Fernando, Felipe is Faster Than You

Personal commentary. (Brazilian GP 2014 - Race)

The sun was shining unabated yesterday since morning. There was no sign of the reported rain that was predicted to happen at Sao Paulo. The track was as dry as the desert ground. Whoever said we were having a wet race again?

Thanks to the searing heat, it did make the race more interesting with the already tricky circuit. The top three from qualifying had so many obstacles thrown at them. The weather did the tyres no justice.

Felipe Massa was a podium favourite. A Brazilian for a Brazilian podium. He got into the race and received a repeat of history: a stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Just when we thought that was the end of his misery, he wasted some time on the second pitstop, deciding to leave for Williams and race for McLaren? Each overtake from the Massa was constantly cheered on by the Brazilian crowd. "OLE OLE OLE MASSA MASSA MASSA." Indeed, with his well-informed understanding of the track and the car he was driving this year, it had placed him back on third place. Third place was already enough for the hungry Brazilian crowd. Parabéns, Felipe Massa! You so totally deserve the last podium yesterday! He may not have the most Brazilian GP wins but he is definitely the Interlagos king of the 21st century.

Romain Grosjean seemed to have horrible bad luck whenever he races during the Brazilian GP. The track does do him "wonders" every single race he has there since 2012. He has not finished a Brazilian GP before. He did pass the tenth lap mark successfully yesterday (at least) but he was still brought down at the 63rd lap for a power unit failure. What an abominable misfortune!

Kimi Raikkonen may have been overtaken by Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel on lap 62, he did, however, put up a stronger front when his teammate was hot on his heels. It displayed some amazing defences from the Finn. Even the team was so silent during the battle. We all knew that his position would eventually be snatched by Alonso due to his older set of tyres but those few laps were enough to conclude that Raikkonen has found himself at a very good position in the F14T at last.

The Honey Badger was not a Honey Badger for long. He was down with suspension failure while former finger boy soared to the fifth spot. Due to Valtteri Bottas' one point finish and Alonso finishing behind Sebastian Vettel, this had placed Vettel right behind Daniel Riccciardo in the world drivers' championship, surpassing the two drivers.



Nico Rosberg had such a trouble free race thanks to Lewis Hamilton's constant display of his ballet techniques (in reference to Burn's tweet "Hamilton performs a pirouette"). He spun again which ultimately cost him a possible win. The points are now narrowed down to 17. This makes the Abu Dhabi GP 10x more exciting and nerve-racking. Bring on the fire! Well, we all know it is either of the Mercedes drivers but the real answer we would want to know is, who will it be? Will it be the one time British F1 champion or Britney who has already won the sassiness award but is yet to win the driver's championship?

Brazilian Grand Prix Race: 

1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 71 Winner 1 25
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +1.4 secs 2 18
3 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 71 +41.0 secs 3 15
4 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 71 +48.6 secs 5 12
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 71 +51.4 secs 6 10
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 71 +61.9 secs 8 8
7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 71 +63.7 secs 10 6
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 71 +63.9 secs 12 4
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 71 +70.0 secs 7 2
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 70 +1 Lap 4 1
11 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 70 +1 Lap 17
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 70 +1 Lap 16
13 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 70 +1 Lap 15
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap 11
15 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 70 +1 Lap 18
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap 13
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 63 +8 Laps 14
Ret Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 39 Suspension 9