Grand Prix 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

Sao Paulo is an enormous city. There are 20 million people in the urban area around the city, which makes it one of the top ten most populated urban areas in the world. To the south, the city is forced into a narrower strip of land between the Guarapiranga and Billings lakes. Between the lakes, as the name suggests, is the area known as Interlagos, containing the Autodromo José Carlos Pace.

At the end of the current Formula One calendar, there are three of the newest circuits in F1; clean, corporate, Tilke. They contrast the fourth circuit, Interlagos. It is unmistakably historic, it has elevation change in a way Tilke could never contrive, it is only 75 seconds a lap and it is fierce. The run from Juncao right the way to the Senna S requires the foot on the throttle for as many consecutive curves as you'll see all season, and it ends with the great Turn One in Formula One.

In the last 10 years, the circuit has offered significant succour to the non-European challengers, with two wins each for Montoya, Massa and Webber. Indeed, it has never seen a victory for Fernando Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, despite them both taking championships here without winning the race, as did Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel. The only driver to win the race and the championship on the same day was Kimi Raikkonen in 2007.

Mercedes are, as usual, likely to be contesting the win. Hamilton must have extremely mixed feelings about Interlagos, as despite his title win in 2008, he seems to have angered some sort of local deity. His pace around the circuit has never looked particularly bad, but gearbox problems, ill-timed rainstorms and Nico Hulkenburg have cost him the chance to win the race here, with 2009 standing as his only podium. Hamilton has taken victories at a range of jinx circuits this year though, you would not bet against him.

Rosberg, meanwhile, can be proud of an excellent if forgotten performance in 2007 where he beat the BMWs into 4th place, for his best result of the season. He also had the pace on Mercedes team-mate Hamilton at the circuit last year in qualifying, although he relied on Hamilton's collision with Valteri Bottas to beat his team-mate in the end. Both drivers will be looking at setting themselves up for the best possible chance at Abu Dhabi.

Felipe Massa will be hoping to put on a show for his home crowd; of the Brazilian drivers to win in F1 all bar Barrichello have done so at home, and Massa's performances in 2006-08 were matched by his performance as his pace was subsumed under Alonso's title tilt in 2012. Everyone will be hoping that a mixed track like Interlagos may create a close battle between Williams, Red Bull and perhaps even McLaren and Ferrari.

Don't forget that Interlagos is often affected by rainstorms! The rain's appearance nearly ended Lewis Hamilton's title aspirations in 2008, handed Nico Hulkenburg his only pole position in 2010, delayed qualifying in 2009, affected Vettel's run home in 2012 and, of course, gave Jordan their final hurrah in 2003. While I'm sure if there is to be rain, appropriate caution will be demonstrated in the wake of Bianchi's incident, it has been known to joyously shake up many an Interlagos event.

So the penultimate race of the season, a chance for everyone to get into the best possible position for the Ecclestonian hand-grenade of double points to blow the Championship positions apart, and all held at a fantastic racing circuit. Fun, no?
 
olegg ..... If you've read my previous postings you should know I'm backing Hamilton to win the title this year. Hamilton and Alonso are the two best drivers in the sport in my opinion, none of that alters the fact that Rosberg is a superb qualifier and he typically put in a stunning lap. I don't believe the difference between Rosberg and Hamilton has anything to do with settings, Hamilton is the more aggressive racer and has better race craft than Rosberg which enables him to make moves Rosberg simply cannot match. We've seen this all season.
 
Well whatever the reasosn for Nico being in front of Lewis it does set the scene for a great race. Had qualifying positions been the other way around I would have thought it certain to stay that way through the race. Can hardly contain myself. Really hoping Button has a great day too so that he can stick two fingers up at Ron!
 
Tuscan1969 ...... Why would Jenson want to "stick two fingers up at Ron", I'm sure if the choice was his he would like to stay in F1 at McLaren as Alonso's number two. Yes, news is breaking that Alonso has signed the biggest deal in F1 history to return to McLaren as their star driver in their new Honda era.
 
From Interlagos: The engine sounds vary a lot off-throttle, under braking and harvesting. The Renault engine is throaty and raspy, the Mercedes engine dumps with a hiss but is also throaty, the Ferrari has an awesome and unmistakable whir. Sounds like an H-Wing coming into landing on the Deathstar.
 
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I only have an iPhone 4. Excuse the quality. Anyway, some of my favourite pics. More to come after the big show, today.
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I'm a bit nervous about Hamilton's grid position

Yes the poleman has not won often at Interlagos although Vettel , Senna, Mansell and Hill have in the last 25 years

The inside position where Hamilton is has less grip

Plus he's got two WIlliams behind him who will be very fast down the straight and maybe difficult to pass unless they destroyed their tyres they used in Q2
 
Kewee Its not that I dont think JB would like to stay and measure himself agains Alonso ; the two fingers are more about how Ron has kept JB dangling for months when his results, his commitment to McLaren and his gentlemanly behaviour surely deserve better consideration.
 
I don't believe the difference between Rosberg and Hamilton has anything to do with settings, Hamilton is the more aggressive racer and has better race craft than Rosberg which enables him to make moves Rosberg simply cannot match. We've seen this all season.

I agree that the difference in settings may not be quite as significant as some may think, but the rest I disagree with.

I'm not entirely convinced Hamilton has better race craft. There's more to race craft than the ability to pull out the stunning moves as needed. In my opinion, race craft must also include consistency.

The aggressive driver posts inconsistent lap times, their lines around the course vary, and he is prone to bouts of sloppiness that put them into the wall when under real pressure. When an aggressive driver actually manages to string together all of his sectors, he posts very quick lap times, but he'll find it hard to string together a good, smooth, run over and over again.

Incidentally, it's been my experience that aggressive drivers lock up their brakes quite often, purely because they do lack consistency. Every corner is a bit of a guessing game for the proper braking point, because they're not hitting the same point every time.

A consistent driver may not post a lot of quick laps during the race, but he's also someone who knows to hold back enough to make sure the car gets home in one piece. You can't win a grand prix if you don't finish it, whether it's because you blow up a gearbox, or put yourself into the wall.
 
Surely race craft is doing a race as quickly as possible?

Whether it is consistently posting good lap times, or having some stunning and some poor laps doesn't matter. It is what is quickest overall.

There are points in the race where it is more beneficial to push that bit harder.

Also, part of race craft is how to deal in wheel to wheel combat. I don't think Nico has beaten Lewis at all in that department this year. Granted he overtook in Bahrain but was taken back straight away and lost that race.
 
If you look through the results for this season, and allow for issues in qualifying, and the race, which are behind the control of the driver, I think it is difficult to see a lot of downside to Lewis' performances this season.

Racecraft schmasecraft. If you win, you had racecraft.
 
No, you didn't necessarily.

Racecraft is about staying on track, as fast as you can within any given situation; being courteous to opponents whilst challenging and without putting them or oneself in a dangerous position.

It is also about understanding the rules and the 'game' whether it be team or sport related. It is about consistency, ignoring the bad press and doing one's own thing whilst trying to improve one's own reputation and that of one's team.

It is not about going fast or being lucky.
 
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Does anyone else feel slightly underwhelmed for this race? It's importance has been effectively neutered by the double points scenario :( If Hamilton could tie it up or Nico closing the gap made an iota of difference I would be excited but alas I am not. Thanks Bernie!
 
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