Tag Archives: Nico Rosberg

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Results & aftermath

Rosberg wins final race of season in Abu Dhabi, finishing 2015 with 3-win streak, Hamilton P2 again; Raikonnen 3rd for resurgent Ferrari

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished out his 2015 season on a high note on Sunday by winning his third Grand Prix in a row, bettering his conversion rate after also scoring six consecutive poles. Despite losing out on the Drivers’ Championship to his teammate and archival Lewis Hamilton for a second year in succession, Rosberg was able to earn the psychological salve of big time momentum heading into the off-season. Now, whether Hamilton lifted a bit after claiming his third overall World Championship in Austin four races ago is certainly a valid caveat to Rosberg’s new found supremacy. But there can be no arguing that after his unforced error at COTA sealed the title for Hamilton, Rosberg won the races in Mexico, Brazil and now Abu Dhabi in dominating fashion. He even had his rival complaining about his heretofore superlative Silver Arrows chassis, a sure sign that the Englishman was looking for external excuses for his slight drop off in performance. And during the day-into-night race at the gorgeous and opulent Yas Marina circuit, Hamilton could be heard begging his engineers to gamble on tire strategy by running his second set, the more durable prime soft compound, to the very end of the race. But the team vetoed such a risky strategy on the basis of diminishing returns and despite Hamilton pushing hard and getting to within 6.8 seconds during the closing laps, he was no match for Rosberg this day and wound up finishing over 8 seconds adrift. So for Rosberg it was another sweet victory over his nemesis and something truly positive to hang his hat on over the winter break. Of course, once the championship is up for grabs again in the new year it remains to be seen whether Rosberg really has the mettle to deal with a fiercely competitive Hamilton with his wick fully turned up and gunning for his fourth World Championship. If Rosberg wants to be more than a foil, he has simply got to win a title of his own some day. Otherwise, no matter how well he qualifies, how many Monaco GP victories he notches, or how many wins he picks up when the pressure’s off, he’ll never be considered anything but a “B” driver to Hamilton’s ace. In fact, until Rosberg win’s a title of his own it’s not really certain that he’s Hamilton’s true natural rival at all.

VettelAbuDhabi2015

That distinction, as the esteemed Sam Posey pointed out in his pre-race feature for NBCSN, may well go to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. Starting their careers at the same time, the same age and with Vettel’s four Drivers’ titles won with Red Bull to Hamilton’s three combined with McLaren and Mercedes, the German showed again on Sunday why he is such a special talent. Starting from way back in 16th on the grid after his team uncharacteristically butchered their Saturday Qualifying, Vettel methodically worked his way through the field, masterfully maximizing the performance from each set of his tires. This enabled him to finish on the super soft options and vaulted him up to a hard won fourth place finish. That was right behind his teammate Kimi Raikkonen, who started P3 on the grid and secured that position at the end in a strong, drama-free performance to cap a very up-and-down year for the veteran Finn. Nonetheless, Kimi is slated to be back again next season as Vettel’s wingman and by finishing P3 & P4 the Prancing Horse showed that their early season form was no fluke and that the car continued to improve to the point of being undeniably the second best chassis in the field. If they can just get some more power out of the engine to compete with Mercedes’ straight-line speed it could well and truly be game on in 2016. If Vettel has the proper tools to work with he should be the one to pose the biggest threat to Hamilton’s recent run of dominance. After all, the German this year is the only driver to win a Grand Prix other than a Mercedes driver with his three victories thwarting their efforts to run the table. With a rapidly improving Prancing Horse, a classic F1 showdown between Vettel & Hamilton could be in the offing for next year.

Further down the order, Force India’s Sergio Perez drove an inspired race to finish fifth, holding off Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo all afternoon long. Continue reading

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi — Qualifying results

It’s the last Formula 1 race weekend of the year and the two Mercedes rivals are still desperately trying to out-do each other in order to take maximum psychological momentum into the off-season. So time to find out how today’s qualifying went for tomorrow’s duel in the desert….

Rosberg keeps late season momentum going with 6th consecutive pole, Hamilton P2; Raikkonen P3 in Quali to spare Ferrari’s blushes after Vettel inexplicably bounced in Q1

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

As day turned into night and the sun began to set on F1 for 2015, Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg continued his late season onslaught by out-dueling his teammate for pole in Abu Dhabi, the German’s sixth in a row. While Lewis Hamilton may have let up ever so slightly since clinching his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship back in Austin, Rosberg nevertheless has responded to that disappointment very well by winning the last two races in Mexico and Brazil. And Rosberg set himself up for a possible three-win streak to finish out the year by yet again besting his English nemesis as time ran out in Q3. Hamilton will surely be just as keen to balk Rosberg as Rosberg is to enter the off season on an ego-soothing high so the first lap of tomorrow’s race should be a doozy at the fast and twisty Yas Marina circuit.

Ferrari had very mixed results, with bad strategy costing their ace Sebastian Vettel a chance to get out of the first round. The braintrust from Maranello inexplicably sent Vettel out too late in the session to improve on his initial banker lap, which was set on the prime tires. So when other drivers began to overhaul him using the super soft option tires, the former 4-time World Champion found himself outside looking in with not enough lead time to improve his position. Vettel will start from 16th and will have to count on his superior overtaking skills and positive past results at this track to help him slice through the field at Yas Marina yet again. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen was able to save a little face for the Scuderia by snatching P3 on the grid as Q3 expired, just pipping Force India’s Sergio Perez for the position. Perez, who has been running strong all weekend, will start P4, bettering his teammate Nico Huldenberg’s P7.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was solid, out-qualifying his teammate Daniil Kvyat P5 to P9, while Williams’ Valtteri Bottas gradually improved to finish P6 in the final qualifying round after looking in danger of being bounced out in each earlier session. Rounding out the Top 10, Bottas’ teammate Felipe Massa will start P8 and Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz will start 10th on the grid.

Top 10 qualifiers for Abu Dhabi:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:41.111 1:40.979 1:40.237 12
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:40.974 1:40.758 1:40.614 12
3 7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN  FERRARI 1:42.500 1:41.612 1:41.051 14
4 11 SERGIO PEREZ  FORCE INDIA 1:41.983 1:41.560 1:41.184 18
5 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:42.275 1:41.830 1:41.444 17
6 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:42.608 1:41.868 1:41.656 19
7 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:41.996 1:41.925 1:41.686 15
8 19 FELIPE MASSA  WILLIAMS 1:42.303 1:42.349 1:41.759 20
9 26 DANIIL KVYAT  RED BULL RACING 1:42.540 1:42.328 1:41.933 22
10 55 CARLOS SAINZ  TORO ROSSO 1:42.911 1:42.482 1:42.708 17

Complete race results available at Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s F1 season finale airs live beginning at 8AM Eastern on NBCSN here in the States. It’s the last chance to catch Grand Prix action in 2015 and with two motivated Mercedes drivers duking it out for off-season bragging rights, as well as some fast cars fighting for positions from the back, it should be a race worth remembering until the 24 Hours of Daytona wakes us from our winter motorsports hibernation in January. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Results & aftermath

Rosberg makes it two in a row with win in Brazil, Hamilton P2; Vettel earns a familiar P3 for improving Ferrari

Images courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Images courtesy GrandPrix247.com

With the Drivers’ Championship eluding his grasp for the second year in a row, Nico Rosberg’s only remaining mission is to finish out the season with as many race wins as possible in order to gain momentum for another title chase in 2016. With his victory this weekend in the penultimate race at Interlagos in Sao Paolo, Brazil, the German Mercedes driver and Championship runner-up is doing just that. Playing out very much like his win two weeks ago in Mexico, Rosberg started the race from pole and prevented his World Champion teammate and chief tormentor Lewis Hamilton from making a first corner overtaking move. From there, with both Mercedes running the identical race strategy, Hamilton was never able to pass Rosberg on the tight track and Rosberg sailed away to a relatively easy win. One could say that Hamilton no longer has the same manic drive that he displayed prior to clinching his second consecutive title in Austin three races ago. His antics out of his F1 ride would seem to indicate that, as well, with an inexplicable 3 AM collision with parked cars in Monaco last week. And one might also infer that Mercedes is actively trying to boost Rosberg’s fragile confidence after his remarkable unforced error at COTA gifted Hamilton the win and doomed his championship dreams. With Mercedes’ unwillingness to split their race strategy despite Hamilton’s pleas, deciding they would rather cover Ferrari’s 3-stop decision rather than risk Vettel sneaking ahead of one of their men, it might seem as if the team were putting their thumb on the scales in favor of Rosberg. But in truth, Rosberg was quicker these last two Grand Prix and Hamilton has lifted ever so slightly, which is only natural when you’ve got nothing left to prove. And it must feel good for the German to stand on the top step again in back-to-back races even if the bigger contest has been lost. Having finally secured his second place in the Championship over a game Sebastian Vettel with this win, Rosberg will surely be looking to finish out the season with a hat trick in Abu Dhabi in two weeks time, if only to convince himself that he can mount a credible challenge to Hamilton’a dominance come next season.

Ferrari showed the continuing improvement of their F15-T chassis, especially at high downforce circuits like the short, slippery Autódromo José Carlos Pace. Vettel once again was the best of the non-Silver Arrows, re-taking his very familiar P3 after an uncharacteristically poor effort in Mexico. Teammate Kimi Raikkonen managed to avoid any incidents on track with his fellow Finn and new nemesis, Valtteri Bottas, and was able to play the loyal tail gunner to Vettel by coming home a solid P4. Williams’ Bottas, who had clashed with Raikonnen in Mexico for a second time after their tangle in Russia, also managed to keep it clean and bring his car home in P5. That earned enough championship points to secure third in the Constructors’ Championship for Williams Martini Racing, a very impressive result even if their chassis was well short of downforce all season long. Bottas’ teammate Felipe Massa had an awful day, however. After a mediocre qualifying effort saw him starting from eighth on the grid, the native Brazilian finished exactly there but then had his results disqualified due to excessive tire temperatures at the start. All in all, a weekend to forget for the veteran at his home Grand Prix.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg had a great race, on the other hand, out-dueling Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat for 6th place. The talented German has now made it two strong finishes in a row, outscoring teammate Sergio Perez both times and rebounding from bit of a let down after his epic 24 Hours of Le Mans win for Porsche this past summer. Kvyat’s P7 was well ahead of his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, however, although the Russian was running the older spec Renault engine while the Aussie was saddled with an “upgraded” version, which forced Ricciardo to start from the back after penalties for that change. The team rolled the dice with an early pit stop for a tire change to the harder compound but it didn’t really work out, especially as the new engine was not actually that powerful, and Ricciardo finished out of the points in P11. Rounding out the top 10, Romain Grosjean had a strong run for Lotus with a P9 (promoted to 8th after Massa’s penalty), Toro Rosso wunderkind Max Verstappen aggressive as usual for a P10 (promoted to P9) and Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado lucky to get the last championship point with a promotion to 10th despite a time penalty for a collision with Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson.

Top 10 finishers in Brazil:

POS. DRIVER COUNTRY TEAM TIME POINTS
1 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES 1:31:09.090 25
2 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES +7.756s 18
3 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI +14.244s 15
4 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN FIN FERRARI +47.543s 12
5 VALTTERI  BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS +1 lap 10
6 NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA +1 lap 8
7 DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL RACING +1 lap 6
EX FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS +1 lap 0
8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS +1 lap 4
9 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +1 lap 2
10 PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS +1 lap 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

Th final race is two weeks from now, the beautiful day-into-night contest at the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. We’ll see if Rosberg’s can continue his momentum or if Hamilton can get his mojo back in the season finale. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Brazil — Qualifying results

Rosberg earns 5th Pole in a row in Brazil, Hamilton 2nd fastest after bizarre week; Vettel P3 for Ferrari in Qualifying

With only two races left on the 2015 F1 calendar and the major championships locked up there are nevertheless still honors to be earned. And despite losing out on the Drivers’ title to his Mercedes teammate for the second year in a row, Nico Rosberg showed that he is still determined to both maintain his second spot overall in the points and finish the season on a strong and positive note. Rosberg earned his fifth pole position in a row on the tricky Interlagos track in Sao Paolo, Brazil, again outpacing his championship teammate Lewis Hamilton in Saturday Qualifying. And while his qualifying has not often enough resulted in equally good results come race day, Rosberg at least has victory in Mexico two weeks ago to help his fragile confidence in dueling with Hamilton for the win come Sunday. To be honest, it seems a bit as if Hamilton has taken his foot ever so slightly off the gas since clinching the title in Austin, an assumption given some credence by his bizarre 3 AM crash in Monaco last Tuesday where he inexplicably hit three parked cars with his Pagoni Zonda. Hamilton, who was said to be suffering from the flu as well as exhaustion at the time, tested negative for alcohol. For certain the British champ will be looking to put that strange and embarrassing incident behind him by getting back to the regular business of breaking his German teammate’s heart when the lights go out, something he had been doing with regularity until recently.

Coming in third fastest on the slippery circuit was Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen able to jump up to P5 with a solid last lap effort in Q3. Williams’ Vatteri Bottas was an impressive P4 but faces a 3-spot grid penalty for passing under a Red Flag in Friday’s practice session #2. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg, who once scored a pole at Interlagos, continued to show signs of a rebound from his post-Le Mans slump after a good finish in Mexico a fortnight ago. Hulkenberg qualified P6 but his teammate Sergio Perez got bounced in Q2 and could do no better than P13 (though when all penalties are factored in he will start from P11 on the grid). Rounding out the top 10 qualifiers, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo were P7 and P9 respectively, while native Brazilian Felipe Massa was P8 for Williams and wunderkind Max Verstappen was P10 for Toro Rosso.

Top 10 qualifiers for tomorrow’s Brazilian Grand Prix:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:11.746 1:12.213 1:11.282 12
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:11.682 1:11.665 1:11.360 12
3 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL  FERRARI 1:12.240 1:11.928 1:11.804 16
4 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:12.934 1:12.374 1:12.085 18
5 7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN  FERRARI 1:12.185 1:12.243 1:12.144 16
6 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:12.595 1:12.485 1:12.265 18
7 26 DANIIL KVYAT  RED BULL RACING 1:12.730 1:12.527 1:12.322 20
8 19 FELIPE MASSA  WILLIAMS 1:12.980 1:12.858 1:12.415 21
9 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:12.639 1:12.825 1:12.417 17
10 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN  TORO ROSSO 1:12.824 1:12.712 1:12.739 15

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live here in the States at 11:00 AM Eastern on NBC Sports Network. This is your second-to-last chance to catch Formula 1 action this year so hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Results & aftermath

Rosberg converts frustrations into victory in Mexico, Ham the Champ second; Bottas P3 for Williams despite another scrap with Raikkonen

Nico Rosberg was desperate to put last week’s dreadful US Grand Prix behind him, where he threw away both the race win and simultaneously handed his nemesis and Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton his second consecutive Drivers’ Championship. With his own championship dreams extinguished, Rosberg channelled his immense frustartion at coming out second best to the Englishman yet again into a superlative race weekend at the tricky Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez near Mexico City. Rosberg had the first race treble of his career at F1’s return to Mexico after a 23-year absence with pole position, the race’s fastest lap and the win. After his hat-throwing tantrum post-race in Austin, it was Rosberg who happily donned the sombrero of victory by turning teammate Hamilton into the also-ran, if only for this one weekend. It was Rosberg’s fourth win of the season against Hamilton’s dominant 10 victories and, while Hamilton could be heard second-guessing his team’s trie strategy at times, it definitely looked like Rosberg had the measure of the circuit just that little bit more so than Hamilton. But the question that will be always be asked of Nico until he can win a championship of his own is: why can’t he perform as flawlessly when the pressure’s still on?

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Pictures courtesy GrandPrix247.com

All even went Rosberg’s way in terms of the overall driver standings when Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who was uncharacteristically flustered all race long after a first lap coming together with Red bull’s Daniel Roccoardo left him seriously behind the 8-ball with a puncture. The normally self-assured German former 4-time World Champ then succumbed to the temptation to overdrive his car to make up for his lost positions, which was courting disaster on the treacherous newly laid asphalt of Hermanos Rodríguez and the downforce-robbing thin air of the 7500-foot-above-sea-level circuit. Sure enough, after an earlier spin Vettel completely lost the back end on Lap 53 and crashed his Prancing Horse into the barriers on Turn 7, dealing the car terminal damage. To make matters worse for Ferrari, their other driver Kimi Raikkonen had another coming together with his countryman, Williams driver Valtteri Bottas, on Lap 24 eerily similar to their race-ruing tussle in Russia a few weeks back. This time it was Raikkonen’s car that was immediately ruined with a broken rear suspension while Bottas was left miraculously unscathed. With Vettel & Raikkonen both failing to finish, it was Ferrari’s first double-DNF since Australia in 2006. And Vettel’s failure to score points put him at a 21-point disadvantage to Roseberg for second in the Drivers’ standings with only two more Grand Prix remaining. All in all, a lost weekend in South of the Border for the legendary team from Maranello.

On the flip side, Bottas not only survived his encounter with Raikkonen but he thrive. He used clever tire strategy and the Williams excellent straight line speed to fight his way onto the podium with a very strong 3rd place finish. His teammate Felipe Massa was not quite as successful despite being very fast through the speed trap all weekend long and had to settle for P6. Still, after their double retirement at COTA last Sunday it was a much-needed points haul for Williams and should set them up nicely to hold off Red Bull for 3rd in the Constructors’ standings as the contests dwindle to two. Red Bull managed a pretty good day for themselves, however, with Daniil Kvyat just bested by Bottas and finishing fourth and Daniel Ricciardo a scrappy P5 despite the opening lap incident with Vettel. Force India also did well, though perhaps not quite according to script, with German Nico Hulkenberg recovering from last race’s front wing-related crash to take P7 and Mexican native son Sergio Perez slightly behind his teammate in P8. Nevertheless, the packed grandstands resounded with cheers for their countryman all weekend  long and no doubt this is a race that the talented “Checo” Perez will remember all his life.

Rounding out the top 10, rookie Max Verstappen was 9th for Toro Rosso and Romain Grosjean was P10 for Lotus.

Top 10 finishers in Mexico:

POS. DRIVER COUNTRY TEAM TIME POINTS
1 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES 1:42:35.038 25
2 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES +1.954s 18
3 VALTTERI  BOTTAS FIN WILLIAMS +14.592s 15
4 DANIIL KVYAT RUS RED BULL RACING +16.572s 12
5 DANIEL RICCIARDO AUS RED BULL RACING +19.682s 10
6 FELIPE MASSA BRA WILLIAMS +21.493s 8
7 NICO HULKENBERG GER FORCE INDIA +25.860s 6
8 SERGIO PEREZ MEX FORCE INDIA +34.343s 4
9 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +35.229s 2
10 ROMAIN GROSJEAN FRA LOTUS +37.934s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

With over 130,00 fans in attendance for yesterday’s race and huge crowds for practice & qualifying, as well, the Mexican Grand Prix made a triumphant return to the F1 schedule. While the expected rain never materialized on Sunday to make it two wet race weekends in a row, it was still a very challenging contest as teams struggled to come to grips with cooling issues and the loss of downforce, both caused by the high altitude, as well as the very slippery freshly laid asphalt. Coming as it does one week after Austin, the two GPs just feel like a well-matched tandem, not to mention the two races’ timing in terms of their potential as Championship deciders near the end of the grueling F1 season. Here’s hoping Bernie and the teams keep Mexico right where it is on the schedule for next year. It certainly deserves to be.

In other news, Mexican national and current Ferrari reserve Esteban Gutierrez has been signed to be second driver for the debut of US-based Haas F1. The 24-year-old last competed in F1 in 2014 for Sauber and will join Lotus’ Romain Grosjean on the Haas team for next year.

The next race is the penultimate one of the season and the race weekend is from November 13-15 at the always challenging Interlagos in Brazil. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Mexico — Qualifying results

Rosberg takes Pole in Mexico with Champion Hamilton second fastest again; Vettel P3 in Quali for Ferrari

If Nico Rosberg could only race as well as he qualifies he might have been the one donning the Championship crown last week in Austin. Instead, to the German’s immense hat-throwing frustration, it was his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton, who won his second consecutive driver’s title by being the fiercer competitor come race time and shoving past Rosberg for the victory. Rosberg did manage to put a week’s worth of anger and self-pity behind him in Saturday qualifying on the slippery new asphalt surface of the Autodrómo Hermanos Rodríguez by decisively earning  pole at the ultra-fast high altitude circuit, his fourth top spot in a row. Hamilton was once again only good enough for second fastest in quali but the champ will surely be trying to better Rosberg again come race day, as there is nothing that seems to delight the pugnacious British ace more than torturing his teammate and archival.

Sebastian Vettel managed 3rd spot on the grid for Ferrari after his teammate Kimi Raikonnen was forced to retire in Q2 with rear brake issues. Vettel bested the very well-planted Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat (P4) and Daniel Ricciardo (P5). The two Williams of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa finished 6th and 7th fastest respectively with their decidedly quick chassis really coming into its own as the track rubbered in. After a rare double retirement last weekend in Texas, team Williams really need to get back on form and score good points in tomorrow’s race. Toro Rosso teen sensation Max Verstappen qualified in 8th and the two Force Indias rounded out the Top 10, with native son Sergio Perez pipping his German teammate Nico Hulkenberg for 9th on the grid at his home Grand Prix to the delight of his countrymen in the stands.

Top 10 qualifiers:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:20.436 1:20.053 1:19.480 23
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:20.808 1:19.829 1:19.668 22
3 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL  FERRARI 1:20.503 1:20.045 1:19.850 18
4 26 DANIIL KVYAT  RED BULL RACING 1:20.826 1:20.490 1:20.398 21
5 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:21.166 1:20.783 1:20.399 23
6 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:20.817 1:20.458 1:20.448 26
7 19 FELIPE MASSA  WILLIAMS 1:21.379 1:20.642 1:20.567 26
8 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN  TORO ROSSO 1:20.995 1:20.894 1:20.710 28
9 11 SERGIO PEREZ  FORCE INDIA 1:20.966 1:20.669 1:20.716 21
10 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:21.315 1:20.935 1:20.788 20

Complete qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race, which marks the return of Mexico to the F1 schedule for the first time in 23 years, airs live on NBC proper here in the States beginning at 2:00 PM Eastern time.  With the thin atmosphere playing havoc with the cars’ downforce levels and boosting top speeds on the straights to over 220mph, not to mention possible rain in the forecast, it’s surely a race that promises a lot of action, excitement and unpredictability. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of The United States — Results & aftermath

Hamilton repeats as World Champion in thrilling USGP; Rosberg blows lead, holds off Vettel to help teammate clinch

An emotional Lewis Hamilton clinched his second consecutive Formula 1 Drivers’ World Championship and third overall in thrilling fashion, culminating an epic Grand Prix weekend at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, as well as the English driver’s season-long quest to defend his title. That also completed the double for the Mercedes factory team, as the Silver Arrows had already won the Constructors’ Championship some weeks ago, also the team’s second in a row. Hamilton’s three total World Championship now puts him in an elite group of drivers with 3 titles that includes the late Jack Brabham, Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda, Nelson Piquet and Hamilton’s personal hero, Ayrton Senna. As the newly crowned champ circulated on his victory lap, he could be heard over the radio in a voice thick with emotion proclaiming this the best day of his life. And who could argue with him?

After the eastern edge of Hurricane Patricia battered the track all weekend long, forcing the postponement of Qualifying to Sunday morning, the precipitation lightened leading up to the 2:30pm Central race start time. The F1 drivers acquitted themselves extremely well in the rare and very wet race day-morning qualifying session and all the cars started on the Intermediate wet weather tires, with Hamilton in P2 and his Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg on the pole. But going up the big hill that leads to turn one of COTA, Hamilton’s P2 actually gave him the preferred inside line and he muscled Rosberg off the edge of the track limits and into the large runoff area, snatching the lead of the race in decisive fashion just as he has so often done the past two years. In the early going it looked like not only would Rosberg be nipping at Hamilton’s heels all race long but also the two Red Bulls, which looked very well planted on the saturated circuit. In fact, Russian Daniil Kvyat snuck by Rosberg when he was pushed wide and ran very close to the Hamilton on the opening laps, with teammate Daniel Ricciardo pursuing the agitated Rosberg for P3.

But Rosberg was able to hold Ricciardo off while maintaining the gap to Kvyat and after a virtual safety car period for debris ended on Lap 7, Rosberg surged by the young Russian on the restart to reclaim his second place and try to take the fight to his nemesis and teammate. By now, between the excellent drainage of this new circuit and the sudden lack of rain, it seemed only a matter of time before enough of a dry line would form and some brave soul would make the switch to slicks. Sure enough, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean became the first to take the gamble for dry weather tires on Lap 11. But it was slightly too soon and the Frenchman could find no grip or pace. However, the circuit was now definitely drying enough to do damage to the grooved intermediate tires and it seemed especially to be wearing out Hamilton’s rubber. Ricciardo’s Red Bull was still performing well on his original set of intermediates, however, bagging both Kvyat and Rosberg and was soon breathing down Hamilton’s neck, as well. On Lap 15, Ricciardo passed him for the lead.

That was the cue for the Mercedes team to get their drivers onto slicks and the struggling Hamilton came into the pits first on Lap 19. The Englishman would emerge back in 4th position with Rosberg assuming the overall lead temporarily. But on Lap 27 Sauber’s Marcus Ericsson came to an abrupt stop on track when he lost power, prompting a safety car. This saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel make arguably the move of the race, as he dove into the pits and his team put him on the harder Medium compound tires, meaning that he should be able to go to the end of the race without stopping again, unlike the other contenders. Vettel, who was forced to start from 13th on the grid after an engine change penalty, had been charging through the field from the start of the race and now appeared to be sitting in the pound seats. Indeed, after the Safety Car pulled in, Vettel quickly passed Kvyat and Ricciardo to jump himself up to third overall, a remarkably good performance by the German 4-time consecutive World Champion.

After another Safety Car period caused by Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg bashing into Riccardo on Lap 36, ending what had been an excellent drive for the German Le Mans winner, Rosberg pitted for his last set of tires while Hamilton stayed out. It was now Hamilton leading, Vettel P2, and Rosberg P3. But Rosberg’s fresh rubber enabled him to pass Vettel and a lap later Kvyat crashed heavily after  losing it when his rear tire got onto the still very wet and slippery astroturf just beyond the track limits on the second to last corner. This brought out yet another Safety Car and it looked for all the world like Rosberg would be able to ride away for the win with Hamilton doomed to pit again, forestalling the Englishman’s Championship for at least one more week. Hamilton did pit under the Safety Car, as did Vettel. They returned to the track with Hamilton in P2 and Vettel P4 behind Toro Rosso’s teenaged wunderkind Max Verstappen. But Verstappen’s older rubber was no match for Vettel’s freshly shod Ferrari and he quickly conceded 3rd place to the German. With the laps dwindling, it still looked like Rosberg’s race to lose, though, and that meant that Vettel’s slim title hopes were still mathematically alive.

Until, that is, Rosberg inexplicably lost control and ran wide on Lap 49, enabling Hamilton to capitalize and recapture the lead. If Rosberg did not despise Hamilton so much one might almost think team orders were at play with the intention of Rosberg ceding the lead to Hamilton to eliminate Vettel. That was the end result in any case even though Rosberg would likely rather eat glass than give Hamilton any gifts. Nevertheless, Hamilton took the present and ran, never looking back and once again making his Championship dream come true. Rosberg finished in second place in the race and third in the Championship, his unforced error in the US Grand Prix a fairly perfect symbol of his two years of frustration in trying to out-duel his teammate, who quite simply is a better driver and much better under pressure. Vettel could not get by Rosberg and had to settle for the last spot on the podium but still had a brilliant run in making up 10 total positions. Even if the German Ferrari man was downcast after the race with his faint Championship hopes finally extinguished he will hno doubt look back at his first year with the legendary Scuderia and be well pleased with both his and the team’s genuine return to excellence after an awful 2014 for both of them.

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For Lewis Hamilton, yesterday was only confirmation of something every savvy race aficionado has known for some time: he is quite simply one of the all-time Formula 1 greats. Despite his sometimes prickly personality, he is a peerless competitor with a cutthroat style against any potential rival, whether on his team or nin a different livery. If you had to pick one of the current drivers you needed to pull off a successful overtaking move under pressure, Ham’s your man. Rosberg can whinge about getting manhandled all he wants but winning talks and bullshit walks. Hamilton will push the limit as far as it will go for the win, sometimes even to the point of overstepping it. And that’s what separates a winner like Hamilton from a talented also-ran like Rosberg in the dog-eat-dog world of F1, where winning justifies just about everything. Hamilton embodies that spirit for good or for ill and is a worthy Champion once again who stands toe-to-toe with the legends of the sport, past and present. You know once he dries his tears of joy and despite already wrapping up the Championship, he’ll finish out this exemplary season with maximum effort and that same hunger for total victory. And he’s probably already thinking about gunning for Vettel’s 4-title mark next season.

Top 10 finishers in the US Grand Prix:

POS. DRIVER COUNTRY TEAM TIME POINTS
1 LEWIS HAMILTON GBR MERCEDES 1:50:52.703 25
2 NICO ROSBERG GER MERCEDES +2.850s 18
3 SEBASTIAN VETTEL GER FERRARI +3.381s 15
4 MAX VERSTAPPEN NED TORO ROSSO +22.359s 12
5 SERGIO PEREZ MEX FORCE INDIA +24.413s 10
6 JENSON BUTTON GBR MCLAREN +28.058s 8
7 CARLOS SAINZ ESP TORO ROSSO +30.619s 6
8 PASTOR MALDONADO VEN LOTUS +32.273s 4
9 FELIPE NASR BRA SAUBER +40.257s 2
10 DANIEL RICCIARDO AUS RED BULL RACING +53.371s 1

Complete race results available via Formula1.com.

The next race is next weekend and marks the return of the Mexican Grand Prix to the schedule. Turnout should be amazing and after this absolutely thrilling weekend in Austin it should be must see tv to find out what thrills await us South of the Border. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of The United States — Qualifying results

Rosberg ends up on top in Austin after delayed & truncated qualifying, Hamilton P2; Ricciardo snags 3rd in the wet

With the eastern edge of Hurricane Patricia dumping rain on the Circuit of the Americas at a record clip, Formula 1 found itself in the unusual position of postponing the traditional Saturday Qualifying until race day morning on Sunday. And while the rains never stopped they did let up enough to get in two sessions of the scheduled three knockout rounds of qualifying to determine the grid for the United States Grand Prix, which is to be run at 2:30 Central/3:30 Eastern today. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg managed the best lap in treacherous conditions at the wonderful new track in Austin, Texas, just pipping his Championship-leading teammate Lewis Hamilton for the pole by a tenth of a second. With Hamilton all but fitted for this year’s title crown, however, and the weather supposed to be gradually improving as we count down to the race, it’s not at all certain that Rosberg’s accomplishment will really mean anything significant in the big picture.

Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo was also excellent under the persistent threat of aquaplaning and managed the 3rd fastest time while his teammate Daniil Kvyat took P4. Force India’s Sergio Perez was an impressive P5 and teammate Nico Hulkenberg solid at P6. Felipe Massa pulled himself up to P7 late in the going, with teammate Valtteri Bottas a distant P10, and rookie Max Verstappen was P8 for Toro Rosso while Fernando Alonso drove superbly in his woeful McLaren to grab P9. The Ferraris of Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen are facing 10 grid-spot penalties for engine changes and will start P14 and P18 respectively, greatly improving Hamilton’s chances of clinching his second consecutive title this weekend. Vettel is his nearest if still distant pursuer and starting so far back really hurts the German’s chances of scoring enough points to keep his hopes alive for the next race in Mexico.

If anyone doubts that Formula 1 drivers are the best in the world they have only to look at the remarkable footage of them manhandling their machines in the deluge at COTA to make them a convert. It was truly one of the more amazing performances by a group of drivers that I’ve ever witnessed. Here’s wishing them less treacherous conditions for the race!

Top 10 Qualifiers at COTA:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:56.671 1:56.824 16
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:56.871 1:56.929 14
3 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:56.495 1:57.969 16
4 26 DANIIL KVYAT  RED BULL RACING 1:57.640 1:58.434 16
5 11 SERGIO PEREZ  FORCE INDIA 1:59.284 1:59.210 16
6 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:58.325 1:59.333 16
7 19 FELIPE MASSA  WILLIAMS 2:00.902 1:59.999 17
8 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN  TORO ROSSO 1:58.689 2:00.199 17
9 14 FERNANDO ALONSO  MCLAREN 1:59.704 2:00.265 16
10 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:59.569 2:00.334 16

Complete Qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

The teams and drivers will really have to turn it around quickly as the race begins in just about an hour. It can be seen live on NBC here in the states.

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Russia — Results & aftermath

Hamilton surges to victory at Sochi while Rosberg DNFs — Mercedes secure Championship; Vettel P2 for Ferrari; Perez grabs miracle podium after Raikonnen takes out Bottas on final lap

Pictures via GrandPrix247.com

Pictures via GrandPrix247.com

In an action-packed Russian Grand Prix where unpredictability seemed the only sure thing, the one near-certainty of 2015 managed to come through yet again: a Lewis Hamilton win for the Mercedes factory team. After being out-qualified for the pole by his teammate and archival Nico Rosberg, everything broke the Englishman’s way on race day just as it has in 9 out of the 15 contests so far. Rosberg’s promising start proved illusory when it was doomed by terminal throttle problems that forced him to drop out on Lap 8. With only four more races remaining in the season, Rosberg, who had performed flawlessly all weekend, actually saw himself dropped to third in the Drivers’ points by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel by day’s end. Hamilton, who proved effortlessly untouchable in the race and won by nearly 6 seconds, now leads Vettel by a commanding 66 points and Rosberg by 73. And after this dominant performance in Russia, a race he has now won for the first two years of its existence, Hamilton also seems assured of winning his second consecutive championship, further burnishing his status as one the all-time greats of the sport.

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Vettel started from fourth on the grid but inherited third when Rosberg dropped out. He was then able to jump the Williams of Valtteri Bottas for P2 after a sterling Ferrari pit stop on Lap 30. The wily German never looked back and while he didn’t have anything for Hamilton, the former 4-time World Champ secured another solid 2nd place finish in his impressive debut year with the Scuderia. Things did not go as well for Vettel’s Ferrari teammate, Kimi Raikonnen. Continue reading

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Russia — Qualifying results

Rosberg pips Hamilton for Pole at Sochi as Mercedes record another front row lockout; Bottas a speedy P3 in the Williams machine

With the season down to its last five races and Nico Rosberg’s Championship hopes slipping away, the German Mercedes driver put the bit between his teeth and out-qualified his teammate Lewis Hamilton for pole position in Russia. After poor weather and on track incidents interrupted all three practices leading up to Saturday Qualifying, Rosberg showed no ill effects from his limited track time on the still-new Sochi circuit and essentially ran perfect laps in all three sessions, coming out ahead of Hamilton by just .3 seconds. The current Championship points leader had to settle for P2 on the grid and will be hoping for a repeat of the same starting woes that foiled Rosberg two weeks ago at Suzuka in Japan or at least to jump him when the lights go out. One thing is for certain: even though Rosberg needs the win far more than Hamilton, the hyper-competitive Englishman can practically taste his second consecutive world title and will do everything possible in Sunday’s race to deny his teammate and only true challenger the victory. The opening lap should be epic.

Williams had a decidedly mixed day, with Valtteri Bottas providing the glass-half-full of it by saving his best lap for the tail end of Q3, besting the times of both Ferraris and taking P3 on the grid. The young Finnish phenom looked truly hooked up on the tricky Russian track and if anyone can spoil the Mercedes party tomorrow it could be him, particularly if the two Silver Arrows manage to take each other out. On the downside for Williams, veteran Felipe Massa could not get a clean lap away from traffic in Q2 and failed to make into the last round. The Brazillian will have to start from way back in 12th on the grid, making it more likely he could have another incident that leads to a poor finish for the third GP in a row. Massa DNF’ed after contact with Nico Hulkenberg in Singapore and struggled to a 17th place finish in Japan after early contact with Daniel Ricciardo.

Sebastian Vettel out-qualified Kimi Raikkonen in their two Ferraris, P4 to P5, and both will surely press hard to overtake Bottas, particularly if the rainy conditions that prevailed on Friday return on race day. Force India had a very promising effort, with Hulkenberg coming home 6th fastest and Sergio Perez P7. Romain Grosjean took P8 and the Frenchman is now confirmed to be leaving the uncertainty of beleaguered Lotus to become lead driver for the debut of new American team Haas F1 next year. Toro Rosso rookie Max Verstappen, who only just got his road car license the other week when he turned 18, made it up to P9 and veteran Daniel Ricciardo was P10 for the senior Red Bull team.

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Verstappen’s nearly-as-young teammate Carlos Sainz was involved in a very nasty shunt during Free Practice 3 on Saturday morning when a brake issue on his Toro Rosso caused him to lose control. He then bashed into the wall at Turn 13, breaking his front left suspension, and was a passenger as he went hurtling off into the barriers at a high rate of speed. The 21-year-old Spaniard was buried deep in the Tecpro blocks but gave the thumbs up sign while being stretchered away. Initial reports from the hospital indicated no serious injuries to Sainz, although he will remain there overnight for observation. It is unclear whether he or the car will be able to make the start tomorrow.

Top 10 Qualifiers for the Russian GP:

POS. NO. DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS
1 6 NICO ROSBERG  MERCEDES 1:37.113 20
2 44 LEWIS HAMILTON  MERCEDES 1:37.433 18
3 77 VALTTERI  BOTTAS  WILLIAMS 1:37.912 26
4 5 SEBASTIAN VETTEL  FERRARI 1:37.965 15
5 7 KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN  FERRARI 1:38.348 18
6 27 NICO HULKENBERG  FORCE INDIA 1:38.659 21
7 11 SERGIO PEREZ  FORCE INDIA 1:38.691 19
8 8 ROMAIN GROSJEAN  LOTUS 1:38.787 19
9 33 MAX VERSTAPPEN  TORO ROSSO 1:38.924 23
10 3 DANIEL RICCIARDO  RED BULL RACING 1:39.728 18

Complete Qualifying results available at Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race airs live on NBCSN at 7AM Eastern here in the States. Look for some early fireworks as Hamilton tries to reassert his dominance over Rosberg in a hurry. If there’s one quality the great English champion lacks, it’s patience. Hope to see you then!