The racing weekend that was - Wk 44

Formula One at Interlagos, Brazil:
In what turned out to be a race between team-mates, Nico Rosberg was yesterday quick enough to hold off the fast charging Lewis Hamilton. The latter's chassis was not as well set up as the German's and he had to struggle a great deal to catch Rosberg and to the detriment of his tires. Hamilton would radio in telling his engineer that when he pushed hard the tires would be completely shot in just one lap.

Though rain showers had been expected at the Interlagos Circuit, as is during most F1 races over the years, everybody struggled with the high temperatures. The drivers had to look out for severe tire degradation, flat spots and graining. Rosberg had the advantage though, as front runner his front spoilers insured for the adequate down force all the time.

Unfortunately, Hamilton's race slipped away from him when excessive tire wear caused him to make a mistake going into Turn 4 as he had the hammer down. The rear tires locked, and without rotation, caused the car to go into a lazy but length spin that took a lot out of his tires (see pict on the right). The spin cost him some 5 seconds and the Brit would end-up losing to his team-mate by 1-2 seconds.

"I think ultimately it did cost me the win", said Hamilton after the race. "I was much quicker up until that point and then on that lap I had gone a second quicker. I thought I was going to pit and the end of that lap so I had used up everything in the tires and on the next lap I had nothing left."

Felipe Massa had a great outing in front of his home crowd, and though he made two uncharacteristic mistakes, Sir Frank William's car was fast enough to get him on the podium in third place.

The top five:
1. Nico Rosberg, GER, Mercedes-Mercedes
2. Lewis Hamilton, UK, Mercedes-Mercedes
3. Felipe Massa, BRA, Williams-Mercedes
4. Jenson Button, GB, McLaren-Mercedes
5. Sebastian Vettel, GER, Red Bull-Renault.
*The Interlagos Circuit is pictured on the right.

The next and final race is in two weeks at Abu Dhabi. Hamilton leads the championship by 17 points but the double points rule for the season finale, designed to maximize focus on the championship until the end of the campaign, may throw a monkey wrench into things. The double points rule is applicable to both the drivers' and constructors' championships.


MotoGP at Valencia, Spain:
A jubilant Marc Marques ended the season as it began, by winning the race, his 13th this year, and in front of his home crowd. The win propels the 21 year-old Spaniard to the rider with the most wins in a single season in MotoGP, eclipsing the great Mick Doohan (Australia) in 1997 with 12. What a phenom this Marques!

In the opening laps of the race, Iannone, Rossi and Marques made a break from the pack and by lap eight Marques started exerting pressure on Rossi. He made the move on the Italian going into Turn eight on lap ten and set his sights on Iannone, whom he passed a couple of laps later. Then came some light rain which caused the riders to ease the pace considerably, which allowed Rossi to briefly challenge Marques for the lead. But as the threat of rain passed, Marques was able to pull away. With ten laps to go, Jorge Lorenzo switched to his wet set-up expecting the rain to return. Unfortunately, his gamble didn't pay off and he had to pull out of the race. Iannone encountered technical issues on his Ducati on lap 16 which caused him to run off the track, but he would eventually finish 22nd.

The top five:
1. Marc Marquez, Spain, Repsol Honda,
2. Valentino Rossi, Italy, Movistar Yamaha,
3. Dani Pedrosa, Span, Repsol Honda,
4. Andrea Dovizioso, Italy, Ducati,
5. Cal Crutchlow, Brittain, Ducati.

Summing up the 2014 season, Rossi (right) made the following statement ....jokingly:

"My bad luck is called Marc Marques, because without him I can win the championship and a lot of races. He did a fantastic job and won a lot of races. It's a great pleasure to fight with him, but we are not so far and we never give up and try to come closer".

What a great year of MotoGP racing. Today the 2015 season starts with testing at Valencia.

Source: Crash.net
Photo credit: Formula1.com