Formula One

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F1 Brazilian Grand Prix: And Then There Was One (Race)

f1-2014-brazil-rosberg-victoryIn Formula One, all it takes is one mistake to ruin your day. Lewis Hamilton had the superior race pace despite not having as quick qualifying paste as his teammate, Nico Rosberg. However, a spin at the end of his second stint ended any chance he had of getting past Rosberg and instead kept his teammate alive in the hunt for the World Drivers’ Championship.

Of course, that wasn’t all of the news of the weekend. Money was still a hot topic of conversation and it looks like that discussion is only going to get more contentious from here.

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F1 Power Rankings: Brazilian Grand Prix

We’ve reached the two to go mark of the 2014 Formula One World Championship. Despite the fact that Lewis Hamilton has won ten of 17 races so far, he still hasn’t clinched the championship. He can’t even clinch it this weekend. A combination of bad luck and ridiculous double-points rule threaten to make a farce out of the 2014 World Drivers’ Championship.

As for the Brazilian Grand Prix Power Rankings, the only way they can be made a farce of is if a monumental downpour screws up running on Sunday. Actually, I’d quite enjoy the chaos of a monsoon race.

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F1 United States Grand Prix: Two-Stop Two-Step

f1-2014-usa-lewis-hamiltonNico Rosberg might have started the race on pole but he wasn’t able to finish on the point. Despite a late charge from the German, it was Lewis Hamilton who won his 10th race of the 2014 season and became the winningest British driver in Formula One history in only his 7th season in the top flight of international motorsport.

However, the race was really only a B-plot to this weekend’s story. The three weeks leading up to the United States Grand Prix saw two of the 11 teams on the grid go into administration and fail to turn up for this weekend’s race. In fact, neither team is expected to return in 2014 and may not be back in 2015. The weekend’s real story is the state of the sport and the financial viability for the whole grid and not the mainstays at the sharp end.

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F1 Power Rankings: United States Grand Prix

There are three races left in the season and a maximum of 100 points left on the board for Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The pair are separated by only 17 points but Nico needs to sweep the final three races and get some luck if the pair 1-2 every race. A non-top-two finish completely screws up those permutations but a non-top-two finish would almost certainly end Nico’s chances.

There’s a lot of pressure heading into this weekend’s race if you’re running for the championship.

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F1 Power Rankings: Russian Grand Prix

Though most of the Formula One fraternity is still focused on the events last weekend in Japan, the 2014 Formula One World Championship rolls on as the tour makes its first appearance in Russia. I’d imagine that if we weren’t talking about Jules Bianchi’s accident and rules changes that should be made, we’d probably be talking about the politics of racing in Russia but it’s probably for the best that we don’t talk about that now. Let’s look at the power rankings for the first Russian Grand Prix in 100 years.

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F1 Japanese Grand Prix: Rain, Rain, Go Away

f1-2014-japan-hamiltonHeading into this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix, all the talk was about the weather and whether it would allow for the race to be run at all let alone to the 75% mark where full points would be awarded. The race made it four laps past the 75% mark, completing 44 of the scheduled 53 laps. When the race was red flagged and ruled complete, Lewis Hamilton was declared the winner but no one was focused on that.

A couple of laps prior, Jules Bianchi lost control in the deteriorating conditions and hit a car recovery tractor. As of writing, Bianchi is in an ICU in Japan after surgery for a head injury suffered in the collision.

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F1 Power Rankings: Japanese Grand Prix

It’s amazing how much can change in the span of just two hours. Nico Rosberg rolled out to the grid ahead by 22 points and an electrical glitch left him trailing by three points after the two-hour Singapore Grand Prix. Now, it’s Rosberg playing catch-up as we reach a string of tracks that play into Lewis’ hands. It looks like luck may determine who wins the World Drivers’ Championship this year.

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F1 Singapore Grand Prix: Stop. Spanner Time.

Just when you thought that none of the luck at Mercedes was going Lewis Hamilton’s way, his championship chances got a massive boost in Singapore. When the cars formed up on the grid, it looked like it was going to be another week of Hamilton slowly chipping away at Nico Rosberg’s championship lead. Instead, Rosberg suffered a massive failure before the formation lap. That handed the win and the championship lead to Hamilton.

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F1 Power Rankings: Singapore Grand Prix

Formula One has left Europe for the final time this season as we embark on a six-race flyaway portion of the calendar to conclude the season. A six-race flyaway swing that’s worth seven races worth of points but six races nonetheless.

The important question over the next couple of races is whether Lewis Hamilton has gotten out of his own head enough to win the Championship. Pressuring Nico Rosberg into a mistake in Monza was a win in itself. Now that he has momentum, the pressure is on Rosberg to capitalize on his street circuit strength this weekend in Singapore. We’re closing with some strong Hamilton circuits so Nico has to capitalize on every opportunity he has.

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F1 Italian Grand Prix: I Am My Own Worst Enemy

f1-2014-italy-hamilton-checkered-flagRegardless of the drama of the Belgian Grand Prix, this season has been all about the battle of the Mercedes teammates. Nico Rosberg might be leading the championship right now but he still has fewer wins than teammate Lewis Hamilton. He also has fewer retirements than Lewis which is why he’s in the Championship lead.

But that doesn’t mean that Rosberg is untouchable. Just because luck and speed has been on his side for most of the season doesn’t mean that the championship is his. All it took was one big slip up for Rosberg to throw away the lead of this race and hand momentum back to Hamilton.

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