2014 Formula 1 Report: USA Edition
Drafting the Circuits
Week 29
Grand Prix Date Tire Compounds
Hungarian Grand prix July 25-27 Medium/Soft
Belgium Grand Prix August 22-24
Italian Grand Prix September 5-7
Drivers’ Championship:
1. Nico Rosberg 190
2. Lewis Hamilton 176
3. Daniel Ricciardo 106
4. Fernando Alonso 97
5. Valtteri Bottas 91
6. Sebastian Vettel 82
7. Nico Hulkenberg 69
8. Jenson Button 59
9. Kevin Magnussen 37
10. Felipe Massa 30
11. Sergio Perez 29
12. Kimi Raikkonen 19
13. Jean-Eric Vergne 9
14. Romain Grosjean 8
15. Daniil Kvyat 6
16. Jules Bianchi 2
Constructors’ Championship:
1. Mercedes 366
2. Red Bull 188
3. Williams 121
4. Ferrari 116
5. Force India 98
6. McLaren 96
7. Toro Rosso 15
8. Lotus 8
10.Marussia 2
German Grand Prix
The German Grand Prix was a cruise for Nico Rosberg as he notched his 4th victory of the year in convincing fashion. Never challenged, Rosberg had quite the week. Not only did he win and extend his points lead over Lewis Hamilton, he got married and celebrated the German World Cup soccer victory.
Mercedes again brought the dominant machines, however a Lewis Hamilton brake lock up in Q1 led to a nosedive into the tires, a damaged W05 and a 20th place on the grid (5 place penalty due to a gearbox change). This allowed Rosberg an easy run, and set Hamilton up for a charge through the field.
Hamilton made contact with a few other drivers throughout his run sustaining damage to his left front wing. He barged through Sutil, Raikkonen and Button impacting each and provoking Button to say that he thought Hamilton “expected me to let him past”.
Either way, Hamilton managed an excellent run eventually finishing in 3rd and on the podium. Lewis needs to close the gap going into the August break and given his 4 wins in Hungary, he will likely welcome the short week between races.
Williams, Valtteri Bottas again proved the Williams’ prowess with his third straight podium. Bottas had a solid run and held off a charging Hamilton at race end. Hamilton noted that Bottas just had too much straight line speed and was unable to close enough to make an attack.
The middle of the pack was instantly shuffled on the first lap when Felipe Massa and Kevin Magnussen collided fighting for Turn 1 rights. Neither driver back off and Magnussen’s front left tire impacted Massa’s left rear. Massa, unlucky again, wound up tipped over and upside down. Daniel Ricciardo ran very wide to avoid to collision and lost track position dropping back in the pack.
Adrian Sutil provided perhaps the scariest moment of the day, when a slow and easy slide in turn 16 killed his Sauber which he then left in the middle of the track. Surprisingly, the safety car was not deployed leaving a dangerous situation for track marshals who needed to enter the track to remove the damaged Sauber. Both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso mentioned that a safety car should have been called to insure marshal safety. Strange decision. It will be interested to see the response of Charlie Whiting.
So, on the Hungary and then the summer break!. Here are some things to consider with one week remaining before the break.
Pos Driver Team
1. Nico Rosberg Mercedes
2. Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes
3. Lewis Hamilton Mercedes
4. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault
5. Fernando Alonso Ferrari
6. Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull-Renault
7. Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes
8. Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
9. Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes
10. Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes
11. Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari
12. Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault
13. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Renault
14. Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari
15. Jules Bianchi Marussia-Ferrari
16. Kamui Kobayashi Caterham-Renault
17. Max Chilton Marussia-Ferrari
18. Marcus Ericsson Caterham-Renault
Retirements
Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 47 laps
Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso-Renault 44 laps
Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 26 laps
Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 0 laps
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