October 2014 is finally
over. It will surely go down as one of the worst months in (recent) F1 history.
Following the devastating events of Suzuka, we then had a rather farcical
display of vanity from Putin in Sochi (admittedly, against a stunning backdrop)
and then the desperate woes of Caterham and Marussia.
For the first time in
Formula 1 history, the penultimate race of a season cannot decide an unresolved
title battle. The much-maligned double points situation means that even if
Lewis Hamilton outscores Nico Rosberg 25-0 in Interlagos this weekend, he will
be vulnerable to the German pulling off what will surely be the luckiest
championship in the sport’s history, coming from 49pts back to steal it by one.
Should the opposite
happen, and Rosberg win in Brazil with Hamilton recording a DNF, then Abu Dhabi
could be a thrilling one-race cup final type race – much like the Nascar Sprint
Cup. Speaking of Nascar, they were racing in Texas this weekend too – yet
another reason why this Grand Prix should be held back-to-back with Canada
earlier in the season.
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| The winning move Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook) |
Superb performance on
Sunday. Has elevated his game since the infamous Belgian GP and hasn’t looked
back since. Ten wins this season, 32 overall, losing the title from here would
actually be even worse than his 2007 catastrophe – and that’s saying something.
 |
| Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook) |
2.
Daniel Ricciardo (up two spots)
Ricciardo and the
Williams were pretty evenly matched this weekend. The difference, not for the
first time this season, was Williams making poor strategy calls. Ricciardo was
outstanding in the opening laps. After an initial slow getaway, he passed both
Magnussen and Alonso either side of the SC with a couple of fine moves.
 |
| Ricciardo overtook Alonso with a cracking move Source: F1 Fanatic |
3.
Jules Bianchi (no change)
#ForzaJules
– Your place in the F1 Power Rankings is awaiting your return.
4.
Valtteri Bottas (down two spots)
Jumped by Massa at the
start, Bottas never quite got going on Sunday. He always seemed to be at
‘arms-length’ behind his team-mate, and later Ricciardo too. Despite that, he
still finished over a minute ahead of
Alonso and co.
5.
Daniil Kvyat (down one spot)
Rather mixed weekend
for Kvyat. The curious regulations meant that Vettel could opt for a pit lane
start after changing his whole power unit whilst Kvyat would only be able to
serve some of his ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change. Nevertheless,
he vaulted from 17th to 11th amidst the opening lap
chaos, ran as high as sixth mid-race, and appeared to be on course for points
towards the end of the race before he killed his tyres battling Räikkönen and
both drivers needed to pit again with a handful of laps left.
6.
Nico Rosberg (up one spot)
Rosberg’s pole position
lap was one of the greatest in the past two decades. Up against it after
problems in FP3, he continually beat Hamilton into submission on Saturday with
scintillating pace… Alas, he evidently used up all his magic too early as Lewis
stormed back to take command in the race.
 |
| Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas |
K-Mag wound up an
eventual eighth but it could well have been higher had McLaren not pitted him
on the first lap as the SC was deployed. It was a curious move by the team to
pit both cars, especially as
Magnussen was solidly in the top ten. Forced into tyre conservation mode, he
had no chance of battling against Alonso and Vettel for ‘best-of-the-rest’
honours in the closing stages.
8.
Sebastian Vettel (up one spot)
As mentioned earlier
(Kvyat), the strange inconsistency in the regulations meant Vettel could take a
fresh power unit without incurring an added penalty going forward. He
double-pitted under the SC to free up his strategy options but, in hindsight,
the move probably cost him sixth-place as he used the soft tyre on a short
final stint – thus nullifying the reason for his two early stops, which lost
him track position.
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| Vettel's helmet matched the spectacular Austin trackside scenery Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook) |
I repeat: Alonso
finished over a minute behind the top
five. The three leading teams were massively faster than the rest of the grid,
led by Alonso.
10.
Sergio Perez (down four spots)
The less said about
Checo’s race the better. Cars will inevitably be bunched together on the
opening lap so Perez’s excuse, that he didn’t expect Räikkönen to be there,
doesn’t hold much water. It’s a shame because the actual move on Sutil was very
good. Nonetheless, it’s a sharp fall down this week’s F1 Power Rankings.
=11.
Jean-Éric Vergne (up two spots) &
Felipe Massa (up one spot)
It was arguably the
highlight of the race: the terrific race-long battle between Toro Rosso and
Lotus (featuring various guests throughout). JEV ended up with a solitary point
after picking up a penalty for his banzai move on Grosjean late in the race.
Critically for both Maldonado and Vergne, they managed to stay on the lead lap,
which effectively nullified their penalties as Grosjean (11th) was
lapped. Rumours swirling that JEV might be handed a lifeline at Toro Rosso and,
with Sauber now a closed shop for next year, that might be his only shot left.
I should be writing
about how Massa’s second podium of the season but, as discussed, Williams were
out-strategised by Red Bull. Massa has definitely enjoyed a stronger second
half to the season.
 |
| Massa out-raced Bottas but still fell short of the podium Source: Williams F1 Team (Facebook) |
A weekend to forget for
JB. A gearbox penalty left him mired in what turned out to be a chaotic
midfield on the opening lap and McLaren then left both their drivers to
conserve tyres for the whole race, something Magnussen did better. There’ll be
lots of disappointed fans if the final two races do turn out to be Button’s
last, but it’s not hard to see why McLaren might drop him.
14.
Kimi Räikkönen (no change)
Räikkönen slowly fell
through the pack as the race progressed. His car was damaged on the opening lap
by Perez and a certain points-finish evaporated.
15.
Romain Grosjean (up two spots)
From being the slowest
car in Q1 to tenth on the opening lap, raceday in Austin gave us Lotus’ best
team performance of the season. Both drivers ran strongly in contention for
points all day. Ultimately, Grosjean came up just short as Vergne mugged him
into Turn 1 and damaged the Lotus in the process. Looks like Grosjean will stay
at Enstone for another season and it will be interesting to see how they fare
with a Merc engine.
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| Lotus enjoyed a competitive showing but Grosjean lost out to JEV Source: Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
The Hulk continues his
alarming slide down the F1 Power
Rankings. He has been confirmed at Force India for next season (never in
doubt) but he’ll hope to at least pick up some momentum in the final couple of
events. Brazil holds good memories for him after his 2010 pole position with
Williams and then leading the race for Force India in 2012 before a late clash
with Hamilton.
17.
Pastor Maldonado (up three spots)
Points at last!
Cracking drive from Maldonado to secure his first top-ten finish since Hungary
last year (26 races) and his first multi-points finish in exactly two years
(Austin ’12 – ninth). A curious footnote in his four-year F1 career thus far is
that in three of them, he has finished in the points just once.
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| Kimi failed to beat his old team Source: Lotus F1 Team (Facebook) |
Desperate shame for
Sauber. Not since Monaco have the team had such a promising opportunity to pick
up their first points of the season but it all went catastrophically wrong on
lap 1 as Sutil, having made Q3 for the first time this season, was wrecked by
Perez. To no great surprise, the extremely mediocre German has lost his drive
for next season.
19.
Marcus Ericsson (down one spot)
Ericsson somehow
survives slipping to bottom of the F1
Power Rankings because he has secured a 2015 race seat with Sauber,
alongside Felipe Nasr. Ultimately, $$$ talks; but it will also be interesting
to see whether the Swiss outfit can survive the winter.
20.
Esteban Gutierrez (down four spots)
Alas, Stevie G’s budget
has been trumped. With the Mexican Grand Prix set for a return next season,
Gutierrez must surely have fancied his chances of keeping his seat but an
underwhelming two seasons in F1 coupled with the money problem has seen him
facing the scrapheap.
=21.
Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton, André Lotterer
All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright
infringement is intended.
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