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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

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 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?

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 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

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.

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.

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!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Japan — Qualifying results

Mercedes returns to dominance in Qualifying at Suzuka: Rosberg P1, Hamilton P2 & Bottas P3 — Kvyat suffers massive shunt in Q3

In Japan, Mercedes power was back on track at high speed Suzuka as expected after their subpar performance last week at the slow, narrow confines of Singapore’s Marina Bay street circuit. Not only did the Silver Arrows take first & second in Saturday Qualifying but the Mercedes-powered Williams of Valtteri Bottas grabbed 3rd spot on the grid and his teammate Felipe Massa was able to come home P5. However, it wasn’t Championship leader Lewis Hamilton who took pole for Sunday’s race but rather his desperate teammate, Nico Rosberg. With the races dwindling and his opportunity to catch Hamilton slipping away, the German contender and closest pursuer beat out the Englishman for the fastest time by less than .08 seconds.

Q3 was brought to a premature end when Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat suffered a lurid, barrel roll shunt late in that final qualifying session after clipping the grass at the hairpin and losing control. Despite the frightening looking crash, the 21-year-old Russian exited his destroyed RB11 chassis under his own power. Assuming the team can put a car together for him by tomorrow’s race, Kvyat will now have to start from the pit lane. His Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo had a drama-free session but after his great run in Singapore where the Aussie ace finished second overall Ricciardo could only coax his underpowered Renault-engined car up to P7 on the grid.

Ferrari care back to earth after last week’s delirious double-podium result, with Singapore winner Sebastian Vettel able to split the Williams for a P4 start but Kimi Raikkonen only good enough for the 6th fastest time after finishing 3rd last race. Team Lotus’ talented Frenchman Romain Grosjean, who is rumored to be heading to the Haas F1 team next year for their maiden season, was P8. Rounding out the top 10, Sergio Perez continued his hot second half for Force India with a solid P9.

Top 10 Qualifiers for the Japanese Grand Prix:

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	Q1	Q2	Q3	LAPS
1	6	NICO ROSBERG	MERCEDES	1:33.015	1:32.632	1:32.584	16
2	44	LEWIS HAMILTON	MERCEDES	1:32.844	1:32.789	1:32.660	15
3	77	VALTTERI BOTTAS	WILLIAMS	1:34.326	1:33.416	1:33.024	11
4	5	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	FERRARI	1:34.431	1:33.844	1:33.245	11
5	19	FELIPE MASSA	WILLIAMS	1:34.744	1:33.377	1:33.337	12
6	7	KIMI RÄIKKÖNEN	FERRARI	1:34.171	1:33.361	1:33.347	10
7	3	DANIEL RICCIARDO	RED BULL RACING	1:34.399	1:34.153	1:33.497	17
8	8	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	LOTUS	1:34.398	1:34.278	1:33.967	19
9	11	SERGIO PEREZ	FORCE INDIA	1:35.001	1:34.174		16
10	26	DANIIL KVYAT	RED BULL RACING	1:34.646	1:34.201		15

Complete Qualifying results available via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s race from the Land of the Rising Sun airs live in the States at 1 AM Eastern on NBC Sports Network. With only 5 races to go after Japan, a win by Hamilton would give him a stranglehold on the Championship. But he’ll have to overtake his hard caring teammate Rosberg to make that happen. Hope to see you then as the drama unfolds from Suzuka!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Italy — Results & aftermath

Hamilton marches to victory at Monza for Mercedes; Vettel a joyful 2nd for Ferrari and Williams’ Massa joins the party in P3

After eprecisely the fast getaway he was looking for when the lights went out to start the Italian Grand Prix at Monza, the only question left for Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes seemed to be whether a minuscule post-race tire pressure measurement could keep them from victory. But the stewards determined that the scant 0.3 psi under the regualtions had been caused by the natural cooling of the tires and not deliberately executed by Mercedes for unfair competitive advantage. And so, after some tense and mysterious moments late in the race with Hamilton’s engineer cryptically telling the Englishman to push for time but not ask questions, which naturally led to speculation that there could be a problem with his new 2016-spec engine, all came good for the Drivers’ Championship leader with yet another dominant victory. Better still for Hamilton, his closest pursuer and teammate, Nico Rosberg, suffered catastrophic engine failure in the waning laps after Mercedes had turned up the wick on his well used 2015-spec power plant in an effort to take the fight to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel for P2. So the German contender might be forgiven for thinking that the stars were aligned against him in these last several races, as he now finds himself not just 53 points adrift of Hamilton with only seven races remaining but also under pressure from the hyper-competitive Vettel in his rapidly improving SF15-T chassis. At least Rosberg can console himself with some big picture thinking after becoming a new father to a healthy baby girl between Spa & Monza.

Pix courtesy GrandPrix247.com

Vettel not only celebrated a new family addition of his own with the recent birth of his second daughter but also a well-earned P2 for Ferrari at the Scuderia’s home circuit. While he never really had anything for Hamilton’s Mercedes, the German former 4-time World Champ was definitely the best of the rest. Even if Rosberg’s engine had not blown Vettel did not look likely to relinquish his precious second step on the podium. But his teammate Kimi Raikkonen had yet another day that must have left the tifosi tearing their hair out and wondering why the veteran Finn was retained by Maranello for next season. Raikonnen became the most high profile victim of the new “no clutch coaching” rules when he bogged down on the grid at the start. He almost proved all the warnings about the danger of that sort of stall, as well, when Rosberg and Williams’ Valtteri Bottas nearly ran into his backside. But the two pilots showed excellent car control and got away cleanly from the stationary Ferrari. By the time Riakkonen got it in gear the entire field had passed him and he was forced to battle from behind all day long. He did show good mental toughness in recovering from his self-inflicted wound, using aggressive driving and his car’s superior performance, as well as a superlative pit stop by his crew, to re-pass much of the field and take valuable points with a hard-earned P5.

Williams’ Felipe Massa, the Brazilian veteran and longtime Ferrari driver, held off his rapidly closing teammate to capture an emotional P3 at a track he called home for so many years. The hard-charging Bottas finished right behind Massa in 4th place, making it a tremendous points scoring day for Williams. The ultra-fast Monza circuit rewarded their excellent straightline speed while not punishing their usual lack of downforce. Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg finished P6 and P7 respectively for Force India, another fine result for the little team that could, while Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat took P8 and P10 for Red Bull despite starting near the rear after a passel of engine-change grid penalties. Marcus Ericsson of Sauber grabbed a very strong 9th place after after he was also penalized, in his case for impeding Hulkenberg in Saturday qualifying, and dropped to 12th on the grid. The young Swede has quietly put together an excellent second half of the season with points in his last three races and frankly outdriven his more heralded teammate Felipe Nasr.

Aside from Rosberg’s misfortune, the other DNFs in this full course yellow-free Grand Prix were both unlucky Lotuses within the first 4 laps and Fernando Alonso’s McLaren, which expired late in the race. Continue reading →

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Belgium — Qualifying results

The summer break is over and it’s time to get back to racing in Formula 1. And where better to resume the season than the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit? Today was the first time in nearly a month to see who had the speed and who would take pole for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix. And the answer, much as it has been in the last 6 races, is…

Mercedes’ Hamilton picks up where he left off with 6th straight Pole, Rosberg 2nd fastest; Bottas boosts Williams with P3 in Qualifying

Photos via GrandPrix247.com

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, the current Drivers’ Championship leader, came back from the summer break and his slow-paced Caribbean vacation just as fast as ever. In typical fashion, the Englishman wrung every ounce of performance out of his car at mythic Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday to grab his 6th consecutive pole position. That made it an astonishing 10 poles for Hamilton in 11 races so far in 2015. Possessing the fastest chassis by far and the fastest driver, the Mercedes factory team has now clinched pole in every race this season. Hamilton’s teammate and closest championship pursuer, German Nico Rosberg, was perhaps running slightly more downforce after his harrowing blown-tire shunt in Friday practice and took P2 to lock out the front row for the Silver Arrows yet again.

Williams got a nice lift after a string of lackluster pre-break results when young Finn Valtteri Bottas was able to secure P3 on the grid. It was a very good effort from Bottas, who surely must have been smarting after learning the news that Ferrari had re-signed the enigmatic and erratic Kimi Raikkonen through next year’s season despite all speculation to the contrary. Bottas’ Williams teammate, former Ferrari hand Felipe Massa, was not as quick in the same machinery and could muster no better than the 7th best time of the day. Lotus’ Romain Grosjean had a remarkably good performance to come home P4 for the troubled team, easily the surprise of the session. However, the Frenchman will still have to serve a 5-spot grid penalty for a gearbox change on Friday. His teammate, the much-maligned Pastor Maldonado, was also unusually strong with the eighth fastest time in Q3. Also stepping up his game was Force India’s Sergio Perez who grabbed an impressive 5th spot on the grid and really seemed to get the most out of his car on this tricky, high speed course.

At the other end of the spectrum Red Bull and Ferrari must have been extremely disappointed, with both teams getting only one car through to the final shootout in Q3. Daniel Ricciardo took P6 but his teammate Daniil Kvyat was bounced out in Q2 and will start P12 after finishing runner up in the last race at the Hungaroring. It was arguably even worse for Ferrari, with their race winner in Hungary, Sebastian Vettel, unable to do better than a P9 start at Spa and the star-crossed Raikonnen suffering what sounded like terminal transmission failure in Q2. The Finnish veteran, who was retained by Ferrari for next year despite all the prevailing omens, will have to fight his way up from 14th on the grid. 20-year-old Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz grabbed the last spot in the top 10, outdoing his 17-year-old teammate, Max Verstappen (P15), who didn’t really push his car after some drive issues in Q2 because he will face a large grid penalty for engine changes anyway.

Top 10 Qualifiers for tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix:

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	TEAM	Q1	Q2	Q3	LAPS
1	44	LEWIS HAMILTON	MERCEDES	1:48.908	1:48.024	1:47.197	16
2	6	NICO ROSBERG	MERCEDES	1:48.923	1:47.955	1:47.655	17
3	77	VALTTERI BOTTAS	WILLIAMS	1:49.026	1:49.044	1:48.537	19
4	8	ROMAIN GROSJEAN	LOTUS	1:49.353	1:48.981	1:48.561	17
5	11	SERGIO PEREZ	FORCE INDIA	1:49.006	1:48.792	1:48.599	16
6	3	DANIEL RICCIARDO	RED BULL RACING	1:49.664	1:49.042	1:48.639	17
7	19	FELIPE MASSA	WILLIAMS	1:49.688	1:48.806	1:48.685	15
8	13	PASTOR MALDONADO	LOTUS	1:49.568	1:48.956	1:48.754	17
9	5	SEBASTIAN VETTEL	FERRARI	1:49.264	1:48.761	1:48.825	17
10	55	CARLOS SAINZ	TORO ROSSO	1:49.109	1:49.065	1:49.771	1

Complete Qualifying results via Formula1.com.

Tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix will also see the debut of a refinement to the starting rules by banning team communication to the drivers as regards clutch bite point and other on-the-fly adjustments durning the warm up laps. That assumed lack of precision could make for a tricky and possibly dangerous start, as the drivers will have to figure out the perfect bite point themselves, which could lead to a stalled car in front of others rocketing forward or just a lurching start in general. Hopefully, despite the good intention of returning more control of the racing to the drivers, the FIA hasn’t gone two steps back on safety.

Tune in tomorrow to see how that tricky start shakes out and whether Mercedes can get back to dominating races the way they’ve dominated qualifying throughout the year. Who knows, maybe a wild card like Force India’s Sergio Perez will finally pull off a major upset on a track that seems to suit him? Find out how it all goes down live on NBC Sports Network here in the states starting at 8AM Eastern. Hope to see you then!

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Great Britain — Results & aftermath

With late rain at Slverstone Hamilton times it perfectly to hold off all comers; Rosberg settles for a forlorn 2nd place but Vettel grabs a fortuitous podium

All race weekend the weather at the famed Silverstone circuit had been absolutely perfect with plentiful sun and balmy temperatures. But with 16 laps remaining in the British Grand Prix the skies turned dark and rain began to spatter half of the track in a more typical display of English summer weather. That meant it was judgement time for the pit wall strategists, as well as the contenders for the win at the front of the race. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikonnen was the first to make the call to gamble on Intermediate wet tires on Lap 39 but it proved to be a wager made too soon and the Finn made no ground in mixed conditions. By Lap 43, however, the intensity of the precipitation picked up and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton dove into pits to make the switch after several squirmingly slow laps. By the time he exited after his service, the skies opened up and Hamilton seized the opportunity, building a gap on his teammate Nico Rosberg, who had stayed out on dry tires and only pitted on Lap 45. It all broke right for the Englishman at that moment and the racing gods had smiled on Hamilton once again at his home Grand Prix. In that decisive moment, he had essentially won at Silverstone for the 3rd time, a very exclusive club. And so he marched home to a dominant win amidst the hearty cheers of his countrymen, the beneficiary of good timing and good luck. But then, luck is the residue of design and after blowing a sure win in Monaco it would be hard to argue he wasn’t owed one after all.

Photos courtesy GrandPrix247.com

It was hardly Hamilton’s and Mercedes’ usual uncontested victory. Team Williams had a storming start to the race with both Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas overtaking Hamilton and Rosberg directly off the starting line. For a while it seemed as if Frank Williams’ legendary British team could hold off mighty Mercedes and pull the upset. But it wasn’t to be. With Bottas looking the faster of their drivers team Williams did not issue any team orders to have Massa cede the lead to his junior teammate and that seemed to enable Mercedes to keep close despite their unusual starting hiccup. So when the first round of stops came, Hamilton was ideally poised to leapfrog both of the Williams with a typically sterling Mercedes stop. And that was exactly how it played out. Hamilton had a blistering out lap and was able to come around ahead of both Massa and Rosberg after they pitted simultaneously a lap later, as well as Bottas a lap after that. Even worse for Williams, when the rains did come they stayed out too long on slicks while Ferrari called in Sebastian Vettel to change to Intermediates. While their early call with Raikonnen didn’t pay off, the call for Vettel did in spades. Suddenly, in a race in which the German’s Prancing Horse had been nowhere, Vettel was able to reel in several positions including his teammate and both Williams to practically steal the last step on the podium with a fortuitous P3. The unlucky guinea pig Raikonnen finished P8.

That left Williams asking what might have been and relegated Massa to P4 and Bottas to P5. They have got to be cursing the unwanted rain. But they may also be second-guessing their strategy calls earlier in the race and whether they should have let the racy Bottas scoot on by Massa and try to build a gap against Mercedes that might have held up amidst all the whether-related chaos. Continue reading →

2015 F1 Grand Prix of Canada — Results & aftermath

Hamilton regains momentum in Canada with decisive win, Rosberg a non-threatening 2nd; Williams’ Bottas breaks through for P3

Pics courtesy GrandPrix247.com

After a gut-wrenching defeat in Monaco, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton righted the ship at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal on Sunday with a wire-to-wire victory. Having earned an emphatic pole it seemed nothing was going to stop the reigning World Champion from holding off his charging rival and teammate Nico Rosberg. Come race day, nothing did. Rosberg was never able to mount a real threat and in the end both Silver Arrows sailed to a seemingly comfortable 1-2 finish with the rest of the field well behind. Hamilton’s win reestablished his dominance in the Mercedes team and built his points lead back up to 17 after Rosberg’s lucky 2-race victory streak. It was a much needed return to form that demonstrated not only Hamilton’s peerless skill as a racing driver but also his mental toughness in the face of adversity after the bizarre own-goal in Monaco.

For team Mercedes as whole, Sunday’s GP represented an ominous return to their untouchable speed and metronomic precision as a unit, particularly when compared with Ferrari’s stumbles this past weekend. After starting 3rd with an outside shot at victory, Kimi Raikkonen threw away a probable podium for the Prancing Horse with an unforced spin in the hairpin after his first stop for tires. That enabled his fellow Finn, the excellent Valtteri Bottas, to snatch 3rd and hold off Raikkonen for the position until the end of the race, earning team Williams its first podium of the season. On the other side of the Ferrari garage, Sebastian Vettel started from 18th on the grid with a poor Quali due to mechanical issues and a self-inflicted 5-spot grid penalty for passing under the red flag in rainy practice. But Vettel had a storming drive, slicing his way through the field to finish a remarkable 5th. His outstanding 2015 Montreal effort should be played as Exhibit A whenever someone whinges about how you can’t pass in Formula 1. Exhibit B could be Bottas’ Williams teammate Felipe Massa. Massa also started way back in the pack in 15th after technical problems in Quali. Yet the veteran Brazilian managed to fight his way up to 6th with another gutsy, aggressive effort from a savvy pro. So if the battle for the win seemed like a fait accompli, the fight for points behind the 1-2 slots was a wild ride all race long. Continue reading →

Man's Fine Life

The Return of the Well-Rounded Gentleman