Dre’s Formula 1 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix Review

“Now guaranteed to be 100% LESS awkward than an Nelson Piquet ‘Interview’.”

Hey folks, Dre here again, in the first part of what’s going to be an exceptionally busy few weeks here, with the Podcast debuting very soon on here, as well as the doubleheader on Sunday with F1, and MotoGP to get through, so y’know, bear with me.

So, Brazil then. This time, Nico Rosberg showed FINALLY showed he CAN beat Lewis Hamilton head-to-head around Interlagos, but is it too little, too late? Felipe Massa wins the best of the rest award again, despite his speeding in the pit-lane, Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel had really solid days at the office again while Daniel Ricciardo’s luck finally ran out, and good GOD, Nelson Piquet sucks as an Interviewer. Could you tell it wasn’t a particularly exciting race?

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Too Little, Too Late for #6?

Poor Nico Rosberg. If he done in Brazil what he did in America, there’d only be a 10 point gap going into Brazil and I’d actually have a half decent reason to care about the finale. (13 or less is really the magic number here), but let’s give him his props where its due, Nico Rosberg was perfect out there yesterday. A picture perfect drive from start to finish, and to his credit, he HAD to step his game up yesterday, or else his Championship was effectively over.

And unlike so many occasions this season where Rosberg’s cracked and he’s rolled over for the aggressive and slightly faster Hamilton, he led from the front from start to finish, and despite Hamilton making up for his spin and closing in, he couldn’t seal the deal and Rosberg drove flawlessly to keep Lewis behind for that last, painstaking 19 lap final stint.

It may be too little, too late with Nico, all Hamilton needs to do is follow Nico round to win the Championship in Abu Dhabi by 3 points, but a valiant effort nonetheless. If Nico has, or had any chance of taking the title, a day like this ALWAYS needed to happen. Better late than never, right?

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Pirelli lose in the tug of war again

I feel genuinely sorry for Pirelli in their camp, they get caught in such an awful power struggle between the fans, who demand entertainment and to make the tyres showbizzy, but not TOO [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Yes, I did just make that up.” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]showbizzy[/fusion_tooltip], and then teams, who want the consistency that the old days of Bridgestone/Michelin have. And it looks like they lost out again a little bit here, with heavy cases of blistering on the tyres throughout the race.

It seemed to affect some cars more than others, but there was some very conservative driving taking place, and caused a lot of confusion on track with guys on 2 or 3 stop strategies, and the options tyres barely lasting 8 laps with the front runners. It was like Spain last year when the field was bobbing from anywhere between 2-4 stops. Weird, and not ideal. Again, let’s give Pirelli a pass here, they’re just trying to keep everyone happy, as impossible as it seems.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]Once Again, It’s all on the midfield

Yep, because Mercedes are essentially in[/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”They lapped up to 9th after all…” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””] their own postcode[/fusion_tooltip] at every GP these days, once again, it was down to the midfield to provide the action, and there was some decent stuff on display from Jenson Button who scored an excellent 4th place, which was probably the maximum on offer given the performance of the car.

Also, Sebastian Vettel pulled off some great opportunistic passes to come back from 6th on the grid, to 8th through Turn 3, to eventually finish 5th, another great result given where Red Bull are at right now, finishing ahead of his two rivals for 4th in the Championship, Fernando Alonso, and the aforementioned Bottas, now in 5th after scoring just a solitary point in 10th. And Seb, Nando, and Raikkonen had a fun dice at the end as well, Vettel going round the outside up the hill into Turn 6, as Kimi struggled in the latter stages, the best of the 2-stoppers on track, in a solid 7th. Nice to see Kimi’s racecraft is still there, holding off Alonso for far longer then he had any right being, on tyres that were 19 laps older.

Bad luck for Daniel Ricciardo, suffering just his 2nd mechanical retirement of the season with a broken wishbone on his suspension failing.

Also, props to Nico Hulkenberg for mixing it up with a 2-stopper while starting on the primes, finishing 8th from 12th on the grid, Force India throwing everything they can to catch an improving McLaren outfit for 5th in the WCC. Shame Sergio Perez let the side down in 15th, his worst on-track finish since his Sauber days.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”
” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″][/fusion_imageframe]And Finally, a Piquet Service Announcement

Can we please, for the life of us, NEVER do a Nelson Piquet podium interview, ever again? It probably wasn’t a good sign when he was seen during the race trying to choke and snog Niki Lauda (Right in front of a accidentally photobombing Simon Lazenby no less), and then on the podium, he essentially hits on [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Sadly, not present…” placement=”top” trigger=”hover” class=”” id=””]Lewis’s girlfriend Nicole[/fusion_tooltip], right in front of him, and then forgets to actually ask him anything to do with the race itself. Wonderful.

Can we bring back Benedict Cumberbatch? Dude was humble and classy, I couldn’t help but giggle when he did Monaco, and he stretched his hand out for Daniel Ricciardo and said “Hi, I’m Benedict, nice to meet you!”

Okay, I admit it, I’m a Cumberbitch. Sue me, alright? It’s better than watching Piquet be a shit journalist. Now let us never speak of this again.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]