[F1] Brazil Interlagos: Practices, Qualifying & Race News

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SUNDAY

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Nico Rosberg beats Lewis Hamilton to Brazil win

Nico Rosberg ended Formula 1 title rival Lewis Hamilton's five-race winning streak by beating the sister Mercedes to victory in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

By converting his 10th pole position of the 2014 F1 season into victory, Rosberg closed team-mate Hamilton's points lead down to 17 heading into the Abu Dhabi GP double-points finale.

Hamilton's hopes of challenging Rosberg's supremacy were largely undone when he half spun at the Descida do Lago on lap 28 of 71.

The Brit ran wide after correcting a snap of oversteer as he braked for the corner. He subsequently revealed over the radio that he had wound his brake bias too far to the rear.

Hamilton hustled superbly to recover the time lost to Rosberg, and put him under pressure by remaining within DRS range during a franctic final stint (in which both drivers exchanged fastest laps), but ultimately Hamilton had to settle for second.

Local hero Felipe Massa brought smiles to the faces of the home crowd by completing the podium.

The Williams driver survived a five-second penalty for speeding in the pitlane at his first stop, and the embarrassment of accidentally driving into the McLaren pit at his last, to finish a distant third.

Team-mate Valtteri Bottas should have been well-placed to capitalise on Massa's errors, after running fourth early on, but a lengthy delay at his first pitstop set him back badly, and he lost more time when Nico Hulkenberg's Force India forced him wide while overtaking into the Senna S.

Bottas eventually wound up a lapped 10th.

McLaren's Jenson Button took that fourth spot with a brave pass around the outside of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari at the Descida do Lago with 10 laps to run.

Their side-by-side duelling also allowed world champion Sebastian Vettel to nip through into fifth in his Red Bull.

Vettel might have finished higher but for ground lost while battling Kevin Magnussen's McLaren on the opening lap, while team-mate Daniel Ricciardo retired shortly before half-distance with a left front suspension problem on his Red Bull.

Raikkonen started 10th and dropped behind the Sauber of Esteban Gutierrez on the first lap, but made progress by being the only driver to complete the race on two pitstops.

The Finn lost time to what appeared to be a front jack problem at his second stop, and defended desperately in a battle of world champions with Fernando Alonso in the closing stages, but ultimately couldn't prevent his Ferrari team-mate passing him for sixth with a handful of laps to go.

Hulkenberg made good use of alternative tyre strategy - running the soft tyre at the end - to finish eighth, ahead of Kevin Magnussen's McLaren and Bottas, who just held off Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat to claim the final point.

RESULTS - 71 LAPS:
Pos Driver Car Gap
1 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1h30m02.555s
2 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1.457s
3 Felipe Massa Williams/Mercedes 41.031s
4 Jenson Button McLaren/Mercedes 48.658s
5 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull/Renault 51.420s
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 1m01.906s
7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 1m03.730s
8 Nico Hulkenberg Force India/Mercedes 1m03.934s
9 Kevin Magnussen McLaren/Mercedes 1m10.085s
10 Valtteri Bottas Williams/Mercedes 1 Lap
11 Daniil Kvyat Toro Rosso/Renault 1 Lap
12 Pastor Maldonado Lotus/Renault 1 Lap
13 Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso/Renault 1 Lap
14 Esteban Gutierrez Sauber/Ferrari 1 Lap
15 Sergio Perez Force India/Mercedes 1 Lap
16 Adrian Sutil Sauber/Ferrari 1 Lap
17 Romain Grosjean Lotus/Renault Power Unit
- Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull/Renault Suspension

SATURDAY

Qualifying

Nico Rosberg Takes Pole in Brazil
This secures Rosberg the inaugural F1 pole position trophy.



Nico Rosberg took pole position for the Brazilian Grand Prix by just 0.033s right at the death of a dramatic qualifying session.

While Rosberg had been quickest in all three practice sessions and both Q1 and Q2, Lewis Hamilton responded in the face of a serious challenge from Williams to take provisional pole with his final lap. With Felipe Massa aborting, Rosberg was down through the second sector but snatched pole by 0.033s across the line.

Sunday will be the tenth time Rosberg has started from pole position this season, but he's only gone on to convert that in to a race victory on two occasions; in Monaco and Germany. As a result, Hamilton won't be too disheartened in P2, but Massa will rue a missed opportunity on his final run.

The two Williams cars were within 0.15s of pole after the first laps in Q3, but Bottas aborted his second run early. Massa was up on both Rosberg and Hamilton through sector one, but his lap fell apart in the second sector and the vocal Interlagos crowd was denied a home pole as he too pitted.

Jenson Button took an impressive fifth on the grid having missed the entire FP1 session on Friday, edging out Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen, Fernando Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen as all six drivers were covered by 0.169s.





Daniil Kvyat fail to take part in Q2, dropping out in 14th place as a result. Kvyat also has an engine penalty carried over from Austin which means he will start from the back row. The other three places saw Esteban Gutierrez, Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil eliminated, with Sutil having had an off-track excursion at Turn 12.

Q1 was a very tight affair as less than 0.2s covered Vettel in 13th and Perez in 17th place. While the Red Bull was safely through, it was Sutil who joined him in the last Q2 slot as Romain Grosjean, Jean-Eric Vergne, Perez and Pastor Maldonado all failed to make it through. For Perez, his grid penalty for causing a collision with Sutil in Austin will see him start last.

Rosberg wins the new pole position trophy this year for the man who has qualified fastest most often.

It sets up another mouth-watering race on Sunday (16:00 GMT) between the two Mercedes drivers in their tense and season-long title battle.

<img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://imageshack.com/a/img674/2447/6pc4aE.jpg" alt=""><br><br>Rosberg heads into the race 24 points behind Hamilton, who has won 10 races to the German's four this year, <b>with 75 points still available in the remaining races here and in Abu Dhabi in two weeks' time.</b><br><br>The German, who started from pole in the US last weekend only to be beaten by Hamilton in the race, said: "It's only a perfect job if I win. I need to make it happen, unlike in Austin last weekend."

Hamilton said: "It was great fun, Nico did a great lap. I lost bit of time in Turn 10 and perhaps a tiny bit in Turn One. But that's what qualifying should be about - just having to keep going out and finding more time.

Hamilton v Rosberg 2014 title

Hamilton has a 24-point lead over Rosberg with a maximum of 75 points remaining - 25 in Brazil for a win and 50 in Abu Dhabi.

The world title cannot be decided at Sunday's Brazilian Grand Prix.

If Hamilton wins in Brazil and Rosberg fails to finish, he will have a 49-point lead going to Abu Dhabi. Hamilton would then need to finish 10th or higher to clinch the title.

If Rosberg wins in Brazil and Hamilton retires, Rosberg will lead the championship by one point going to Abu Dhabi. Hamilton would then need to finish ahead of Rosberg in the points in Abu Dhabi to secure the title.

If Hamilton wins in Brazil, with Rosberg second, Hamilton will arrive in Abu Dhabi with a 31-point lead. But if Rosberg then wins and Hamilton finishes sixth or lower, Rosberg will win the title.

Summary
Rosberg on pole by 0.033secs, Hamilton 2nd, Massa 3rd


Bottas 4th, Button 5th, Vettel 6th, Magnussen 7th

Alonso 8th, Ricciardo 9th, Raikkonen 10th
Rosberg breaks pole position lap record
Rosberg top in Q1 & Q2



Practice 3

Nico Rosberg completed a clean sweep of all three practice sessions for the Brazilian Grand Prix (Interlagos) as Lewis Hamilton edged closer to his team-mate



Having been quickest in both Friday's sessions to the tune of 0.2s, Rosberg saw that advantage halved in FP3 but he remained on top during a dry session. His time of 1:10.446 is just 0.2s off the Rubens Barrichello's pole time from 2004 – showing how quick the track has become as a result of new asphalt – but with wet weather forecast for qualifying, the dry running could become irrelevant.

Hamilton said he never hooked up a lap throughout Friday practice and he seemed uncomfortable with the balance of his car once again in FP3 as he had a big lock-up at Turn 8 before spinning under braking for Turn 1. Having ruined that set of tyres, Hamilton returned to the pit for a number of set-up changes which limited his running to 20 laps compared to Rosberg's 28, although he did improve on the soft tyres to a 1:10.560.



Felipe Massa was third quickest as Williams looked capable of putting pressure on the two Mercedes cars in qualifying. Massa's best time was 0.429s slower than Rosberg but he was unable to complete either of his next two attempts on softs as he ran wide at Turn 4 and then was held up by Sergio Perez.

Valtteri Bottas was fourth ahead of Daniel Ricciardo and Jenson Button, with the McLaren three quarters of a second slower than Rosberg. Next up were the two Ferraris, with Kimi Raikkonen ahead of Fernando Alonso. Having had an engine failure at the end of FP2, Alonso completed only eight laps in the final practice session before ending his running early.



Kevin Magnussen and Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten, while Sebastian Vettel appeared to struggle in 11th place as he ended the session 0.8s off the pace of team-mate Daniel Ricciardo.

The two Force Indias were slowest at the end of practice, with FP3 providing Perez with his first track time of the weekend after Dani Juncadella damaged his car on Friday. Perez was 2.5s off the pace but was running a different program to those around him as he condensed all of his practice work in to 25 laps.



FRIDAY:

Nico Rosberg on top in Brazil practice

Nico Rosberg took the fight to championship-leading Mercedes team mate Lewis Hamilton with the fastest laps in both Brazilian Grand Prix practice sessions on Friday while Fernando Alonso's Ferrari caught fire.

The German started the day with a best time of one minute 12.764 seconds on a cloudy morning at the Interlagos circuit and finished the afternoon with an effort of 1:12.123.

Hamilton, who has won the last five grands prix and is chasing his 11th victory in 18 races, was a close second in both sessions on a day overshadowed by news of the Marussia team's demise after they had previously gone into administration.

Rosberg desperately needs to win on Sunday, even if the championship cannot be decided before Abu Dhabi at the end of the month when double points are on offer, after Hamilton forged 24 points clear in the championship.

"That was a good day and we are very quick again at this circuit," Rosberg told reporters.


"The track has a new surface which made it quite tricky. It's smooth and not quite so bumpy as it has been in the past but the tires were blistering because of the high temperatures and the new asphalt.

"That was a bit worrying but we are expecting it to be a bit cooler over the weekend."

Hamilton said he had not managed to put a good lap together but was otherwise unconcerned.

"It's different every time we come here and you never know what the weather is going to do. But that's what makes this such an exciting race," said the Briton.

Russian Daniil Kvyat, who steps up to Red Bull next season, was third fastest for Toro Rosso, but nearly a second slower than Rosberg, in the morning while Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen filled that spot after lunch.

RED FLAGS



Raikkonen's team mate Fernando Alonso was one of three drivers to bring out the red flags in the afternoon when he pulled over with flames shooting out of the back of his car.

The Spaniard, who was fourth fastest in the first session, jumped out and ran to get an extinguisher before returning to put out the blaze.



"We knew the power unit had reached the end of its cycle, so there was a risk we wouldn't finish the second session, but this was part of the programme we have been on for a few races now," said the Spaniard who will not be penalised.

Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, in a Toro Rosso, and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez in the Sauber, also halted the session when they stopped on the track.

Brazil's sole representative Felipe Massa in the Williams was fifth and sixth respectively.



Dutch teenager Max Verstappen continued to impress before his race debut next year, with the sixth fastest lap for Toro Rosso in morning practice before handing the car back to Vergne.



McLaren's Jenson Button, the winner in Brazil in 2012, failed to set a time in the first session after suffering electrical problems in a miserable start to his weekend and was then 16th in the afternoon.

Spaniard Daniel Juncadella, replacing Mexican Sergio Perez at Force India for the morning session, brought out the first red flags of the day when he crashed into the barriers with considerable damage to the car.

Perez was unable to set a lap in the afternoon as the team worked on repairs.





ABOUT THE TRACK

<img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://imageshack.com/a/img673/4713/9b71qx.jpg" alt=""><br><br>The circuit, more commonly known as Interlagos, is named after Brazilian racing driver and Sao Paulo native (Jose) Carlos Pace.<br><br>His one and only F1 victory came at this track in 1975; two years later, he was killed in a plane crash just outside the city.<br><br>Once a much longer circuit, the modern incarnation first held the Brazilian Grand Prix in 1990 and has been ever-present on the calendar ever since.<br><br>But its age has started to show, and as reported in August the circuit owners were being forced to spend $80 million to bring it up to modern standards. A new surface has been laid for 2014, with a new pit complex due to be built next season.<br><br><br><b>Turns 1, 2 and 3</b><br><br>A lap begins on the pit straight, heading uphill towards what is probably the best chicane in the world, the Senna S.<br><br>The track levels out and the drivers brake hard for Turn 1, a very tricky, downhill, medium-speed left. The downhill slope continues through the exit and into Turn 2, a medium-speed right.<br><br>The track levels out again at the apex, and the cars stream straight into the long, flat-out left-hander of Turn 3, exiting onto the back straight.<br><br>Simple enough in the dry, this becomes a treacherous corner in the wet.<br><br><br><b>Turns 4 and 5</b><br><br>Toward the end of the straight, the cars will be travelling at close to 300 kilometres an hour before braking for Turn 4 (Descida do Lago). A quite steep, downhill left-hander taken at medium speed, this is another of Interlagos' many great corners.<br><br>This is also a decent overtaking spot and should see some action during the race.<br><br>It leads out onto a downhill slope which levels out at Turn 5, a flat-out left-hand kink. Like Turn 3, this one becomes a far more fearsome corner in the wet.<br><br>A short straight follows.<br><br><br><b>Turns 6, 7, 8 and 9</b><br><br>The circuit heads uphill again and the drivers give the brakes a quick tap before turning into the medium-fast, double-apex right-hander of Turns 6 and 7.<br><br>Immediately after the exit, the track levels out and the cars slow to a crawl for Turn 8. This tight, downhill right-hander is one of the circuit's slowest corners, and all the drivers will take plenty of kerb on the inside.<br><br>They used to take too much, often throwing the whole car over the kerb. The track limits police will see that doesn't happen this weekend.<br><br>A quick squirt of the throttle later comes Turn 9 (Pinheirinho). Downhill on the entry, this deceptively long, slow corner begins to head uphill at its midpoint.<br><br>A very short, uphill straight follows.<br><br><br><b>Turns 10, 11 and 12</b><br><br>At the top of this latest hill, the drivers brake for the slow, tight right of Turn 10 (Bico de Pato). Every now and then you'll see someone trying to overtake here, but without a major speed difference between the defender and attacker any move is unlikely to pay off.<br><br>At the exit, the track drops downhill for a few seconds, then falls sharply away through the fast, downhill left of Turn 11 (Mergulho). Though not the most difficult corner Interlagos has to offer, this is arguably its most spectacular.<br><br>The cars exit into the base of a valley and head uphill yet again before braking for the medium-speed right of Turn 12 (Juncao). Trickier than it looks, a good exit from this corner is essential as it leads out onto the long, curving, undulating pit straight.<br><br><br><b>Turns 13, 14 and 15</b><br><br>This is perhaps the most famous "straight that isn't straight" in F1, and certainly the only one which contains three numbered corners.

It heads quite steeply uphill at the beginning, and this will play very much into the hands of the Mercedes-engined cars. Turn 13 is a flat-out uphill left, and the straight levels out at the similarly flat-out left of Turn 14.

Turn 15 is also a flat-out left, the inside line much lower than the outside. The track then heads uphill to the start-finish line and the end of one of the shortest and quickest laps of the year.



Pit Lane

The pit lane entry is on the inside of Turn 15, and the exit is on the back straight after Turn 3.


Interlagos has a new surface, so grip levels are unknown. However, new surfaces tend to be lower in grip than old ones.

The numerous quick corners and their constant nature tend to give the tyres a hard time and lead to high wear. However, this should be lessened on the new tarmac.

Pirelli had originally planned medium and hard compound tyres, in line with the selections used at the previous two Brazilian Grands Prix, but opted to change this after inspecting the new surface.

The tyre supplier is now bringing the yellow-marked soft and white-marked medium compounds.

This will please Felipe Massa, who, per Adam Cooper, launched a rather angry attack on the original choice.



DRS

There will be two DRS zones at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Per the FIA's circuit map, the first will have its detection point in the Senna S just before Turn 2. The activation point will be at the exit of Turn 3, and the zone will end with braking for Turn 4.

The second zone's detection point will be on the pit straight just after Turn 13. The activation point is between Turns 14 and 15, and the zone will end at the braking zone for Turn 1.





Lap data
Lap length 4.309km (2.677 miles)
Race laps 71
Race distance 305.909km (190.083 miles)
Pole position Right-hand side of the track
Lap record* 1’11.473 (217.039 kph) by Juan Pablo Montoya, 2004
Fastest lap 1’09.822 (222.171 kph) by Rubens Barrichello, 2004
Maximum speed 310kph (192.625 mph)
DRS zone/s (race) Pit straight and Reta Oposta straight
Distance from grid to turn one 190m
Car performance
Full throttle 50%
Longest flat-out section 1394m
Downforce level High
Gear changes per lap 42
Fuel use per lap 1.4kg
Time penalty per lap of fuel 0.042s