Double jeopardy for Lewis
Title race still alive as Lewis slip lifts Rosberg
LEWIS HAMILTON was second in the Brazil Grand Prix yesterday and will win the drivers’ championship if he secures another runner-up finish at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday week.
But there is now a likelihood that F1’s greatest prize will be decided by the distorted maths of double scoring in that race. Hamilton spun off the Sao Paulo track to gift Nico Rosberg victory. Hamilton’s lead over the German is now just 17 points, but in Abu Dhabi the winner will earn 50 points and the runner-up 36.
LEWIS HAMILTON was hurtling along the high road of history — or at least at the Reta Oposta, the 200mph back straight at Interlagos — when his car slunk off the track and his world championship bid itself wobbled.
The upshot was victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix for nico Rosberg, second for Hamilton — and the increased likelihood of the greatest prize in motor racing being decided by the distorted mathematics of double scoring in the final round at abu Dhabi.
Hamilton’s lead over Rosberg is a slender 17 points after what unfolded as he arrived off the lightning- quick straight into the fourth turn, Descida do lago. He was screwing every last millisecond out of his mercedes. But such pyrotechnical gung-ho was beyond the grip of his battered tyres and he twirled on to the green run-off area.
He had just put in the then-fastest lap of the race as Rosberg pitted. He stayed out for another ‘ hot lap’ — a mistake in hindsight — in the hope of emerging from his own stop ahead of his rival. Some number crunchers said he was on target to accomplish the feat but for the spin.
‘Sorry guys,’ said Hamilton over the radio. He did not point the finger afterwards either, saying: ‘nobody’s fault but mine. I would have won but for the mistake. I clearly had more pace than nico today.’
It was impossible at the pivotal moment in the race not to think back to Shanghai during his debut season when, with the title at his mercy, he stayed out too long on fading tyres and ran off as he finally entered the pits.
Unlike then, though, he could at least fight on to push the winner all the way. Rosberg’s victory under pressure was his first since July and probably the finest of his career. Game competitor he is, Hamilton, who was also hampered by a slightly slow second stop, went from about seven seconds adrift after the spin to five seconds back at the halfway stage. Soon he was right on Rosberg’s tail.
this was now a majestic battle over the undulating 2.67mile track. they both posted fastest times. Rosberg was blindingly quick but, for lap after lap, in imminent danger from Hamilton applying the DRS overtaking device. a warning came from the pit wall to Hamilton: ‘think about protecting that right rear, lewis. It is definitely getting hot.’ Still, Hamilton loomed large in Rosberg’s mirror.
So it came down to the last lap. the tension was excruciating. Was Hamilton now ready to pounce?
It was not to be and Rosberg duly held on.
So where does this leave the title? With Archimedes required, that’s where.
But, seriously, if Rosberg wins in the final round in abu Dhabi a fortnight hence, Hamilton must finish second to claim the title; if Rosberg is second, Hamilton must finish fifth; if Rosberg is third, Hamilton must finish sixth.
mercedes boss toto Wolff, flushed with success after a recordbreaking 11 one-two finishes for mercedes ( beating Prost and Senna’s mclaren best in 1988), has few cares but even he knows the double scoring is a rum do.
‘I do hope that it is not decided by a mechanical DNF because that would cast a shadow over the championship,’ he admitted, before adding: ‘We all knew the rules at the start of the season, and if Rosberg has most points at the end of the season he will be a worthy champion. You have to be pragmatic.’
another shame is that the final race will be staged in a soulless palace in the desert. Sao Paulo yesterday presented a stark contrast. the grid was alive with fever and it went from there. the local favourite arrived to his starting box to chants of ‘massa, massa’.
Back at the garage Felipe massa’s father, wearing some Dame Edna-lite blue glasses, watched on from the spot where he celebrated his son’s championship that never was: the race massa won in 2008 only for Hamilton to win the title in the last pulsating yards. But sadly for the home contingent their man was given a five- second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane. Worse followed. He pulled into the wrong pit box for his third stop and had to be waved into the correct parking space. But he was not greatly damaged by the miscalculation and finished third. He took to the podium with a wide smile.
Jenson Button was impressive again, finishing fourth to his mclaren team- mate Kevin magnussen’s ninth. are his bosses getting rid of the wrong man? Will the evidence — Button has 106 points against magnussen’s 55 — sway them into a change of mind?
‘I’m not ready to stop racing,’ said Button.
again, the off-track noise was as ear- splitting as the old V8 engines.
the smaller teams — or the uncompetitive ones, as Bernie Ecclestone calls them — want more money from the sport’s billion-pound pot. they say they cannot survive without it.
‘Gordon Gekko said greed was good and look what happened to him — he went to jail,’ ventured Gerard lopez of lotus, one of the disgruntled teams, along with Force India and Sauber. ‘this is a £1.6billion business and teams are going to the wall for the sake of a couple of tens of millions. threecar teams (an idea that is being mooted to replace any teams that withdraw) will be the death of the championship.’
Ecclestone laughs in their faces. He says they should live within their means. He is, of course, the master of making mischief.
What does the argument amount to? nothing definitive. It is a big arm wrestle, positions are being struck, claims are being met by counter claims.
the fight on the track is more real and the final chapter of Hamilton versus Rosberg cannot come soon enough.