Stick a fork in him, Nico's done.
If you do the math, you will notice that after his win in the US Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, Hamilton only needs to finish second behind Rosberg in the final two races of the season to win the championship. So, he could conceivably play the two final matches of the season safe.
He probably will not so a surprise is still possible.
In the Rosberg camp, it means he could be perfect in Brazil and Abu Dhabi and it would still not be good enough, today's pass was a heavy one. Rosberg showed he has the raw speed but does not have the instinctive race craft of Hamilton.
"...it kind of sucks for me but that's the way it is. It took too long for me to find the rhythm. Once Lewis was by I found it but it was a bit late"
That is a hard admission to make, one that feels like a white flag. Rosberg has not been the same since the team came down on Lewis' side after Spa.
As for Hamilton, with 10 wins this season, he really should have had this sewn up long ago. Happy he did have all those DNF's because there is still some reason to watch. Of the two, there is no question he has had the edge overall.
25 seconds behind the Mercedes's race, Austin gave us one of the most entertaining races of the year, one that at times resembled a Moto GP race much was the passing back and forth action. Great show from Vergne, Ricciardo, Alonso. Even Maldonado drove a great race, Quite amazing.
A great results for COTA, Pirelli and yes, Herman Tilke!
2014 FORMULA 1 UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX
| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Retired | Grid | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | 56 | 1:40:04.785 | 2 | 25 |
| 2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes | 56 | +4.3 secs | 1 | 18 |
| 3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 56 | +25.5 secs | 5 | 15 |
| 4 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams-Mercedes | 56 | +26.9 secs | 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams-Mercedes | 56 | +30.9 secs | 3 | 10 |
| 6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari | 56 | +95.2 secs | 6 | 8 |
| 7 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull Racing-Renault | 56 | +95.7 secs | 18 | 6 |
| 8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren-Mercedes | 56 | +100.68 secs | 7 | 4 |
| 9 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 56 | +107.87 secs | 10 | 1 |
| 10 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne | STR-Renault | 56 | +108.86 secs | 14 | 2 |
| 11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 16 | |
| 12 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren-Mercedes | 55 | +1 Lap | 12 | |
| 13 | 7 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 8 | |
| 14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 55 | +1 Lap | 15 | |
| 15 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | STR-Renault | 55 | +1 Lap | 17 | |
| Ret | 27 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 16 | Engine | 13 | |
| Ret | 11 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1 | Accident damage | 11 | |
| Ret | 99 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 0 | Accident | 9 |
Re: the final sentence, Tilke didn't actually design the track layout at COTA, that was Tavo Hellmund. Tilke did all the buildings and facilities though.
ReplyDeleteI made the regretful decision to watch the NBC broadcast instead on SkySportsF1. No wonder the U.S. Market sucks, it was painful to listen to. If anyone watched it, in post race there was a reference to Hamilton passing Stewart and Clark in wins. Did I hear them use a reference to 'late' to discribing Stewart? He's not dead, even though those three brains are at NBC.
ReplyDeleteCOTA is a wonderful track and has had two consecutive years on great battle up and down the grid . Glad the two Mercedes actually had a race , but wish Nico could fight back a bit more... I am a Hamilton fan, but for sure post Spa , Nico has lost the killer instinct .
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Mr Rapp , NBC coverage was more about celebrities in the paddock than the racing. That said for folks in US that watch 1 race a year , they had it all dumbed down for the neophytes... A bit painful for the faithful
Do you have a reference to this? Everything I've read since the project was announced was that Tilke did the track and Miro Rivera Architects did the buildings and tower.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.statesman.com/news/sports/motor-sports/turn-for-turn-austin-tracks-design-layout-should-1/nRnFP/
ReplyDeleteIt was tempting to tune in instead of waiting for a decent smcgill torrent (HD all the way) but in the end I'm glad I waited for the SKY show because even that was 'dumbed down' a touch - I'm pretty sure they know they're getting more US viewers than NBC does.
ReplyDeletePathetic, really.
This is how a race should be done - sure there are long stretches of track without any stands or fan spots but you can see a full house in the feeds, folks on the grass and full stands all the way up the hill into turn 1 - you can just feel the crowd energy even through the screen. It really is all about T1 on the hill.
ReplyDeleteNext year I hope to watch from the top of a parked RV long the back straight, plenty of open spaces back there...
aprove
ReplyDeleteThat's a great read, thanks for sharing. Not sure how I missed it. It's a shame Tilke gets to claim all the credit...
ReplyDelete