adminBRAZIL. —Nico Rosberg held off Lewis Hamilton to claim his fifth victory of the season at the Brazilian Grand Prix yesterday. The German driver completed a clean sweep of all three practice sessions, qualifying and the 71-lap race at Interlagos, but only after Hamilton spun off the track while pushing hard for the lead ahead of his second pit stop.
That error, which came on lap 28 at Turn 4, came as Hamilton tried to use pit strategy to get ahead of his team-mate. Instead, he rejoined seven seconds behind his title rival.
He was right on Rosberg’s tail again after both drivers made their third and final stops but while the last 20 laps saw the two Silver Arrows in close company, Hamilton was not able to get close enough to try and overtake.
Of course, double points are on offer on November 23 and a repeat of this result will still be enough for Hamilton to take his second world title.
Yet the combination of Rosberg’s fifth win of the season, in a race which has brought a number of hectic title deciders in recent years, but now stands in the shadow of F1’s first-ever double points finale, means that his chances suddenly seem a little rosier.
That wasn’t the case after Hamilton had breezed past him to win last weekend’s US GP and, speaking afterwards, Rosberg made it clear how important he felt it was to bounce back.
“It’s been a great weekend all-in-all,” he said. “In Austin, it was a tough Sunday so it was important for me to improve because I didn’t do a good enough job of the race in Austin.”
“I think ultimately it cost me the win, yes,” Hamilton said of his spin. “I was much quicker up until that point and then on that lap I got a second quicker after Nico pitted.
“I thought I was going to pit at the end of that lap so I used everything I had in the tyres and the next lap I had nothing left.”
Hamilton remains the favourite but it was the Briton who made the race’s crucial error. More of the same in a fortnight’s time might, perhaps, have much greater consequences for him, particularly if Rosberg enjoys another trouble-free weekend.
It would be wrong to suggest his race was without its headaches, however. If withstanding the pressure applied by Hamilton during the closing laps wasn’t enough, Rosberg — like everyone – had to contend with severe tyre degradation, particularly at the start of the race.
Rain had been forecast at the start of the week but not a single drop has fallen whilst cars have been on track and track temperatures climbed as high as 55 degrees C in the opening laps.
As such, cars were pitting as early as lap six and with Rosberg leading Hamilton off the line, both Silver Arrows had switched from soft to medium tyres by lap nine. — AFP.
Online Reporter