Nico Rosberg closed the gap to Championship rival Lewis Hamilton after a tight win in Brazil. Championship leader Lewis Hamilton had looked set to take the lead on lap 29 until a spin on lap 28 at T4, the scene of Sebastian Vettel’s crash in 2012 and Hamilton’s incidents in 2007 & 2013. Rosberg had been leading in the first two stints with Hamilton close behind, but a stunning lap by Hamilton on lap 28 caused Mercedes and Hamilton to stay out 1 more lap which ultimately cost the 2008 Champion victory. Remarkable at the start no cars made contact [although that is partly down to there being only 17 cars on the grid] but current World Champion Sebastian Vettel, still with memories of 2012 left the McLaren of Kevin Magnussen too much room and lost 2 places as Fernando Alonso sneaked through past the Red Bull. The hot temperatures at Interlagos caused tyre wear to be on the edge in the early part of the race, similarly to 2013. Felipe Massa was one who voiced for softer tyres for the Brazilian GP and regretted that decision when at his first pit stop early in the race he was handed a 5 second stop/go penalty for speeding in the pit lane. The other Williams of Valtteri Bottas also had issues when a seat belt problem held him up majorly at his first pit stop. McLaren’s Jenson Button who is still fighting for his F1 future with the team was having another fantastic race up in 4th but for Daniel Ricciardo he wouldn’t get a chance to attack the McLaren as a front left suspension failure saw him retire for the first time since Malaysia. His team mate Vettel had been stuck behind Alonso for a big chunk of the race but a 2 lap undercut on the Ferrari saw him get ahead at the second round of stops. Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg was back on form at a Sao Paulo circuit, where he took pole in 2010 and nearly won in 2012, as he made a cracking move on 8th placed Bottas into T1 the resulting move allowed Kimi Raikkonen to pass his fellow countryman. On lap 42 home boy Felipe Massa did something which in recent years Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have done which is driving into the wrong pit box, as the Williams driver stopped at McLaren then had to crawl to his Williams team. On lap 61 Jenson Button proved why he should continue in the sport yet again with an awesome move on Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari which lasted 5 turns of the Interlagos track, the move allowed Vettel to take the Fin also who had done 25 laps on his tyres at that point and was gambling on a two stop strategy. While the lead was down to 0.5. with 5 laps to go the Lotus of Romain Grosjean had what looked like an engine failure but Lotus announced on their Twitter page that they were “boycotting the final five laps of this race with @rgrosjean”. This incident is most likely over the money trouble in F1 with Lotus struggling for funds. But out in front Rosberg closed the lead in the Championship and Abu Dhabi is set to be an absolute stunner!
1. Nico Rosberg 1:30:02.555
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Felipe Massa
4. Jenson Button
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Kimi Raikkonen
8. Nico Hulkenberg
9. Kevin Magnussen
10. Valtteri Bottas
11. Daniil Kvyat
12. Pastor Maldonado
13. Jean-Eric Vergne
14. Esterban Gutierrez
15. Sergio Perez
16. Adrian Sutil
Romain Grosjean DNF
Daniel Ricciardo DNF
1. Nico Rosberg 1:30:02.555
2. Lewis Hamilton
3. Felipe Massa
4. Jenson Button
5. Sebastian Vettel
6. Fernando Alonso
7. Kimi Raikkonen
8. Nico Hulkenberg
9. Kevin Magnussen
10. Valtteri Bottas
11. Daniil Kvyat
12. Pastor Maldonado
13. Jean-Eric Vergne
14. Esterban Gutierrez
15. Sergio Perez
16. Adrian Sutil
Romain Grosjean DNF
Daniel Ricciardo DNF