RACEFANS

2013 FIA Formula 1 World Championship

It has taken all of two rounds for one the biggest stories to emerge in Formula 1 for 2013 and if the body language and comments from Mark Webber are anything to go by it could well be a reoccurring story throughout the season.

The cold war that has existed between Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber may well have ended following the German's decision to ignore team orders issued to both drivers following their final pit stops in the Malaysian Grand Prix. Having led the race after the opening pit stops Mark Webber had been controlling the race from the front, all the while pressured by his teammate and an impressive performance from the Mercedes' of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

On lap 44, emerging out of the pits on his final stop Webber was challenged by Vettel in one of the great battles seen between the two drivers in their previous four seasons together. On the next lap however, they were at it again the two cars switching back and forth across the track as one countered the other. Eventually Vettel got past amid protests by the team to stop jeopardising the race.

Behind, Mercedes were struggling to control Rosberg who felt he could've gone much faster than his teammate Hamilton, the German having been significantly faster than his teammate all weekend. After some convincing, Rosberg, unlike his country-man Vettel, conceded that the result for the team was more important, ending the race with the message "remember this one".

The other major drama of the race came with the early retirement of Fernando Alonso on lap 2 following an opening corner tangle with the rear of Vettel. The Ferrari team, in a moment of sheer madness, failed to pit Alonso despite the serious damage to his front wing. The teams gamble lasted all of 100 metres as the wing collapsed under braking for the opening corner, squandering a certain top 5 finish for the championship contender.

The next round of the championship is the Chinese Grand Prix to be held from 12 -14 March 2013.

2013 MotoGP World Championship

Jorge Lorenzo has taken out the Casey Stonerless opening round of the 2013 MotoGP season with a dominant display under lights at the Losail circuit in Qatar. While Lorenzo ran away with the race attention quickly turned to those behind with new boy Mark Marquez going toe-to-toe with his far more experienced teammate Dani Pedrosa, Cal Crutchlow and the rejuvenated Valentino Rossi. After a race long battle it was Rossi who took the second place, from a very impressive Marquez in third. The Ducatis finished in the top ten after Andrea Dovizioso showed good pace in qualifying, but could not match it in the race, eventually finishing a distant seventh ahead of teammate Nicky Hayden.

2013 IZOD Indycar Series

Ryan Hunter Reay has left no one in doubt that he will once again play a major role in the outcome of the IZOD Indycar Series. The 2012 champion grabbed pole position and backed that up with the win around the glorious Barber Motorsports Park venue. The race didn't go all his way however with the Helio Castroneves, Scott Dixon and Will Power all contesting for the win throughout the race. Opening round winner James Hinchcliffe had a horrible race after being involved in a collision on lap 2. The GoDaddy.com driver then decided to wait in the car in a safe zone until a caution came out so as to drive back to the pits. 73 laps latter Hintchcliffe stepped out of the car and called it a day.