Rosberg Cruises to Victory after First Lap Collision for Hamilton

If ever there was a race that showcased the brilliance of close racing in F1, Sundays race in Bahrain was it.

After the controversial changes to Qualifying in an attempt to spice up race day, this race highlighted that what isn’t broke doesn’t need fixing.

Beautiful overtaking, all down the field, provided nail biting action which even the most cynical fan would have been enthralled by.

Although the win never really seemed in doubt for Rosberg, after a first corner collision for Hamilton, there was enough place swapping to keep the race alive.

A prime example was Kimi Raikkonen, who came alive after a poor start saw him jumped by the two Williams drivers and Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull. Raikkonen charged back through the field and at many times was the fastest driver on track.

Raikkonen was not the only driver to suffer at the start, Lewis Hamilton struggled to get away, for the second race in a row, allowing his teammate to take the lead into turn one. Meanwhile behind, the Williams’ of Massa and Bottas both had fantastic starts, leapfrogging Raikkonen, which caused Bottas to come steaming up the inside of Hamilton in turn one. Hamilton appeared to have left a large wedge of room for Bottas but this quickly disappeared as they both took the racing lane, causing an inevitable collision and pushing both drivers down the field with damage.

Arguably the collision could have been avoided by Bottas, and the stewards awarded the Finn a drive through penalty for causing a collision. The collision caused severe floor damage to Hamilton’s Mercedes, reportedly losing him around a second a lap in pace, and depriving us, the viewers, a good fight between him and his teammate for the win.

Ricciardo also found himself with front wing damage after colliding with the retreating Hamilton, which ultimately damaged his pace and meant he could not capitalise fully on his fantastic qualifying, but he still managed a great fourth place.

Sebastian Vettel, the main hope of a challenge to the Mercedes, did not even make it to the start after an engine failure on the formation lap. Jolyon Palmer joined the early retiree list after a hydraulics problem halted his Renault.

All this happened in just the two opening laps! What followed was a succession of thrilling overtakes and tyre strategy battles.

By lap six Raikkonen had made his way back to fourth place with a great move around the outside of Ricciardo after the Australian went deep into turn one- a clear result of his front wing damage. A lap later Ricciardo pitted, whilst Raikkonen quickly moved into third with a great move around the outside of Bottas in the DRS zone.

After stopping on lap thirteen to change to the soft tyres Raikkonen was up to second in a single lap after an opportunistic move on Massa as he exited the pits and he passed Kyvat a few corners later.

Mclaren’s woes continued with an early retirement for Jenson Button on lap seven with a hybrid boost problem, leaving their last hope for points with debutant Stoffel Vandoorne who was standing in for Fernando Alonso who was deemed unfit to race by the stewards after his crash in Australia. Vandoorne stepped up to the challenge beautifully, capitalising on his good qualifying position, running as high as eighth throughout the race, ultimately finishing tenth for Mclaren’s first points of the season- illustrating that he is another driver to watch.

Yet again the new Haas team enjoyed a fantastic race with Romain Grosjean, by lap seventeen Grosjean had hustled his way up to sixth place and was battling Massa for fifth. The Ferrari engine allowed him to easily dispose of Felipe Massa on the straight and go charging after Ricciardo in fourth. Ultimately Romain secured a fantastic bag of points for the new team with a fifth place finish, which places Romain fifth in the driver’s championship and exulting to the team that he is experiencing, “the American Dream.”

Despite a fierce amount of speed in the early stages by the final rounds of pit stops it became clear that Raikkonen would have to settle for second when Rosberg exited the pits with a considerable lead on the Ferrari and the fastest lap of the race a lap later.

Hamilton drove a good recovery drive to gain third, with Ricciardo, Grosjean, and young Max Verstappen collecting well deserved points behind him. Pascal Wehrlein also finished a fantastic thirteenth for the Manor team- showcasing what a promising talent he is for the future.

Overall this thrilling race highlighted all the very best Formula One has to offer; close battles, fantastic tyre strategy, thrilling overtaking and a crop of young talent, illustrating that the powers that be should stop messing around with the rules and let the racing speak for itself.

Bahrain Grand prix final results:

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 57 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, +10.3s
3. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, +30.1s
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, +62.5s
5. Romain Grosjean, Haas, +78.3s
6. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, +80.9s
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, +1 lap
8. Felipe Massa, Williams, +1 lap
9. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, +1 lap
10. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, +1 lap
11. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, +1 lap
12. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, +1 lap
13. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, +1 lap
14. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, +1 lap
15. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, +1 lap
16. Sergio Perez, Force India, +1 lap
17. Rio Haryanto, Manor, +1 lap

DNF Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso

DNF Esteban Gutierrez, Haas

DNF Jenson Button, McLaren

DNS Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari

DNS Jolyon Palmer, Renault

 

 

 

 

 

Rosberg tops practice sessions in Bahrain, Button shocks in P2

 

Rosberg topped the timing sheets by half a second over teammate Lewis Hamilton in the afternoon practice session, whilst Ferrari acquired knowledge of the medium tyre.

As Mercedes dominated on track off track discussion turned to the issues surrounding an open letter written by the drivers after the last race in Australia, and the continuation of the controversial qualifying system that proved so unsuccessful in Australia.

The drivers letter included statements that alluded to a lack of faith in the governing body of the sport, a desire for more involvement in rule changes and decisions, and the belief that sport is going in the wrong direction by failing to attract the younger generation.

After his huge crash in Australia it was declared on Thursday that Fernando Alonso was unfit to drive after fractures to his ribs sustained in the impact, and would be replaced for the race weekend by Mclaren reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne.

Despite knowledge of the circuit, including a win in GP2, Vandoorne made a few mistakes in both practice sessions with a costly mistake in the first sector of his flying lap in P2 meaning he could do no better than 11^th whilst teammate Button secured 3^rd with a time 0.7 second faster.

Ferrari finished P1 1.9 seconds off from Rosberg. Ferrari spent most of the session on medium tyres trying to acquire more information after struggling on the compound in Australia.

Timesheet after P1

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:32.294
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:32.799
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:34.128
4. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:34.461
5. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:34.541
6. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:34.601
7. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:34.793
8. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:34.860
9. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:35.000
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:35.006
11. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:35.073
12. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:35.174
13. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:35.309
14. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:35.440
15. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:35.490
16. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:35.728
17. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:36.371
18. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1:36.392
19. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:36.719
20. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:36.939
21. Alfonso Celis, Force India, 1:37.287
22. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:37.714

As the sun came down in the desert the second practice session got underway with data collected in the night considered more representative for the race by the teams.

Rosberg continued his run of form outpacing his teammate Lewis Hamilton, yet again, by over two tenths of a second.

While Mercedes continued to dominate, Ferrari struggled on the medium tyres, with Vettel stopping on track with only fifteen minutes left of the session after a wheel Knut on the rear left became loose. Reliability has been the issue that most in the paddock consider to be the thorn in the side of Ferrari, hindering the team from sustaining a decent assault upon Mercedes.

Mclaren shocked when Jenson button popped up to third in the timing sheets after switching to the super-soft tyres. It is unclear if this is genuine improvement in pace or whether button was running incredibly low fuel. However, since the beginning of the season Mclaren have appeared to have improved, with a decent amount of pace in Australia and Button stated that the car felt well balanced and the improvement was “positive”.

Meanwhile new team Haas encountered reliability issues with a front right hand wing failure on Grosjean car after he ran wide on the rubble strips at Turn 13. The substantial amount of debris was left on the circuit caused a virtual safety car for the last few minutes of the session. In Australia the Haas team also sustained a front wing failure indicating that this may be an area of weakness for the new team.

Verstappen impressed, again, in fourth, behind the ever dominant Mercedes and Jenson’s Buttons Mclaren.

Going into Qualifying tomorrow the main question seems will Lewis Hamilton be able to return to form and outpace his teammate for pole?

Timesheets at end of P2

1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:31.001
2. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:31.242
3. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:32.281
4. Max Verstappen, Toro Rosso, 1:32.406
5. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari, 1:32.452
6. Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:32.650
7. Daniil Kvyat, Red Bull, 1:32.703
8. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:32.792
9. Daniel Ricciardo, Red Bull, 1:32.870
10. Felipe Massa, Williams, 1:32.873
11. Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, 1:32.999
12. Esteban Gutierrez, Haas, 1:33.129
13. Carlos Sainz, Toro Rosso, 1:33.177
14. Romain Grosjean, Haas, 1:33.384
15. Sergio Perez, Force India, 1:33.406
16. Kevin Magnussen, Renault, 1:33.447
17. Nico Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:33.570
18. Jolyon Palmer, Renault, 1:33.640
19. Pascal Wehrlein, Manor, 1:33.953
20. Marcus Ericsson, Sauber, 1:34.224
21. Felipe Nasr, Sauber, 1:34.477
22. Rio Haryanto, Manor, 1:34.562

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hamilton equals Senna’s record with imperious win in Suzuka

Order was restored in Japan last Sunday,with Lewis Hamilton leading Mercedes to yet another one-two finish, after the shocking lack of pace they showed last time out in Singapore.

In Qualifying on Saturday it was clear that the Mercedes’ pace was back and stronger than ever around the power hungry circuit in Suzuka, with Rosberg securing pole early on before Daniil Kyvat’s crash brought out a red flag, ending the session.

Off the start Lewis Hamilton jumped up alongside Rosberg going into turn one, steadfastly sticking to the outside line and gaining the lead entering turn two. The overtake  forced Rosberg back into the clutches of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari and Valtteri Bottas’ Williams, both of whom moved up demoting Rosberg to fourth.

Meanwhile, on the third row of the grid, Felipe Massa and Daniel Ricciardo were in a battle for sixth place. Ricciardo had a good start and lined up alongside the Williams resulting in contact and punctures for both cars.  Massa’s subsequent fall down the field squeezed Sergio Perez who ran onto the Astroturf.

Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus’s had gained sixth and seventh in the midst of the many battles- a positive place for a team who have been in the depths of financial problems in recent weeks.  Fernando Alonso had also managed to place the power deprived McLaren up in ninth place, from 12^th at the start.

Hamilton sped off into the distance up front whilst Rosberg and Bottas took their fight into pit stop strategy. Bottas attempted the undercut on Rosberg by pitting early on lap 12 to the harder tyres, a rare proactive move from the Williams team. The move proved to be right one, as when Rosberg pitted three laps later he returned yet again behind the Williams- the undercut had worked.

However, the joy in the Williams garage did not last long as on lap 18 Rosberg finally caught and easily passed Bottas with a move down the inside of the last corner before the straight, and used the DRS to put further distance between them.

McLaren’s party was also spoilt, as on lap 26 promising rookie driver Max Verstappen cruised up behind Fernando Alonso using DRS and passed him easily to take the last point placing position. Alonso complained on the radio of his, “stupid GP2 engine”, presumably much to the chagrin of the host company, and McLaren’s engine supplier, Honda.

The familiar, and seemingly inevitable, sight of a Mercedes one- two emerged on lap 33 as Rosberg finally moved past Vettel into second place as the Ferrari driver exited the pits.

The battle however, did not end there. Unlike his teammate Rosberg was unable to canter off into the distance and Vettel stuck with him until the very end of the race, with the gap staying at around 1.5 seconds as the pair manoeuvred their way through equally battling back markers.

This battle included Marcus Ericcson and Sergio Perez who were fighting tooth and nail for 11^th place. It was clear that Perez had a speed advantage – his teammate Hulkenberg was up in 6^th at this point- but was seemly unable to pass the Sauber driver. Perez finally made the pass on lap 49 with a move around the outside going into 130R causing Ericsson to run wide and allowing Red Bull teammates Kyvat and Ricciardo to join the fight behind.

Ericcson showed his inexperience or perhaps the pressure he was under on lap 51, when he adhered to blue flags to let Raikkonen pass him through the chicane. Raikkonen appeared unsure if he was being let through in such an unusual place, and the opportunistic young Russian Kyvat took the opportunity to dive down the inside whilst Ericcson was off the racing line.

All in all it was a very successful race for the Mercedes team, so much so that we barely saw them on screen with battles all down the field holding more attention.

Lewis Hamilton not only increased his championship lead to 48 points with five races to go, but emulated his hero Aryton Senna’s 41 wins, and also looks almost assured of a third world championship.

Ferrari didn’t show the pace that they had last race out in Singapore, but finished well with Vettel third and Raikkonen fourth. Bottas and Hulkenberg came away with good points in fifth and sixth respectively, whilst Fernando Alonso bemoaned McLaren’s lack of progress just out of the points in 11^th.

Going into the Russian Grand prix in Sochi this weekend it looks all set to be another Mercedes victory, or can Ferrari find that return to form again? We’ll have to wait to see on Sunday.

Perfect dress rehearsal for Hamilton as he heads Rosberg in both practice sessions in Abu Dhabi

Title contender Lewis Hamilton stamped his mark on the beginning of a weekend that could see him crowned world champion for a second time, heading his teammate Nico Rosberg in both sessions on a track he has secured two out of five poles.

With reliability becoming the issue of the day  going into the final race where double points could affect the championship, issues and problems began creeping in free practice one.

First a significant issue at Williams with the side pod bodywork cover of Valtteri Bottas’s car falling off onto the side of the track. The issue appeared to affect Massa’s car as well as he was called into the pits as there was a loosening of the bodywork on the same side as Bottas issue. The team ultimately decided to keep both drivers in the garage for the remainder of the session as a precaution as the fixed the issue.

Jenson Button also remained in the garage for the majority of the free practice one with a suspension problem as his teammate Kevin Magnussen tested out the new front nose and wing designed by former Red Bull designer Peter Pomdoro.

Despite considerable financial pressure Caterham have arrived at the circuit for the weekend after Marussia were forced to turn around at the airport. The team is also running Will Stevens this weekend who will be racing in the place of Marcus Ericsson who has already left the team for Sauber. His weekend di not start in the best fashion however, with an over revving engine that was exceeding the 1500 RPM causing Renault to investigate the issue and forcing Stevens to sit out the session.

Tempers flared as Sebastian Vettel and Kevin Magnussen went side by side as Magnussen was harvesting battery power and therefore going slower than usual, despite this fact Magnussen (who is fighting for his career at McLaren) refused to allow Sebastian to pass him and decided to fight to retain track position.

Controversy was also stirred up in the Red Bull garage by the appearance of Mario Illien, Mercedes engine designer in the nineties, who is a friend of Adrian Newey but is rumoured to have be recruited to assist with the Renault engine next year. However this is merely conjuncture around the paddock.

Romain Grosjean will have to fight to improve Lotus’ fortunes this weekend as he will receive a twenty place grid penalty due to three engine component changes and if he does not start from the pit lane he will have to take a time penalty during the race.

Kimi Raikkonen suffered yet again with braking issue as he stated nearing the end of the first practice session that the car was unstable under braking.

In FP2 Ferrari’s fortunes did not improve with Fernando Alonso’s car coming to a stop after just two laps running with an electrical problem on the straight after turn 19 that led to a gearbox failure, not a great start to his last weekend with the Ferrari team.

After an suspension issue in FP1 Jenson Button was hit with reliability issues yet again, this time with a hydraulics issue but his McLaren team worked quickly to fix the issue to allow him to run for an hour of the session.

Meanwhile Hamilton and Rosberg were trading times at the front with Hamilton coming out on top in both race and qualifying runs on the super soft tyre. The session ended with Hamilton heading Rosberg by only 0.083 of a second but in reality Hamilton looked much more in control throughout both sessions and stated in the press conference afterwards that he had never been round the track in a better car- a good omen for Lewis Hamilton fans going into the title decider this weekend.

Classifications

Free Practice One

1	HAMILTON		MERCEDES	1:43.476
2	ROSBERG		MERCEDES	+0.133
3	ALONSO		FERRARI	+1.708
4	VETTEL		RED BULL	+1.858
5	RICCIARDO		RED BULL	+1.885
6	VERGNE		TORO ROSSO	+2.242
7	KVYAT		TORO ROSSO	+2.359
8	BOTTAS		WILLIAMS	+2.437
9	PEREZ		FORCE INDIA	+2.507
10	HULKENBERG		FORCE INDIA	+2.554
11	MAGNUSSEN		MCLAREN	+2.573
12	RAIKKONEN		FERRARI	+2.655
13	MASSA		WILLIAMS	+3.073
14	GUTIERREZ		SAUBER	+3.080
15	MALDONADO		LOTUS	+3.235
16	OCON		LOTUS	+3.590
17	BUTTON		MCLAREN	+3.759
18	KOBAYASHI		CATERHAM	+4.495
19	FONG		SAUBER	+4.793
20	W STEVENS		CATERHAM	+7.208

Free Practice Two

1	HAMILTON		MERCEDES	1:42.113
2	ROSBERG		MERCEDES	+0.083
3	MAGNUSSEN		MCLAREN	+0.782
4	VETTEL		RED BULL	+0.846
5	BOTTAS		WILLIAMS	+0.957
6	RICCIARDO		RED BULL	+1.070
7	RAIKKONEN		FERRARI	+1.376
8	BUTTON		MCLAREN	+1.390
9	KVYAT		TORO ROSSO	+1.433
10	MASSA		WILLIAMS	+1.445
11	PEREZ		FORCE INDIA	+1.633
12	MALDONADO		LOTUS	+1.892
13	HULKENBERG		FORCE INDIA	+1.955
14	VERGNE		TORO ROSSO	+2.044
15	GUTIERREZ		SAUBER	+2.203
16	SUTIL		SAUBER	+2.650
17	GROSJEAN		LOTUS	+2.873
18	KOBAYASHI		CATERHAM	+3.392
19	W STEVENS		CATERHAM	+4.944
20	ALONSO		FERRARI	–

Gearing up for the Abu Double season finale- Abu Dhabi preview

Abu Dhabi Yas Marina Circuit -Statistics

55 Laps

Track Length: 5.554 km

DRS Zones: First between turns 7 and 8 and the second between turn 10 and 11.

Lap Record: Sebastian Vettel 1.40.279 in 2009

2013 pole: Sebastian Vettel 1:39.957

Wins: 2009- Sebastian Vettel Red Bull, 2010, Sebastian Vettel Red Bull, 2011 Lewis Hamilton McLaren, 2012 Kimi Raikkonen Lotus, 2013 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull

Poles: 2009 Hamilton, 2010 Vettel, 2011 Vettel, 2012 Hamilton, 2013 Webber

As we head into the final showdown of this tantalisingly close Formula One season double points will be awarded at a circuit that has seen many close races and one very memorable championship decider in 2010.

The good news for Lewis Hamilton fans is that he has gained two pole positions out of five of the races held at the circuit, in 2009 and 2012, illustrating that he both enjoys and thrives at this circuit. However, he has also been plagued by retirements, most notably losing him a certain victory in 2012 when he was dominating in a McLaren before suffering from engine failure.

After winning in Brazil last week and reducing the point deficit to just seventeen points Nico Rosberg is benefitting from a momentum change and the new rules of double point; if the system was not in place then Hamilton would only need fifth, the very same position as in 2008 when he clinched the title in dramatic fashion on the final corner of the final lap.

Also brakes are deemed to be an issue around this circuit and management of brakes has largely been in Nico Rosberg’s favour this season. A mechanical failure for either of the drivers would be disappointing considering the close and largely clean battle they have engaged in all season, and the fans and the team are relishing the fair and close fight so far.

In Thursday’s drivers press conference Nico Rosberg made a point of saying that it was up to Lewis for the race to be a clean fight and that he had to ensure that he drove well and fairly for it to be so; a point of irony considering most of the controversial moments between the drivers this season, such as Monaco and most notably Spa, have focused on scrutiny of Rosberg’s driving and tactics not Hamilton’s.

The circuit is well accustomed to close title fights with arguably one of the most exciting title deciders in 2010 when a four man battle between Sebastian Vettel Fernando Alonso Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton went in Vettel’s favour after both Fernando Alonso and Webber suffered with poor pit stop strategy and ended up stuck in traffic and out of title contention.

Traffic could be an issue on Sunday as this famously difficult overtaking circuit will favour whoever starts on pole position, so Hamilton will be hoping to avoid some of the qualifying errors and misfortunes he has suffered from this season.

The race will be the final race for Fernando Alonso at Ferrari and Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull as the German joins the Italian team for 2015 and Alonso is expected to re-join the Woking based McLaren team that he parted so acrimoniously from in 2007. McLaren have stated that they will not announce their driver line up until December leaving fans concerned that 2009 World Champion Jenson Button will not receive the proper send off from his 266 race long Formula One career that he deserves.

Since it augural grand prix in 2009 Abu Dhabi has been a firm favourite on the F1 calendar hosting the first twilight race providing a unique challenge for the drivers as the race spans from day to night and the dramatically light circuit comes to life.

Often described as a processional race the circuit still proves highly challenging for the drivers as they flirt with the barriers and one of the tightest pit lane exits on the calendar.

Pirelli have decided to bring the soft and super soft compound of tyres to the race due to the relatively low speed nature of the circuit and the expected low temperatures due to the night time running: so tyre preservation should not be the pressing issue it was two weeks ago in Brazil.

Caterham have secured enough funding to return for the last race of the season with Britain’s Will Steven’s joining Kamui Kobayashi to race in his first grand prix after Marcus Ericsson announced his decision to join Sauber after the last race in Brazil.

The double points are not only important for the two leading protagonists but for other drivers and teams down the field, with a three way battle between Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Valtteri Bottas for fourth place in the championship, all separated by only three points.

Williams will also be looking to stay ahead of Ferrari in the constructors and McLaren attempt to overhaul the fifty point deficit to Ferrari for fourth.

Overall this season finale looks set to be a classic and as the sun goes down in Abu Dhabi and the 2014 season who will be crowned the victor amongst the Silver Arrows?

Rosberg reignites title challenge with win in Brazil

As the title battle between Mercedes teammates Rosberg and Hamilton heated up in Brazil the newly laid tarmac went along with it, with at times over 50 degree track temperatures making it a race determined by tyre preservation.

Rosberg started on pole heeding the lessons he had learnt in Austin concerning being more aggressive with his tyres, taking advantage of the grip and clear air available to him. The high temperature tore away quickly at the softer compound of tyres requested of Pirelli by the drivers spearheaded by Felipe Massa, who had asserted that the medium and hard compound tyres were too conservative a choice for the newly laid tarmac.

By lap five drivers began to put on the harder medium compound and the front running Mercedes complained of blisters on the surface of the tyres as they fought for the lead.

At the start Rosberg got away cleanly from his teammate Hamilton with the Williams’ of home crowd favourite Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas running line astern behind.

Meanwhile both Red Bulls suffered a poor start with Vettel running wide into turn four allowing Kevin Magnussen and race start specialist Fernando Alonso to pass him, and by the end of the first lap Fernando Alonso headed Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo in seventh whilst Button and Magnussen ran fifth and sixth behind the Williams.

Felipe Massa was the first of the front runners to change to the medium tyres triggering the rest of the field to come steaming in. During the stop Massa was deemed to have been speeding in the pit lane and given a five second stop and go penalty, undoing all the advantage he had created by undercutting the field.

On lap seven Nico Rosberg was the first of the Mercedes to come in for a pit stop after complaining of blisters on his tyres. During this round of pit stops Hamilton was unable to make up enough time to pass his teammate; despite the gap being considerably reduced to only half a second as they both came across traffic.

By lap thirteen Alonso was still holding up the Red Bull duo in eleventh place.

Due to the difference in tyre strategy a number of overtakes were taking place throughout the field, first Fernando Alonso made a daring move on Adrian Sutil through the Senna Esses on lap seventeen followed by Felipe Massa passing Daniil Kyvat, who had yet to make a pit stop, for third and Kevin Magnussen passing Romain Grosjean down the pit straight four laps later for sixth position behind his teammate.

On lap twenty five the medium tyres appeared to be losing grip, the first indicator for Nico Rosberg was a lock up that showcased a large blister that brought him back into the pits. As Rosberg pitted Hamilton was given the call to push under the impression he would be pitting a lap later, he put in the fastest lap of the race but was unable to hold onto the pace for a second lap losing rear tyre grip and running off the track at turn one losing seven seconds in the process. It was evident that if Hamilton had not made that mistake he would have easily have passed his teammate after exiting the pit lane.

Amid a mass of drivers struggling with grip Kimi Raikkonen had stealthy made his way up to third place by making one less stop. However, this good work was unravelled during his pit stop on lap thirty six with a front jack failure causing him to lose a significant amount of time.

Trouble in the pits seemed to be becoming a theme of the day as Valtteri Bottas also suffered a slow pit stop during which his Williams mechanics unusually had to tighten his seatbelts, and a second penalty for speeding in the pit lane was handed to Sergio Perez’s Force India. Bottas’ issue dropped him behind the McLarens of Button and Magnussen.

Daniel Ricciardo’s day went from bad to worse on lap forty as he slowed down significantly citing a brake failure, the Red Bull team brought him in for a pit stop to inspect the car suspecting that it may have been suspension damage instead but were unable to fix the issue causing him to retire for the first time since Malaysia and ending his point scoring streak.

A number of battles were shaping up throughout the grid with Nico Hulkenberg putting a fantastically daring move on Valtteri Bottas for ninth place down the inside of turn one causing Bottas to run wide which also allowed an opportunistic Kimi Raikkonen to streak past.

On lap sixty one Jenson Button showcased why he should stay in Formula One next year with a fantastic move around the outside of Kimi Raikkonen into Descida do Lago and retaining the position as Raikkonen attempted to fight back. Vettel then followed Button through to take fifth in front of his expected Ferrari teammate next year.

Four laps later Raikkonen’s current teammate Fernando Alonso was close behind him as different strategies by the team had meant he had pitted once more and was clearly faster, however no order was made by the team to Raikkonen to let Alonso through. After the race Alonso stated that this was not an issue as he would have had to fuel save so would not have been able to challenge Vettel in front. Finally on lap sixty seven Alonso passed his teammate for sixth with a move around the outside on the pit straight.

The second retirement of the day came on lap sixty six with Romain Grosjean abandoning his heavily smoking Lotus at the side of the track, ending an otherwise promising weekend for the team.

Meanwhile up in front the battle for the lead was down to half a second with Hamilton faster in the first sector by 3 tenths, but he was unable to challenge for the lead allowing Rosberg to win for the first time in four months and reigniting the title battle going into the final race in Abu Dhabi and of course the double points it will award.

The result was an eleventh one-two for the Mercedes team this season and for Hamilton to win the title he will have to finish no lower than second in Abu Dhabi if his teammate wins the race due to the seventeen point lead Hamilton holds. If Rosberg is second he can afford to finish fifth, the same position as when he won his first title in 2008.

The home favourite Massa finished third adding to his stellar record at the Interlagos circuit with Jenson Button securing fourth amidst concern over his future at McLaren, Sebastian Vettel in fifth and Fernando Alonso once again finished in front of his teammate in sixth.

Classification

1	ROSBERG		MERCEDES	1:30:02.555
2	HAMILTON		MERCEDES	+1.400
3	MASSA		WILLIAMS	+40.900
4	BUTTON		MCLAREN	+48.500
5	VETTEL		RED BULL	+51.200
6	ALONSO		FERRARI	+61.600
7	RAIKKONEN		FERRARI	+63.400
8	HULKENBERG		FORCE INDIA	+63.600
9	MAGNUSSEN		MCLAREN	+69.700
10	BOTTAS		WILLIAMS	+1 LAP
11	KVYAT		TORO ROSSO	+1 LAP
12	MALDONADO		LOTUS	+1 LAP
13	VERGNE		TORO ROSSO	+1 LAP
14	GUTIERREZ		SAUBER	+1 LAP
15	PEREZ		FORCE INDIA	+1 LAP
16	SUTIL		SAUBER	+1 LAP
RET	GROSJEAN		LOTUS
RET	RICCIARDO		RED BULL

Rosberg reignites title fight and secures pole position trophy in Brazil

There is only one word for the final qualifying session in Brazil and that was tight. The top ten were covered by only a second and vitally Lewis Hamilton lost pole to his teammate Nico Rosberg by only three hundredths of a second. Home favourite Felipe Massa also shined by beating his Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas by only six hundredths of a second to round off a top three separated by only two tenths.

It was apparent from the very start of Q1 that it was going to be a tight fight as the Mercedes cars went out on the softer, and subsequently faster, tyres straight away to secure their progression through to Q2.

At the start of the session Fernando Alonso was heard on the radio complaining to the Ferrari team he is expected to depart at the end o f the season, after he was sent out on a flying lap with no battery charge which allowed him to be passed by a Lotus on the track.

Among the high ranking names that were made to sweat as the session came to a close was Sebastian Vettel in thirteenth place as the two Sauber cars managed to squeeze their way through at the expense of the Lotus’s of Grosjean and Maldonado, Jean-Eric-Vergne’s Torro Rosso, who was complaining of understeer, and Sergio Perez’s Force India who will also receive a seven place grid penalty after being deemed to have caused an accident in Austin.

In the second qualifying session the success Sauber had experienced in Q1 seemed to be undone as Adrian Sutil ran wide onto the grass at Junção and was unable to find a way through to the top ten shoot out.

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was also unable to re-enact his previous fantastic performances at a track of which he gained pole position in 2010 to put at least one Force India through to the final session after his teammate Perez was unable to get past Q1.

McLaren decided to risk not sending Button out for another lap in Q2 as they deemed him to be safe with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen unable to go faster than him.

Meanwhile Daniel Ricciardo had to put in a good lap with only thirty seconds to go to get out of the bottom four. Daniil Kyvat also decided not to go out as he had a seven place rid penalty left over from Austin for a component change.

Going into Q3 the momentum well and truly appeared to be with Rosberg who had been fastest in every single session that weekend, with Felipe Massa sneaking past Hamilton in Q2 and receiving standing ovation from the home crowd for his efforts.

The Williams cars looked genuinely threatening to the Mercedes duo as Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas stayed within a tenth of a second until the last flying laps by the Mercedes drivers despite a lock up on Bottas’ first flying lap.

Kimi Raikkonen’s decision to go out early did not appear to work  in his favour as he fell to tenth and his teammate Fernando Alonso secured eighth in the dying moments of the session.

A slight a lock up on Hamilton’s flying lap caused him to lose pole by the smallest of margins 0.033 of a second. Felipe Massa was unable to join the battle for pole due to a slow middle sector which caused him to abandon his last lap.

Going into the race Rosberg looked a dominant force as he aimed to reignite his chances of adding a world championship to his pole position trophy.

Top Ten Classification:

1. Rosberg Mercedes 1.10.023
2. Hamilton Mercedes +0.033
3. Massa Williams +0.224
4. Bottas Williams +0.282
5. Button McLaren +0.907
6. Vettel Red Bull +0.915
7. Magnussen McLaren +0.946
8. Alonso Ferrari +0.954
9. Ricciardo Red Bull +1.052
10. Raikkonen Ferrari +1.076

Rosberg heads Hamilton in both practice sessions in Brazil

Political manoeuvring behind the scenes overshadowed the on-track action during free practice one and two in Brazil with disputes over contracts and financial concerns filtering through the paddock.

The sad news that Marussia have ceased trading came on Friday morning and Caterham, who were not at the race last week in Austin or at Brazil, are launching a crowd funding scheme to raise £2.3 million in an attempt to escape the same fate.

Meanwhile at Sauber the financial pressure has not stopped them from taking to the track but has appeared to have influenced who will be driving for them next year with reports that Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson and Williams reserve driver Felipe Nasr will be replacing Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil. Sutil has alluded to the fact that he still has a two year contract and could therefore have a challenge to the announcement, Sauber’s reserve driver Giedo Van de Garde also claims to have believed he would be contracted for a race seat next year, however it would appear that the vast funding of Felipe Nasr is sorely needed at Sauber due to the financial pressures of the sport at the moment.

A driver change at McLaren also appears imminent as Jenson Button has announced that he is considering other career avenues than Formula One with the expectant news that Fernando Alonso will replace him at McLaren after a disappointing season at Ferrari.

As the politics played out behind the scenes on track the action was shattered as a series of red flag incidents interrupted both sessions.

The problems started early for Jenson Button when his Mclaren pulled over to the side of the pit lane exit with an issue that did not allow him to go out for the rest of Free practice one.

As is tradition in Free practice one a number of new faces were seen on the grid with Jundacella in Sergio Perez’s Force India and Max Verstappen, who has a Torro Rosso set for next year. in Jean Eric Vergnes car.

Unfortunately the new boys encountered some issues around the classically challenging track with Jundacella going off into the tyre barriers of Curva Da Laranjinha causing the first red flag with just 28 minutes on the track. Then after the session restarted Max Verstappen suffered from a severe front tyre lock up and ran wide through the Senna Esses.

After Free practice one a virtual safety car was tested, with all cars being given a set delta time in which to return to the pits and a new practice of two drivers coming in to perform a pit stop.

Rosberg headed Hamilton on the leader board, breaking Hamilton’s run of perfect practices faster by 0.221 seconds.

In Free practice two the red flags came thick and fast with Jean Eric Vergne stopping on Descida do Lago with over an hour and fifteen minutes left on the clock.

Then an issue appeared to be hampering Fernando Alonso’s progress throughout the session ending in an apparent engine failure which caused flames to engulf the Ferrari and cause Alonso to change from Formula One driver to fireman as he ran to put it out.

Classification

Free Practice One

1	ROSBERG		MERCEDES	1:12.764
2	HAMILTON		MERCEDES	+0.221
3	KVYAT		TORO ROSSO	+0.959
4	ALONSO		FERRARI	+0.978
5	MASSA		WILLIAMS	+1.047
6	VERSTAPPEN		TORO ROSSO	+1.063
7	MALDONADO		LOTUS	+1.270
8	RAIKKONEN		FERRARI	+1.350
9	MAGNUSSEN		MCLAREN	+1.372
10	RICCIARDO		RED BULL	+1.433
11	SUTIL		SAUBER	+1.670
12	F NASR		WILLIAMS	+1.758
13	HULKENBERG		FORCE INDIA	+1.914
14	VETTEL		RED BULL	+2.138
15	GROSJEAN		LOTUS	+2.345
16	JUNCADELLA		FORCE INDIA	+3.266
17	GUTIERREZ		SAUBER	–
18	BUTTON		MCLAREN

Free Practice Two

1             ROSBERG                                                              MERCEDES                               1:12.123

2	HAMILTON		MERCEDES	+0.213
3	RAIKKONEN		FERRARI	+0.573
4	RICCIARDO		RED BULL	+0.833
5	BOTTAS		WILLIAMS	+0.912
6	MASSA		WILLIAMS	+0.976
7	ALONSO		FERRARI	+0.999
8	KVYAT		TORO ROSSO	+1.131
9	VETTEL		RED BULL	+1.210
10	MAGNUSSEN		MCLAREN	+1.356
11	MALDONADO		LOTUS	+1.374
12	GROSJEAN		LOTUS	+1.591
13	HULKENBERG		FORCE INDIA	+1.759
14	GUTIERREZ		SAUBER	+1.779
15	SUTIL		SAUBER	+2.081
16	BUTTON		MCLAREN	+2.086
17	VERGNE		TORO ROSSO	+5.048
18	PEREZ		FORCE INDIA

Race Recap: Hamilton reignites championship fight with win in Monza after Rosberg makes mistake

The Italian Grand Prix at Monza started under a cloud of controversy following the incident between the two Mercedes drivers at Spa, a cloud that would not disperse all weekend.

Lewis Hamilton stormed to victory after a perfect weekend which saw him top all three practice sessions, gain pole by over a quarter of second from his teammate and chanter to victory despite a poor start and niggling electrical  issues throughout the weekend.

At the race start Lewis Hamilton looked set to prove that bad luck was truly catching as he suffered yet another failure with the race start setup failing to engage losing three places and vitally the lead to teammate Nico Roseberg. Compounding issues was the fast starting McLaren of Magnussen who had sling-shotted his way up to second in a seemly determined move to demonstrate his worth to the Mclaren team bosses as he continues to fight for his seat at the Woking based outfit.

The Williams’ had shown pace all weekend and Felipe Massa managed to pass his teammate Vatterai Bottas to gain third ahead of Hamilton. Bottas, it was later discovered, had suffered an electrical software issue on his race start dropping from fourth to eleventh. Williams’ Chief Technical Officer Pat Symonds said after the race that the start was not even recognised as a race start on their telemetry.

However, the flying Finn showcased the raw racers talent that he has shown at so many points in his first two seasons in F1 as he fought his way up the field with some fantastic manoeuvres on Vettel, Magnussen and Ricciardo to take fourth behind his teammate and score some valuable points for Williams in their fight with Ferrari in the constructors championship.

Unfortunately for the avid Tifosi the prancing horse proved more of a leisurely stroller for Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso, with Raikkonen qualifying a lowly 11th after a penalty to Daniel Kyat and Fernando Alonso in seventh unable to fight for the second row of the grid let alone pole.

Rosberg began having issues when approaching turn one as early as lap nine, running off the track and through the chicane losing 1.8 seconds of his lead and allowing Felipe Mass’s Williams and his teammate to close in on him.

As Massa sat in second his Williams teammate Valtteri Bottas was fantastically fighting his way through the field from eleventh and by lap fourteen had passed local hero Fernando Alonso easily around the outside on the main straight for seventh place and two laps later put the same beautiful move on Jenson Button to gain sixth.

Meanwhile, Hamilton had also been steaming through the field passing Felipe Massa easily around the outside of the chicane for second place and had been cutting into his teammates lead by half a second a lap despite calls from his team to hang back and preserve his tyres.

Hamilton’s determination paid off as on lap twenty eight Roseberg run off the track at the chicane for a second time, this time allowing his teammate to take the lead. Within the space of a few laps Hamilton had extended his lead to four seconds and it was Rosberg’s turn to be asked to slow down and preserve tyres and fuel by the team.  The mistake by Rosberg was considered b many after the race as a sign that the pressure mounted on him after Spa was being to show, whilst others formed conspiracy theories after Toto Wolff was deemed to have smiled after the mistake.

As Mercedes held a comfortable one- two the prancing horses of Ferrari were looking a little lame as Fernando Alonso’s car slowed to a stop at the side of turn one with an electrical problem, his first mechanical retirement since 2010 and the only time he had not been on the podium at Monza in his Ferrari career. His teammate Kimi Raikkonen meanwhile appeared to be off the pace down in ninth place.

Further down the field an epic battle was occurring between the two McLaren’s and Sergio Perez’s Force India. Kevin Magnussen had received a five second penalty for an earlier incident with Valtteri Bottas where the stewards had deemed him to have forced Bottas off the track; this was added to his time after the race placing him down in tenth and with a solitary point.

On lap thirty seven Bottas finally managed to pass Magnussen with a move down the main straight after being held up for at least four laps. He then set off after Vettel passing him for fourth.

Meanwhile Magnussen’s teammate Jenson Button sparred with Perez for seventh place passing him into the first corner on lap thirty nine only to run wide and allow Perez to regain the position, the constant changing of positions carried on until the end of the race with Perez ultimately the winner holding onto seventh place.

Riccardo on lap forty seven illustrated to the world and his team that his teammate four time world champion Sebastian Vettel did not intimidate him with a fantastic move down the inside of the second chicane, taking fifth place behind Bottas.

Raikkonen continued Ferrari’s 80 race long point scoring streak despite a poor weekend for the Scuderia, gaining ninth after Kevin Magnussen’s penalty and Daniel Kyvat, who had been closing in for a number of laps, suffered a brake issue going straight on through turn one.

Overall not the renaissance that Ferrari had be hoping for at their home Grand Prix and on Monday it was announced that their long time president Luca di Montezemolo will be stepping down, rumoured to be caused by a wish for a fresh start and return to winning ways for the majestic team.

The win for Hamilton signalled the turnaround of his championship fight with a dominant performance to reduce the points deficit to twenty two points with six races to go.

Race Recap: Ricciardo secures third win in Belgium after Mercedes clash

War. That was the residing feeling from the Belgian Grand Prix as teammates Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg connected on lap one causing a puncture for Hamilton, front wing damage for Rosberg and handed a third win to the ever present Daniel Ricciardo.

The feeling around the paddock and amongst fans appeared to be that this was inevitable; a collision when fighting for the title in such a dominant car between two incredibly talented drivers appearing unavoidable.

Since the third race of the season in Bahrain the tension between the teammates appeared to be building at Qualifying in Monaco and an on-track fight in Hungary and finally that tension came to a head in the Belgium grand prix.

In Qualifying it was Rosberg who secured pole by a comfortable two tenths of a second but a fantastic start for Hamilton allowed him to take the lead of the race with an overtaking move around the outside of turn one.

Vettel then attempted to take Hamilton on the outside of La Combes, but ran wide off the track and along the sleeping policeman which allowed Rosberg to re-pass for second.

On the next lap Hamilton ran wide through Eau Rouge and Rosberg lined up alongside him before backing out of the move, tapping Lewis’s left rear tyre with his front wing end plate in the process and giving his teammate an instant puncture.

The contact damaged Hamilton’s floor as he dragged his three wheeled wagon back to the pits and came out at the back of the field where he stayed until his retirement on lap 40 to save his engine. Rosberg, meanwhile, had sustained damage to his front wing and decided to err on the side of caution and changed his front wing in his first pit stop.

Hamilton was on the racing line and Hamilton reported that apparently Rosberg had said after the race during a team briefing that he did not back out of the move to make a point to his teammate. He has been reprimanded by Mercedes with a fine after Toto Wolff stated that it was “unacceptable”. Rosberg’s action meant he was booed on the podium despite his assertion at the time that he had done nothing wrong and that the fans were wrong to boo without understanding the regulations. On the Friday after the race Rosberg issued a statement on his Facebook page apologising to his teammate to which Hamilton responded by releasing a statement saying both had done things that could be considered wrong.

Teammate battles seemed the issue of the day as Ricciardo started honing on Vettel in the sister Red Bull and on lap 9 he had passed for second place after Vettel ran wide into Pouhon. Despite Vettel pitting earlier Ricciardo managed to stay ahead of his teammate and ultimately Rosberg to take his third race win of the season and his career.

Rosberg’s day went from bad to worse as on lap 16 the Mercedes powered Williams of Bottas glided past him on the Kemmel straight to take fourth place and a later pass on Jenson Button was deemed illegal by the stewards as he had run off track limits. However, he quickly showcased his pace by steaming past Alonso for third place on lap 26 and began chasing after Valtteri Bottas’ Williams and leader Ricciardo.

After the second round of pit stops on lap 36 Rosberg came out just front of Bottas allowing Valtteri to showcase his speed and skill with a move around the outside coming into the chicane.  However, he did not hold onto third for long as Rosberg made a daring move around the inside of Bottas going into Blanchimont .

Rosberg then quickly despatched a struggling Kimi Raikkonen on older tyres for second place and then set about cutting into the one stopping Daniel Ricciardo’s 20 second lead by over three seconds a lap.

Meanwhile Fernando Alonso was fighting with Kevin Magnussen’s Mclaren for fifth place, Magnussen fantastically defended a move around the outside by Alonso and Alonso was pushed onto the grass, a move that Fernando and the stewards believed was too aggressive. After the race Kevin Magnussen was awarded a 20 second time penalty and fell from sixth to twelfth.

Despite the late charge from Rosberg Daniel Ricciardo held onto a three second gap and secured his third win of the season with Valtteri Bottas gaining a fantastic third for Williams. Rosberg extended his championship lead over Hamilton by 18 points but as was clear after the race the ramifications and price of those points was incredibly high.