2014 Formula 1 Report: USA Edition
Drafting the Circuits
Week 19
Grand Prix Date Tire Compounds
Grand Prix of Monaco May 22-25 Supersoft/Soft
Grand Prix of Canada June 6-8 Supersoft/Soft
Grand Prix of Austria June 20-22
Drivers’ championship:
1. Lewis Hamilton 100
2. Nico Rosberg 97
3. Fernando Alonso 49
4. Sebastian Vettel 45
5. Daniel Ricciardo 39
6. Nico Hulkenberg 37
7. Valtteri Bottas 34
8. Jenson Button 23
9. Kevin Magnussen 20
10. Sergio Perez 20
11. Kimi Raikkonen 17
12. Felipe Massa 12
13. Romain Grosjean 4
14. Jean-Eric Vergne 4
15. Daniil Kvyat 4
Constructors’ championship:
1. Mercedes 197
2. Red Bull 84
3. Ferrari 66
4. Force India 57
5. Williams 46
6. McLaren 43
7. Toro Rosso 8
8. Lotus 4
Grand Prix of Spain
Mercedes are on a roll and have taken the 2014 Formula Championship by the neck and are shaking the stuffing out of everyone in the paddock. Literally it’s like racing a KTM 450 Sf-X against a Honda QA-50.
Lather, rinse, repeat!
For the forth-straight race, Lewis Hamilton emerged victorious with Nico Rosberg trailing in second place. After 8 attempts, Hamilton won in Catalunya for the first time and took the top position in the Drivers Championship.
Although Hamilton emerged the victor, he was not entirely pleased with his car throughout the weekend and acknowledged that teammate Nico Rosberg was faster.
“Nico drove a fantastic race and I struggled to keep him behind, but I just managed it at the end. I couldn’t attack the corners properly because of snap oversteer and that’s where Nico was catching me. I’m just so proud of this team: we are looking very strong and I’m enjoying every moment and every step of the way. There’s still a long way to go this season, though, so we are staying humble, getting our heads down and working hard. I still have a bit more time to find from the car because it’s very, very close with Nico, so I have to keep working on that. But it’s a great feeling to be leading the championship.”
Rosberg, on the other hand, needed about 1 more lap to really take the battle to Hamilton…But getting there and making the pass are two totally separate things as we saw in Bahrain. Although Mercedes are waves ahead in the Constructors Championship, the drivers title is up for grabs between the Mercedes duo. At this point the question is who will make a mistake or suffer a failure.
Daniel Ricciardo joined the Silver Arrows pair on the podium with another solid and impressive weekend. Sebastian Vettel put in the drive of the day working his way through the field from 15th position to finish 4th. Vettel started in 15th due to a gearbox change resulting in a 5-place grid penalty.
Vettel recorded the fastest race lap, which is a small victory for the Red Bull team. Considering how poorly Red Bull started the season, to see them solidly in second position of the Constructors Championship is impressive. We will hear from Red Bull throughout the rest of the season but it is unlikely they will unseat the juggernaut Mercedes squad.
Romain Grosjean scored the first points for the troubled Lotus team from Enstone. Had it not been for an issue with a sensor that brought forth a loss of power, he might have tallied a higher final result than the 8th place as in the initial stages of the race, Grosjean was able to hold court with the Ferraris.
And speaking of the prancing horse, Ferrari had its strongest finish of the season recording a 6th and 7th place.
Not enough for the Scuderia!
Although Alonso sits in third position in the drivers table and Ferrari is 3rd in the constructors, they just do not have the pace to hold onto the Mercedes or Red Bull entry.
Ironic that Mr. Ross Brawn vistined Maranello this week!
Grand Prix of Spain Results
66 Laps
Pos Driver Team/Car Time/Gap
1. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1h41m05.155s
2. Nico Rosberg Mercedes +0.636s
3. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull +49.014s
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull +1m16.702s
5. Valtteri Bottas Williams +1m19.293s
6. Fernando Alonso Ferrari +1m27.743s
7. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari +1 lap
8. Romain Grosjean Lotus +1 lap
9. Sergio Perez Force India +1 lap
10. Nico Hulkenberg Force India +1 lap
11. Jenson Button McLaren +1 lap
12. Kevin Magnussen McLaren +1 lap
13. Felipe Massa Williams +1 lap
14. Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso +1 lap
15. Pastor Maldonado Lotus +1 lap
16. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber +1 lap
17. Adrian Sutil Sauber +1 lap
18. Jules Bianchi Marussia +2 laps
19. Max Chilton Marussia +2 laps
20. Marcus Ericsson Caterham +2 laps
Retirements:
Kamui Kobayashi Caterham 34 laps
Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 24 laps
Three things to keep an eye out for in F1
- Mercedes will be the first to test a new exhaust that will amplify the noise procdcued by the v6 turbocharged engine.
- Gene Haas has denied rumors that he is looking to purchase an existing team such as Lotus or Caterham. A spokesman for the team repeated that Haas intends to build and center his team in the USA.
- Monaco is coming! Greatest day of racing for the entire year!
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