Riflessioni di fine anno

[Formulaone 4]

Stagione da dimenticare per Ferrari Mc Laren lotus e Red Bull.....il resto ha dato ben poche emozioni....i soliti noti hanno fatto finta di duellare tra di loro....il mondiale era gia deciso che lo vinceva Lewis....a parte questo però mi aspettavo un Nico un pelo piu grintoso e con meno errori.....rispetto per Lewis cmq è sempre meno pippa di Nico.

[youtoo78 125]

più leggo le parole di pullover più penso che di corse non ne capisce niente...

[The-Flying-Finn 4631]

Molto soddisfatto della stagione di Bottas, non pensavo che potesse andare meglio di Massa

[Beyond 6830]

The 10 moments that decided the title

After a season-long battle between the Mercedes team-mates, EDD STRAW looks back at the 10 crucial moments that shaped an incredible title fight

Given the dominance of the Mercedes team, ever since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix the scrap between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg for the world championship has had the feel of an everlasting title run-in.

Finally, in Abu Dhabi, the championship was settled in favour of Hamilton. But that was just one chapter of the 19 that make up the dramatic story of the 2014 season.

Here are the 10 key moments that shaped the dramatic battle for the title that ebbed and flowed throughout the whole season.

1 Blue rubber tube thwarts Hamilton

After claiming the all-important first pole position of the season, with Rosberg down in third, Hamilton was favourite for Australian GP victory.

But his engine dropped a cylinder just before the start of the race, forcing him to retire after just two, slow laps.

The cause was a hairline split in a blue rubber tube that housed one of the spark plugs. This is designed to insulate the current flow to the plug, but over time the spark cut a hole through the side of it instead. This led to the spark shorting onto the cylinder head. It was game over for Hamilton.

With Hamilton out, Rosberg won at a canter to take an immediate 25-point lead in the championship.

Points: Rosberg 25, Hamilton 0

2 The Monaco qualifying controversy

Professional foul or honest mistake? The stewards accepted it was the latter, although there are plenty who suspect that Rosberg deliberately sent his car up the Mirabeau escape road on his second Q3 run in the knowledge that he already had provisional pole and the resulting yellow flags would prevent Hamilton improving.

Either way, the result was that Rosberg beat Hamilton to pole position and went on to win the Monaco GP ahead of his team-mate.

Given that Hamilton had won four consecutive races in Malaysia, Bahrain, China and Spain, two of those in tense duels with Rosberg to eradicate the German's early points lead, the Monaco win was vital to halt Hamilton's growing momentum.

Points: Rosberg 122, Hamilton 118

3 ERS and brake troubles strike in Montreal

Both Mercedes drivers suffered from an electrical problem that robbed them of the ERS, and therefore caused braking problems, during the Canadian GP.

Rosberg led the race from pole position, with Hamilton not far behind, but when the trouble set in it was Rosberg that was able to deal with it better.

While Hamilton retired thanks to rear braking problems after very briefly holding the lead, Rosberg adapted and extracted stunning laptimes from a car robbed of the extra 160bhp worth of ERS power.

Remarkably, Rosberg held onto the lead almost to the chequered flag, assisted by Sergio Perez's Force India acting as a rolling roadblock behind.

But with just under three laps remaining, the charging Daniel Ricciardo passed both Perez and Rosberg to win. Even so, the second place the German salvaged meant that he gained 18 valuable points on Hamilton.

Points: Rosberg, 140, Hamilton 118

4 Hamilton's home run

After errors cost him in both Canada and Austria, it seemed that Hamilton had blown it again in qualifying by misjudging track conditions at home and not staying out for a final qualifying lap.

He believed that the final sector at Silverstone was too slippery for his fastest time on the first run to be bettered. But Hamilton was proved wrong by Rosberg doing just that, leaving him sixth on the grid.

Even so, Hamilton looked the faster driver in the race and was closing on Rosberg when the leader suffered a gearbox problem. This first cost him the lead and then put him out of the race.

Points: Rosberg, 165; Hamilton, 161

5 Team orders fall on deaf ears

Things didn't go well for Hamilton in the middle of the season. After recovering to third following a brake-induced crash in qualifying in Germany, at the Hungarian GP a week later he was again out of the running in Q1 after suffering an engine failure.

Hamilton's Hungarian GP might have ended up being a complete disaster, as he went off on his first lap, seemingly surprised by his brakes being cold after starting from the pitlane. He glanced the wall with his front wing, but the car survived.

Until Marcus Ericsson crashed his Caterham, Rosberg looked set to extend his points lead significantly. But then the safety car was deployed too late for the lead group to dive into the pits.

Having started last, Hamilton suddenly found himself on a similar piece of asphalt to Rosberg. Later in the race, while Rosberg was charging having ended up making one more stop than his team-mate (Mercedes otherwise avoided a difference in the number of stops its drivers made, but in this case safety cars made that impossible), Hamilton was ordered to let him past.

"If he gets close enough, he can overtake," was Hamilton's response over the radio. And it was a perfectly legitimate one given that he would have been forced to sacrifice several seconds to let Rosberg past.

The Mercedes pitwall backed down and Hamilton ended up finishing third, one place ahead of his team-mate.

Points: Rosberg, 202; Hamilton, 191

6 Collision at Les Combes

According to Alain Prost, who knows more than most about world championship fights, what happened on lap two of the Belgian Grand Prix was the moment the title swung in Hamilton's favour.

It didn't look like it at the time. The left-rear puncture Hamilton picked up after being clipped by Rosberg's front wing at Les Combes condemned him to a pointless afternoon, while the German's run to second behind Ricciardo meant that he left Belgium with an extra 18 points in his pocket over Hamilton.

But the team made no bones about the fact that it was unimpressed with Rosberg and Hamilton, who had felt put out by what he saw as his team-mate's let-off in Monaco, suddenly felt Mercedes was behind him.

It was certainly a misjudgement from Rosberg, who appeared to be attempting to back out of the move but carelessly, and very riskily, left his front wing in harm's way. In the short-term, it was a big gain, but it prefaced a five-race Hamilton winning streak.

Points: Rosberg, 220; Hamilton, 191

7 Rosberg's Singapore disaster

While Hamilton had looked every bit the pre-race favourite, starting on pole ahead of Rosberg, the German was sitting on a healthy points lead and could afford to finish second.

But Rosberg's race was effectively over before it began when he was left stricken on the grid at the start of the formation lap.

Although the team did get him going from the pitlane, Rosberg was without ERS power and could do nothing but drive around at the back before eventually retiring at his first stop.

Hamilton went on to win after his late final pit-stop forced him to reel in and pass Sebastian Vettel, taking the points lead for the first time since May's Spanish GP.

Points: Hamilton, 241; Rosberg, 238

8 Showdown in the rain

The Japanese GP is a race remembered for the horrific accident suffered by Jules Bianchi. And rightly so.

But had that terrible crash not occurred, it would have gone down as one of the most significant scraps between Hamilton and Rosberg of 2014.

Rosberg had pole position and led early on, but after Hamilton squandered the chance to jump him in the first pitstops by running off the track at Spoon Curve, it came down to a good, old-fashioned wheel-to-wheel dice.

While Rosberg had excelled in the wet compared to Hamilton in 2014, at Suzuka this year he was outclassed. Seemingly less at home with the rear end moving around, Hamilton managed to pass him for the lead around the outside of the fast Turn 1 right-hander.

It was a spectacular moment, the first time the pair had swapped positions in an orthodox overtaking move all year.

Points: Hamilton, 266; Rosberg, 256

9 Rosberg's mistakes in Russia and America

During Hamilton's run of five consecutive victories, Rosberg had ample opportunities to stop him, not least in the inaugural Russian GP and in the United States.

In Russia, Hamilton had looked the class of the field all weekend, but Rosberg had the inside line into the second corner at Sochi and simply had to brake normally to make the move and take the lead.

Had he done so, there's every chance he'd have stayed in front in what proved to be a very straightforward one-stop race.

In the following race at Austin, he again had the lead in the race, but was, by his own admission, too slow to get into the swing of things after switching to the medium-compound Pirellis.

But even so, he might have stayed ahead under pressure as he did in Brazil a week later had he not called for a delayed ERS boost rather than an instant one when Hamilton was threatening him.

He didn't, Hamilton made the pass and, crucially, established a championship lead that meant he could finish second at Interlagos and in Abu Dhabi and still win the title.

Points: Hamilton, 316; Rosberg, 292

10 Rosberg's Abu Dhabi problems

Rosberg had a clear assignment in Abu Dhabi: win the race. His slow start from pole position ensured that Hamilton took the initiative.

Even then, there was still hope, for he always needed assistance from a Hamilton error or a car problem. But it was Rosberg's, not Hamilton's, car that had the problems.

The double points served only to exaggerate Hamilton's points advantage, but few would argue that he was anything other than a worthy winner of a classic title fight... and Rosberg a worthy adversary.

Points: Hamilton, 384; Rosberg, 317

 

[rimatt 2894]

Sì, ma Mansell, dopo i primi anni così così in Lotus, aveva già dimostrato tutto un altro spessore sfiorando i mondiali del 1986 e 1987 persi non per colpa sua.

 

 

Aveva comunque più anni di quanti ne abbia oggi Rosberg. E non lo dico assolutamente per sminuire il Leone, che è sempre il mio pilota preferito, ma solo per dire che Nico ha ancora tanto tempo davanti a sé per vincere qualcosa.

[Illy 5556]

Mansell è dovuto arrivare a 39 anni per vincere il suo primo (e purtroppo unico) mondiale, quindi Nico ha ancora 10 anni per farcela.

Rosberg per vincere il mondiale deve avere, oltre alla macchina migliore, un compagno che non sia nell'ordine: Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel e Ricciardo.

[bruce.mclaren 44]

 

Mansell è dovuto arrivare a 39 anni per vincere il suo primo (e purtroppo unico) mondiale, quindi Nico ha ancora 10 anni per farcela.

Rosberg per vincere il mondiale deve avere, oltre alla macchina migliore, un compagno che non sia nell'ordine: Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel e Ricciardo.

 

nell'ordine è molto probabile che Ricciardo sia il migliore dei quattro

[Supernova 23]

F1 team bosses vote Lewis Hamilton as best driver of 2014

AUTOSPORT TEAM PRINCIPALS' TOP 10 2014 1. LEWIS HAMILTON (194 points) 2. FERNANDO ALONSO (155 points) 3. DANIEL RICCIARDO (135 points) 4. VALTTERI BOTTAS (119 points) 5. NICO ROSBERG (115 points) 6. FELIPE MASSA (55 points) 7. SEBASTIAN VETTEL (53 points) 8. JULES BIANCHI (44 points) 9. JENSON BUTTON (40 points)10. DANIIL KVYAT (28 points) 

WHO VOTED

Christian Horner, Red Bull

Toto Wolff, Mercedes

Federico Gastaldi, Lotus

Marco Mattiacci, Ferrari

Eric Boullier, McLaren

Vijay Mallya, Force India

Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber

Franz Tost, Toro Rosso

Claire Williams, Williams

Graeme Lowdon, Marussia

* Caterham not included due to multiple changes of management

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117125

 

 

A parte il 10° posto di Kvyat che non comprendo, sono d'accordo al 100%

Non a caso i miei 3 piloti preferiti sono davanti a tutti

 

[Beyond 6830]

non sono per niente d'accordo con ricciardo al 3 posto. per me è stato il migliore, al massimo secondo ma terzo è troppo.

[Rio Nero 3872]

Non capisco come hanno fatto a votare Alonso secondo che, D'accordo che guidava una carretta, ma che risultati ha ottenuto quest'anno? Bah, secondo me li paga per farsi dare i voti a favore, sicuro!!

[joseki 1219]

Secondo voi farà più punti Alonso (e la McLaren) o Vettel (e la Ferrari)?

[lucaf2000 1634]

Bella domanda.

Di sicuro sarà la guerra dei poveri

[Illy 5556]

Io direi:

Ricciardo

Hamilton

Alonso

Rosberg

Bottas

[Rio Nero 3872]

Hamilton

Rosberg

Ricciardo

Massa

Bottas

Bianchi

Vergne

Vettel

Kyat

 

Ecco i miei

[Illy 5556]

Hamilton

Rosberg

Ricciardo

Massa

Bottas

Bianchi

Vergne

Vettel

Kyat

 

Ecco i miei

Beh Felipe nella seconda parte è cresciuto ma nella prima è stato deludente... lo metti davanti a Bottas? E Alonso che fine ha fatto? Modificato 12 Dicembre, 2014 da Il Ferrarista

[joseki 1219]

Ma perché chiedi queste cose?

[Villeneuve 89]

Bianchi davanti a Vettel mi pare esagerato

[Beyond 6830]

vettel ha avuto una brutta stagione, ma non è andato così male come può sembrare. il distacco medio da ricciardo è di appena 1 decimo ed ha percorso quasi gli stessi giri davanti al compagno. ricciardo piu che altro è stato bravissimo a capitalizzare.

[Illy 5556]

Ma perché chiedi queste cose?

Modificato 12 Dicembre, 2014 da Il Ferrarista

[Rio Nero 3872]

Bianchi perché con quella vettura ha fatto gare straordinarie, Massa nella prima parte della stagione non è stato deludente ma sfortunato (4 incidenti incolpevoli)

Vergne è stato più bravo del tanto osannato Kyaat, Vettel ha avuto si problemi ma da lui mi aspettavo molto di più dal confronto con Ricciardo.

Infine perché non ho messo Alonso? E perché mai lo avrei dovuto mettere solo per la gara di Budapest? Per una sola gara avrei dovuto metterlo? Ma dai su