Mercedes Bounce Back From Singapore
Slump
Lewis
Hamilton consolidated his lead at the top of the drivers' championship after a
dominating drive saw him take victory at the Japanese GP. His closest
challenger and team mate Nico Rosberg came home in 2nd with
Sebastian Vettel taking the final podium place. For Hamilton and Mercedes, it
was back to business in Japan after the horror show of Singapore. A heavy crash
in qualifying for Dani Kvyat prevented Hamilton from taking pole position from Romberg,
but it didn't take Hamilton long to take the lead. A brilliant start from
Hamilton allowed him to get alongside Rosberg into turn 1 and muscle his way
into the lead. From then on, it was like a Sunday afternoon drive for Hamilton
as he edges closer to a 3rd World Championship. The result also saw
Hamilton equal his hero Ayrton Senna's record of 41 grand prix victories. The
joy was evident on Hamilton's face as he received his trophy in front of the
thousands of Japanese fans.
Behind the
Mercedes pair, the Ferrari pair also enjoyed another strong afternoon, even
though they couldn't match the Mercedes for pace. Kimi Raikkonen beat fellow
Finn Valtteri Bottas to 4th place, whilst Nico Hulkenberg came from 13th on the
grid to finish a brilliant 6th. A stand out result, and possibly the most
needed one, was the Lotus double points score with Romain Grosjean finishing
7th ahead of Pastor Maldonado. It was a difficult weekend for the team, whose
equipment was late in arriving and were locked out of their hospitality unit
all weekend. Things were so bad that Bernie Ecclestone stepped in to feed the
team. Hopefully the Renault buy-out of the team will happen very soon. The Toro
Rosso pair rounded off the points places, with Max Verstappen 9th
and Carlos Sainz 10th after starting 17th and colliding
with the pit lane bollard. It was a torrid day for Red Bull, with Dani Kvyat
starting from the pit lane after his huge crash in qualifying and finishing a
lowly 13th. Team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished 15th
after starting 7th, but a collision with Felipe Massa as they went
through turn 1 meant he had to pit for repairs.
Rosberg Not Tough Enough
For the
second season running, Lewis Hamilton has proven how good he truly is. For the
second season running, Nico Rosberg has shown how good he can be but, unfortunately for Rosberg, he is nowhere near
Hamilton's level. The difference between Hamilton and Rosberg is that Hamilton
is so much more consistent and willing to win at all costs. The aggression that
he produced at turn 1 to get past Rosberg is the real difference between the
two drivers. Had those roles been reversed, I don't believe Rosberg would have
shown the same ruthlessness as Hamilton. Both have the same machinery, but only
one has that win-at-all-costs attitude. Rosberg's conservatism has cost him
many times this season, and it did so again at the Japanese GP. When Hamilton
overtook Rosberg, Rosberg managed to slip to 4th place behind
Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, and ultimately cost him any chance of
catching and passing Hamilton. He did well to get past Bottas and eventually
undercut Vettel at the pit stops, but after that there was nothing he could do
to get near Hamilton, let alone pass him. We've seen over the years Hamilton's
ability to get quick laps in when they are needed, but in Rosberg's case he
hasn't been able to deliver in that respect. Rosberg's body language has a
defeated look to it, and he will want this season to end so he can go away over
the winter and look at ways to improve himself and come back in 2016 a better
driver.
Alonso in New McLaren Outburst
It's fair to
say, Fernando Alonso's return to McLaren hasn't went the way the Spaniard would
have liked. 11 points scored all season, seriously down on power and
reliability issues the length of my arm, you can understand why the double
World Champion isn't a happy man. His latest outburst over the team radio at
the Japanese GP, Honda's home grand prix, has left many wondering if Alonso
will be in F1 at all next year, never mind at McLaren.
Alonso
finished a lap down in 11th place after describing his team's performance
during the race as very embarrassing. His damning verdict came early in the
race whilst he was briefly running in the points, but was passed with ease by
Carlos Sainz's Toro Rosso and Marcus Ericcson's Sauber. Both moves were in the
DRS zone going into turn 1, with the Honda power unit showing how much power it
was lacking. To make matters worse for Alonso and the team, Max Verstappen also
overtook Alonso at the same point leading to Alonso calling his engine a GP2
engine. This latest outburst from Alonso did not go down well with Ron Dennis,
the McLaren CEO, who came out and said he was unhappy with Alonso's remarks.
Alonso is adamant that he will see out his contract with the team, which has another two years to go. However, I can see
another early divorce for Alonso and McLaren if the team don't improve next
year. If the team struggles in the final 5 races the way they have all season, it
may happen even sooner.
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