Nico Rosberg wins the Brazilian GP for Team Mercedes with 16 secs 125244, Lewis Hamilton comes in second with 71+1.4 secs 218319 and Felipe Massa finishing third in today’s Brazilian Grand Prix.
Nico Rosberg’s win in Brazil sets him up for the F1 Abu Dhabi showdown for Mercedes. It reduces Hamilton’s lead in the title race to 17 points, with 50 available in the final race in Abu Dhabi.
Felipe incurred a 5-second penalty after his first pitstop for speeding in the pitlane, but had enough pace to retain his third place and drove a consistent race to finish on the podium.
Valtteri had a number of issues during his pitstops which put him back down the order in an eventual tenth place.
In Their Own Words:
Nico Rosberg:
That was a fantastic weekend and I felt very comfortable over the whole three days. I had to learn from Austin, which was a big disappointment, and I think I achieved that. I was able to control the pace a bit better and didn’t let Lewis come too close. He drove really well and was always right there pushing me. When he spun I had a bit of time to relax and was able to save some life in the tyres for the end of the stint. That worked out perfectly and it was a great day with another one-two for the team. I was also happy for Felipe to be on the podium with us at his home race. The Brazilian people have been so great to us throughout this the whole weekend so it was also a good day for them. Now we have a great finale to look forward to in Abu Dhabi. I’m still believing 100 per cent that I can make it but, of course, I will need some help from Felipe or Valtteri or Lewis himself.
Lewis Hamilton:
Naturally, you’ll always be disappointed when you make a mistake and I did that today. But honestly, I felt great out there. The car was strong, my pace was good, I didn’t give up, kept pushing and made up the time so that’s what’s most important to me. Generally, when I’m told to push it means the team is bringing me in that lap so that’s what I did. In the end, they left me out for another lap which caught me by surprise. By the time I came round to do the second lap my rear tyres were gone from where I’d been pushing so hard. Even so, it was my mistake locking up the rears and ultimately that cost me the win. Nico drove a great race – defending well and not making any mistakes. But it’s clear I had the pace. It’s not a big deal, though. That’s motor racing. Obviously, I lost some points which is disappointing. But it’s a great team result with a record-breaking one-two finish and I really enjoyed the race. The car is just fantastic – the best I’ve ever driven – so a big thank you to the team for all their hard work. I’ll be pushing just as hard in Abu Dhabi and hopefully we’ll get to have another great race like we saw today.
Toto Wolff
I’m so proud of the team and what we have achieved today. What you see at the track on a race weekend is just the tip of the iceberg and there are so many hard working, intelligent, good people who contributed to the success of the car and of this season. If I could, I would want to mention the names of everybody. Although you see a couple of public faces, the results are only possible because the team is strong and sticks together. Numbers like 11 one-two finishes, 15 wins and 30 podiums in a season make me incredibly proud of my colleagues and humble at what we have achieved together. Today’s race was a pure battle between Nico and Lewis, with no quarter asked or given. The deciding moment probably came when Lewis spun on lap 28. That gave Nico some breathing room and, although Lewis seemed to have the better speed today, Nico was able to absorb the pressure from then all the way to the flag. It was a fantastic performance from both of them and sets up the prospect of a thrilling finale in Abu Dhabi. No matter which way that race goes, either driver would be a very worthy World Champion at the end of a fantastic season.
Paddy Lowe
We have been saying all week that Brazilian Grands Prix are usually full of drama and this one was no exception. Although the weather didn’t play a disruptive role, we saw a brilliant all-out battle between our two drivers that exemplified the incredible level of competition we have seen between them all season. Prior to the race, it was clear that tyre endurance would play a key role, after the teams had unanimously decided to bring a softer selection to this event than Pirelli had initially recommended. When conditions proved so hot and track temperatures so high, we thought that making a three-stop strategy would actually be quite tight, so we were pleased to find the tyres actually behaved better than our predictions had suggested. It is an incredible achievement to score our 11th one-two finish of the season and to write a line in the history books of the sport. 1988 was my first season in Formula One and that year saw records set that I thought would never be broken. It is hard now to get my head round the fact that we have set a new benchmark. That is a real tribute to the achievements of the team. Congratulations to everybody in Stuttgart, Brixworth and Brackley on reaching this milestone.
WILLIAMS MARTINI RACING has extended its advantage over Ferrari for third in the Constructors’ Championship to 44 points.
Rob Smedley, Head of Performance Engineering: That was probably the most recent hectic race we have had all year and was very difficult to manage from the pit wall with everything that was going on. We had a lot of issues; both cars had debris stuck in them and we had to remove these at different pit stops, Valtteri lost time in his first stop as he had an issue with his belts that we needed to check, and Felipe lost time in his second stop through a penalty and stopping in the wrong box. Nevertheless we have secured some good points in spite of these challenges, extending our lead over fourth in the Championship and Felipe put in a very mature drive to finish on the podium in front of his home fans. The car is quick and this race had proved that – we now need to make sure that in Abu Dhabi we fully maximise the points that we should be attaining with this car.
Felipe Massa: It was not an easy race but what a fantastic result for me, for my family, and for the team to finish on the podium in front of my home fans. The energy from the crowd was amazing and really pushed me forward. The car had strong and consistent pace today and this allowed me to stay in third despite issues in my two pitstops. In the first stop I incurred a stop-and-go penalty after speeding in the pit lane after I hit the limiter twice by mistake, and in the second I stopped in the wrong box. We’re not normally next to McLaren and in the light their overalls looked the same colour as ours so this caught me out. In the end these issues were not enough to take away my podium because we had a good aggressive strategy and a really good car.
Valtteri Bottas: It was a race full of different problems for me and in the end it just wasn’t my day. I had an issue with my belts at the beginning that we resolved at the first pit stop but this lost me a lot of time and I also lost time in the second stop. The conditions were very challenging as tyre wear was high and all cars were experiencing graining. As a team we have managed to come away with some decent points and I’m happy for Felipe as the crowd reaction after he got out of the car was very special. These sort of days happen in Formula One and we need to regroup and make sure that Abu Dhabi is a problem free race for us.
Official Infinity Race Quotes
SEBASTIAN VETTEL, Finish Position: 5th, Start Position: 6th
“I had a good launch at the start and then into Turn 4… maybe I don’t have the best memories of Turn 4 here from two years ago, I didn’t know how aggressive Kevin (Magnussen) was going to be going into it and I left a bit too much space. I went a bit wide and lost two positions as I couldn’t get on the power out of the corner. Then I had to fight hard to get the positions back during the race which we did, especially with strategy. I hoped to get maybe one more position to finish fourth, but in the end it was a good result for us here.”
DANIEL RICCIARDO, Finish Position: DNF, Start Position: 9th
“When I went into Turn One, the car went to the right and I knew there was a problem. I came into the pits and the team told me it was suspension failure and we retired. It had been a bit of a boring race, we were close to everyone but not close enough to have many fights; I would have liked to have had a bit more fun, but it didn’t really happen. It’s a shame, but I had a pretty good run until now, so I can’t be too greedy. It would be good to finish on the podium at the final race of the season.”
CHRISTIAN HORNER, Team Principal: “A difficult afternoon. Sebastian unfortunately lost some time on the first lap, but thereafter he recovered very well through good strategy and pit work to get back up to fifth, which I think was the maximum at this circuit. With Daniel, unfortunately we had a front suspension issue, he thought it might be a front brake, but in the end it turned out to be the front suspension that had failed so we need to investigate what happened. Despite all that, we managed to secure second in the Constructors’ Championship which, considering where we started the season, is a huge credit to the entire team for the fight back that we put up this year. We now look forward to the last race in Abu Dhabi.”
THIERRY SALVI, Renault: “First and foremost we are delighted to have helped secure second place in the Constructors’ Championship after a very difficult year for the team, which has done a fantastic job adapting to the new Power Unit regulations. Everyone has played their part. Seb did a great job today and again demonstrated his fighting qualities after the opening lap. Fifth was probably the best we could have hoped for in the end, but his PU ran without any problems at a particularly demanding circuit. There’s just one race remaining now, and we’ll be working very hard to end the season strongly before all of our energy switches to developing the RS35 unit ahead of 2015.”
Full Brazilian Results:
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 71 Winner 1 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +1.4 secs 2 18
3 19 Felipe Massa Williams 71 +41.0 secs 3 15
4 22 Jenson Button McLaren 71 +48.6 secs 5 12
5 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull 71 +51.4 secs 6 10
6 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 71 +61.9 secs 8 8
7 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 71 +63.7 secs 10 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 71 +63.9 secs 12 4
9 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren 71 +70.0 secs 7 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams 70 +1 Lap 4 1
11 26 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso 70 +1 Lap 17
12 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 70 +1 Lap 16
13 25 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso 70 +1 Lap 15
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber 70 +1 Lap 11
15 11 Sergio Perez Force India 70 +1 Lap 18
16 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap 13
RET 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 63 +8 Laps 14
RET 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 39 +32 Laps 9
