After Race 18: Brazil

And so here we are: the penultimate F1 Power Rankings of the season as we look ahead to the Abu Dhabi finalé. Usually these rankings are done in the immediate aftermath of a race weekend but I decided to double it up as a preview for Abu Dhabi as well.

The 2014 driver’s championship has gone to the wire – and that’s regardless of double points. The difference will come if Nico Rosberg wins and Lewis Hamilton finishes third, fourth or fifth – places which would have been good enough for overall glory with the normal points system (or the few other permutations of the same tone if Nico finishes multiple places above Lewis).

At the back of the grid, meanwhile, who knows what’s going on? Caterham didn’t appear to get enough of the crowdfunding needed but will be in Yas Marina in any case – with Kamui Kobayashi and Will Stevens. Marussia also came desperately close but ultimate came up short. Once again, we spare a thought for all the hardworking employees at both teams through these difficult moments.

The customary Merc winning family photo
Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook)

1. Lewis Hamilton (no change)

We’ll never know if Hamilton’s spin during the pit sequence cost him the victory or not. We can hypothesize till the cows come home but that’s all it will be. You’d have to think he only needs his car to stay reliable and he’ll join Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel as multiple world champions on the grid.

2. Nico Rosberg

Rosberg leaps up to P2 in this week’s F1 Power Rankings after a superb weekend under the most intense pressure. Both team drivers knew that the title could neither be won nor lost in Interlagos but Rosberg swept every session – including all three quali rounds – en route to a crucial victory to enhance the possibility of him emulating his father as a world champion.

Rosberg had the measure of Hamilton all weekend
Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook)

3. Jules Bianchi

#ForzaJules – You’re place in these rankings are set in stone for this season. Lovely to hear the news he has been moved to France and his condition has very slightly improved. Still a long way to go but all our prayers are with you and Michael. #KeepFightingMichael

4. Daniel Ricciardo

Ricciardo slips to 4^th in the F1 Power Rankings after suffering his first DNF since Malaysia, ending a run of 16 points-scoring finishes. Depending on how the finalé goes, it’s not unreasonable to assume that the Aussie will end up P2 in these rankings.

RBR have been entertaining their fans in Dubai
Source: Infiniti Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

5. Valtteri Bottas

It all went wrong on Sunday for Bottas, and that’s two straight races he has been beaten by his team-mate. Still, it’s been an extremely impressive sophomore season from the Finn.

6. Daniil Kvyat

His Russian quali heroics aside, Kvyat has suffered a bit of a slump since it was announced he’s moving to the senior team. That said, his racing has been solid – just the end product missing. He recovered well from his grid penalty to take P11, ahead of his team-mate.

7. Felipe Massa

Massa was the feel-good story of the weekend, even though he his best not to finish on the podium in front of his crowd. Caught speeding during his first trip into the pits, he then later stopped off in the McLaren pit-box en route to his own.

Massa with a celebration that evokes memories of 2008
Source: Williams F1 Team (Facebook)

8. Kevin Magnussen

It’s a one place drop for K-Mag but he just about stays ahead of Jenson Button after a solid, if unspectacular Brazilian weekend. A solid top-ten effort in quali was backed up with a ninth place finish despite struggling with tyre wear.

=9. Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso & Jenson Button

Three world champions find themselves locked together near the foot of the top-ten after varying weekends that ultimately saw them finish 4-5-6. Button had a strong weekend after an underwhelming performance in North America. Vettel chased him home after recovering from a scruffy opening lap, running wide at the corner that almost cost him the 2012 championship. His move to Ferrari is now confirmed, as is Alonso’s exit. He edged out Räikkönen for P6 in what was another average weekend for the Scuderia.

=12. Kimi Räikkönen & Nico Hülkenberg

The return of The Hulk! Always a good track for Nico H, and so it proved once again as he led the way in the opening stint as the strategies played out. Hülkenberg ran inside the top ten for most of the afternoon and came up just short of overtaking Räikkönen. The Finn himself had a good weekend running a rare two-stop strategy, and will be hoping to carry this momentum into Abu Dhabi and, more importantly, next season when Vettel arrives.

The Hulk once again led in Brazil
Source: Sahara Force India (Facebook)

=14. Sergio Pérez & Jean-Éric Vergne

No two ways about it, bad weekend for both drivers. Checo was on the back foot after his well-deserved grid penalty from Austin for knocking himself and Sutil out of the race, and failed to make any headway on Sunday. Having comfortably been the better Force India driver in the second half of the season, the pendulum has swung back towards The Hulk, although both drivers should start 2015 on an even-keel. JEV, meanwhile, gave up his car to Max Verstappen in FP1 and then saw his running end early in FP2 with a mechanical failure. He never recovered from it.

16. Romain Grosjean & 17. Pastor Maldonado

Maldonado ran towards the back of the field for most of the day but popped up to P12 at the checkered flag. Grosjean, meanwhile, went the other way. Threatened to score a point or two in the first half of the race and was still in contention in the closing stages before his Lotus failed him.

=18. Esteban Gutiérrez & Adrian Sutil

Stevie G almost led the race in the early stages as the stops cycled through but ultimately ended up tumbling down the timesheets after that promising opening quarter to his race. Sutil started from the pit-lane as late technical woes affected him pre-race and he was consigned to finishing last. You would think both drivers have little to race for as it’s unlikely any other team will be interested in them next for next season.

Gutiérrez actually had a decent fight with Kimi in the early stages
Source: Sauber F1 Team

=20. Marcus Ericsson & Kamui Kobayashi

Well, one of these drivers is allegedly back for Yas Marina while the other is set for next season, so they stay above Max Chilton.

=22. Max Chilton & André Lotterer

(nothing to see here)

All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright infringement is intended.

After Race 17: United States

October 2014 is finally over. It will surely go down as one of the worst months in (recent) F1 history. Following the devastating events of Suzuka, we then had a rather farcical display of vanity from Putin in Sochi (admittedly, against a stunning backdrop) and then the desperate woes of Caterham and Marussia.

For the first time in Formula 1 history, the penultimate race of a season cannot decide an unresolved title battle. The much-maligned double points situation means that even if Lewis Hamilton outscores Nico Rosberg 25-0 in Interlagos this weekend, he will be vulnerable to the German pulling off what will surely be the luckiest championship in the sport’s history, coming from 49pts back to steal it by one.

Should the opposite happen, and Rosberg win in Brazil with Hamilton recording a DNF, then Abu Dhabi could be a thrilling one-race cup final type race – much like the Nascar Sprint Cup. Speaking of Nascar, they were racing in Texas this weekend too – yet another reason why this Grand Prix should be held back-to-back with Canada earlier in the season.

The winning move
Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook)

1. Lewis Hamilton (no change)

Superb performance on Sunday. Has elevated his game since the infamous Belgian GP and hasn’t looked back since. Ten wins this season, 32 overall, losing the title from here would actually be even worse than his 2007 catastrophe – and that’s saying something.

Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas (Facebook)

2. Daniel Ricciardo (up two spots)

Ricciardo and the Williams were pretty evenly matched this weekend. The difference, not for the first time this season, was Williams making poor strategy calls. Ricciardo was outstanding in the opening laps. After an initial slow getaway, he passed both Magnussen and Alonso either side of the SC with a couple of fine moves.

Ricciardo overtook Alonso with a cracking move
Source: F1 Fanatic

3. Jules Bianchi (no change)

#ForzaJules – Your place in the F1 Power Rankings is awaiting your return.

4. Valtteri Bottas (down two spots)

Jumped by Massa at the start, Bottas never quite got going on Sunday. He always seemed to be at ‘arms-length’ behind his team-mate, and later Ricciardo too. Despite that, he still finished over a minute ahead of Alonso and co.

5. Daniil Kvyat (down one spot)

Rather mixed weekend for Kvyat. The curious regulations meant that Vettel could opt for a pit lane start after changing his whole power unit whilst Kvyat would only be able to serve some of his ten-place grid penalty for a power unit change. Nevertheless, he vaulted from 17^th to 11^th amidst the opening lap chaos, ran as high as sixth mid-race, and appeared to be on course for points towards the end of the race before he killed his tyres battling Räikkönen and both drivers needed to pit again with a handful of laps left.

6. Nico Rosberg (up one spot)

Rosberg’s pole position lap was one of the greatest in the past two decades. Up against it after problems in FP3, he continually beat Hamilton into submission on Saturday with scintillating pace… Alas, he evidently used up all his magic too early as Lewis stormed back to take command in the race.

Source: Mercedes AMG Petronas

7. Kevin Magnussen (up two spots)

K-Mag wound up an eventual eighth but it could well have been higher had McLaren not pitted him on the first lap as the SC was deployed. It was a curious move by the team to pit both cars, especially as Magnussen was solidly in the top ten. Forced into tyre conservation mode, he had no chance of battling against Alonso and Vettel for ‘best-of-the-rest’ honours in the closing stages.

8. Sebastian Vettel (up one spot)

As mentioned earlier (Kvyat), the strange inconsistency in the regulations meant Vettel could take a fresh power unit without incurring an added penalty going forward. He double-pitted under the SC to free up his strategy options but, in hindsight, the move probably cost him sixth-place as he used the soft tyre on a short final stint – thus nullifying the reason for his two early stops, which lost him track position.

Vettel's helmet matched the spectacular Austin trackside scenery
Source: Red Bull Racing (Facebook)

9. Fernando Alonso (down one spot)

I repeat: Alonso finished over a minute behind the top five. The three leading teams were massively faster than the rest of the grid, led by Alonso.

10. Sergio Perez (down four spots)

The less said about Checo’s race the better. Cars will inevitably be bunched together on the opening lap so Perez’s excuse, that he didn’t expect Räikkönen to be there, doesn’t hold much water. It’s a shame because the actual move on Sutil was very good. Nonetheless, it’s a sharp fall down this week’s F1 Power Rankings.

=11. Jean-Éric Vergne (up two spots) & Felipe Massa (up one spot)

It was arguably the highlight of the race: the terrific race-long battle between Toro Rosso and Lotus (featuring various guests throughout). JEV ended up with a solitary point after picking up a penalty for his banzai move on Grosjean late in the race. Critically for both Maldonado and Vergne, they managed to stay on the lead lap, which effectively nullified their penalties as Grosjean (11^th) was lapped. Rumours swirling that JEV might be handed a lifeline at Toro Rosso and, with Sauber now a closed shop for next year, that might be his only shot left.

I should be writing about how Massa’s second podium of the season but, as discussed, Williams were out-strategised by Red Bull. Massa has definitely enjoyed a stronger second half to the season.

Massa out-raced Bottas but still fell short of the podium
Source: Williams F1 Team (Facebook)

13. Jenson Button (down two spots)

A weekend to forget for JB. A gearbox penalty left him mired in what turned out to be a chaotic midfield on the opening lap and McLaren then left both their drivers to conserve tyres for the whole race, something Magnussen did better. There’ll be lots of disappointed fans if the final two races do turn out to be Button’s last, but it’s not hard to see why McLaren might drop him.

14. Kimi Räikkönen (no change)

Räikkönen slowly fell through the pack as the race progressed. His car was damaged on the opening lap by Perez and a certain points-finish evaporated.

15. Romain Grosjean (up two spots)

From being the slowest car in Q1 to tenth on the opening lap, raceday in Austin gave us Lotus’ best team performance of the season. Both drivers ran strongly in contention for points all day. Ultimately, Grosjean came up just short as Vergne mugged him into Turn 1 and damaged the Lotus in the process. Looks like Grosjean will stay at Enstone for another season and it will be interesting to see how they fare with a Merc engine.

Lotus enjoyed a competitive showing but Grosjean lost out to JEV
Source: Toro Rosso (Facebook)

16. Nico Hülkenberg (down one spot)

The Hulk continues his alarming slide down the F1 Power Rankings. He has been confirmed at Force India for next season (never in doubt) but he’ll hope to at least pick up some momentum in the final couple of events. Brazil holds good memories for him after his 2010 pole position with Williams and then leading the race for Force India in 2012 before a late clash with Hamilton.

17. Pastor Maldonado (up three spots)

Points at last! Cracking drive from Maldonado to secure his first top-ten finish since Hungary last year (26 races) and his first multi-points finish in exactly two years (Austin ’12 – ninth). A curious footnote in his four-year F1 career thus far is that in three of them, he has finished in the points just once.

Kimi failed to beat his old team
Source: Lotus F1 Team (Facebook)

18. Adrian Sutil (up three spots)

Desperate shame for Sauber. Not since Monaco have the team had such a promising opportunity to pick up their first points of the season but it all went catastrophically wrong on lap 1 as Sutil, having made Q3 for the first time this season, was wrecked by Perez. To no great surprise, the extremely mediocre German has lost his drive for next season.

19. Marcus Ericsson (down one spot)

Ericsson somehow survives slipping to bottom of the F1 Power Rankings because he has secured a 2015 race seat with Sauber, alongside Felipe Nasr. Ultimately, $$$ talks; but it will also be interesting to see whether the Swiss outfit can survive the winter.

20. Esteban Gutierrez (down four spots)

Alas, Stevie G’s budget has been trumped. With the Mexican Grand Prix set for a return next season, Gutierrez must surely have fancied his chances of keeping his seat but an underwhelming two seasons in F1 coupled with the money problem has seen him facing the scrapheap.

=21. Kamui Kobayashi, Max Chilton, André Lotterer

Thoughts go out to all the hardworking people at Marussia and Caterham, and their families.

All views expressed in this blog are my own and no copyright infringement is intended.