Category Archives: Williams

Nico Wins Brilliant Race at Home in Germany

Hockenheim – To say that the 2014 Formula One Santander German Grand Prix was anything less than amazing would be a gross understatement. From the very beginning, the race was bound to be a masterpiece of motor sport.

With four German drivers on the grid: Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg, and Sauber’s Adrian Sutil, the home crowd was guaranteed to have quite a few supporters for each of their countrymen, though Vettel and Rosberg did seem to have more supporters than the other two Germans.

The race started with a troublesome situation for Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, whose crash at the end of Q1 left him initially starting in 16th place. However, due to the need to change his gear box, Hamilton was handed a 5 spot grid penalty, resulting in the Briton starting at the back of the grid from 21st. Hamilton’s teammate, Rosberg, started the race at pole, with Williams’ flying Finn Valtteri Bottas starting at P2.

The second row of the starting grid was the first to garner the attention of the crowd in person, on television, and on radio, as Williams’ Felipe Massa (P3) appeared to run into McLaren’s rookie Kevin Magnussen (P4) at Turn 1, resulting in Massa’s car flipping upside down before rolling back to its proper upright position. Magnussen left the scene mostly unscathed, despite falling back to 21st position. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo took evasive action, running between the capsized Massa and the wall. The FIA ruled that no further action was “warranted” regarding the incident, as, in their point of view, the offending party had eliminated himself from the race.

At the same time, Lewis Hamilton began his steady ascent up to the front of the pack, by Lap 14 sitting comfortably in 5th place. At this point, Hamilton’s march forward was bogged down, in large part due to the immense skill of the drivers that he was now facing, world champions such as Alonso, Vettel, Button and Räikkönen. 

At Lap 15, the two Ferraris of Fernando Alonso and Kimi Räikkönen fought a magnificent battle, which became a bit of a Kimi-sandwich upon Sebastian Vettel’s reentry onto the track from a pit stop as the German and Spaniard caught the Finn in between them at the hairpin turn. Vettel came out winning fourth, whilst Alonso took fifth and Räikkönen took sixth. Upon being sandwiched, Räikkönen also lost more of his front wing, which had already sustained some damage earlier in the race.

By Lap 20, Nico Rosberg’s lead on Valtteri Bottas (2) was up to 9.2 seconds. From this point on, Rosberg had won Hockenheim. The main bit of racing continued behind him for the second through tenth positions. At Lap 28, Romain Grosjean, the unlucky Frenchman at Lotus was forced to retire at the hairpin, reporting to the pit of some issues with the car’s power unit.

Perhaps one of the more strange incidents from Sunday’s race was the brief contact between Hamilton and his former McLaren teammate Jenson Button, when Hamilton’s front wing was slightly broken upon making contact with Button’s MP4-29. The damage would cost Hamilton a second place finish.

At Lap 47, Toro Rosso’s rookie Daniil Kvyat found himself forced to retire after his car went up in flames. The Russian’s frustration with his poor luck was evident. Following the extensive use of the fire extinguishers, Kvyat’s car’s distinctive Red Bull deep blue was well covered by the whitish foam of the extinguishers.

Likewise, at Lap 52, the only of the Germans to retire this weekend, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil did so in the middle of the track after the car spun and stalled at the last corner. Mercedes called Hamilton back into the pits, perhaps in anticipation of a safety car being deployed whilst the marshals removed the Sauber from the track. Unfortunately this plan did not work so well, as no safety car was deployed. Despite this, Hamilton’s fresher tyres were able to take him past Alonso at Lap 56, leaving the Briton in 3rd.

The final six laps of this 67 lap race featured a fantastic fight for fifth between Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso. Not only did this six lap duel leave the crowd cheering with excitement, it also showcased the excellence in driving that is a hallmark of these two drivers.

By the chequered flag, the order stood as 1) Rosberg, 2) Bottas, 3) Hamilton, 4) Vettel, 5) Alonso, 6) Ricciardo, 7) Hülkenberg, 8) Button, 9) Magnussen, 10) Pérez scoring points. The non-points finishers were 11) Räikkönen, 12) Maldonado, 13) Vergne, 14) Gutierrez, 15) Bianchi, 16) Kobayashi, 17) Chilton, and 18) Ericsson, with Sutil, Kvyat, Grosjean, and Massa in the Did Not Finish category.

This leaves the drivers’ championship with Rosberg with 190 points, leading Hamilton’s 176 points by a margin of 14 points. Behind the two Mercedes past the century mark is Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo with 106 points.

In constructors, with Valtteri Bottas’ fantastic third straight podium finish, Williams currently stands in 3rd with 121 points, behind Red Bull’s 2nd place at 188 points and Mercedes’ dominant 1st place at 366 points. Williams is followed by Ferrari’s 116 points (4th place,) Force India’s 98 points, McLaren’s 96 points, Toro Rosso’s 15 points, Lotus’ 8 points, and Marussia’s 2 points. At the bottom Sauber and Caterham’s general lack of points scored has left both teams concerned for their futures, as they both should be.

Next weekend, the Formula One Circus returns to Budapest, where they will compete in this year’s instalment of the always fascinating, and often scorching hot, Hungarian Grand Prix.

F1 Midweek – Channel Crossings

Kansas City – With this year’s British Grand Prix said and done, the circus has begun its cross-Channel journey to the ancestral home of Britain’s monarchy: Germany. Where Silverstone holds a solid place in the F1 history books, the Hockenheimring’s connections to the sport are about 20 years more recent.

Formula 1 first came to Hockenheim in 1970, following a driver boycott of the ever-perilous Nürburgring. Today, the two competing German circuits alternate hosting the annual German Grand Prix. What could be said most about Germany is that this race will be focused on three drivers in particular: Nico Rosberg, Sebastian Vettel, and Nico Hülkenberg. The trio of Germans have all done quite well thus far this season, each of them earning points at multiple races. I have little doubt that Rosberg could take Germany just as Hamilton took Britain.

On the Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry, Lewis Hamilton decided to start goading at his German teammate. In an article published Monday by The Guardian, Hamilton is quoted as having said, “Nico Rosberg is not a real German.” Rosberg responded on Tuesday, according to The Guardian, “describing himself as ‘100% German.'” This entire tit-for-tat seems to be just a simple matter of team rivalry intended for the press to know about.

In the other paddocks, less bickering appears to be going on. For one thing, Caterham has changed ownership in the last week, having been sold by former owner Tony Fernandes to a Swiss and Middle Eastern consortium. Perhaps the biggest question that I have on the matter is whether or not the team will seek a different country’s license than Malaysia? Perhaps with the new ownership, come 2015 we will see Caterham joining Sauber under the Swiss flag. For now though, the new ownership will certainly have an Everest-sized uphill struggle in the attempt to score some points on the drivers’ and constructors’ leaderboards.

Caterham’s rival, Marussia on the other hand seems to be doing something right. Considering that Jules Bianchi has scored a couple of points this season, and that Max Chilton has come very close to doing so as well, the Anglo-Russian team seems to be on the verge of breaking through the lowest glass celling in the sport, that being the one between the non-points scoring teams and the middle of the field teams.

Williams likewise seems to be on the verge of good times. With Valtteri Bottas earning his second career podium this past weekend at Silverstone, and Felipe Massa equally doing quite well when he has the chance, the team from Grove in Oxfordshire could be on the edge of breaking back into the top level of the sport, challenging the Mercedes and Red Bulls. Despite the brevity of her inaugural Formula One drive, Williams test-driver Susie Wolff has shown great talent. I do hope that she gets a seat at one of the teams next season, as she could be fantastic competition. On top of that, her appearance in Free Practise 1 was cut quite short due to an engine failure.

As Formula 1 prepares to return to Germany, there will be much to watch out for. Perhaps soon we will see Williams win their first Grand Prix since Pastor Maldonado’s victory at the 2012 Spanish GP. What will happen with the Mercedes duo is yet to be seen. Equally, will Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull roar back into life? We will all find out on the 20th.

British Grand Prix – Hamilton wins at home

Silverstone – To begin, the British Grand Prix is one of my all-time favourite races on the calendar. So it was with great pleasure that I write about today’s nail-biter of a race. After a surprising Q3 result on Saturday, the race began with Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg at pole, with four-time defending world champion Sebastian Vettel next to him starting at second.

The second row consisted of McLaren’s British driver Jenson Button and Force India’s German Nico Hülkenberg, followed by Button’s rookie Danish teammate Kevin Magnussen and the race favourite Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton on the third row starting in fifth and sixth.

The fourth row was taken by Force India’s Mexican driver Sergio Pérez and Australian Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull. In ninth and tenth position they were followed by Russian Daniil Kvyat and Frenchman Jean-Éric Vergne of Toro Rosso.

Those who were eliminated in Q2 included Frenchmen Romain Grosjean of Lotus (11), and Jules Bianchi of Marussia (12). Bianchi’s Marussia teammate, Briton Max Chilton and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez of Sauber qualified 13th and 14th. However, Chilton received a 5-spot grid penalty for a gearbox change, resulting in his starting from 18th.

Q1 saw the elimination of a number of the unusual suspects, namely the two Ferraris of Spaniard Fernando Alonso (17) and Finn Kimi Räikkönen (19), along with the two Williams of Finn Valtteri Bottas (15) and Brazilian Felipe Massa (16). Alongside these shockers, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil qualified in 15th. The back of the grid was made up of the two Caterhams of Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi (22) and the Swede Marcus Ericsson (21) along with Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (20) of Venezuela, whose qualification time was disallowed following his running out of fuel on the circuit at the end of Q2.

The race itself began with quite a bang, with Vettel’s Red Bull quickly being outrun by the two McLarens along with Hamilton’s Mercedes. Things came to a standstill when Räikkönen lost control of his car on the Wellington straight, “At Turn 5, I went off the track and while trying to get back on, I must have hit a kerb.” Räikkönen said in a press-release on his Facebook page. Hitting the barriers at 150 mph, Räikkönen hit Massa who was also forced to retire due to damage to the left rear of his car. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi was quite lucky in avoiding the wreckage, swerving far to the left around Räikkönen into the grass before returning to the track.

The next hour was red flagged, leaving the top three at the race’s recommencement as Rosberg, Button, Magnussen. At the time that the red flag was raised, Chilton decided to reenter the pits in order to have work done on his car. Doing so during a red flag stoppage was an infringement upon the sporting regulations, resulting in his needing to serve a drive-through penalty. It really was too bad for Chilton, who had up to that point been running in 10th.

With the race restarted, Rosberg quickly left the McLarens in the dust. Those two drivers were steadily overtaken over the next few laps by Rosberg’s British teammate Lewis Hamilton, who began his long fight for first.

Another driver to take advantage of the McLarens’ situation was Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, who quickly passed by Nico Hülkenberg of Force India and Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull. Also moving up the field was the surviving Ferrari of Fernando Alonso.

On Lap 11, Esteban Gutierrez attempted a pass on Pastor Maldonado, which went spectacularly wrong for the latter’s Lotus. Gutierrez’s Sauber ended up hoisting the Lotus up into the air, allowing for its unintended wings to spread in flight. The collision forced the Sauber to slide off into the gravel too damaged to continue, whilst the Lotus did go on in the race.

Nico Rosberg pitted at Lap 19, having a fantastic 2.7 second pit stop. Soon thereafter, once back out on the track, the German began to report gear box troubles. His British teammate, Lewis Hamilton, continued on the track for another 5 laps, pitting at Lap 24. Hamilton had a far worse pit stop, which lasted for 4.1 seconds, a full 1.5 seconds longer than Rosberg. This was largely due to the fickleness of the rear left tyre in it’s installation onto the car. Nonetheless, Hamilton rejoined the race in second, just behind the gearbox-maligned German.

By Lap 29, Lewis Hamilton took the lead from Nico Rosberg, who began to slow down due to that worrisome gear box, which resulted in the German’s retirement at Lap 30. Hamilton kept the lead of the race from there on out, charging on his way to becoming one of a select number of British drivers to have two wins at Silverstone.

By Lap 31, Hamilton’s lead was already by 24 seconds over the Williams of Valtteri Bottas, who after a pit stop at Lap 32 led the rest of the field to the chequered flag.

Perhaps the most dramatic duel of the latter stages of the race was the one between Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel. With the British fanbase cheering on the Spaniard, the fight lasted for ten laps from 38-48, with Vettel eventually forcing his way past Alonso, much to both drivers’ dislike as their radio messages to their respective pit walls can tell.

The final fight of the race was between McLaren’s British driver Jenson Button and Red Bull’s Australian Daniel Ricciardo. In a fashion rather dissimilar to the most recent Ashes, the Briton actually had a shot at catching the Australian, with Button finishing a mere 0.8 seconds behind Ricciardo.

The results from this year’s British Grand Prix leave the championship wide open, as Rosberg’s lead now narrows to a mere 4 points (165 to Hamilton’s 161.)

F1 Midweek – The Restoration of Williams

Kansas City – This past weekend’s resurrected Austrian Grand Prix was a rebirth in many different ways. Firstly, the obvious rebirth of Formula 1 in Austria. Secondly, the awakening of Michael Schumacher from his long coma in the week prior to the grand prix. Thirdly, the restoration of Williams Martini Racing from their slump of recent years. The old champions of the 80s and 90s came back in full force at Austria, with their two drivers taking the front row in qualifying and finishing in 3rd and 4th in the race. Between Brazilian Felipe Massa and Finn Valtteri Bottas, Williams has a dynamic duo that could very well earn more points for the team than could have been imaginable in the last four years.

Williams is one of those teams that generally everyone seems to like. They have been referred to as the sort of “everyman” of Formula 1. Team head, Sir Frank Williams, worked his way up in the motor racing world, running cars in GP2 races among other lower tier events before making his way into Formula 1.

With many famous drivers having worn the Williams white, including legendary Brazilian Ayrton Senna, the team has quite a storied history. It also has the third most world constructor’s and driver’s championship victories, winning the constructor’s title 9 times and the driver’s title 7 times. All of their championships took place in the 80s and 90s. Only Ferrari and McLaren have won more driver’s and constructor’s championships.

So it is rather sad that over the past few seasons, since 2004, Williams has been unable to finish the season higher than 4th place. Yet after this past weekend, that may be liable to change, as the team was able to finish quite strongly at Spielberg. If not this season, then certainly in 2015 I believe we will see Williams up at the top alongside Mercedes AMG Petronas, Ferrari, and Red Bull. They certainly have the talent between their crew and drivers, and should under all circumstances be able to win a few grands prix this season, with more to come next time around.

On a final note, about this fellow who stole Michael Schumacher’s medical records:

How stupid can you get! The poor man has just woken from a long coma! I know you want to make some money, but the least you can do is leave the poor fellow in peace to recover.

Rosberg wins Spectacular Austrian Grand Prix

Spielberg – If the Formula 1 world was looking for a good way to reboot the classic Austrian Grand Prix, they couldn’t have had a better race. It began with the surprise front row of Williams’ Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, who were closely followed by Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso. Mercedes’ other half, British driver Lewis Hamilton started from 9th after a very poor qualifying round. The two Red Bulls equally did not fare so well in qualifying at their home circuit, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo starting from 5th and his German teammate, the 4-time world champion Sebastian Vettel starting in 13th after having not made it out of Q2.

The race began with strong starts from Massa, Rosberg, and Hamilton. The Brazilian was able to keep 1st place for the first 12 laps of the race until he had to pit due to tyre degradation, whilst the German briefly took 2nd from Massa’s Finnish teammate Valtteri Bottas. Bottas made Rosberg’s conquest brief, as he restored his second place by the end of Lap 1. Meanwhile, Hamilton was able to advance by 5 places on the opening lap, overtaking a number of cars on the opening straight.

A major factor that played merry hell with the various team strategies, and in my opinion did not do a good deal of help for Massa in particular, was just how heavy the tyre degradation was within just a handful of laps. Both of the Williams had to pit by Lap 13, resulting in their 1,2 lead being lost and never really recovered. On the tyre side of things, Sergio Pérez performed outstandingly, being able to stay out for the first 30 laps on his first set of tyres, resulting in the Mexican maintaining first place in the wake of the Williams pit stops.

This race should very well have gone to Williams if it weren’t for their poor timing for pit stops, often, as the NBC Sports commentating crew made note of, having their drivers box a lap or two too late to keep a good advantage over the rest of the field. For this reason, Mercedes AMG Petronas was able to advance ahead of the two Williams to take the race victory.

On another note, Red Bull was once again plagued by electrical trouble, as Sebastian Vettel suddenly lost power in his car on Lap 2. Luckily for him, power was restored within a couple of laps and the German was able to continue in the race. A subsequent radio message from the team to Vettel’s Australian teammate confirmed at least somewhat that the issue arose when Vettel used the overtake button on his steering wheel. Eventually, Vettel would be forced to retire on Lap 35 after Vettel and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez made contact, damaging the nose of Vettel’s car. Gutierrez had another troublesome incident at Lap 14 when his car was released from a Pit Stop without the back right tyre fully in place. The Mexican would serve a 10-second stop and go penalty on Lap 23.

Red Bull’s Italian sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso had an even worse day than the rest of the pack, with both drivers retiring from the race. Russian Daniil Kvyat retired on Lap 26 after his brakes gave way, resulting in his right rear tyre being shredded and bent horribly out of shape. His French teammate, Jean-Éric Vergne returned to the pits to retire at Lap 61 with a rear brake issue.

The race finished spectacularly, with the two Mercedes in front, Nico Rosberg (1st) beating Lewis Hamilton (2nd), followed closely by Williams’ Valtteri Bottas (3rd) who won his first career podium. Close behind Bottas was his teammate, pole-sitter Felipe Massa (4th) with Massa’s old Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso finishing in 5th. Alonso was followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez (6th), who overcame the 5-spot grid penalty given to him following his crash with Massa on the last lap two weeks ago in Montréal. On the last laps Pérez had just passed rookie Kevin Magnussen of McLaren who finished in 7th. Magnussen was followed by Red Bull’s currently most successful driver, Daniel Ricciardo (8th), who finished just ahead of Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg (9th), who came just ahead of the Iceman, Kimi Räikkönen (10th) of Ferrari.

The non-points-scoring positions were taken by McLaren’s Jenson Button (11th), Lotus’ Pastor Maldonado (12th), Sauber’s Adrian Sutil (13th), Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (14th), Marussia’s Jules Bianchi (15th), Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (16th), Marussia’ Max Chilton (17th), Caterham’s Marcus Ericsson (18th), and Sauber’s Esteban Gutierrez (19th).

One element of this race that made it unique from those that have come thus far this season is the fact that only 3 drivers had to retire! In comparison with the 9 out of 22 drivers who retired in Canada and and 8 of 22 who retired in Monaco.

F1 Midweek – Safety First

Kansas City – The whirlwind that was last Sunday’s Canadian Grand Prix certainly has made an impact on the season. I say this for many reasons, chief amongst them being the fact that now we will not be seeing a Mercedes season sweep. Though it would be too much to say that Hamilton’s brake failure destroyed what momentum the team had, it certainly made a major impact upon that force of nature that has been Mercedes AMG Petronas. On the other hand, Nico Rosberg was able to stay in the race to the end, despite finishing in 2nd, his resilience and sheer luck may be what keeps Mercedes at the top.

This past weekend also saw the reawakening of the Red Bulls, with Australian Daniel Ricciardo securing the team’s first win since the final race of 2013 last November in Brazil. From all the reports that I have read and heard, Ricciardo appears to be one of the nicest guys in Formula 1 right now. For that reason alone, I was happy for his win on Sunday.

Red Bull’s momentum could very well keep up with the next few races, as the circus returns to Austria on the weekend of the 22nd for the first time since 2003. The race will be held at Red Bull’s home circuit, the aptly named Red Bull Ring. It will be good to see the sport return to such a beautiful country.

On the flip side from the jubilation of the Red Bulls, Sunday saw quite a few mishaps and crashes. Starting on Lap 1 with Max Chilton crashing his Marussia into the car of his French teammate Jules Bianchi. Chilton has been given a three-place grid penalty in Austria as punishment for his actions in Canada. At the far end of the race from the elimination of the Marussias, Force India’s Sergio Pérez and Williams’ Felipe Massa made contact at Turn 1 on Lap 70, sending both drivers hurtling with the force of 27 Gs into the barriers. Thankfully both the Mexican and Brazilian were released from hospital soon there after without any reports of major injuries.

The questions arose soon there after as to whom was to blame for the crash. From the initial Formula 1 television feed it appeared that Massa had made contact with Pérez, thus making Massa the guilty party. However, according to an FIA analysis, Pérez left his line at the last moment, crossing into Massa’s path, which then resulted in their elimination from the race and close encounter of an unwanted kind with the Turn 1 barriers. Naturally, Force India has denied that Pérez caused the crash.

In a press release that appeared on the Force India Facebook page on Monday the 9th, Pérez said, “I was following the same line and braking patterns as in the previous laps and I just got hit from behind by Massa.” He continued later saying, “I watched several replays of the incident and I can’t help but notice how Felipe turns right just before he hits me.”

Pérez's statements on the crash. / Sahara Force India Formula One Team Facebook

Pérez’s statements on the crash. / Sahara Force India Formula One Team Facebook

On the Williams team website, the race recap told a slightly different, if not more simple, version of what happened, with their main comment on the crash being, “Felipe was attacking Perez for fourth on the final lap when Perez crashed into him.”

One thing we can say for certain is that the sport’s safety has greatly improved in the last 20 years. Thankfully, as I already said, both drivers were able to walk away from their cars after a fashion. Because of the force of the crash, when Lap 70 finished, my family was far more muted in our celebrations of Ricciardo’s first grand prix win than we would have been otherwise.

After this past weekend’s race in Canada, I am unsure what to expect in Austria. True, it is very likely that the 2014 Austrian Grand Prix will be won by either a Mercedes or a Red Bull, but with the issues that plagued the teams last weekend, one can never be too sure of what will come next. Who knows, perhaps the lads at McLaren will finish on the podium following a Mercedes-Red Bull blow out similar to what happened to Pérez and Massa or even to what happened to the two Marussias on Lap 1.

Ricciardo wins Canada in Wild Race

Montréal – Today’s Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix was by far the most thrilling race yet of the 2014 season. It began with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton taking the front row on the starting grid. Upon the lights going out, Hamilton initially appeared to take the advantage over his fellow Mercedes driver, but it was not to be. Hamilton took the outside a few corners further down the circuit, being passed by both Rosberg and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel (GER). It seemed like the front end of the race was set, with Rosberg being chased by Vettel and Hamilton, however a sudden crash between the two Marussias, caused by their British driver Max Chilton, caused a safety car to run on the track for the first ten laps or so.

The race continued to be a surprise filled with retirements and crashes, as both Caterhams retired by the halfway point in the race. Likewise, by the end of the race both Lotuses were out. Perhaps the biggest retirement of the weekend was Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, whose brakes failed on Lap 43, leaving the chance of continuing a Mercedes sweep of the season on edge, as his German teammate Rosberg was having the same problems as Hamilton.

For a brief while, due to pit stops and various driver errors, Williams’ Felipe Massa held the lead, only to be passed by Rosberg soon there after. After Hamilton’s retirement, the battle at the front was between Mercedes’ Rosberg, the two Red Bulls of Ricciardo and Vettel, the Force Indias of Hülkenberg and Pérez, and the Williams of Massa. Pérez was able to hold the rest of the pack back, save Rosberg who was already ahead of him, for a good portion of the final laps of the race. However, he was soon passed by Ricciardo. The Australian then made his way further forward, passing the last standing Mercedes of Rosberg, and taking the race lead.

Ricciardo’s lead was not totally secured until the safety car made a second appearance in Lap 70, after Massa’s brakes failed at around 160 mph, causing him to collide at an equally fast-paced Sergio Pérez, sending both the Brazilian and Mexican barreling into the barriers, sending shock throughout the Formula 1 world. What Sebastian Vettel, the driver between the two retirées, had to have done to stay in the race (one Twitter commentator made note of some “Jedi mind tricks”) worked, as he barely made it out of the danger zone at Turn 1 with Massa and Pérez flying on either side past him. Thankfully, both Massa and Pérez were able to get out of their cars and have been taken to a local hospital.

The race finished with a flurry of excitement for Red Bull and especially for the people of Perth, Western Australia, as their hometown driver Daniel Ricciardo finished in first, winning his first grand prix. With the sport heading to the Red Bull Ring (formerly the A1 Ring) in Austria, their two drivers are looking to repeat today’s podium, if not perhaps to have Vettel regain his place from the last four years at the top of the podium.

As for Mercedes AMG Petronas, we will have to wait and see how they work out their problems from today in Montréal.

Nico keeps Monaco

Monaco – Today’s 2014 Monaco Grand Prix was all for Nico Rosberg from the start of the day. His British teammate Lewis Hamilton, who for the past few races had been in front of the German, had trouble from the start in passing Rosberg. For one thing, Rosberg had a fantastic start off of the grid. Another was the incident at Lap 65, where Hamilton radioed to the team, “I can’t see out of my left eye – I’ve got some dirt or something in my eye.” In general, Hamilton’s misfortune today was Rosberg’s good weather, with the German winning his second Monaco Grand Prix in a row.

From the very start, the race proved to be typical of this circuit, with a plethora of safety car appearances, retirements, and break downs. At the starting grid, Lotus’ Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado was forced to retire. He was quickly followed by Force India’s Sergio Pérez (MEX), who crashed during Lap 1.

On Lap 5, defending world champion Sebastian Vettel’s (GER) ills of 2014 returned in full force, resulting in his own retirement due to a transmission failure. He was followed at Lap 10 by Toro Rosso’s Daniil Kvyat (RUS), who had mechanical issues. At Lap 23, Sauber’s Adrian Sutil (GER), who had been making some excellent passes on the inside, crashed into the wall just before the chicane, resulting in his own retirement.

At lap 50, the engine of the Toro Rosso of Jean-Éric Vergne (FRA) caught fire, resulting in it smoking to a stop just after the tunnel. He was joined at Lap 55 by Valtteri Bottas, whose Williams began to smoke at the hairpin. At Lap 62 the last Sauber of the field to not retire, driven by Mexican Esteban Gutierrez, crashed into the wall, resulting in a puncture in the back right tyre.

Of the 14 drivers remaining, only the three on the podium, Rosberg, Hamilton, and Ricciardo, along with Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, were not lapped. According to Tom Clarkson of the BBC, Kimi Räikkönen went in for a pit stop at Lap 61, dropping him down from 3rd place due to a puncture with Max Chilton of Marussia. Chilton would finish in 14th, whilst Räikkönen came in 12th. Caterham’s Kamui Kobayashi (JPN) finished in 13th place, between the Briton and the Finn. Caterham’s rookie Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson finished in 11th, the highest of the non-points scoring positions.

On the topic of points scoring, today is a day to celebrate for Marussia and their fans around the world. Their driver Jules Bianchi finished in 9th, scoring the team’s first two world championship points. The question remains as of 10.11 Chicago (15.11 London, 16.11 Monaco) as to whether or not the FIA will take away Bianchi’s points, as he appeared, at least according to the TV feed, to have served a 5 second stop-and-go penalty that was awarded to him, which he served during one of the late safety car laps, an act which is technically against the rules of the sport.

Thankfully for McLaren, both of their drivers finished with points, Kevin Magnussen (DEN) finishing in 10th and Jenson Button (GBR) in 6th. Between them came Williams’ Felipe Massa (BRA) in 7th, Lotus’ Romain Grosjean (FRA) in 8th, and Marussia’s Jules Bianchi (FRA) in 9th. Fourth place was held by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso (ESP), with 5th by Force India’s Nico Hülkenberg (GER).

This year’s Monaco Grand Prix was certainly an eventful one, progressing the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg ever further on. I have no doubt that Mercedes will continue to dominate the 2014 season, however it seems that there is a new face at Red Bull on the up. Ricciardo is on the rise.

F1 Midweek – Preparing for Monaco

Kansas City – It’s that time of year again when those of us who count ourselves amongst the ever expanding fan-base of Formula 1, the king of all motor sports, gear up to perhaps the most exciting weekend of all. It’s time for the Monaco Grand Prix! Monaco is by far the crown jewel of the F1 calendar, the most storied race of any season. It is in some senses the bridge between the sport’s early days before the Second World War and the present.

Monaco is one of my personal favourite races each year, in large part because of its history and prowess in the sporting calendar. What makes it so historic is by and large the fact that this is one of the few street circuits left in Formula 1. Seeing these rocket ships roaring down the narrow streets of the Principality, taking the hairpin turns, rounding the chicanes is enough to refresh my love for this sport all over again.

Returning from nostalgic admiration, the same old players seem like they will be standing tall this coming weekend. I would be surprised if the Mercedes did not dominate the podium, joined perhaps by a Red Bull or Ferrari, or McLaren (I can always hope.) Perhaps Williams, with their Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas, will strike strong on the streets. Bottas’ performance in the past few races has been exemplary, in what seems to be a year without Vettelian dominance. At the same time, the Force Indias have been looking good. If not in Monaco, then perhaps in the next few races we will see Mexican Sergio Pérez or German Nico Hülkenberg take a place on the podium.

In any case, this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix is sure to be a spectacle, as it always is.

F1 Midweek – Chilton tops all

Kansas City – The past week has been quite an eventful one in the wild world of Formula 1. Lewis Hamilton won his 4th consecutive race this past weekend in Barcelona, Pastor Maldonado crashed, again, and finally Max Chilton was on top of the leaderboard for a while. Don’t worry, your screen isn’t dirty, Chilton was on top of the leaderboard for a while this week at the First Test Day in Barcelona following Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Max Chilton on top at the Barcelona Test Day 1

Max Chilton on top at the Barcelona Test Day 1 / MaxChilton.com

Pardon the interjection of some humour here, but my original title for this article was “Chilton tops all, Bernie’s heart gives out.” Thankfully for F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, that wouldn’t be good journalism because it hasn’t actually happened. Now, back to serious writing…

This past weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix certainly has taught the F1 world something, despite Mercedes’ continued dominance, some from the rest of the field are starting to catch up to the Silver Arrows. In particular, if I were Lewis Hamilton, I’d be a bit worried about his teammate, Nico Rosberg’s, ability to catch up to the No. 44 car. At the chequered flag, the German was just .600 of a second behind the Briton. With Monaco coming up, both drivers stand a good chance at winning, but I’m putting my support on Rosberg. He will want a repeat of last year’s Monaco victory. On top of that, a Rosberg win seems to be the way that the F1 winds are blowing from the tailpipes of fortune.

The chase of the Silver Arrows has been taken up full-heartedly by last year’s champions, the Red Bulls. Both Australian Daniel Ricciardo and German Sebastian Vettel have been driving fantastically. Ricciardo earned his first podium, that wasn’t revoked by the FIA, of his career this past weekend. Likewise, Vettel came back from the adversity of starting in 15th to finish in 4th, just shy of his new Aussie teammate. If this continues, within the next couple races we could see a Red Bull once again finishing first.

As for the rest of the field, the lapping of everyone who finished in 7th or lower is something that certainly concerns the crowd. Force India and Williams continue to be forces to be reckoned with, Williams’ Valtteri Bottas finishing just below Vettel in 5th and the two Force Indias finishing in 9th and 10th with Pérez over Hülkenberg this past weekend.

On the flip side of things, my own preferred team, McLaren, has not been doing nearly as well as they seemed like they’d do following the opening round in Australia. Both drivers had their own set of troubles in Spain, finishing with Jenson Button just in the lead over his rookie teammate Kevin Magnussen in 11th and 12th. As NBC Sports’ F1 commentators put it, “McLaren is about the only team using Mercedes engines that hasn’t been doing well.”

The next round in Monaco, which starts with Free Practise 1 a little less than a week from today, will be a good judge of what is to come for the rest of the season. I will be back with more F1 thoughts next Wednesday. This article is coming out a day late from my usual F1 Midweek day of Wednesday because I was moving out of my house at university for the Summer all day yesterday.