Hamilton Doubles in Abu Dhabi

Lewis Hamilton, 2014 World Driving Champion.   It was in the cards ahead of the final race in Abu Dhabi and Lewis did not let it slip through his fingers,   a deserved second championship for the British driver.

Many will say, as they did with Vettel and Schumacher before, that it was all car.  Yes, but it's not really Hamilton's fault everyone else was slow.  Nico was not slow and in the end Lewis beat him fair and square.

Given Mercedes' crushing domination it was always going to be between Hamilton and Rosberg for the win.  In fact Rosberg proved to be a more tenacious competition than anyone would have imagined at the  beginning of the season, he came close and surprised everyone by out qualifying Hamilton.

For Lewis, he did not have it all his way, he made a number of mistakes and fell short in qualifying but he always fought back on Sundays.   He had bad luck but also good luck, sometimes in the same race.  Hungary, for example, where an engine fire forced him to start from pit lane and a safety car helped him finish on the podium.   Or Brazil, where he spun off while chasing Rosberg but managed to keep it away from any barriers and with the engine running.

If I had any recriminations, it would be with the way the (mostly) British media followed Hamilton's lead and demonized Rosberg for presumed dirty tricks.   What was ridiculous in Monaco just became lousy after Spa.  Mercedes as a team were wrong to come down hard as they did on Rosberg, even Toto Wolff in hindsight admitted as much to the BBC,  ahead of the last race.   It was a blotch in an otherwise very well managed, complicated season for the Germans.   Was Hamilton wrong in whining about Nico's behavior, using his contract renewal and even his background in the media/psych war?  It's F1, win at all cost, no holds barred, that's the way it is.

So well done Lewis, congratulations and get a nice rest, hopefully next season you will have more than just Nico chasing you.  It will be much more fun for us to watch and for you to race!.

.

Red Bull Busted....but.

Vettel and Ricciardo will have to start from the back after Red Bull had their qualifying results wiped for having a front wing that did not pass the FIA deflection test.

The team issued a statement to the effect that they accept the penalty but wonder why them.

Following the decision of the Stewards regarding the front wings on both our cars (Car 1 and Car 3), we are disappointed that we have been singled out for a front wing deflection test when it is clear that other teams are interpreting the rules in a similar fashion. 

The team accepts the decision of the Stewards and will start the race from the back of the grid

You'll understand where Red Bull is coming from when you see this clip of the Williams front wing from FP2.

Have a look at the double element visible between the bottom plank and the top left higher winglets.  It flexes multiple inches under load.

I am the decider!

Tomorrow's race might just be a boring fizzle:  Rosberg could easily win and Hamilton settle for second and take home the Championship.   Double Yawn.

But funny things happen on the way to a Championship,  Hamilton has already won it, deservedly so, but he's also in the unenviable position to let it slip through his fingers.

Pass the popcorn, maybe Felipe Massa will pass Hamilton for second on the final corner on Sunday.

Our friend Raphael Orlove asked about famous title deciders past so here is a primer courtesy the BBC and the Murray Walker

Alonso's silence explained

Where will Alonso go in 2015?

That has been the soap opera for the second half of the season.  People are down on Fernando for keeping mum but there is a very simple explanation:  Lewis Hamilton.

When things were not going his way this past summer, Hamilton started making noises about his contract renewal with Mercedes.  Mercedes, not wanting to lose their marquee driver came down hard on Nico after the Spa contact.   Nico did not recover until the penultimate race of the season in Brazil.  Score one for couch man Hamilton, tactic must have worked.

Now as the season finale looms, Hamilton is still keeping the contract renewal over Mercedes's head. If he wins on Sunday he will renew with the additional leverage of a two time world champion.  Should he lose, he will not stand around the Mercedes garage as Rosberg's sidekick and sign with Mclaren. Pressure's on Mercedes to avoid a DNF,  a DNF in the final race of 2012  marked the end of his Mclaren days.

That will free up a spot for Alonso at Mercedes and, as he himself said many times, it will be obvious why he waited.

Bye Fred, Seb in Red

Ferrari officially confirm 2015 driver lineup.

Vettel drove a classic Ferrari at the red Bull Ring this past summer

It's the official start of a new cycle for the Scuderia with Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen.  That Vettel was a long term, post Alonso target for Ferrari was something that had been whispered for quite some time but nobody thought it would happen in 2015.

There is yet to be an official announcement for Alonso's future.



Maranello, 20 November 2014 – Scuderia Ferrari announces that it has reached an agreement of three years duration with Sebastian Vettel, who will drive for the team as from the 2015 season.

The driver line-up next season will consist of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel.

“Scuderia Ferrari has decided to put its faith in the youngest multiple champion in the history of Formula 1” – commented Scuderia Ferrari Team Principal, Marco Mattiacci. “In Formula 1 terms, Sebastian Vettel is a unique combination of youthfulness and experience and he brings with him that sense of team spirit which will prove invaluable when, together with Kimi, they tackle the challenges awaiting us, as we aim to be front runners again as soon as possible. With Sebastian, we all share a thirst for victory as well as enthusiasm, a strong work ethic and tenacity; key elements for all the Scuderia members to write a new chapter in the history of Ferrari.”

“The next stage of my Formula 1 career will be spent with Scuderia Ferrari and for me that means the dream of a lifetime has come true,” said Sebastian Vettel. “When I was a kid, Michael Schumacher in the red car was my greatest idol and now it’s an incredible honour to finally get the chance to drive a Ferrari. I already got a small taste of what the Ferrari spirit means, when I took my first win at Monza in 2008, with an engine from the Prancing Horse built in Maranello. The Scuderia has a great tradition in this sport and I am extremely motivated to help the team get back to the top. I will put my heart and soul into making it happen.”

Rosberg crowned champion at the last race.

Winning a world championship at the last race could become a Rosberg family tradition.

It was Kimi Raikkonen who, at the beginning of the season, said  about double points: "it doesn't matter, it's the same for everybody".  But will it matter this week end in Abu Dhabi?

If Nico Rosberg wins the title, not only will it drive Hamilton fans livid with rage but will make the FinnGerman polyglot only the second son of an F1 champion to become champion himself, after Damon Hill.

In 1982, the epically mustachioed Keke Rosberg won the championship in the final race by finishing fifth after having won only one race the whole season.     One win may sound bad but, again in parallel to this year, it represented half the number of victories scored by rivals Didier Pironi and John Watson.

It was also a year marked by an astounding number of retirements: 152 retirements between the 26 point scoring drivers (because I got tired of counting),  over 16 races.

By contrast this year there have been 72 retirements among all 22 drivers over 18 races.  But it's the last possible DNF that might be the key.    If that happens to one of the two Mercedes on Sunday, double points will have made no difference *.



*unless the DNF hits Hamilton and Rosberg finished lower than 5th.

Crowdfund my ass: Caterham fires all employees same day it announces fundraising success.

I wonder how many of those who sent money to Caterham feel like they have been played today?

On the same day the British team triumphantly announced it had met its crowdfunding goal and would be show up at the season finale in Abu Dhabi, it appears they fired all employees at the factory in the UK.  Not only was the entire workforce sacked but they were let go being owed the last seven weeks salary.

“It is dismaying to see the amount of publicity surrounding the success of the crowdfunding on the same day that there entire workforce was made redundant while owed seven weeks salary. The cynic in me would suggest that the two are not unrelated and the good news has served as a convenient opportunity to bury the bad news. If this is the case then it seems to have worked as there hasn’t been a peep anywhere"

That is an excerpt from an email sent to Joe Saward by a "former" Caterham F1 employee,  you can read the rest here

The reason Caterham desperately wanted to go to Abu Dhabi is because if they don't sow up they will forfeit any funds owed to them as part of the Concorde agreement,  The owners are in debt and they need any money to put a dent in those debts.  But by firing all their employees they are in effect killing the team.

Now my question is a simple one: if they fired all their employees, who is going to unpack everything and put tires on the cars?

More embarrassment for Formula 1.

Rosberg upsets Hamilton in Brazil

Couch vs Yacht : "I can't believe I might lose to this guy"

Whichever way the fight between the two Mercedes drivers will end two weeks from nowin Abu Dhabi, one thing is for certain, Nico Rosberg proved all the doubters and haters wrong.

Here he is, one race to go and he's outscored Lewis, the man conventional wisdom has as the fastest driver over a single lap, in pole positions this year.  Somehow he still has a chance if he wins the final race in  Abu Dhabi.  Of course he will have won five races, half as many as Hamilton, a statistic that will drive Lewis and his fans insane with rage if the Briton manages to lose the championship.

Because it is Hamilton's championship to lose at this point.  Mathematics say that if Rosberg wins the final, double point race, Hamilton has to finish no worse than second.   Given Mercedes' record of 1-2 finishes this year, this should be an easy ask for Lewis.  In Brazil the Mercs finished  41 seconds ahead of third place Felipe Massa... 41 seconds!

But it's not a done deal, Hamilton has shown he too can make mistakes at crucial moments, he was extremely lucky to get away with his spin  at Interlagos without any damage to his car and with very minor damage to his championship hunt.

In a way, it's too bad he did get away with it, the ideal championship finale would have the two both needing a win to be crowned champion, with no possibility of winning from P2.   But it didn't work out that way.

Hamilton now has 334 points vs Rosberg's 317.  Should Hamilton  come second in the final race he would finish the season with 370 points vs Rosberg's 367.   But he has to finish second if Nico wins, third would not cut it (334 + (15x2)= 364).

If something happened to Hamilton and he dropped out, Rosberg will have to score at least a 6th place to win the Championship.

I would guess Hamilton will not play it safe.

Being the Mercedes', it was Mercedes power:  Massa managed a podium despite a 5 sec penalty and pulling into the Mclaren pit for service.  Button must have made quite a few wonder why he does not have a seat in F1 yet for next year.

Raikkonen was the liveliest he has been all season, better late than never.   His fight with Alonso was exciting and his not moving over is probably all the proof you need Fernando is leaving.

Not much else to say really except bring on Abu Dhabi and the 2015 season.

FORMULA 1 GRANDE PRÊMIO PETROBRAS DO BRASIL 2014

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Pts
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	71	1:30:02.555	1	25
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	71	+1.4 secs	2	18
3	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	71	+41.0 secs	3	15
4	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+48.6 secs	5	12
5	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	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-Mercedes	71	+63.9 secs	12	4
9	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	71	+70.0 secs	7	2
10	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap	4	1
11	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	70	+1 Lap	17
12	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	70	+1 Lap	16
13	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	70	+1 Lap	15
14	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	11
15	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	70	+1 Lap	18
16	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	70	+1 Lap	13
17	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	63	Power unit	14
Ret	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	39	Suspension	9

Oh man, Caterham is hoping to crowdfund the rest of their F1 season!

At £10 a head that would be 235000 fans?   I feel for all the Caterham F1 employees but, good luck with that.

Press Release:

CATERHAM F1 TEAM LAUNCHES #REFUELCATERHAMF1: A CHANCE TO CROWDFUND THE TEAM'S RETURN FOR THE SEASON FINALE IN ABU DHABI

Friday 7 November 2014

The Caterham F1 Team is launching the #RefuelCaterhamF1 project today in order to power the team to go racing in Abu Dhabi and hopefully beyond. The team will reward both fans and sponsors in this unique opportunity to be the driving force behind the team by crowdfunding its return to the grid.

Companies and fans can get involved by heading to the Crowdcube website, www.crowdcube.com/caterham, and pledging the amount they wish to give, from just £10. Supporters will receive unique rewards, including a once in a lifetime opportunity to get your name on the Caterham F1 car competing in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The opportunity to support Caterham F1’s return to the grid will close when it reaches its £2.350m funding target or Friday 14 November, whichever is sooner.

Finbarr O’Connell, Caterham Sports Limited administrator and interim Caterham F1 Team Principal: “We are working non-stop to get the Caterham F1 Team back racing, initially in Abu Dhabi, but hopefully that will be just a stepping stone to get it back racing on a permanent basis, under new ownership. In order to achieve that one of our most useful, innovative and effective options right now is crowdfunding. We want to get as many sponsors and fans as possible involved this week and make our comeback something we can all be part of. This team deserves a future and I’m sure that there are plenty of fans and companies out there that agree with us, so I can’t think of a better way to get us all together and show our support to the team than this one, the Caterham F1 Team #RefuelCaterhamF1 project.

“In order to make this happen, we’ve teamed-up with Crowdcube, the world’s leading crowdfunding platform, which has raised £45m for more than 150 organisations since 2011. If we don’t hit the target by next Friday, obviously the pledged funds will be returned, but right now we are hopeful for the future of the team and we are confident that the team showing the world that it can race again will lead to a bright future under a new owner on a proper financial footing.”

Mike Stubbs of Mishcon, legal adviser to the Administrator: “At Mishcon, we do a lot of ground breaking work for our F1 clients and for all clients . This initiative represents yet another advancement in the ever growing list of rescue options if you are prepared to think laterally.”

Darren Westlake, CEO of Crowdcube: “It's fantastic for Crowdcube to be able to support an iconic team in this way; helping Caterham F1 to continue doing what it does best. This is a unique opportunity for motorsport fans to be directly involved in the sport they love, getting behind the team and playing a part in powering them onto the grid - even putting their name on the car.”

Alonso drops a bombshell: Ferrari might be best option.

In the seemingly never ending saga around his future employment,  Nando dropped a bomb at Interlagos but, curiously, it was for the most part ignored by British media and only reported by Spanish and Italian publications.

"I have the option to go to any team i want for the final years of my career. I have to evaluate what is the best option for me, if to renew with Ferrari for the long term, something we have been discussing all year"

Boom... except with the UK crowd, who generally despise Alonso and will certainly have little patience with being trolled like this by the Spaniard.

At this point the Alonso saga is almost more gripping than the actual racing.  What's interesting is those reports of a door slamming-name calling fight between Alonso and Marco Mattiacci came from a UK source while we can report (and a number of photographs seemed to confirm) that our own CG saw Alonso and Mattiacci laughing and joking with each other in the paddock in Austin.

"From the outside it's true that the situation is not so clear, everyone thinks that Mercedes, the team that is dominating at the moment, will dominate next year. We probably though the same last year of Red Bull when they won nine races in a row and then this year they managed only five laps in winter testing.  You never know how things will change from year to year, you have to study the projects, evaluate the prospects and follow a direction.  At this moment my priority is Ferrari, because we are racing here with 75 people who are working on two cars to achieve the best result possible."

What will happen?  We think Alonso is the perfect driver for Ferrari and even a pairing of Alonso and Vettel would be epic and would make the pairing of Hamilton and Rosberg seem bland.  The resurgence of the Ferrari will be the storyline of the next few years in F1, maybe Fernando has figured it out?

As usual, leave your take below.

Hamilton BBQ's Rosberg in Texas

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

Rosberg stuns Hamilton in Austin

Nico showed Lewis some HammerZeitpunkt in Austin.  

While the British driver repeatedly locked up, flat spotting at leas two sets of tires, including the ones he will have to start the race on, Rosberg threw down a a 1:36.067 lap.  almost 4.10th faster than his rival, an eternity in F1.

The Pole shootout for the season now stands 9 to 7 in Rosberg's favor.

Nico's lap was also over 3/10th faster than last year's pole by Sebastian Vettel.  The cars have nominally softer tires this year but they are also heavier and have less downforce on a track that demands high downforce.   Very interesting.

Tomorrow Hamilton, who dominated all the previous practice session, will be hoping turn one and DRS, will be his friends.

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Q1	Q2	Q3	Laps
1	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes	1:38.303	1:36.290	1:36.067	20
2	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:37.196	1:37.287	1:36.443	16
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams-Mercedes	1:38.249	1:37.499	1:36.906	19
4	19	Felipe Massa	Williams-Mercedes	1:37.877	1:37.347	1:37.205	20
5	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:38.814	1:37.873	1:37.244	17
6	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	1:38.349	1:38.010	1:37.610	16
7	22	Jenson Button	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.574	1:38.024	1:37.655	17
8	20	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:38.557	1:38.047	1:37.706	16
9	7	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari	1:38.669	1:38.263	1:37.804	22
10	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber-Ferrari	1:38.855	1:38.378	1:38.810	15
11	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus-Renault	1:38.608	1:38.467	16
12	11	Sergio Perez	Force India-Mercedes	1:39.200	1:38.554	16
13	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India-Mercedes	1:38.931	1:38.598	16
14	26	Daniil Kvyat	STR-Renault	1:38.936	1:38.699	17
15	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	STR-Renault	1:39.250	10
16	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber-Ferrari	1:39.555	10
17	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull Racing-Renault	1:39.621	3
18	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus-Renault	1:39.679	8