Nico Rosberg defeats F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton

Autosport

Nico Rosberg ended Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton’s five-race winning streak by beating the sister Mercedes to victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

By converting his 10th pole position of the 2014 F1 season into victory, Rosberg closed team-mate Hamilton’s points lead down to 17 heading into the Abu Dhabi GP double-points finale.

Hamilton’s hopes of challenging Rosberg’s supremacy were largely undone when he half spun at the Descida do Lago on lap 28 of 71.

The Brit ran wide after correcting a snap of oversteer as he braked for the corner. He subsequently revealed over the radio that he had wound his brake bias too far to the rear.

Hamilton hustled superbly to recover the time lost to Rosberg, and put him under pressure by remaining within DRS range during a franctic final stint (in which both drivers exchanged fastest laps), but ultimately Hamilton had to settle for second.

Local hero Felipe Massa brought smiles to the faces of the home crowd by completing the podium.

The Williams driver survived a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane at his first stop, and the embarrassment of accidentally driving into the McLaren pit at his last, to finish a distant third.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas should have been well-placed to capitalise on Massa’s errors, after running fourth early on, but a lengthy delay at his first pitstop set him back badly, and he lost more time when Nico Hulkenberg’s Force India forced him wide while overtaking into the Senna S.

Bottas eventually wound up a lapped 10th.

McLaren’s Jenson Button took that fourth spot with a brave pass around the outside of Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari at the Descida do Lago with 10 laps to run.

Their side-by-side duelling also allowed world champion Sebastian Vettel to nip through into fifth in his Red Bull.

Vettel might have finished higher but for ground lost while battling Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren on the opening lap, while team-mate Daniel Ricciardo retired shortly before half-distance with a left front suspension problem on his Red Bull.

Raikkonen started 10th and dropped behind the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez on the first lap, but made progress by being the only driver to complete the race on two pitstops.

The Finn lost time to what appeared to be a front jack problem at his second stop, and defended desperately in a battle of world champions with Fernando Alonso in the closing stages, but ultimately couldn’t prevent his Ferrari team-mate passing him for sixth with a handful of laps to go.

Hulkenberg made good use of alternative tyre strategy – running the soft tyre at the end – to finish eighth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren and Bottas, who just held off Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat to claim the final point.

RESULTS – 71 LAPS:

PosDriverCarGap
1Nico RosbergMercedes1h30m02.555s
2Lewis HamiltonMercedes1.457s
3Felipe MassaWilliams/Mercedes41.031s
4Jenson ButtonMcLaren/Mercedes48.658s
5Sebastian VettelRed Bull/Renault51.420s
6Fernando AlonsoFerrari1m01.906s
7Kimi RaikkonenFerrari1m03.730s
8Nico HulkenbergForce India/Mercedes1m03.934s
9Kevin MagnussenMcLaren/Mercedes1m10.085s
10Valtteri BottasWilliams/Mercedes1 Lap
11Daniil KvyatToro Rosso/Renault1 Lap
12Pastor MaldonadoLotus/Renault1 Lap
13Jean-Eric VergneToro Rosso/Renault1 Lap
14Esteban GutierrezSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
15Sergio PerezForce India/Mercedes1 Lap
16Adrian SutilSauber/Ferrari1 Lap
17Romain GrosjeanLotus/RenaultPower Unit
Daniel RicciardoRed Bull/RenaultSuspension

DRIVERS’ CHAMPIONSHIP:

PosDriverPoints
1Lewis Hamilton334
2Nico Rosberg317
3Daniel Ricciardo214
4Sebastian Vettel159
5Fernando Alonso157
6Valtteri Bottas156
7Jenson Button106
8Felipe Massa98
9Nico Hulkenberg80
10Kevin Magnussen55
11Kimi Raikkonen53
12Sergio Perez47
13Jean-Eric Vergne22
14Romain Grosjean8
15Daniil Kvyat8
16Pastor Maldonado2
17Jules Bianchi2
18Adrian Sutil0
19Marcus Ericsson0
20Esteban Gutierrez0
21Max Chilton0
22Kamui Kobayashi0

CONSTRUCTORS’ CHAMPIONSHIP:

PosConstructorPoints
1Mercedes651
2Red Bull/Renault373
3Williams/Mercedes254
4Ferrari210
5McLaren/Mercedes161
6Force India/Mercedes127
7Toro Rosso/Renault30
8Lotus/Renault10
9Marussia/Ferrari2
10Sauber/Ferrari0
11Caterham/Renault0

 

Nico Rosberg defeats F1 title rival Lewis Hamilton

  • Autosport
    About The Author
    -

    sixteen − five =

    You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>