Rosberg still fighting, claims Pole in Brazil; Hamilton a mere .033 behind; Massa grabs another 3rd for resurgent Williams

The temperature at Interlagos was cooler on Saturday than it had been for Friday’s practice sessions but Qualifying was red hot. Mercedes’ contender Nico Rosberg showed he was still game for the fight by just beating out his Championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton for Pole position in tomorrow’s race. With only two Grand Prix remaining and time running out on his title dreams, Rosberg was able to overcome a seemingly supreme lap by Hamilton in Q3 by a minuscule .033 seconds, proving that the difference between the two Silver Arrows aces this season is not due to outright speed but perhaps mental toughness. The German driver, who led much of the season only to see Hamilton rebound from numerous disappointments that might have dispirited a lesser competitor, also grabbed the Pole last week in Austin. But in that race Rosberg was yet again unable to keep his English rival behind him and had to settle for second place and an increasingly perilous points deficit. With only tomorrow’s race in Brazil and the double-point season finale in Abu-Dhabi, it’s up to Rosberg to regain the initiative and prove that he doesn’t wilt when the pressure is at its fiercest. It seems to me that Hamilton has already proven that point this season but both drivers are also at the mercy of their formidable but occasionally fragile equipment and one DNF could doom either one of them.  As it so often does, pure luck could still play its part.

Mercedes-powered Williams was nearly as fast as the factory team and native son Felipe Massa did enough to best his excellent young teammate Valtteri Bottas. While it seemed that Massa might have something for the Silver Arrows in Q3, in the end he was well pleased to come home third on the grid and Williams, third in the Constructors’ points, was delighted to solidify their status as 2014’s most improved team with Bottas’ P4. McLaren’s Jenson Button, appearing to come to the end of his illustrious F1 career as rumors continue to swirl about Fernando Alonso taking his seat, had a very solid P5 while his junior teammate Kevin Magnussen, who will probably keep his ride next year, was P7. With the sixth best time, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel outdid his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who seemed to have an issue in the pits that forced him to scramble to get in a hot lap and could only muster a time good enough for 9th position. The Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen were 8th and 10th fastest respectively.

Top 10 Qualifiers here:

Complete Qualifying results available at Formula1.com.

While Saturday was cool and dry such conditions are the exception rather than the rule this time of year in São Paolo. There is the very real possibility of rain tomorrow and when it rains at Interlagos it usually pours. With the racing surface notoriously slippery when wet it could well be a topsy-turvy kind of race where anything can happen and the consequences on the Championship could be huge. Watch it live on CNBC here in the States beginning at 11am EST Sunday morning to see how it all shakes out.

Hamilton makes decisive pass on Rosberg to win in Austin solidifying Championship lead, Nico clings to hope with 2nd place; Ricciardo a solid 3rd for Red Bull

In a typically exciting Grand Prix at the beautiful and demanding Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton again found a way past Nico Rosberg, his teammate and nearest rival for the Championship, going on to claim victory in the United States for the second time in the last three years of the reborn race. Despite the fact that Rosberg started from Pole and led the race handily for the first 23 laps, it somehow seemed inevitable that the daring Englishman would overtake his German foe. And with an impressive outbreaking maneuver into Turn 12 on lap 24, overtake him he did. With that pass, Hamilton sailed away into the distance never to be recaptured and with the victory stretched his points lead to 24 over Rosberg with only two races remaining in the season. Six years after winning his first Championship with McLaren at the age of 23 Hamilton looks very likely to grab his second at the wheel of his nonpareil Mercedes F1 W05 Hybrid. But by coming home second Rosberg is still mathematically alive for the last two races, especially with the last race double points gimmick, so if Hamilton has a recurrence of the bad luck that befell him midseason and has a sub par finish or retirement in Brazil or Abu Dhabi, the German contender could still find himself able to secure his first Championship. One thing is for certain, though: with Hamilton’s late season surge leading to a stunning five Grand Prix wins in a row Rosberg has no room for error or misfortune himself if he is to achieve the dream which once seemed so very close to his grasp.

As it has so often happened this season the rest of the field was left fighting for the scraps from King Mercedes’ table. But what fights they were. After a poor start cost him several positions, Aussie Daniel Ricciardo was able to claw them back and then some with a typically determined and gutsy effort for Red Bull. In the end he improved on his fifth place Qualifying position and kept two charging Williams behind him to grab 3rd, yet another podium finish for the young Aussie superstar who has had a breakout 2014. Ricciardo’s teammate Sebastian Vettel, who started the race from the pit lane due to exceeding this season’s engine replacement limit, also drove a wonderful race. With his RB10 trimmed out to the max sacrificing agility for the best possible straight-line speed, the four-time World Champion was still able to control his car in the pivotal esses well enough to finish 7th, even after being forced to pit off-strategy for extra tires early in the race after running over debris. While the outgoing Red Bull driver has had a massively disappointing season his inspired drive at COTA on Sunday reminds us all of what kind of talent the German possesses even if his current car does not suit him at all.

Williams had another good day even though their chassis lacked the finesse required to truly excel at COTA. Continue reading →

After a three week layoff and with only three races left in the season, and with two fewer teams and four fewer drivers competing in them, all eyes turned to Austin and the awesome COTA track for Saturday Qualifying for the US Grand Prix…

Rosberg claims Pole in Austin, Hamilton 2nd and Bottas again 3rd fastest in Quali

With the races dwindling down and starting position at a paramount Mercedes’ pilot Nico Rosberg regained a modicum of momentum by grabbing a dominant Pole position at the modern classic Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. The German, who has seemed to psyched out by his English teammate ever since they collided at Spa, made a good start to his final come-from-behind Championship push by mastering the twisty COTA track to the tune of one second in front of his archrival. Hamilton, the Drivers points leader, appeared to struggle to get heat into his breaks but still was able to top Williams’ excellent third year driver Valtteri Bottas by half a second to ensure yet another Mercedes front row lockout. Bottas’ seems to have been consistently 3rd best in Qualifying in the second half of the season and his more senior Williams-Martini teammate Felipe Massa able to claim P4 Saturday. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo took 5th but teammate Sebastian Vettel took only token part in Quali, as he is required to start from the pit lane Sunday due to his 6th engine change of the season regardless of any efforts he may have made.

Fernando Alonso was 6th fastest for Ferrari while teammate Kimi Railkkonen was a characteristic P9. Jenson Button was P7 and Kevin Magnussen P8 for McLaren but Button will be pushed back 5 positions on race day due to a gearbox change. Rounding out the Top 10 was a surprising Adrian Sutil for Sauber, who gave the struggling team a glimpse of hope for some possible points come race day after beating out both Force Indias.

And speaking of struggling teams, Caterham and Marussia will take no further part in the 2014 championship as both teams succumbed to financial woes and fell into receivership. While this unkind fate had been rumored for sometime about Caterham it comes as a particularly bitter pill to swallow for team Marussia, which scored its first ever Championship points in Monaco this year but also suffered the loss of the driver who scored those points, Jules Bianchi, to a critical head injury when he collided with a recovery tractor in the waning moments of the rainy Japanese Grand Prix a month ago. Regrettably there is no medical improvement reported on Bianchi’s condition.

Top 10 Qualifiers here:

*Note – Button qualified P7, drops 5 grid spots for gearbox change; Kvyat qualified P14, drops 10 for engine change; Vettel qualified P17, starts from pit lane for complete power unit change

Complete Qualifying results available at Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s US Grand Prix airs live on NBC in the States beginning at 2pm EST. COTA is an exceptionally well-designed track with several opportunities to overtake and the race should be a good one — hope to see you then!

Hamilton keeps surging with 4th win in a row; Rosberg recovers from 1st lap mistake to take remarkable 2nd; Bottas grabs another podium with 3rd

All pics sourced from the excellent GrandPrix247.com.

The inaugural Russian Grand Prix from the brand new Sochi circuit was essentially decided on the first corner of Lap 1 when Nico Rosberg pulled ahead of his pole-sitting Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton but lost concentration while carrying too much speed and locked up massively on the slick new asphalt. This badly flat-spotted the German contender’s tires and he was forced to pit far earlier than planned for a new set of rubber. Rosberg’s improbable mission from then on was to advance through the field while preserving his rubber until the end, as the track caused minimal degradation to the field’s tires and made one-stop strategy the only feasible competitive option. But he was able to rescue his race in impressive fashion to finish 2nd and claw back important points in the Drivers’ Championship that he appeared to throw away with his sloppy first lap mistake, staying within striking distance of Hamilton with only three Grand Prix remaining this year. Rosberg’s impressive recovery also allowed Mercedes to secure the 2014 Constructors’ Championship, their first and a well-deserved reward for an absolutely dominant season during which their chassis has been far and away the best of them all.

In the end Hamilton increased his advantage over his Mercedes teammate to 17 points and thanks to Rosberg’s uncharacteristic error, the Englishman was able to swan away easily for the fist-ever Formula 1 victory in Russia. Continue reading →

Hamilton takes Pole over Rosberg by mere thousands of a second, Ricciardo a strong 3rd

It was truly last man standing Saturday under the enchanting lights of the Singapore street circuit as Englishman Lewis Hamilton pipped his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg by a very Bondian .007 seconds to take Pole for Sunday’s Grand Prix. Even as it seemed that first the Williams of Felipe Massa and then the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo had done enough to grab the top spot, the Silver Arrows surged in the dying seconds of Q3 as they have so frequently this season. Ricciardo was left with the consolation of 3rd position on the race grid, while Massa was pushed down to 6th when the other Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel took 4th and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso grabbed 5th.

It made for a strong day for the Scuderia a week after long-time leader Luca Di Montezemolo got the sack by Fiat-Chrysler chairman Sergio Marchionne with the big boss also taking over Ferrari’s race operations. If not for software issues that brought Kimi Raikkonen’s Q3 session to a premature end Ferrari’s resurgent day might have been even better. With the tight Singapore street circuit favoring downforce and handling over top line speed, as well as almost always featuring a Safety Car period due to shunts, it could be Red Bull’s or Ferrari’s chance to upend Mercedes’ seemingly inevitable script of weekly victory.

Rounding out the top 10 were Massa’s young Williams’ teammate Valtteri Bottas in 8th, McLaren’s rookie Kevin Magnussen out-qualifying veteran teammate Jenson Button again for 9th and Torro Rosso’s 20-year-old Russian sensation Daniil Kvyat grabbing 10th.

Top 10 Quali results:

Full Qualifying results via Formula1.com.

Live coverage of tomorrow’s night race at the beautifully lit Marina Bay Street Circuit, one of the most visually captivating and physically demanding on the schedule, begins tomorrow at 7:30am Eastern on NBCSports.

Hamilton regains momentum with determined run to victory at Monza, Rosberg 2nd after error; Massa 3rd, Bottas 4th for Williams to move team ahead of Ferrari

(Pictures via the excellent GrandPrix24-7.com)

After yet another stroke of misfortune for Mercedes’ driver Lewis Hamilton at the start of the Italian Grand Prix it would have been easy for the Englishman to play it conservative and cede victory to Nico Rosberg, his teammate and archrival for the Drivers’ Championship. But “conservative” has never been in Hamilton’s vocabulary. Facing an electronic problem to start the race at the spectacularly fast Monza circuit that pushed Hamilton from Pole to 4th in the space of an eye blink, the feisty former champion fought his way back to harass Rosberg until it was the German who blinked. Directly after both had stopped for their one and only tire change, Rosberg was still leading the race on lap 29 but locked up his tires for the second time while breaking for the first chicane. Rather than flat-spotting them he again took the slow runoff route and this time Hamilton was close enough to pounce and take command of the race. Hamilton never looked back and still had plenty of rubber and fuel at the end to hold off Rosberg by over 3 seconds. After his unforced error it would now seem to be Rosberg’s turn to have a moment of doubt as to whether he can hold on to his most cherished dream, to be crowned World Champion of F1. One thing is for certain: Hamilton will keep on coming to grab another Championship no matter what fate throws his way. He’s already had a season’s worth of bad luck with 6 rounds left to be run and he is still a mere 22 points behind Rosberg overall lead. The current points leader had better buckle up and toughen up if he wants to be crowned champion because Hamilton looks to have regained the upper hand in the mental war between the two contenders.

Felipe Massa came home a distant 3rd for Williams. The veteran Brazilian, who saw so much success and heartbreak when he was a driver for Ferrari, was warmly cheered by the fans after his strong if unspectacular drive for the last spot on the Podium. His young Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas had good run after a poor start from 3rd on the grid forced him to fight with several drivers, most notably McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen, to regain positions. Bottas was able to fight his way to 4th and in doing so lifted Williams, whose disastrous 2013 campaign seems like nothing but a bad dream now, over Ferrari for 3rd place in the Constructors’ Championship. Not at all coincidentally, it was announced that both drivers will be retained by Williams Martini racing for 2015, completing a very ecstatic weekend at Monza for the team.

At the other end of the spectrum, the great Scuderia Ferrari had an awful day at their home Grand Prix, which is just a pleasant ride on the autostrade from home base in Maranello. Continue reading →

Qualifying for the last European Grand Prix at the fabled Monza track was completed earlier today. Come with me below the fold to see who starts on Pole tomorrow… Continue reading →

Apologies but due to logistical difficulties I was not able to file my report on the Belgian Grand Prix until now. But here’s what went down on Sunday in the Ardennes at Spa-Francorchamps…

Surging Ricciardo takes 2nd straight win for Red Bull, Rosberg relegated to 2nd after early race incident with Mercedes teammate Hamilton; Bottas grabs another strong 3rd for Williams

The echoes of Senna-Prost grew a little bit stronger Sunday at Spa as Mercedes teammates and Championship contenders Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton clashed early on lap 2, damaging Rosberg’s front wing but catastrophically puncturing Hamilton’s right rear far from the pits. The Englishman, who had been ahead as Rosberg tried an inside move when tire and wing came together, then had to limp home as his tire delaminated and began buggy whipping his bodywork for nearly 4 miles. While his Silver Arrow was able to continue it put him so far back in the pack that eventually the team retired the car in order to save the engine for future use, earning Hamilton zero Drivers’ points after starting from 2nd on the grid. Rosberg, who had won the Pole in wet conditions on Saturday, was able to soldier on despite an off sequence pit stop for a front wing change, showing great pace as the race wound down and coming home in second place and with a tidy 18 Championship points. Afterwards, the acrimony between the teammates was palpable with claims by Hamilton that Rosberg had stuck his nose in deliberately to “prove a point” and Rosberg putting it all down to a racing incident but certainly not apologizing. Mercedes team management was less than thrilled with the loss of Constructors’ points from the clash and vowed to give both drivers a stern talking to. But then again, it’s racing not a Sunday drive in the forest so these things happen between intense competitors and any ill will generated by them only serves to spice up the Championship going forward, especially with Mercedes running away with it. I say keep it up, lads!

Almost lost in all that controversy was another outstanding performance by Red Bull junior driver Daniel Ricciardo, who took advantage of the Mercedes infighting to run away to victory. Continue reading →