2014 F1 Brazilian GP: Rosberg domination

Sao Paulo, Brazil-Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace was the venue for the penultimate race of the 2014 Formula One season. Coming to this week’s race, Nico Rosberg was 24 points adrift of champonship leader Lewis Hamilton. If he is to win his first ever drivers championship trophy, it is imperative that Nico wins the last two races and hope misfortune falls on his teammate.

The track layout was changed from its 2013 configuration. Where the drivers used to cut to the pit entry, the circuit now added a chicane. This further slows the cars down and makes the time to get in and out just a little bit longer. Another tweak was the run off area in the Senna S was widened to accommodate cars running wide, especially on lap 1.

As the cars lined up for the start, with Nico taking P1 ahead of Lewis, all eyes were on hometown hero, Felipe Massa in his Williams FW36. Expectations were high from both Williams drivers, this being their best season in recent memory. If there is a circuit that can “help” knock down the Mercedes boys from the top, and hand the team its maiden win for 2014, this is it.

Tire degradation was the main concern leading up to Sunday, and during Martin Brundle’s pit walk interview, Paul Hembrey, Pirreli’s motorsports director, was of the opinion that this could well be a three- or a four-stop race, and with cars coming in as early as lap five.

The start of the race saw Nico having a exceptional start, leading the field into turn one, with Lewis and the rest following suit. All the runners came out clean, and no incident was recorded. Massa held firm to P3, but Vettel and Ricciardo, suffering from a slow start, tumbled down the standings.

Lap 3 saw Bottas complaining of rear tire graining, and as predicted by Paul Hembrey, the first pit stop came on lap 5, with Maldonado on his Lotus E22. If the drivers don’t look after the Pirelli’s, the teams could run out of tires, this being a 71 lap race. Most of the front runners took to the pits immediately after Maldonado, and almost all took on the Primes (the Pirelli medium compound). The Option tires were just not going to work longer than five laps.

Massa took to the pits on lap six, but in his haste, Felipe sped past the speed limit on pit road. The stewards slapped him with a five second penalty, which he could serve during his second stop. This announcement was met with anger and jeers from the locals. Race leader Rosberg came in two laps later, giving an opportunity for Lewis to try to undercut Nico while he was stationary in the pits. But when it was time for Lewis to box, Rosberg sped past Hamilton at the pit exit.

All the cars were suffering from excessive graining, especially in their right front tires brought about by the anti-clockwise circuit configuration and off-camber corners. Tire management was paramount if one is to finish well in Brazil.

The race progressed with Hamilton and Rosberg trading fast lap times, as they have done most of this year. No quarter is given, and none taken. But at mid-race, a radio communication between Nico and the pit wall, shone some light on how Rosberg handles pressure, especially from his teammate. Nico was told by his engineer that Lewis was a few seconds back, to which he requested, not to be given any more time updates.

As most of the runners came in for their second scheduled stop, drama was once again provided by the Williams Martini Racing pit crew. Valtteri Bottas was held in the pit box for a loose seat belt. It had to be reconnected before the Finn was sent out, and a shot at the podium was now lost for Valtteri.

Meanwhile, Lewis tried once again to undercut Nico as he went in for a change of tires, driving the wheels off his F1 W05 Hybrid. Hamilton gained valuable time drivng around in clean air, but a mistake by the Brit saw the lead he was hoping to get before coming in vanish in a plume of tire smoke, when he locked up going into turn 10. Lewis emerged from his pit stop behind Rosberg. There would be no extending his lead in the championship standings this time around.

Kimi Raikkonen, who was having an uneventful race so far, had dramas of his own. At the pits, his F14T was dropped without its front right wheel in place. Failure of the front jack was to blame, and like Bottas, Kimi had to contend with damage limitation.

Lap 40 saw the RB10 of Daniel Ricciardo crawl around the circuit. Replays showed in the run to turn 1, the left front suspension arm broke free and Daniel had to retire from the race. This was to end his 15th consecutive points-scoring race. His last retirment was in Sepang earlier this year.

Lewis tried in vain to challenge Nico for the lead, but Rosberg was able to soak up the pressure and get his 5th win of the season .With that, he cuts Hamilton’s lead to a more managable 17 points. To the delight of the Brazilian faithful, Massa came in behind the Mercedes to take the last step on the podium.

Nico now has to win in Abu Dhabi and pray that Lewis finishes third or lower to win his first ever World Drivers Championship. Lewis, on the other hand, just has to keep his nose clean and shadow Nico to the checkered flag to be a multiple World Champion.