car, maybe less. for that distinction, there’s a lot of duplicated effort for no tangible results. for similar money why not get a nice mercedes or something? the big 6 teams would easily handle the production, and the cars get cheaper with every one they make. the issue of satellite teams has been brought up, but i’m not sure that would change anything since teams have always made whatever deals they like, especially now that team orders are back on the books.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
26th September 2011, 8:20
They told STR they had to design and build their own cart from 2010 onwards and rightfully so. This it’s the peak of motorsport and I want to see all types of teams on the grid, except for customer teams.
DVC (@dvc)
26th September 2011, 13:09
Agree. If I wanted to see spec racing there are plenty of other series I could watch.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 8:39
Uh, the development of engines and KERS is expensive and time-consuming and not something that smaller teams can do easily. Since those parts do not affect the development of the chassis, the cars share no aerodynamic parts. So I don’t really know what you’re complaining about.
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
26th September 2011, 9:23
of course they affect chassis development – nothing exists in a vacuum.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
26th September 2011, 9:26
Okay, so you have to fit all the parts in. But they don’t affect the car so much that all the cars that use identical parts have identical chassis.
bearforce1 (@bearforce1)
26th September 2011, 8:44
That is a really gracious comment from Alonso on Hamilton.
bosyber (@bosyber)
26th September 2011, 9:38
Again people arguing over HAM? I would like the press, including the BBC, get off their Hamilton hype. Anyway what do would you expect McLaren to say? Not that they too would like to see Hamilton dragged through the streets, I’d hope. There is not much to say except that he and they are sorry for missed opportunity and should do better, I think.
HAM made a mistake, again. He got punished, a bit too much for me, just as earlier in the year Alonso (Malaysia?), but DC assures us at the time that it is what the drivers want. Massa was involved in an incident again, and again couldn’t recover somehow. And Vettel won after a great drive, followed at a distance by Button and Alonso, who both seemed to get the most out of their car that they could. Webber again had a bad start but not as bad as they have been. The Mercs. were quite similar in pace, but had different fortunes, and FI was showing well while Sauber didn’t really have their weekend. In short, a race as we have seen more recently.
I couldn’t watch the race live, but had recorded it on Dutch TV, as I always do. I watched it in the evening – it was a breath of fresh calmness and enjoyment as the things in the race were commented on as they happened, some short analysis before returning to what happened on track.
I got to follow the race instead of a discussion on HAM’s merits, with praise for Vettel, Button, Alonso as they did the best their cars could do, HAM for recovering to fifth, DiResta for hanging on to 6th. And timely comment on Rosberg vs. Perez, jointly observing Schumacher get it wrong. And also on Massa not getting away from the rear while HAM did.
It was in HD (my BBC One is not), and with split screen ads – but well chosen to be at those lulls in this race when it was adequate to just see that smaller view of the race w/o sound.
And so, I saw a race, supported by a knowledgeable and attentive commenter. Not a brilliant race, but a nice one nontheless. And I was able to focus on what happened on track. I missed Ted’s extra info, but not so much Jake, Eddie, DC or Brundle, I found.
I find now that I also missed Massa showing he was frustrated afterwards, and he and the media apparently blaming Hamilton entirely for his lack of progress even later in this race – sigh. Not a very big loss, in my mind. I like Alonso’s seemingly balanced view on it. I like Massa, but he has again shown some of the reasons why that same Alonso earlier in the year didn’t even mention him as an ally against Vettel.
I found it more interesting the contrast Rosberg showed to his team mate last race – he was a bit too aggressive with Perez, got close to Massa before and had to miss a corner, and then was relatively easily passed by HAM, and couldn’t make a dent in the lead of DiResta. That last was probably just his car not being great at the end of the race, as we have seen before. But he still seemed to be a bit harried, seemingly getting impatient for results now MSC seems to have found his pace, if not all of his savvy back yet.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
26th September 2011, 9:40
As long as articles about him, like this one, continue to draw more readers and comments than other drivers, it isn’t going to happen.
bosyber (@bosyber)
26th September 2011, 10:01
Very true Keith, and I definitely understand that you report them in the round-up too.
But I think I’ll just try to see how the Dutch F1 broadcast works for me, as I anyway will have to watch it that way when BBC stops providing all race coverage. As I said, I was able to focus on the racing much better.
I still haven’t seen the full Massa/HAM after-race stuff, I will check it tonight, but more because I find Massa interesting than that I really care about where it all goes – usually not really anywhere. There were plenty of other things to find interesting this weekend, for me :)
tharris19 (@tharris19)
26th September 2011, 14:23
And as long as he is willing to risk failure to overtake or to win a race in his style, he will be newsworthy. His skill and daring will continue to result in some failures of the sorts we have seen in this year. But I cannot imagine him driving any other way. His skill, his flare are going to generate criticism and praise. He is that dynamic, he is that good.
The same criticism and praise has been borne by Senna, Gills Villeneuve Kimi, JPM, Alonso,and Schumacher to name a few. Too bad we can’t see all the aforementioned drivers and Hamilton at Spa or Monza in competitive cars at the same time. I would love to hear the comments race fans and pundits after a race like that.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th September 2011, 14:36
Well, you can’t expect different after the Hamilton-mania from 2007/2008.
The same happens to Alonso in Spain. It’s not true everyone loves him around there, it’s a love/hate situation.
Oliver
26th September 2011, 11:06
I agree about the management thing.
Entertainment managers are just there to make a profit. They don’t even question poor team strategies and perceived driver equality.
No one can argue that Hamilton senior did’t look out for his driver.
The camera’s focused on him often because he was perhaps the first black manager in F1 and easily stood out.
Contrast that with Button’s dad who has been to all but perhaps 3 races since 2000, but hardly anyone noticed because there was nothing unusual.
So while Hamilton senior managed his son, he was also there as his dad.
@HoHum (@hohum)
26th September 2011, 14:22
I see team Lotus want Red Bulls Kers system, I am sure Webber will be very happy to give them his.
nivek252 (@nivek252)
26th September 2011, 14:33
I think Massa’s reaction to the ‘incident’ says more about his position in Ferrari than it does about Hamilton. It seemed to me to be a very telling sign that he is nowmore than ever is a man under pressure to stay in that team and he is running out of races to try to prove he deserves to stay there.
lopes (@lopes)
26th September 2011, 15:40
You can definitely feel Massa’s frustation. He’s sure not to have a seat at Ferrari in 2013. And it doesn’t help at all to keep being hit from behind as it seems to have happened so many times this year…
Nick
26th September 2011, 16:41
I totally agree. I feel sorry for the guy.
anthony emeka
26th September 2011, 19:42
there is no problems with lewis.
everyone has an eye on him now.
the same fact yesterday has happened many times in F1 and no one commented on that cause it is normal.
now if the name envolved is lewis, the case is another.
if not lewis, yesterday, what other emotions did we see in the race?
lewis is a driver that comes and goes.
funny is that Alonso could lose a whole year championship behind a renault of petrov. and everyone said it is fine. poor Alonso. do you think lewis will lose a championship behind a renault?
never. that is the lewis we know.
he is a driver. and that is what he is not a strategist. who would need to be behind and wait for someone else to take off the car in front for him to pass.
accident happens. o.k. but that is part ofthe emotion.
breaking up with father has nothing to do with anything.
most of us do not live our fathers any more and that does not make us bad professionals. and if it is then, that is fine. let it be. for aafter sometime he will get accostomed to being alone without the father behind him always. that is the point. andmany like lauda. always love to talk bad about lewis. maybe he is afraid the boy is taking attention from him.
lewis brings emotions. that is it.
David-A (@david-a)
26th September 2011, 20:15
Maybe not. But he lost one behind a Williams and 2 BMW Saubers.
alexf1man (@alexf1man)
27th September 2011, 9:29
I never thought Alonso’s record would be broken twice in 5 years either!
And it was actually on 25th September not 26th.
Now his twice WDC record, made on 22nd October 2006, will also be taken by Vettel, probably on 9th October.