Month: October 2015

A week on following the championship battle at Austin, Nico Rosberg strikes back with a strong performance in the Mexican Grand Prix to claim pole.

The Mercedes driver achieved his fourth successive pole, beating the new champion Lewis Hamilton by 0.188 seconds.

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel was 0.370 seconds adrift of Rosberg in third, claiming over team radio he “tried everything” to take the fight to the Silver Arrows.

Red Bull lost pace to its rivals in qualifying compared to practice, both cars ending up nearly a second adrift of the top spot.

Daniil Kvyat beat team-mate Daniel Ricciardo by just a tiny margin of one thousandth of a second as the RB11s placed fourth and fifth on the timesheet.

Valtteri Bottas rounded out the top six, just ahead of Williams team-mate Felipe Massa and the Toro Rosso of Max Verstappen.

Mexican hero Sergio Perez out-qualified team-mate Nico Hulkenberg by less than a tenth of a second as the Force Indias completed the top ten.

Late improvements by Verstappen and Massa in Q2 meant Carlos Sainz Jr missed out on making the pole position shootout by just 0.007 seconds in the other Toro Rosso.

Romain Grosjean was P12, 0.223 seconds faster than Lotus team-mate Pastor Maldonado and just over a tenth away from making Q3 himself.

Marcus Ericsson couldn’t replicate the pace that put his Sauber tenth quickest in Q1, so he wound up P14 overall, ahead of the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen.

The Iceman complained of a problem with his brake pedal in Q1, where he ended up outside the top ten in the times.

He then stopped midway through Q2 after spinning at Turn 1.

The 2007 world champion will incur a five-place grid penalty for a gearbox change following the breakdown he suffered with his SF15-T in final practice.

Fellow world champion Fernando Alonso squeaked ahead of the Sauber of Felipe Nasr by 0.009 seconds with his final flying lap.

Unfortunately the McLaren failed to escape Q1, along with the Manor Marussias and his team-mate Jenson Button, which failed to take part in session following engine problems in final practice.

Both McLaren-Hondas will start at the back on account of incurring grid penalties for multiple engine changes earlier in the Mexican Grand Prix weekend.

Qualifying positions, Mexican Grand Prix:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m19.480s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m19.668s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m19.850s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m20.398s
5    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m20.399s
6    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.448s
7    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m20.567s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m20.710s
9    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m20.716s
10    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m20.788s
11    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m20.942s
12    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m21.038s
13    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m21.261s
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m21.544s
15    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m21.788s
16    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m24.136s
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m24.386s
18    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m22.494s
19    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m21.779s
20    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    No time

 

Lewis Hamilton achieved his dream result in winning his third Formula 1 world championship after clinching race victory in a thrilling United States Grand Prix.

Hamilton, who finished 2.8 seconds clear of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg, becomes the first British driver to win back-to-back titles.

From second on the grid and on the run up the hill into Turn 1, Hamilton had the inside line, and not for the first time this season he forced Rosberg wide and off track after they had bumped wheels, relegating the German to fifth.

When Sauber’s Felipe Nasr lost most of his front wing at Turn 1 on lap two after clipping the rear-left tyre of team-mate Marcus Ericsson – on the occasion of the team’s 400th Grand Prix – debris at that corner led to the virtual safety car being called.

On the restart, Hamilton backed up those behind him to such a degree that once the racing resumed Rosberg soon passed Red Bull Racing duo Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat.

Over the next few laps, on wearing intermediate tyres and on a circuit not quite ready for a switch to slicks, a fantastic battle ensued between the leading quartet.

Ricciardo took the lead on lap 15 from Hamilton, with Rosberg through for second shortly after.

That forced Hamilton into the pits at the end of lap 18, taking on the softs, with the Briton setting the tone as the rest of the field followed him in either on that lap or the following one.

From fourth and second respectively, Hamilton and Rosberg made their way up to third and first with moves on Kvyat and Ricciardo, with the latter duo not as strong on slick rubber.

When Ericsson pulled his car out of the race at Turn 11 on lap 28, its positioning on the track brought the safety car out.

At that stage it wiped out a 10.6 seconds lead for Rosberg over Hamilton, who had passed Ricciardo for second just before Ericsson’s exit.

All bar the leading four – Rosberg, Hamilton, Ricciardo, Kvyat – pitted for another change of tyres, with fifth-placed Sebastian Vettel in his Ferrari taking on a new set of mediums in an attempt to get to the end without another stop.

Once the safety car departed after five laps, the German soon cleared Kvyat and Ricciardo to move up to third before another incident on lap 37.

This time it was Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg retiring after running into the side of Ricciardo in a bid to claim fifth, leading to a second virtual safety car, under which Rosberg pitted, dropping to fourth, with Hamilton staying out.

Come lap 42, with Rosberg within six seconds of Hamilton, the safety car was deployed again when Kvyat lost his car on the approach to the final turn, sending him into a barrier.

That allowed Hamilton to make his second stop and come out behind Rosberg, whose hopes of extending the title race into Mexico next Sunday ended when he got out of shape at Turn 15 on the power and ran off track at Turn 16-17.

From there it was a smooth run to the finish for Hamilton, with Rosberg just holding off Vettel for second, followed by Toro Rosso’s Max Vertsappen in fourth after a long final stint on his tyres.

Just 12 drivers saw the flag, with eight retiring through mechanical failure or after on-track incidents.

So an entertaining United States Grand Prix with many wheel-to-wheel battle. Lewis Hamilton proved that he is a racer and his desire to win reveals his passion in the sport. Many congratulations in achieving the third drivers’ title.

United States Grand Prix, after 56 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1h50m52.703s
2    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    2.850s
3    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    3.381s
4    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    22.359s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    24.413s
6    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    25.619s
7    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    28.058s
8    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    32.273s
9    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    40.257s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    53.371s
11    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    54.816s
12    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m15.277s
–    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    Spun off
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    Collision
–    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    Brakes
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    Retirement
–    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    Brakes
–    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    Retirement
–    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    Retirement

Drivers’ standings:

1 Lewis Hamilton 327
2 Sebastian Vettel 251
3 Nico Rosberg 247
4 Kimi Raikkonen 123
5 Valtteri Bottas 111
6 Felipe Massa 109
7 Daniil Kvyat 76
8 Daniel Ricciardo 74
9 Sergio Perez 64
10 Max Verstappen 45
11 Romain Grosjean 44
12 Nico Hulkenberg 38
13 Felipe Nasr 27
14 Pastor Maldonado 26
15 Carlos Sainz 18
16 Jenson Button 16
17 Fernando Alonso 11
18 Marcus Ericsson 9
19 Roberto Merhi 0
20 Alexander Rossi 0
21 Will Stevens 0
22 Kevin Magnussen 0

Constructors’ standings:

1 Mercedes 574
2 Ferrari 374
3 Williams-Mercedes 220
4 Red Bull-Renault 150
5 Force India-Mercedes 102
6 Lotus-Mercedes 70
7 Toro Rosso-Renault 63
8 Sauber-Ferrari 36
9 McLaren-Honda 27
10 Marussia-Ferrari 0

Next race: Mexican Grand Prix, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. October 30-November 1st

Nico Rosberg scored an important pole position at the Circuit of the Americans, following a twenty-hour delay and worsening conditions which postponed the final part of qualifying.

It was a complete washout on Saturday with many of the teams entertaining the soaking wet fans with fun and activities, including dancing! Come the on-track action, the qualifying session was held on Sunday morning but the rain continue to fall and the race officials decided to suspend after Q2.

Rosberg set the fastest time in that segment, a tenth clear of his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton, who Rosberg must beat in the United States Grand Prix if he is to prevent Hamilton clinching a third world championship at this event.

Daniel Ricciardo’s Red Bull was fastest of all in Q1, but he ended up third on the grid, over a second slower than the Silver Arrows.

His team-mate Daniil Kvyat was fourth quickest, just ahead of Sebastian Vettel, who will receive a ten-place grid penalty for taking a fresh engine this weekend.

Sergio Perez beat Force India team-mate Nico Hulkenberg to the sixth fastest time by just over a tenth, while Kimi Raikkonen (who will also take a grid penalty), Felipe Massa and Max Verstappen rounded out the top ten.

Fernando Alonso’s predictions of a possible top-ten position in qualifying almost came true, as the McLaren driver missed out by less than a tenth of a second to Verstappen in Q2.

Several drivers, including reigning world champion Hamilton and 2007 title winner Raikkonen, survived a sliding moment at Turn 10 as rain worsened in this segment of qualifying, and Alonso’s team-mate Jenson Button suggested over team radio that conditions were bordering on unsafe.

Splashing to P11 for Alonso represented McLaren’s best qualifying result of the season so far, while Valtteri Bottas was 0.069 seconds slower than Alonso in P12, Bottas complaining of broken suspension on his FW37.

Jenson Button split the Lotus of Romain Grosjean and Pastor Maldonado in completing the top 15.

Carlos Sainz Jr joined the Saubers and Manor-Marussias in failing to escape Q1, after crashing heavily in the early stages of that session.

Sainz lost the rear of his Toro Rosso over the kerb at Turn 3, before crashing hard into the barriers on the outside of Turn 4 and causing the session to be stopped while track marshals recovered his broken STR10.

The Toro Rosso racer will need permission to start the race from the back of the grid after failing to set a time fast enough to make the 107 per cent cut-off.

After the session resumed, Vettel’s Ferrari glanced the barriers following a spin at Turn 10, and the four-time world champion tumbled down the timesheet as others gradually improved their times.

The Saubers tried in vain to dislodge Vettel’s Ferrari from P15 as Q1 came to a close.

Marcus Ericsson was over a second adrift in the end, while team-mate Nasr was a further 0.9 seconds shy, complaining of “zero rear grip” from his C34.

United States Grand Prix, qualifying positions:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m56.824s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m56.929s
3    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m57.969s
4    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m58.434s
5    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m59.210s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m59.333s
7    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m59.999s
8    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    2m00.199s
9    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    2m00.265s
10    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    2m00.334s
11    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    2m00.595s
12    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    2m01.193s
13    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    2m01.604s
14    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    2m02.212s
15    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m58.596s*
16    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    2m03.194s
17    Alexander Rossi    Marussia-Ferrari    2m04.176s
18    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m59.703s*
19    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    2m04.526s
20    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault    2m07.304s

*Ten-place grid penalties for Vettel and Raikkonen

Lewis Hamilton edges closer to his third Formula 1 world championship by dominating the Russian Grand Prix following the retirement of his Mercedes team-mate and title contender Nico Rosberg.

The Mercedes driver went side-by-side with polesitter Rosberg on the rundown to Turn 2 on the opening lap, but Nico was able to keep the lead.

Then when the safety car was called into action for a first-lap collision between Nico Hulkenberg’s spinning Force India and an unlucky Marcus Ericsson, Rosberg encountered a problem with his throttle pedal.

He ran wide at Turn 2, allowing Hamilton to take the lead and then Valtteri Bottas into second.

Rosberg subsequently slowed, crawling back to the pits where he retired the Silver Arrows. This non-finish means he is now 73 points behind championship leader Hamilton with only one hundred still available.

As for Mercedes, the Brackley-based team will have to wait until at least Austin to unpack its constructors’ championship t-shirts as it failed to outscore Ferrari by the required three points.

It was Hamilton’s 42nd career win, putting him one clear of three-time world champion Ayrton Senna and level with Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel finished in second position on track and moves into second in the drivers’ standings, though if Hamilton outscores Vettel by nine points and Rosberg by two in America he will be champion.

Force India’s Sergio Perez achieved Force India’s third-ever podium, after choosing to pit under a second safety car and running a long stint on the softs.

That safety car period had been caused when Romain Grosjean lost the rear end of his Lotus at Turn 3 and as he tried to corrected, the car wobbled the other way, sending him onto the marbles and into the barriers hard.

The Lotus driver walked away from the crash, but admitted he would probably feel a little sore the next day.

There was drama on the final lap, when Bottas passed Perez for third, with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen following him through.

But Raikkonen then had a lunge at Turn 4, hitting Bottas at the apex and pushing the Williams into the barrier.

Raikkonen survived the damage to get to the finish in fifth, behind Williams’s Felipe Massa who produced a superb recovery drive from P15.

The race stewards confirmed they would investigate the collision between Raikkonen and Bottas.

Should Ferrari and Raikkonen get a time penalty, Mercedes would secure the constructors’ title. If not, then the US Grand Prix.

Daniil Kvyat finished sixth on his home track in the Red Bull ahead of Sauber’s Felipe Nasr and Pastor Maldonado’s Lotus.

McLaren scored points with both cars for the first time this season with Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, celebrating his 250th Grand Prix weekend but 248th start, ninth and tenth respectively.

Toro Rosso’s Carlos Sainz was on course for a superb points finish having started at the the back of the grid after missing qualifying following a high-speed crash in final practice.

But Sainz appeared to suffer a brake problem, causing him to spin twice, once into the barriers, and then retire the car a few corners later with significant damage to the rear wing.

Team-mate Max Verstappen, who suffered a puncture on the first lap when clipped by the spinning Hulkenberg, was classified P11.

Ricciardo was on course to finish fourth, but pulled off track with six laps to go, suggesting something had broken on the suspension in the Red Bull.

The Manor-run Marussias of Roberto Merhi and Will Stevens completed the list of finishers at Sochi.

Russian Grand Prix, race results after 53 laps:

1    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1:37.11.024
2    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    +5.953s
3    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    +28.918s
4    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    +38.831s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari     +42.358s
6    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault     +47.566s
7    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari     +56.508s
8    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes     +61.088s
9    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda     +79.467s
10    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda     +86.210s
11    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    +88.424s
12    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    DNF
13    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    +1 lap
14    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    +2 laps
15    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    DNF
–    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault   DNF
–    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    DNF
–    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    DNF
–    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes   DNF
–    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    DNF

Drivers’ championship:

1    Lewis Hamilton    302
2    Sebastian Vettel    236
3    Nico Rosberg    229
4    Kimi Raikkonen    129
5    Valtteri Bottas    111
6    Felipe Massa    109
7    Daniil Kvyat    74
8    Daniel Ricciardo    73
9    Sergio Perez    54
10    Romain Grosjean    44
11    Nico Hulkenberg    38
12    Max Verstappen    32
13    Felipe Nasr    23
14    Pastor Maldonado    20
15    Fernando Alonso    12
16    Carlos Sainz    12
17    Marcus Ericsson    9
18    Jenson Button    8
19    Roberto Merhi    0
20    Will Stevens    0
21    Alexander Rossi    0

Constructors’ championship:

1    Mercedes    531
2    Ferrari    365
3    Williams-Mercedes    220
4    Red Bull-Renault    147
5    Force India-Mercedes    92
6    Lotus-Mercedes    64
7    Toro Rosso-Renault    44
8    Sauber-Ferrari    32
9    McLaren-Honda    20
10    Marussia-Ferrari    0

Nico Rosberg claimed his second consecutive pole position in Formula 1, as the Mercedes team comfortably set the pace in qualifying at the Sochi Autodrome.

Rosberg was faster than his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton throughout the session, and he was able to deny the world championship leader a 50th career pole for the second race running.

Cool track conditions meant the drivers had to complete more than one timed lap on a set of tyres to get them up to temperature, and both Mercedes drivers only attempted one run in Q3.

Rosberg lapped 0.320 seconds faster than Hamilton on his first flying lap, before Hamilton made a mistake and went off at Turn 13 on his second run, so headed for the pits.

Rosberg was 0.160 seconds slower than his best on his second flying lap, but that didn’t matter, as his earlier time was enough to secure his third pole of the season.

Valtteri Bottas was again best-of-the-rest for Williams, fractionally clear of Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari, which improved by nearly two tenths on its second Q3 run but fell 0.053 seconds short.

Vettel’s Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen made a mistake on his second Q3 effort at the same corner as Hamilton and ended up fifth quickest, ahead of Force India duo of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez, who were separated by less than half a tenth of a second.

Romain Grosjean’s Lotus, Max Verstappen’s Toro Rosso, and the Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo rounded out the top ten.

Russian home hero Daniil Kvyat failed to make the top ten shootout by just under a tenth of a second, setting the P11 fastest time in Q2 and complaining: “the tyres were not ready” temperature-wise.

Felipe Nasr put in a strong performance for Sauber to set P12, just 0.111 seconds slower than Kvyat’s Red Bull.

Jenson Button was over half a second further back in P14, but faster than the second Lotus of Pastor Maldonado.

Felipe Massa made a mess of his first run in Q2 then failed to make the cut on his final run, complaining of traffic.

The Braziian was only P15, a full 1.701 seconds slower than Williams team-mate Valtteri Bottas, who was third quickest in Q2.

Fernando Alonso was the highest-profile driver to fail to make it through the first part of qualifying.

Last-gasp improvements from McLaren team-mate Button and Nasr put the double world champion out in Q1.

Russian Grand Prix, qualifying times:

1    Nico Rosberg    Mercedes    1m37.113s
2    Lewis Hamilton    Mercedes    1m37.433s
3    Valtteri Bottas    Williams-Mercedes    1m37.912s
4    Sebastian Vettel    Ferrari    1m37.965s
5    Kimi Raikkonen    Ferrari    1m38.348s
6    Nico Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes    1m38.659s
7    Sergio Perez    Force India-Mercedes    1m38.691s
8    Romain Grosjean    Lotus-Mercedes    1m38.787s
9    Max Verstappen    Toro Rosso-Renault    1m38.924s
10    Daniel Ricciardo    Red Bull-Renault    1m39.728s
11    Daniil Kvyat    Red Bull-Renault    1m39.214s
12    Felipe Nasr    Sauber-Ferrari    1m39.323s
13    Jenson Button    McLaren-Honda    1m39.763s
14    Pastor Maldonado    Lotus-Mercedes    1m39.811s
15    Felipe Massa    Williams-Mercedes    1m39.895s
16    Marcus Ericsson    Sauber-Ferrari    1m40.660s
17    Will Stevens    Marussia-Ferrari    1m43.693s
18    Roberto Merhi    Marussia-Ferrari    1m43.804s
19    Fernando Alonso    McLaren-Honda    1m40.144s
20    Carlos Sainz    Toro Rosso-Renault No time