So
often the Italian Grand Prix has signalled the end of the European season. With
the flyaway events in Singapore and Japan next up, you could almost think that
was again the case in 2014 but we have the Russian race coming up in
mid-October (which is only just in
the European part of the country – although some definitions would suggest it
is indeed in the Asia).
Given
their dominance over the course of the season, Mercedes ended a five race wait
to reclaim the top two spots on the podium. The result was not without mild
controversy as some (mainly cynical media types looking for stories) drummed up
theories that Rosberg ceded the win on purpose after the events of two weeks
ago. In rather more interesting news, we have a brand new driver atop this week’s
F1 Power Rankings…
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| The podium at Monza is one of the best sights in all of sport Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook) |
1. Daniil Kvyat (up one spot)
Kvyat’s
extraordinary rookie season continued in Monza with a stunning drive from the
back of the grid to almost claim a point or two… until his brakes failed on the
penultimate lap and he saved it. There
simply aren’t enough superlatives to describe his car control as his Toro Rosso
slid through the grass in the first chicane – coming off from one of the
highest top-speeds reached in the whole calendar (and having just set the
fourth fastest race lap). Once again he outqualified Jean-Éric Vergne, became
the first driver (of what will be MANY) to be hit with a ten-place new
component grid drop, and stormed through the pack – running fourth in mid-race –
to outrace JEV. I still have no idea how he held on to P11 with no brakes at
Monza. Incredible.
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| The baby of F1 continues to impress in his debut year Source: Scuderia Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
=2. Daniel Ricciardo (down one spot) & Valtteri Bottas (no change)
Ricciardo
loses top spot purely down to Kvyat’s brilliance as opposed to anything he did
wrong. As with the Russian, this duo also provided superb overtaking
entertainment as they recovered from poor starts. Bottas plummeted from P3 but
managed to seal the Williams 3-4 finish while Ricciardo almost accidentally
finished 5th as his Red Bull team gambled on a longer first-stint in
order to overtake Räikkönen. Such was the freshness of his tyres in the second
half of the race, he also overtook both McLarens, Sergio Pérez and his
team-mate too.
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| Ricciardo and Bottas both fought their way through the field Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook) |
4. Jules Bianchi (down two spots)
A
quiet weekend for the Marussia leader as the team struggled with the Monza
layout. Enjoyed a decent battle with Romain Grosjean in the first half of the
race but was comfortably outpaced by the returning Kamui Kobayashi.
5. Lewis Hamilton (no change)
He
claims sole possession of P5 in this week’s F1
Power Rankings after a super Italian weekend. It looked bleak on lap one
after his poor getaway saw him initially see his excellent pole position on Saturday
come undone but he put the pressure on Rosberg and succeeded.
6. Nico Rosberg (down one spot)
Did
he make mistakes on purpose? Is the pressure actually getting to Nico? Who
knows… What is certain is that by messing up the first chicane on two occasions,
he saw his championship lead decrease to 22 points. The crowd still booed him.
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| Toto Wolff was a happy angry this week Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook) |
7. Sebastian Vettel (no change)
Vettel’s
work was done on the first lap. He vaulted three places to 5th and
then used an aggressive strategy to leap Kevin Magnussen. The RBR had no answer
for Bottas but what will have irked Seb is that he was powerless to defend
against his team-mate in the closing stages on his fresher tyres.
8. Kevin Magnussen (up one spot)
Just
like in Monza, K-Mag both out-qualified and out-raced JB but ultimately lost
out due to a defensive driving penalty. Unlike Spa, however, his sanction here
was pretty harsh – even if it was a mere 5-second penalty compared to the
20-seconds in Belgium. A rocket start saw him run second in the early stages
and he ran strongly throughout the race en route to what should have been a 7th-placed
finish, rather than 10th (and it could have been worse had Kvyat not
had his drama).
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| Magnussen made a terrific start Source: McLaren (Facebook) |
9. Sergio Pérez (up four spots)
For
only the second time this season, Checo is above The Hulk in the F1 Power Rankings. It was a cracking
drive from the Mexican as he mixed it amongst the top-ten battle all day long,
including out-duelling Jenson Button, to take an eventual P7. Force India were
thrilled with his performance and the former team-mates also spoke highly of
each other about their fight.
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| The Perez/Button battle was one of the highlights of the race Source: Sahara Force India (Facebook) |
10. Fernando Alonso (down two spots)
It
was almost a sense of déjà-vu when Alonso retired for two reasons. Firstly, it
was the exact same place as where his Renault blew up in 2006 when he was
intensely battling Schumi for the title… and secondly because the thought of this being Ferrari’s nadir moment
occurred.
11. Jenson Button (down two spots)
As
mentioned above, credit JB for a great battle with Pérez. However, the fact he
was unable to get past the Mexican while both Bottas and Ricciardo made it
through (granted, with better machinery) speaks volumes. Magnussen has
outperformed recently and his 2015 seat is under pressure – most likely from
Stoffel Vandoorne as things stand.
12. Nico Hülkenberg (down one spot)
Another
rather odd weekend for The Hulk. He again failed to make Q3 and also couldn’t make
the most of a good start (on the harder tyre too) as he fell back and spent
most of the race running rather underwhelmingly with Vergne. Soundly beaten by Pérez.
13. Felipe Massa (up three spots)
Massa
finally delivered on Williams 2014 promise and picked up his first podium of
the season. He capitalized on Bottas’ slow getaway and had a pretty lonely run
to P3 thereafter.
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| Massa scored his first podium since Spain last year Source: Williams F1 Team |
14. Kamui Kobayashi (up four spots)
KK
returned in style by promptly out-qualifying and out-racing both his team-mate
(although who doesn’t beat Ericsson) and the two Marussias. All sorts of turmoil behind the scenes, however, with Christijan Albers resigning as team boss after just two months in charge.
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| It was a successful return to the Caterham cockpit for Kobayashi Source: Caterham F1 Team |
15. Kimi Räikkönen (down three spots)
So
much for having turned the corner at Spa… Kimi was back to scrapping for the
tail-end points after a couple of promising events in Hungary and Belgium
16. André Lotterer (down one spot)
Lotterer’s
one-off appearance is going to prove somewhat of a nuisance in the F1 Power Rankings, although his possible
return for Japan will help.
17. Jean-Éric Vergne (down three spots)
It’s
beginning to look rather bleak for JEV. Thrashed by Kvyat this weekend and with
the stigma attached to being punted out of the junior team, it looks like his
time in F1 could be heading the same way as Buemi and Alguersuari, rather than
grabbing a drive elsewhere.
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| JEV wasn't joking in Spa when he said he'd shave to look younger for STR (here with Mario Andretti) Source: Scuderia Toro Rosso (Facebook) |
18. Romain Grosjean (down one spot)
Just
an abysmal weekend for Grosjean. Lotus had no pace this weekend, seeing both
cars fall out of Q1 and he then had a dreadful start. Gutiérrez deciding to
chop across him in the closing stages was the icing on a very sour cake.
19. Adrian Sutil (no change)
Did
anyone notice that Sutil was racing this weekend?
20. Pastor Maldonado (up one spot)
Credit
Maldonado for extracting the utmost out of his dreadful Lotus this weekend. He
leapfrogged both Saubers at the start and managed to comfortably maintain the
position with ease.
21. Esteban Gutiérrez (down two spots)
Not
quite sure what Stevie G thought he was doing as he moved across on Grosjean in
the braking zone for Turn 1. Picked up an expected puncture and penalty and
ended up being relegated to the last finisher.
22. Max Chilton (no change)
Another
poor weekend for Max ended with him crashing out in the early stages.
23. Marcus Ericsson (down one spot)
Roberto
Merhi rocked up for Caterham in FP1 and went quicker than the Swede. Toast, I
tell you.
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| Well it wasn't going to be a photo of Ericsson was it... A throwback to 2004 and the fastest ever lap in F1 - with Juan Pablo Montoya at the wheel Source: Williams F1 Team |
#KeepFightingMichael
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