F1 Madness

Tag: double points

  • Q & A with Nico Rosberg: I never let Lewis get within striking distance

    Q & A with Nico Rosberg: I never let Lewis get within striking distance

    After a mistake on the first lap saw Nico Rosberg lose out to team mate Lewis Hamilton in the United States Grand Prix, Rosberg knew that he needed to win in Brazil, and he did just that. In doing so, he cut his championship rival’s lead down to 17 points and still stands a chance of taking the title at the season ending double-points finale in Abu Dhabi.

    Following the Brazilian Grand Prix, Rosberg chatted to reporters about how he kept Hamilton at bay and what his win means moving into the final race of the season.

    This exclusive Q&A with Nico Rosberg was published on the official Formula One website:

    Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton, Brazilian GPQ: Nico, it was an enthralling race and not one for the faint-hearted. How much could you feel Lewis (Hamilton) breathing down your neck?
    Nico Rosberg:     Yes, it was sizzling. But it was not the race alone: I have felt very comfortable the whole weekend and I’ve had a great deal of self-confidence. I was convinced that I had learned from what I didn’t do so well in Austin – the little weakness that I had. And it makes me very happy to see that I have made real steps forward in that short time since the US Grand Prix. So when I reflect on the race, the start was super, and in the first stint I already saw that I was able to control the gap to Lewis. It was important to never let him get close enough to try a real attack. Then he made his mistake – and I used that situation as we were both very much at the limit with the tyres all the time. We really had to watch out to make it with three stops, so when he made his mistake and fell behind by something like six seconds that was also the moment when I could take it a bit easier to make sure that my tyres lasted until the last lap of my stint.

    Q: What does victory here mean in terms of your title chances?
    Nico Rosberg:     Unfortunately it is one race too late to have it in my hands – only by four points. Sad but true! But now I need a little bit of help from somebody else as Lewis must not finish in P2 in Abu Dhabi – the maximum to keep my chances realistic is him finishing no higher than P3. Maybe (that will be) a Williams that you cannot pass on the straight!

    Lewis Hamilton, Brazilian Grand PrixQ: What went through your head when you heard over team radio that your team mate – and the leader in the standings – had made a mistake?
    Nico Rosberg:     I enjoyed it! (laughs) That was the moment when I knew that I could play it a bit easier and not have to push the tyres to the ultimate limit.

    Q: After his mistake Lewis was able to close the gap again significantly – in the end it was only 1.4 seconds. How much were you in control?
    Nico Rosberg:     I felt good today and was pretty sure that I would not make a mistake today – that I had learned from Austin. So I tried to keep my rhythm and had a watchful eye never to let him get to within striking distance. And it worked – contrary to Austin. I draw much hope from today’s race for the shootout in Abu Dhabi.

    Q: Mathematically, Lewis only has to finish in the same position that he did today in Abu Dhabi to take the title. But do you think he is chewing on today’s race and that you are probably in a better position than he is?
    Nico Rosberg:     Believe me, I would definitely prefer to be the hunted than the hunter. But these are the facts and Abu Dhabi will be a thriller – and a blockbuster for the fans. I have to win – at least that is the plan!

    Q: How difficult is it to push all the championship permutations to one side and focus on pure racing? Abu Dhabi might be the biggest weekend of your career…
    Nico Rosberg:     Of course it is difficult. But since Austin I’ve known that I have to win the last two races – today I did that, and the plan is to do the same in Abu Dhabi. After today I feel that it will also work in Abu Dhabi.

    Q: What are you going to do in the week between here and Abu Dhabi?
    Nico Rosberg:     Ha, I need to motivate Felipe Massa to have a very relaxing time and then to have a stunning weekend in Abu Dhabi so he comes in second and I win the race!

     

  • Eddie Irvine brands double points rule as “insanity”

    Eddie Irvine brands double points rule as “insanity”

    Former Formula One driver Eddie Irvine has branded the idea of double points for the season finale as “insanity” and vows he won’t be watching another race “until the rule is kicked out”.

    Irvine, who drove for Jordan, Ferrari and Jaguar during his decade-long career, is not one to be shy of giving an opinion and has already voiced his displeasure with additions such as DRS to the sport.

    Now, in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph, Irvine has lashed out at the new regulation changes in the sport, more specifically at the new double points rule which will see drivers receiving double points for the final race in Abu Dhabi at the end of the 2014 season.

    “I think Formula One has lost its way,” he told Belfast Telegraph.

    “This latest rule of double points for the last race is insanity. That actually made me realise I am not going to watch another race until that rule gets kicked out. That is just embarrassing. It really is. They should be ashamed of themselves.”

    “I just think the people involved in these decisions have lost the plot. They have no understanding of reality and the people who are in there have been in too long. They have blown up the history of the sport by changing the points, changing the qualifying and now double points for the final race!”

    “It’s ridiculous, I’ve never heard such a joke in all my life. Talk about tinsel town bullshit!”

    Irvine also had a few things to say about Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton.

    When asked whether he thought that Vettel is on the same level as his former team mate and seven time world champion, Michael Schumacher, Irvine seemed to think that Vettel is proving nothing by staying at Red Bull.

    “Vettel’s record is amazing, though he has kept the best car pretty much every year which Michael didn’t have. The one thing about Michael was when he won his first two championships he felt ‘this is boring, I’m going to go to Ferrari and re-build Ferrari’ and that was very admirable. He struggled there for four years before he won another championship. Vettel just staying at Red Bull winning trophies is boring. I don’t see what he’s trying to prove. Okay, he’s going to collect a lot of championships, but you know what, who cares?”

    Irvine didn’t hold back about Hamilton either, saying that he’d “lost the plot a little bit because he went too showbiz.”

    He continued, “His entry into Formula One was fantastic and his talent was amazing. Then he wanted to be a movie star or a rapper or something else. People want their sports stars to be 100% committed to being sports stars. I think he is coming back from that now and it would be nice if he could challenge Vettel. Lewis and Fernando Alonso are the two guys capable of taking Vettel on if their cars are up to it. Unfortunately, they aren’t at the moment.”

    Irvine put a final little dig in at the current state of Formula One saying that he much prefers watching the Discovery Channel and doesn’t keep in touch with anyone other than Kimi Raikkon who “rings me the odd time when he’s drunk!”

     

     

     

  • Lotus F1 Team has a laugh with 18 new rules for 2014

    Lotus F1 Team has a laugh with 18 new rules for 2014

    The Lotus F1 Team is taking the FIA’s announcement detailing new regulations for next season in their stride.

    A good few teams and drivers have voiced their disapproval of the changes, specifically the controversial double points rule which Sebastian Vettel slammed as being “absurd”.

    The Lotus team however, posted a link on their website, Twitter account and Facebook pages detailing 18 new rules for the 2014 season which are bound to give F1 fans a good laugh.

    The rules range from “anyone with a dog named Roscoe” starting at the back of the grid to championship points deciders being determined by Rock, Paper, Scissors or Cage Fight.

    We particularly love the rule that any team with more than four members who’ve been Technical Directors, will have to design their cars using nothing but LEGO.

    Below is the full set of 18 rules, as published by the Lotus F1 Team.

    Lotus rule changes

     

     

     

  • Vettel slams double points rule as “absurd”

    Vettel slams double points rule as “absurd”

    Four time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has criticised FIA plans to award double points for the final race of the season from 2014.

    Under the new double points rule, the winning driver of the final race in Abu Dhabi next season, will score 50 points instead of 25 under the proposed rule change.

    The FIA has set out a number of rule changes for next season and beyond, including a global cost cap in 2015, changes to penalties for minor infringements and permanent driver numbers. The new double points rule however, is the one that will raise the most eyebrows.

    The decision to award double points, towards the drivers’ and constructors’ championships, at the final race of the season was made “to maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign”, according to a statement released by the FIA.

    Vettel would still have won this year’s title in India but would have lost the 2012 title to Fernando Alonso if the double points rule had been in place at the time and the German driver is far from happy.

    “This is absurd and punishes those who have worked hard for a whole season,” said the Vettel, who won the final nine races of the 2013 season.

    “Drivers, fans and experts are horrified,” he told German newspaper, Sports Bild.

    “I value the old traditions in Formula 1 and do not understand this new rule,” he continued. “Imagine, in the last Bundesliga match of the season there was suddenly double points.”

    His new Red Bull team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo, also appeared to be against the proposed double points rule change.

    “Seems to be pretty bizarre. Not sure who came up with that one..,” Ricciardo posted on Twitter.

    Interestingly, Red Bull is one of the teams who sit on F1′s strategy group, which contributed to the new regulations being passed. The FIA and Formula One Management also vote on the changes.

    But Red Bull’s Helmut Marko said that the team was opposed to the changes and revealed that the original plan was for the final four races of the year to carry double points.

    “We were against it,” he said. “But our team boss Christian Horner was overruled.”

    “At first it was planned to be awarded double points for the last four races,” he continued. “Then the world championship up to that point would have been almost useless.”

     

  • F1 2014 Rule Changes: Double Points For Season Finale

    F1 2014 Rule Changes: Double Points For Season Finale

    The points tally for the season ending Abu Dhabi grand prix in 2014 will be doubled.

    The decision to double the points tally at the 2014 season finale was taken by the F1 Strategy Group and Formula One Commission at a meeting in Paris.  An FIA statement said that the change had been agreed “in order to maximise focus on the championship until the end of the campaign”.

    The specialised points system will apply to both the driver’s and constructor’s world championships. This means that the winner of the 2014 Abu Dhabi GP will be awarded 50 points, second place will receive 36 and so throughout the top ten points paying positions.

    The move has been met with great scepticism and comment that Formula 1 is becoming to ‘gimmicky.’