It was another snoozer in Formula One racing this weekend as Mercedes won yet another race – going 1-2 for the 11th time this year – the only difference this time being a reversal of order as Nico Rosberg switched podium places with his Mercedes teammate, Lewis Hamilton at the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. The field was again lighter than usual with the absence of the financially-troubled Caterham and Marussia teams knocking it down to a slim 18-car field.
The race was relatively uneventful in the beginning as Rosberg and Hamilton sped off to their usual large gap between themselves and the rest of the field and was only made interesting when Hamilton locked up his brakes and spun himself off the track in Lap 28. That miscue gave Rosberg a seven-second lead which he held the remainder of the race and only relinquished briefly during pit stops. Usual third-place finisher Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull, encountered trouble a short time later and exited the race in Lap 39 with a suspension failure allowing Brazilian Felipe Massa of Williams/Mercedes, 41 seconds back, to claim the final podium spot in his home country. Only nine cars – half the starting grid – finished on the lead lap.
In the season point standings, Hamilton maintains his lead over Rosberg with 334 points to Rosberg’s 317 followed by Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo in third with 214 points.
The final race of the 2014 Formula One racing season ends with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on November 23, 2014.
2014 Brazilian Grand Prix Results
Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Pts
1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 71 Winner 1 25
2 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 71 +1.4 secs 2 18
3 19 Felipe Massa Williams-Mercedes 71 +41.0 secs 3 15
4 22 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 71 +48.6 secs 5 12
5 1 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull Racing-Renault 71 +51.4 secs 6 10
6 14 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 71 +61.9 secs 8 8
7 7 Kimi Räikkönen Ferrari 71 +63.7 secs 10 6
8 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India-Mercedes 71 +63.9 secs 12 4
9 20 Kevin Magnussen McLaren-Mercedes 71 +70.0 secs 7 2
10 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams-Mercedes 70 +1 Lap 4 1
11 26 Daniil Kvyat STR-Renault 70 +1 Lap 17
12 13 Pastor Maldonado Lotus-Renault 70 +1 Lap 16
13 25 Jean-Eric Vergne STR-Renault 70 +1 Lap 15
14 21 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap 11
15 11 Sergio Perez Force India-Mercedes 70 +1 Lap 18
16 99 Adrian Sutil Sauber-Ferrari 70 +1 Lap 13
17 8 Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 63 +8 Laps 14
Ret 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Racing-Renault 39 Suspension 9