Tag: nico rosberg

Brazilian GP Qualifying – Rosberg beats Hamilton to pole

Nico Rosberg beat Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton to the Brazilian GP pole position by a mere 0.033s. Rosberg’s 10th pole of the year ensures that he has secured the inaugural F1 Pole Trophy.

The German was driver topped all three practice sessions over the course of the weekend but was not about to start celebrating just yet. “Perfect job only if it works out tomorrow. I need to make it happen in the race unlike Austin,” he said in the post-qualifying press conference.

Of course, with the two drivers matching times so closely, he’s perfectly right. Lewis lost the Brazilian GP pole position by fractions of a second after carrying too much speed into Turn 10 on his flying lap, which caused the rear to step out and send him drifting around through the turn.

The Williams drivers put up an exceptionally impressive battle and at one point even threatening to separate the two Mercedes drivers. “We really thought he [Felipe Massa] could have separated the Mercedes drivers,” Clare Williams said in post-qualifying interviews. Massa however locked up at T1 on his final flying attempt and faced traffic in the final sector which forced him to abort his final lap and qualify in third place. His home crowd cheered like crazy as he arrived back in Parc Ferme shouting, “Massa! Massa! Massa!” to let him know they were fully behind him.

Williams team mate Valterri Bottas was also forced to abort his final lap and qualifying in fourth place on the Brazilian GP grid. Jenson Button was fifth for McLaren, ahead of outgoing world champion Sebastian Vettel.

Button is hoping that his team can take the challenge to Ferrari tomorrow and qualifying ahead of them today is a good start, “It’s a massive gap to Ferrari in the constructors. But we have to make them feel like we’re challenging them,” he said.

Kevin Magnussen finished ahead of Fernando Alonso, with Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen rounding out the Top 10 qualifiers.

Both Sauber drivers made it into Q2 with Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil split by Nico Hulkenberg in his Force India. Sutil may have finished a little better but ran wide at Juncao on his first hot lap costing him valuable time.

Daniil Kvyat didn’t set a lap time in Q2 and finished in 14th place but will drop down to back of the grid as he serves the remainder of an engine penalty carried over from Austin.

Romain Grosjean finished only 15th fastest, while Jean-Eric Vergne placed 16th for Toro Rosso after making an error at Mergulho.

Sergio Perez finished in 17th place but will drop back behind Maldonado who qualified in last place. Perez drops back due to his grid penalty for causing a collision with Sutil, which the FIA branded as “reckless”, in Austin.

The stage is set for plenty of drama tomorrow’s Brazilian GP and we’re again faced with a chance of rain. Join us tomorrow on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat with fellow F1 Mad fans!

November 8, 2014
Rosberg makes it three out of three in final Brazilian GP practice

Rosberg has sent out a very clear message about his intentions this weekend by completing a clean sweep after topping the time sheets for all three practice sessions ahead of the Brazilian GP.

Rosberg topped the session ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton with a lap time of 1:10.446. His time is faster any pole position time ever seen at the circuit, and only six tenths of a second off the record time, which was set a decade ago. It is very likely that we’ll see the record time beaten before the end of the Brazilian GP on the newly resurfaced Interlagos circuit.

An epic storm which hit Sao Paolo last night washed away most of the rubber that had been laid down during Friday’s Brazilian GP practice sessions so grip levels were pretty low to start off with. A good few drivers enjoyed a few minor spins and excursions off the track including Lewis Hamilton who spun into the Senna S.

The Williams duo set the early pace while teams were still running on the Prime tyres but fell behind the Mercedes drivers after the switch to options. Brazilian home favourite Felipe Massa still manage to secure the third spot with Valterri Bottas finishing fourth.

Daniel Ricciardo finished fifth for Red Bull, ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button. Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso placed themselves in seventh and eighth for Ferrari, while Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat completed the top 10.

Sebastian Vettel could manage only 11th for Red Bull, ahead of everybody’s favourite Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado.

Adrian Sutil, who has pretty much been dumped by his team Sauber team, finished 13th, ahead of the two Frenchmen Romain Grosjean and Jean-Eric Vergne.

Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez rounded out the 18-car field. Only 18 cars will compete in the Brazilian GP following the shutting down of the Marussia F1 team, and Caterham who are now looking for crowd funding in order to still be able to compete in Abu Dhabi.

Nico Rosberg will be looking to secure pole position this afternoon ahead of tomorrow’s Brazilian GP, and with possible rain on the way, there’s no doubt that the stage is set for a nail biting qualifying session.

Please join us on Twitter @F1_Madness for live commentary and chat during qualifying and the Brazlian GP.

Your full time sheet for the third and final Brazilian GP practice session, is below:

November 8, 2014
Brazilian GP: Rosberg Tops the Time Sheets in FP2

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg finished on top of the time sheets in the second practice session for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Rosberg finished the session 0.213s ahead of his team mate Lewis Hamilton with a 1:12.123. Hamilton ended his session with a 1:12.336. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen showed some encouraging pace to round out the top three with a 1:12.696, 0.573s slower than Rosberg’s P1 time.

Force India’s Sergio Perez could not run in the session due to the repairs that were being carried out on his car after Daniel Juncadell’s crash in FP1. Although the damage wasn’t severe, the repair work to be carried out on his car was complicated, which resulted in the Mexican missing the session.

Jean-Eric Vergne’s session was cut short after his Toro Rosso suffered from vibrations at the front.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso ended his session prematurely after flames were seen escaping from his exhaust. He came to a stop in a plume of white smoke. He was quickly out of the car and did a little bit of fire fighting to put out the blaze on his car. After the session Ferrari said that it was an old engine with high mileage, so there was no cause for concern and he would not incur a penalty as it was not his race engine.

Just as the session got underway after it was red flagged to recover Alonso’s car, Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez came to a stop in almost the same place as Alonso with a reported MGU-K problem. The session was red flagged and got underway with just 9 minutes on the clock.

The big talking point this session was about the tyre choices. Nico Rosberg had an unusually high amount of blistering on his tyres. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo also reported heavy blistering on his rear tyres. It seems as though the tyres will be a big issue this weekend. If it does rain it will be a very different story for everyone.

November 7, 2014
F1 2014: Free Practice 1 Report – Rosberg Tops In Brazil

Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg topped the timing sheets at the end of the first free practice session ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian grand prix.

The German driver was roughly two tenths faster than his championship rival and teammate Lewis Hamilton. Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat set the third fastest timing in overcast conditions nearly a second off the leading Mercedes.

The newly re-surfaced track delivered little grip in the opening part of the one and a half hour session which resulted in several spins for various drivers. Force India’s Spanish reserve driver Daniel Juncadella was unable to limit his excursion just to a spin and made solid contact with the barriers. The Force India’s left-front suspension seemed to take the brunt of the impact as the driver exited the car uninjured. The incident brought out the red flag in order to safely recover the damaged car.

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso completed thirty laps in his session and clocked the fourth fastest time ahead of local hero Felipe Massa in fifth. An ERS issue kept Jenson Button from setting a flying lap during the first free practice session. Similarly Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez was able to complete only a handful of installations laps due an electrical problem.

Max Verstappen continued his preparation for 2015 by setting the sixth fastest time overall in the session ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado and Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. McLaren’s Kevin Magnussen and Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

November 7, 2014
2014 Formula 1 Petrobras Brazilian Grand Prix: Thursday Press Conference

DRIVERS:

Kevin MAGNUSSEN (McLaren)

Adrian SUTIL (Sauber)

Pastor MALDONADO (Lotus)

Jean-Eric VERGNE (Toro Rosso)

Felipe MASSA (Williams)

Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

PRESS CONFERENCE

Nico, if we could start with you? It’s the first time this year, in this championship, that the championship itself is out of your hands, in the sense that two wins, here and in Abu Dhabi, won’t be enough. Do you feel you need to rely on a little bit of luck then and this venue might provide it?

Nico ROSBERG: Yeah, it’s clear that I need to rely on something happening. Yeah, for sure there’s not enough for me to win, unfortunately, but that’s the way it is. Anyways, in sport so much can happen, so I’m still very optimistic.

You had a rich run of form from Monaco through to Hockenheim. How would characterise the period since then?

NR: A less rich run of form! What is it? Lewis has done a little bit of a better job since then. That’s it, pretty simple, but as I say, still two races.

OK, thank you. Felipe, coming to you: obviously, you’re a two-time winner of the Brazilian Grand Prix. Do you feel that with this car this year is your best shot of getting back on the podium, since that great win in ’08.

Felipe MASSA: Yeah, I think so. Anyway, I was on the podium in 2012. It’s a fantastic track for me. A track that I had great results. As you said, two victories, almost three I would say. Three pole positions. I always love this track. I won many races [here] even before Formula One. So I started my career here, on the other side of the wall, which is a go-kart track, at the top. I love this place. I love the energy that I feel here and I’m really looking forward to having a fantastic weekend. I hope our car can be as competitive as shown in the other tracks here as well. We’ll see how far we can be, or maybe even in the middle of these guys here on the left [Mercedes]. Trying to get all the opportunities to have a great race here.

You’ve obviously been a key part of Williams’ renaissance this year. With all the experience you have, tell us how you feel this team can become more competitive in 2015?

FM: Well, first of all you cannot forget how much we grow from the first race until now. I think maybe… I would say it was the team that grows more during the championship. It was a team that gets better, that improved the car in the top level, from the first race to the last race, looking at where we started and where we are now. So, I think definitely the team… when we started at the first test and where we are now, the team changed completely the organisation, the mentality. We are still changing, there are still some improvements we are working to be there before the first race of next year. But I really believe in this team. I think this team has everything to be even more competitive, it has everything to be fighting for victories and I really, really hope for championships as well.

Kevin, coming to you, obviously clear progress for McLaren on the car side in the last few grands prix, that’s clear to see. But the car still seem to have a narrow sweet spot in terms of getting the most out of it during a race weekend. What’s going on there?

Kevin MAGNUSSEN: A lot of it is down to the tyres, making the tyres work. It’s seems that sometimes we get it better than others. Sochi was an example of where we got the tyres working very well and I think Austin was an example of where we didn’t. It’s a little bit hard to understand but we’re trying out best.

Since the summer break you’ve had pretty strong form yourself personally, especially in qualifying. Do you think you’ve done enough to book your seat for 2015?

KM: I can only say I hope so. I think I’ve learned a lot. I’ve improved a lot in many areas and yeah, I’m sure I have a lot more potential even from where I am now. So, I hope so.

Thank you very much. Pastor, coming to you, first points in Austin, a very strong performance. Tell us about your and Lotus’ fight back?

Pastor MALDONADO: It was a very tough season, especially at the beginning, even not able to run the car as we wanted. It was not maybe the best way to start to work with a team. But we did a great job to try to put everything together, to get better and better and at some point we decided to be focused on next year’s car. But the team seems to be quite good, very competitive in terms of spirit. They are used to being in the front. They know how to do a good car, so let’s hope the best for next year.

How do you feel about opportunities for this weekend? This track is always very unpredictable and the weather forecast looks like it’s going to be pretty wet throughout the weekend. A lot of variables there. Opportunities?

PM: Yeah, the main objective is to maintain the performance we had last week in Austin, so we think, as a team, we can continue to fight for the points. That is the main focus at the moment.

Q: Adrian, coming to you, obviously Sauber have announced both their 2015 drivers, so in what direction does your future lie, do you feel?

Adrian SUTIL: I don’t know, so I will see what is possible, what I want and also… yeah, it’s quite a few things to think about and I can’t really say more at the moment.

Q: Are you optimistic that you’ll be in Formula One next year?

AS: At the moment, I don’t know. Maybe. F1 is unpredictable – but as I said, there are a few things to think about first and then the team has to comment the rest.

Q: Obviously great performance in qualifying in Austin, you must have been so disappointed the way that first lap turned out. Have you spoken to Sergio [Pérez] afterwards? Have you been back through it?

AS: No, we didn’t speak. He didn’t apologise, to be honest. But anyway, that’s how it is. Shame, it was for sure a good chance for points. It was a very nice qualifying, it was good to be in Q3 finally with this car. It has been quite a challenge this year, to be honest, so we didn’t expect it – but for some reason it got better and better through the qualifying session and especially on Saturday, the car was better than ever before, so, many things to analyse. We try it of course again here. I look forward to the race weekend. Big chances with weather looking very wet and I think everyone knows how the weather can turn out here in Brazil. We have seen many exciting races.

Q: Jean-Eric, coming to you, some encouraging noises that you may get a chance to retain your Toro Rosso seat for next year. Can you tell us about progress on that and progress on any other options you might have in Formula One?

Jean-Eric VERGNE: Well yeah, there were some good words from many people, especially from Franz [Tost]. Well, you know, it would be a good thing to stay with this team, I really believe in it and I think this year we did get a lot stronger and next year we’ll be again on this up-trend, so I believe we can be again in a better position next year so hopefully we can continue. But you never know. And I don’t know much more about the situation than this.

Q: It’s clear from watching you race in the last period of time, just more recently, that there’s a lot of passion in your driving. Is that coming from the adversity that you’ve been through, the setbacks, or is it anger? What’s driving it?

JEV: Definitely not anger. I believe that I’ve done many races in the past like this but unfortunately the beginning of the year I had a lot of DNF and obviously, when you don’t finish the race, people don’t remember what you’ve been up to in the race. That was a little bit of a shame. I haven’t changed anything. I drive with a lot of passion, I love racing, that’s what I do best and it doesn’t matter what I do next year, I continue, I don’t continue, I’ll always give my best to a hundred percent and try to have the most fun possible. This is when you perform well.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Elmar Dreher – German Press Agency) Adrian, I can imagine that you are very frustrated. Can you describe a little bit your feelings about this bad situation for you?

AS: Well, I’m not frustrated but that’s just how it is in F1 since many years. It’s a little bit a different business. That’s all I can say right now. I look forward to the race and that’s it.

Q: (Flavio Vanetti – Corriera della Sera) Nico, we know the championship will not finish here in Brazil. Is it an add-point from a psychological point of view that you can have a last chance in Abu Dhabi?

NR: It’s… for sure it’s great. Great news that for sure this year I have a chance to win the championship the way it is now. That’s a good thing. I’m also happy because it’s good for the fans that it’s going to be exciting until the very end. And, yeah, for sure it keeps me very, very optimistic.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, Lewis said that what happened in Spa was kind of a war for him and since then he changes his attitude and everything. What has it changed for you since then and what do you think you have to do now to change the results of the last five races?

NR: Did he say we’re at war? I don’t think anything has changed. It was an intense battle before and it still is an intense battle now. So, I don’t know his exact opinion on things but for me nothing has changed since then.

Q: (Claudio Nogueira – O Gobo) Felipe, can you make an overall evaluation of your first season with the Williams team?

FM: Starting with the team, the team did a fantastic season, looking at how they were last year and looking at how they are now. I think the team did a fantastic season in terms of what I was saying before: improving the car and working in the good areas. We lost some opportunities, I lost many opportunities during the season, so many races that I couldn’t finish for different reasons. Some unlucky races as well, I would say. But I think now, I would say maybe from the middle of the season, things were a lot more consistent for myself, for the races, and I really believe that we can still do a great two races for the end of the championship. I’m really working and looking forward to having a very consistent and good season in 2015.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Kevin, two part question: first of all, I take it you still don’t know exactly what your future is for next year, and secondly, then, if you don’t know what your future is, do you feel a bit let down by the team, that in your rookie year, after you’ve done your best to try and perform on the track, you’ve got two races to go and they still haven’t told you whether you’ve got a drive next year or not?

KM: They’re not doing that to annoy me. They have a reason for it.

Q: (David Croft – Sky Sports F1) Do you feel let down?

KM: No, because I understand why I’ve not been told yet. Some things are still not sorted out from their side and if they could let me know, they would. Yeah, I can only just wait and see what happens. I’m not planning anything else, I’m not looking for anything else. I’m planning as if I’m here next year, so that’s what I’m working for and doing my best to get to.

Q: (Alan Baldwin – Reuters) Adrian, I understood you had a two year contract and it seems that it’s only one year. Is this something you have to talk to Sauber about resolving? You alluded to some issues to sort out still.

AS: Yes, there are certain things to talk about, definitely, yes. They’ve confirmed two drivers but that doesn’t mean the drivers can drive and it doesn’t mean that the team’s going to drive. So there’s no real change from last weekend to this weekend. It’s just an announcement and now, of course, my situation, I think I have to do some talking, to sort out the things.

Q: (Luiz Fernando Ramos – Racing Magazine) I don’t know which drivers have done a track walk or saw the new pit entry and pit exit but if somebody can comment on what they saw? Maybe Felipe?

FM: Yeah, I saw it. The pit exit is more or less similar, a little bit more inside and I would say corner two is more safe, because the wall is a bit further away, so we won’t see some crashes which we saw many times. I think that corner will be a lot safer now. And the pit entry, I would say, was a good job. You still have the wall there, in a similar place – this is the only thing that we need to be careful of, but the pit entrance is better so I would say it’s more safe, it’s better and I really hope we will see no accidents or less accidents than we saw in the past there. Anyway, we need to drive to see exactly but it looks OK by looking but we just need to drive to be sure about it.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) At the beginning of the year, Nico, you were quite outspoken against double points, you didn’t like it.

NR: I do now! It’s really a fantastic idea.

Q: (Andy Benson – BBC) I’m coming to that, yeah, and last weekend you were also saying you didn’t like it but you could see the positives. If you end up winning the championship because of double points now, the way the season’s gone, some people will say that it was a hollow victory or it shouldn’t have happened or whatever. How would you respond to that?

NR: I wouldn’t respond. Everybody can have their opinion and in sport it’s the points that count in the end and of course, then you can debate who deserved it more or less. That’s always going to be the case.

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Felipe, we heard that Felipe Nasr is going to race for Sauber next year. You know him pretty well, he’s been the third driver for your team. What do you think he can bring to Sauber and what do you say about him as a driver?

FM: Well, I’m happy for him. I think for Brazil it’s great to have another Brazilian driver racing. I’m quite close to him, we’ve worked together the whole season inside the team. He’s in GP2, maybe his third season in GP2 so it’s his time, his opportunity to go to Formula One, otherwise it starts to be a little bit more difficult after that so I’m happy that he had his opportunity, his chance and I hope the best for him. I hope the best for him and I hope that we can bring our Brazilian flag on the top now with two drivers, not just one, and I hope the best for him. Definitely, it’s not a great moment for Sauber. I don’t know exactly how it’s going to be next year, his team, I don’t know which car and how competitive they can be, seeing that they are suffering a little bit of crisis and crisis is not good for everything you’re doing but anyway, I hope the best for him and I hope he can have a good start and a good experience and being in Formula One for a long time, not just for a few years.

November 6, 2014
F1 2014: Brazilian GP Preview – Predict It If You Dare

The penultimate round of the 2014 championship does not have the ability to decide the driver’s title. However, the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace circuit is one steeped in some of the most dramatic formula 1 history.

Around its 4.309 kilometers this track has re-written many a driver’s fate. There isn’t a need to look too far back to find these extraordinary moments. The 2012 race was described by Sebastian Vettel as one of the toughest of his career. The afternoon oozed tension and amid changing weather conditions, safety-cars, a litany of pitstops the Red Bull driver was also involved in a collision. Seemingly on course for his third consecutive title the German found himself pointing the wrong way on the first lap of the race. Vettel staged a gallant comeback which was ultimately enough to clinch the title.

For a brief period in 2008 Ferrari’s Felipe Massa thought himself to have won the world championship. But in the most nail-biting finish in decades Lewis Hamilton scraped to the championship title on the very last lap, into the final turn, by overtaking Toyota’s Timo Glock. A year prior, in 2007, Kimi Raikkonen had, mathematically, the least amount of chance of winning the title. With only ten points on offer the Finn was seven adrift of championship leader Lewis Hamilton. However, the spectacular drama that defines the Brazilian GP saw the Iceman theatrically snatch the title from McLaren as Hamilton was unable to recover from a technical issue suffered in the race.

So you see there is much to suggest that the 2014 Brazilian GP is going to be anything but straightforward. Hamilton starts the weekend with a healthy lead over teammate Nico Rosberg but it, literally, can be wiped out in matter of seconds. In saying this, the pressure still resides in the Rosberg side of the garage. The German driver will be desperate to beat his teammate at this race and he must. There is no alternative for Rosberg this weekend. Though Abu Dhabi has the gimmicky double-points on offer there is little doubt that Rosberg would not want to put all his eggs in that foolish basket.

The only thing Rosberg can do this weekend is his best. The question remains whether Rosberg’s best is enough to beat his teammate who is on a roll of five consecutive grand prix victories. More significantly, Hamilton undoubtedly holds the psychological edge; the dismissive overtake in Austin for the lead of the race ensured that. Yet, this is still Brazil and here dramatic turnarounds have never been in short supply.

The circuit itself is quite technical with a mixture of different corners littered throughout the undulating landscape of its Sao Paulo location. “It’s a tricky circuit to get right but that makes it all the more exciting; there’s more opportunities to overtake there than at other tracks, and the twisty infield section towards the end of the lap is a real challenge as you’re constantly on the limit trying not to outbrake yourself, so when you get it spot on it’s really rewarding,” says Jenson Button.

The weather in these parts tends towards the extreme too. Here, track temperatures of 63 degrees Celcius have been recorded while other weekends have been blighted by monsoon levels of rain. For the 2014 Brazilian GP, the forecast predicts a mostly overcast weekend with the possibility of showers and temperatures in the early twenties.

It’s bumpy, it’s technical, the weather is changeable and something dramatic is bound to happen. It can only be Brazil’s Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace.

November 6, 2014
F1 2014: US GP Review – Hammer-time In Texas

In general terms a conundrum is defined as a difficult and confusing problem. In Nico Rosberg terms the conundrum is Lewis Hamilton. The latest win in Texas gives Hamilton five consecutive race victories and leaves Rosberg without any answers.

As the weekend started to take shape it was Rosberg who stepped up to the qualifying plate. The German got the better of Hamilton by a hefty four tenths which Hamilton would later chalk up to “brake issues.” Nevertheless, at the first hurdle it was Nico Rosberg who pulled it off.

The first stint of the race too was all Rosberg as he controlled the initial laps. The sting was taken out of the start of the grand prix as a collision between Force India’s Sergio Perez and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil brought out the safety car on lap one. Both drivers’ race was ended by the coming together and Perez has been given a seven place grid penalty for the Brazilian GP.

The two Williams drivers, very much embroiled in a constructor’s fight with Ferrari, shadowed the Mercedes duo for the first stint of the race without ever being able to launch a serious threat on any of the first two positions. For the most part Felipe Massa looked set for the final step of the podium but Red Bull’s plucky Aussie once again lived up to his billing. Daniel Ricciardo snatched third from the Brazilian in yet another afternoon of mighty fine wheel-to-wheel racing.

By lap 24 Hamilton has eroded the two-and-a-half second gap that Rosberg had steadily built and flung his car down the inside of Turn 12 and into the lead of the race. It wasn’t a swashbuckling, throw caution to the wind kind of move either from Hamilton. It was calculated and infused with an ominous hunger. Five straight race wins sends quite an imposing message to the other side of the garage.

For once Valterri Bottas finished second to teammate Massa in a quiet fifth place. Fernando Alonso dragged a reluctant Ferrari up to sixth and managed to hold off a late charge from Sebastian Vettel. The Red Bull driver’s didn’t look sharp after a pitlane start but a late stop for fresh rubber breathed some life into his afternoon. Kevin Magnussen brought his McLaren home in eighth ahead of Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado. The Lotus turned out to be the surprise package of the weekend and ran competitively in the points for most of the afternoon.

Jean-Eric Vergne was stripped of ninth place after incurring a penalty for a collision with Romain Grosjean. The Frenchman ultimately finished tenth. The mid-field battle for points was responsible for some spicy wheel-to-wheel battles as several drivers duked it out. Both Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen finished outside the points and a lap down on the leaders.

Besides the mega quick Lewis Hamilton-shaped conundrum that Nico Rosberg has he faces an even bigger dilemma. Rosberg’s problem isn’t that he can’t win it; it’s that he doesn’t know how to win it. He hasn’t had to deal with an unrelenting teammate before certainly not while at the same time being the focus of so much attention. Hamilton’s move to take the lead of the race came from pretty far back and it was Rosberg’s caution that consigned him to second best. This isn’t a call to throw all rationality out of the window but through all of this sport’s history it has been courage that has made and defined its champions. As impressive and consistent as Rosberg has been this season he just doesn’t seem to have the uncontained hunger to win it.

It is far from over and Brazil’s legendary Autodromo Carlos Pace has always been the wildcard in the Formula 1 calendar. Here, the unpredictability seems to ratchet up a notch or two and it tends delivers some of the most astounding results. Rosberg faces a deficit of twenty-four points and call to unleash all he has on a near unbeatable teammate.

November 3, 2014
2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Sunday Press Conference

DRIVERS

1st Lewis HAMILTON (Mercedes)

2nd Nico ROSBERG (Mercedes)

3rd Daniel RICCIARDO (Red Bull Racing)

PODIUM INTERVIEWS

(Conducted by Mario Andretti)

Hello Austin, another exciting and beautiful race in the record books. Amazing, guys. All my deputies here. Lewis, if my math is correct it’s your tenth win this season, a 24-point lead in the championship. Oh my gosh. Three races, two wins and a second, is there anything you can tell me about your secret here?

Lewis HAMILTON: You know, this is an incredible place. I’ve got such great support here, so a big, huge thank you to the fans here. Again, I’ve been so fortunate – I’ve got an incredible team, an incredible and I had a great competitor today and I’m really grateful to be up front. I’m really excited. It’s such a privilege to be representing my country and to be at the top of the driver wins is really quite special.

A beautiful job, obviously. You had work to do. You’ve done that in the past. You made a beautiful pass on your friend here Nico and I think you might have caught him by surprise a little bit but after that in clear air it looked like clear sailing, because it looked like the car just worked perfectly for you?

LH: The car was great today, but you know what, where’s the Stetson? Can I use your hat?

MA: In a minute… I’m still on official duty.

LH: Oh yeah, you’re the sheriff.

Nico, great start, brilliant pole. It looks to me like you were caught a little bit by surprise on that overtake early on in the race and once Lewis got into clear air it seemed like you had a tough time. Nevertheless a one-two, many times this year, a brilliant performance by both of you and kudos to Mercedes.

Nico ROSBERG: yeah, it definitely kind of sucks to me today, but that’s the way it is (inaudible). It took too long for me to find my rhythm. Once Lewis got by I found my rhythm, but it was too late, so that kind of sucked. But anyways, thank you to all of you; you’ve been fantastic today. As I see, you’ve had a great time, that’s important and it’s great that F1 is in Texas.

Seventy-five points still available before the end of the season, so the fight is still open right. Daniel, wow! Eight podiums this season, you’re just right there aren’t there aren’t you? Keeping these two pretty honest aren’t you? That’s fabulous to see.

Daniel RICCIARDO: Yeah we’re doing what we can. We all had a great weekend. So, firstly, thanks to all the fans. It’s honestly a pleasure to come out here. Austin’s great – the circuit, the facilities, the town, everything’s good. So thanks to Red Bull for giving me the package to fight for the podium today and I’m really happy with third place.

That was brilliant obviously as I said. Some of your overtakes are textbook. As a young man it’s amazing. It’s fun to watch, honestly.

DR: Thanks. This place is great. You can overtake here, there are a lot of opportunities. I got Magnussen on lap one and then Fernando on the restart, so it wasn’t too boring out there.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: Lewis, well done, what an amazing run of races you’ve had, these five victories, absolutely fantastic. How have you felt about those?

LH: It’s been an incredible run. This whole season has been incredible really. Just an unbelievable job done by the team. Nico was very quick in qualifying yesterday. Obviously I said I had a couple of problems and I corrected them today and, never know how the race is going to go but I pushed as hard as I could, particularly in the first stint. And the second stint I seemed to be even quicker on that stint. Once I got past Nico it was really just about controlling it. Coming here today, just having that same determination and hunger to get that win. And, as I said, there’s not a better crowd really to do that in front of.

Q: Tell us about that overtake. How did that happen? How did you feel about that? Was it all DRS? How did it actually happen?

LH: It’s obviously a very good circuit to be able to follow but it’s not easy and it was very hard through the middle sector to try to stay as close to him as possible and get as close as I could to the DRS zone. And I was quite a bit back, I would say, but I felt very confident, there was a big headwind into 12, and I just felt like I was waiting for the moment really, to just be just close enough to throw it up the inside. And that’s what I did. There’s a kind of… you have to decide how much of a risk you’re willing to take. Nico wasn’t defending there really so almost caught him unaware. And after that, really I was just trying to maintain it. But what an incredible achievement. I’m so grateful. Big thank you to all my team and to my family because the results that I’ve had and the amount of wins that I’ve had wouldn’t have been possible without those people.

Q: You talked yesterday about brakes and also a little bit about a flat-spot. There was no sign of that during the opening laps?

LH: No, there was no problem. Fortunately it was a small one. But when the Safety Car came out I did have that big difference of around 100°C between the left front brake and the right front, so was trying very hard to keep it as high as possible but fortunately once we got going again it started to rebalance itself and I didn’t have too many problems. Locking was still there but it didn’t seem to hinder me.

Q: Nico, great start again the overtake saw you back in second place. What happened there?

NR: Yeah, the start was good so thanks to the team for that, that worked out really well. It’s pretty simple that I didn’t find my rhythm early on. It took a long time, like all the way until after Lewis passed me. In the overtake, I knew there was a chance. Maybe he would try or not, so I went kinda, halfway defensive but Lewis just did a good job and that’s it. Five or ten laps later I started to find a better rhythm and then I felt OK – but it was unfortunately just way too late.

Q: At one point, for something like five laps in succession, you were lapping so close, the two of you, within thousandths of a second of one another, I guess that when you’d found the rhythm.

NR: Yes. That’s the period went I started to feel more comfortable. I never gave up in this race, of course, I was just fully determined all the way to try and put the pressure onto Lewis, try and get a bit closer, but it just wasn’t possible today.

Q: And you radioed in that you hit a kerb at some point. Was there any lasting effect from that?

NR: No, it’s just that with these kerbs around the back there, if you take a little bit too much, they’re quite high and it was a little bit of a thump but everything was OK. Again, they’ve built a good car. Robust.

Q: Daniel, fantastic pace to get past both of the Williams. It looked like the car really came into its own in the middle of the race.

DR: Yeah. I think we had good pace. Williams were strong. I think we used good strategy to get ahead of them basically, and that paid off. But yeah, the first few laps were fun. We dropped a few places on the start but then got Magnussen into 12 and then Alonso on the restart so, couldn’t really hang with the Williams at first but it seemed like the longer the stint went, the more pace we had. Really happy with third. As we know, Mercedes are a bit out of reach, so third I think was the best we could do today.

Q: And when you had the Williams behind you, within the DRS capability as it were, a slippery Williams with a Mercedes engine, you must have thought it was all over.

DR: Yeah, Felipe was coming on strong at the end. I could see him. At the beginning of the stint I pulled but then he came back stronger than he expected. I don’t know if he had DRS or not but I was trying to do a little bit down the straights so he couldn’t get too much in my tow. But anyways, I think we held on pretty comfortably in the end but they had good pace and kept me honest until the last lap.

Q: So really happy to be on the podium.

DR: You betcha!

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Sef Harding – Zero Zone News) Lewis, you’ve been focused out there like a Jedi knight this season. Big numbers for you: this makes five in a row and ten wins through the season. Did everything just come together for you today, once you had the car hooked up?

LH: I like the Jedi knight reference! That’s cool. Yeah, today, just really doing my homework. Before the race there’s a lot you can do to really understand what opportunities could come up and in different scenarios, how you approach it and I felt very much on top of that as I have done for quite some time. Just went into the race with the belief that I could win it. Incredible support from my fans, even from when I was in New York this week. The support from my fans and the tons of flags out there and team tops and team caps, I really am so grateful for that support that I have here in the US. It’s amazing. I hope it continues to grow over the years. Great weather, the circuit’s just fantastic. I went into the race thinking I need another race just like 2012 and it was just like that. I was catching him through exactly the same points at which I was catching Sebastian. There wasn’t a moment in the race when I didn’t think that I would get him. Once I was past, as I said, I was able to relax for a second and really try to manage the tyres, because I knew that perhaps he would push at some other point. And so I was always having to respond. It’s such a great feeling when you have a race like that, it just feels great that you’ve really done it as best as you can.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action/National Speed Sport News) Daniel, as you said, a slow start. What happened at the start and also, looking forward to next weekend, the Red Bull is second best here, how will it be in Interlagos?

DR: I don’t really want to talk about the start! We’ll see. I feel that it was my fault today. It just didn’t feel like I got the procedure right but I will have to look back and see the ins and outs. But I think it was… for getting off the line poorly, I think we had good damage limitation. Yes. Think I picked a better line in turn one and then, as I said, got Kevin back in turn 12 so in the end we only lost one spot. I think it could have been a lot worse. Yeah, we’ll work on that and then Brazil, hopefully we’re strong. In the past, it has definitely been a good track for Red Bull but I think, again, it’s going to be that last step on the podium that we’re going to fight for. I don’t know. I would like to say that I could catch these two but I think I will be happy with third but let’s see how we go.

Q: (Livio Oricchio – Universo OnLine) Nico, now there are 24 points difference to Lewis; do you go to the two last races with the same approach until now, or emotionally inevitable that it affects you? And Daniel, can you describe the manoeuvre to overtake Alonso and then Massa in the operation of pit stops?

NR: Same approach from me: fully committed, full attack, try and be on pole in qualifying and then win Interlagos and that’s it. There are still many points to be had and a lot can still happen. Same as all the time.

DR: Fernando on the restart; I don’t think that, from memory, the two Williamses didn’t get a great restart so it sort of bunched us all up. We were close and I saw Fernando cover a bit but it’s so wide at turn one, I knew there was a bit more room on the inside. I guess I committed to that, already out of the last corner when I knew I was close enough and that worked, so that was good but then Massa or Valtteri cut in late. I was very shallow on the apex and I nearly actually collected the Williams but I’m sure Fernando was watching me and saying ‘it’s all over here. He braked too late. Silly boy.’ It was close but that worked well and then I think just the undercut worked to our advantage. I don’t know if Felipe had a slow pit stop or not but yeah, that probably helped us out and I think our pit stop was pretty quick so that was the story there.

Q: (David Estrada – The Port Arthur News) Lewis and Nico, you guys had a very similar tyre- changing strategy today. Do you think it was done intentionally, to level the playing field between you two? And do you guys see that continuing in the future races?

LH: It wasn’t because of that. It was because if you look at some of the races, you have been able to offset. Usually the first driver will have the optimum strategy, but then the second driver usually has… say it’s option, prime, prime, the second driver would have a chance of doing option, prime, option but the option’s quite weak here so you had to run option, prime, prime. It was much much slower to run an option, so then we were both on that strategy and that’s why I had to push so hard to make sure I got by as soon as possible because I wouldn’t have that opportunity later on.

Q: (Matthew Walter – Bleacher Report) Lewis, now if you were to finish second in the next two races, no matter what Nico did, you would still be World Champion, so does this change your approach at all, in terms of maybe being a little bit more conservative, taking fewer chances or is it the same for you?

LH: It doesn’t really change, same as for Nico really, because we’re hunting for those points. I think during the year you have to be balanced in the risks you take and I think that so far I’ve not been taking too many risks. I’ve done what I’ve needed to do to get by in the safest way, in the cleanest way, which has worked all year, so I should just continue to do the same. Even in this race, I was looking after the car, trying to nurse it home and make sure that it had no problems, and I think really you’ve just got to keep going until the last chequered flag.

Q: (Steve Aibel – Drafting the circuits) Daniel, the atmosphere here in Austin and Texas, you seem to really have embraced. You’ve talked about Sixth Street, wore a cowboy hat but the thing that I think really embraces you to the State is that number on your hat. Is there any way you can talk about the three and the influence of Dale Earnhardt in picking that number?

DR: Yes, you’re absolutely right. I love this place. I’m definitely not alone but yeah, it is special, it’s cool. And then yeah, the three. I was a big fan of Dale Earnhardt. I’m a fan of motorsports but I’ve followed NASCAR since I was very young. It was follow Dale and it was my first go-kart number as well. When Formula One said you can pick your numbers this year, it was a no-brainer for me to chose the three and then once they agreed I could run it, I thought what better way to have the style of Dale on my helmet. Yeah, it’s been pretty cool. Dale Junior has seen that we’ve spoken via social media a little bit and it’s really nice that he’s supportive of that. So really quite honoured, obviously, to represent that in Formula One.

Q: (Graham Harris – Motorsport Monday) Lewis and Nico, no matter what the result is at the next race, the Abu Dhabi race will be the determining who wins. There’s fifty points on offer, various scenarios and mathematical computations can be played out. Any views on this, how you approach it?

LH: I think I just said I would do exactly the same. There isn’t much more to add to it, just going to be exactly the same as I approached this weekend and previous races: I want to win.

NR: For me, that’s great to hear of course, because then there’s a definite shot at the championship this year, even with the points that I’m now behind and anyways, there’s still Brazil to come so in Brazil it’s even possible to completely turn it around. You never know what will happen there so I’m sure it will be an exciting end to the season. I hope it’s going to be exciting for the fans, that’s the most important thing also, that we put on a good show which I think we managed to do today. I look forward to the last two races. With the car that we have, it’s awesome, it really is.

Photo by courtesy Pirelli

November 3, 2014
2014 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix: Saturday Press Conference

Drivers:

1 – Nico Rosberg (Mercedes)

2 – Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes)

3 – Valtteri Bottas (Williams)

TV UNILATERAL

Q: Nico, a very strong pole position, a big margin for you. How do you feel about that? And things are really hotting up, I guess now, with just three races to go?
Nico Rosberg: Yeah, great day, very happy. It worked out really well, you know. Together with my engineers I really arrived at a car in the end in qualifying that I was happy with, the balance was good. Because it was quite a challenge, because the wind was changing and then this morning the conditions were quite different, a lot colder, so the track was changing all the time and it wasn’t that easy to get everything right but in the end we got to a great set-up, a great car, so I’m pleased with that. So first place of course today is awesome but you know the race is what counts, so I still need to focus fully on tomorrow and to bring it home.

Q: Well done. Coming to you Lewis, fastest in practice, fastest in Q1, but from Q2 onwards it seemed to be a bit of a troubled session for you, particularly with braking, in Q2 and again in Q3 I think?
Lewis Hamilton: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, Nico did a great job today. I really struggled with braking, yeah. When you look at the brake temperatures, the left brake was always around 100 degrees less than the right front brake. It just kept catching. No matter what I did, even if I braked earlier and tried to save it, it would still lock. So that was perhaps where I was losing a lot of the time. But even if that wasn’t the case I think Nico was perhaps too quick today.

Q: Is that an issue for you for the race, with that set of tyres?
LH: Potentially, yeah, so I need to try to see… maybe they can scrub them down or something and try to fix it overnight.

Q: OK, thank you for that. Coming to you Valtteri: your sixth time in the last eight Grands Prix that you’ve qualified in the top three. That’s some run of form.
Valtteri Bottas: Yeah, a pretty good qualifying again. I’m really pleased with the couple of good laps I got in Q3 today actually. It’s been a difficult weekend from my side for some reason, to get to a good rhythm and then finally during the qualifying I could really trust the car, like you should do. Really happy for us as a team, again, we locked the second row. It’s a good starting position for tomorrow’s race because we have still important three races to try to keep a good position in the constructors’ championship.

Q: Very well done. Coming back to you again Nico, this track, particularly from the start, one of the characteristics here at the Circuit of The Americas has been the difference between the clean side and the dirty side of the grid. You must be pleased you’re on the right side of that tomorrow?
NR: I haven’t thought that far yet, but if you say it then yes, that’s great, another extra advantage for the clean side of the grid, you know, starting first. Of course the start is going to be important, need to make the most of that and stay ahead.

PRESS CONFERENCE

Q: So Nico, that, I think, is the sixth Mercedes front row lock-out in a row, which is certainly a statement about the dominance you’ve got in the car and the way you continue to stay ahead of everybody. Margin of nine-tenths to Valtteri today, it was four-tenths in Sochi – but you too haven’t been immune from brake problems this weekend, have you? Is this something worrying you at all going into the race?
NR: We’ve had a few issues in general on the car this weekend, on both cars and so yeah, we need to try to get it all right for tomorrow – but personally I’m not worried about that at all because if I would start worrying about that, it’s not going to be good for performance. So I’m very confident the team’s going to get the job done and just concentrate on what I can influence on my driving. I’m not worried.

Q: Lewis, I don’t know if you know but tomorrow is six years to the day since you won your world championship: November 2nd 2008. So I’m sure you’ll be hoping to channel the Interlagos spirit into tomorrow’s Grand Prix – but how much is that vibration on those tyres going to cause you a problem? Can you drill down a little bit more into that for us?
LH: Well the vibration isn’t that bad. It’s a minor flat spot. They’ll rebalance it and hopefully won’t feel too much with it. The issue is just locking. If I can’t fix that left brake, then that will be a continuing issue throughout the race. And obviously flat spots lead to blistering so I’ve got try and make sure we can fix that this evening.

Q: Coming to you Valtteri, you got your first points in Formula One here 12 months ago. Tell us about the race in prospect for you and also why you were behind Felipe pretty much the whole of today and how you managed to nail him when it got to the business end of qualifying.
VB: Yeah, it should be an interesting race. I think especially the guys behind us are going to be really quick and we’re now in a good position in the team’s championship and it’s going to be an important race for us to get good points with both cars. It’s not going to be easy. So we will really need to try to get everything right tomorrow. Really look forward to the race here, it’s always good fun. In qualifying and in general from the practice, I managed to improve myself a lot during every session and really got the car to a good set-up only just before the qualifying and for the qualifying – so I could really trust the car a bit better in the qualifying and get those lines right and get every corner right. I knew that Q3 is the one which is going to matter, and I needed to get everything right and be on the limit and then that’s when I tried to squeeze everything that there was – and I feel I managed to do so.

QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

Q: (Paolo Ianieri – La Gazzetta dello Sport) Nico, where did you also find those tenths that you found in your Q3? Quite impressive pace after always being behind Lewis during the practice.
NR: What was the reason? I finally got there on set-up, together with my team. We just continued to improve the car all the time and just got it right and I felt comfortable in the end. I was able to push and it felt good balance. Nailed the lap, got the lap really well, so it all worked out.

Q: (Dan Knutson – Auto Action / National Speedsport News) To the two Mercedes guys, when you have troubles like you did today, little troubles, does it frustrate you or does it motivate you in a way, to say ‘I’m going to beat this and get on top of it and go even faster’.?
NR: Neither of the two really. It’s always a bit frustrating to have something like that in the moment but then, I’ve learned to move on to just accept and concentrate on the things that I can influence and just keep on it. That’s what I tried to do today and it worked out well.

Q: Lewis?
LH: The same.

Q: (Ian Parkes – Press Association) To all three of you, you may or may not be aware that there is a very real threat tomorrow – it’s not speculation, it’s not hearsay – of three teams, Force India, Sauber and Lotus, opting to boycott this race. What impact do you feel that would have on Formula One? Nico?
NR: No comment. Because I have not heard anything about this and it would not be the right thing for me to even comment on something like that.

Q: Lewis?
LH: Same.

Q: Valtteri?
VB: Same. No comment really. I don’t know anything about this situation so I can’t really say much.

November 2, 2014
F1 2014: US Gp Qualifying Report – Rosberg Bests Hamilton

Nico Rosberg has taken pole position for the 2014 US grand prix.

The front of the grid for the Sunday’s grand prix around the Circuit of the Americas has a familiar feel to it as Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton secured yet another one-two for the Mercedes team.

Rosberg, seventeen points adrift in the driver’s standings, bested teammate Hamilton by nearly four tenths of a second to ensure that he starts Sunday’s race in prime position. The ever-dependable Valterri Bottas will line up third and shares the second row of the grid with his Williams teammate Felipe Massa.

Daniel Ricciardo put his Red Bull Racing car in fifth position while teammate Sebastian Vettel will start from the pitlane after fitting a sixth power unit of the season to his car. In sixth place is Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso with the McLaren of Jenson Button in seventh; however Button will drop five places on the grid for a gearbox penalty. Kevin Magnussen and Kimi Raikkonen set the eighth and ninth fastest times in the third part of qualifying.

Sauber’s Adrian Sutil delivered a stellar performance to qualify with the tenth fastest time. Pastor Maldonado in the Lotus nearly gained a position in the top ten shoot-out but had to settle for eleventh while teammate Romain Grosjean set the slowest time of the session in eighteenth place.

Here is your provisional grid for tomorrows race:

November 1, 2014