Thursday 29 May 2014

F1 2014: More to come from Mercedes pair


MERCEDES boss Niki Lauda moved to heal a growing rift between his two drivers Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg following a tetchy Monaco Grand Prix.

Rosberg won in Monte Carlo for the second year in a row to overtake Hamilton in the Drivers' Championship - but the weekend was punctuated by several events which frustrated the Briton.

First, in qualifying, Hamilton was prevented from a run on pole after Rosberg caused yellow flags to be waved by parking at Mirabeau.

It didn't look intentional - replays showed Rosberg locking up and struggling with the steering wheel - but it was understandable why Hamilton took a dim view of the incident and remained tight-lipped in a seriously awkward interview afterwards.

After all, pole position is everything at Monaco.

Since 2004, only one driver has won having failed to take pole - and that driver was Hamilton in 2008 in his only victory at F1's most glamorous venue.

Could he do it again? Well, ultimately, no he couldn't - but he felt he was even denied a fair chance in the race after Mercedes failed to bring him into pit when it was obvious a safety car was going to be needed to clear up Adrian Sutil's accident.

Hamilton said: "An opportunity occurred where I could have come in. When I was at McLaren, l would have been pulled in on that lap and that may have given me the smallest advantage to get the jump over the safety car."

It may be a moot point anyway. Having trailed his team-mate for most of the race by less than a second, Hamilton ultimately finished a distant in a second place after suffering a problem with his vision when a piece of debris became lodged in his eye.

Nevertheless, the wounds from the weekend will take longer to clear up.

Hamilton even went as far as to say he and Rosberg were "not friends" despite him having shared a close competitive relationship with the German since they were both teenagers.

Yes, it is not quite on the level of a Prost-Senna dispute just yet - but it is providing fascinating viewing in a season which has already effectively become all about Mercedes.

The F1 W05 is so superior to all of the rest of the cars on the grid that it has taken every pole and won every race.

Indeed, the Mercedes team is currently enjoying a streak of five successive 1-2s, which is something that was not even achieved by either the dominant McLaren MP4/4 in 1988 or Williams FW14B in 1992.

In the standings, Rosberg (122) leads Hamilton by four points despite two fewer race wins after the Briton had to retire from the season opener in Australia due to engine trouble.

Ferrari's Fernando Alonso cuts a frustrated figure again in third on 61 points which is as many points as he is adrift from the lead.

Meanwhile, Daniel Ricciardo, in fourth on 54 points, is comfortably outperforming his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time defending champion sits sixth on 45 points, two behind Force India's Nico Hülkenberg - while Valtteri Bottas is an impressive seventh for Williams ahead of the two McLarens of Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen.

Further down the grid, the big news in Monaco came from Marussia who finally scored their first points in a Grand Prix at the 83rd attempt thanks to Jules Bianchi's ninth place.

"Yes!!!!!!!!!!" was the reaction on the official Marussia feed on Twitter - and few would begrudge them their success after an agonising four-year wait.

F1 2014 now moves on to Montreal in Canada on 8 June before a first Austrian Grand Prix in 11 years on 22 June.

Then, in July, Hamilton and Rosberg will enjoy home advantage in successive races at Silverstone and Hockenheim.

Only time will tell if they are genuinely friends or just colleagues in a battle which already looks like going all of the way.

DateTV
Pole positionFastest lapWinner
16 MarchSkyAustralian Grand PrixHamiltonRosbergRosberg
30 MarchBBCMalaysian Grand PrixHamiltonHamiltonHamilton
6 AprilSkyBahrain Grand PrixRosbergRosbergHamilton
20 AprilSkyChinese Grand PrixHamiltonRosbergHamilton
11 MayBBCSpanish Grand PrixHamiltonVettelHamilton
25 MaySkyMonaco Grand PrixRosbergRäikkönenRosberg
8 JuneBBCCanadian Grand Prix


22 JuneSkyAustrian Grand Prix


6 JulyBBCBritish Grand Prix


20 JulySkyGerman Grand Prix


27 JulySkyHungarian Grand Prix


24 AugustBBCBelgian Grand Prix


7 SeptemberBBCItalian Grand Prix


21 SeptemberSkySingapore Grand Prix


5 OctoberBBCJapanese Grand Prix


12 OctoberBBCRussian Grand Prix


2 NovemberSkyUnited States Grand Prix


9 NovemberSkyBrazilian Grand Prix


23 NovemberBBCAbu Dhabi Grand Prix



STANDINGS
Drivers' Championship
PDriverTeamPoints
01Nico Rosberg (Ger)Mercedes122 (2 wins)
02Lewis Hamilton (Gbr)Mercedes118 (4 wins)
03Fernando Alonso (Spa)Ferrari61
04Daniel Ricciardo (Aus)Red Bull-Renault54
05Nico Hülkenberg (Ger)Force India-Mercedes47
06Sebastian Vettel (Ger)Red Bull-Renault 45
07Valtteri Bottas (Fin)Williams-Mercedes34
08Jenson Button (Gbr)McLaren-Mercedes31
09*Kevin Magnussen (Den)McLaren-Mercedes21
10Sergio Perez (Mex)Force India-Mercedes20
11Felipe Massa (Brz)Williams-Mercedes18
12Kimi Räikkönen (Fin)Ferrari17
13Romain Grosjean (Fra)Lotus-Renault8
14Jean-Eric Vergne (Fra)Toro-Rosso-Renault4
15*Daniil Kyvat (Rus)Toro-Rosso-Renault4
16Jules Bianchi (Fra)Marussia-Ferrari2
17*Marcus Ericsson (Swe)Caterham-Renault0
18Adrian Sutil (Ger)Sauber-Ferrari0
19Esteban Gutiérrez (Mex)Sauber-Ferrari0
20Max Chilton (Gbr)Marussia-Ferrari0
21Kamui Kobayashi (Jpn)Caterham-Renault0
22Pastor Maldonado (Ven)Lotus-Renault0
*= Debut season in F1

Constructors' Championship
PTeamPoints
01Mercedes240 (6 wins)
02Red Bull-Renault99
03Ferrari78
04Force India-Mercedes67
05McLaren-Mercedes52
06Williams-Mercedes52
07Lotus-Renault8
08Toro Rosso-Renault8
09Marussia-Ferrari2
10Sauber-Ferrari0
11Caterham-Renault0

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