Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2014 United States Grand Prix
Mercedes once again proved their dominance over the rest of the Formula One field at the 2014 United States Grand Prix.
Their margin over Williams and Red Bull was, after a mid-race scare, significant. Daniel Ricciardo, Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were in turn a whole minute clear of the rest of the field.
But from Fernando Alonso in sixth back, we saw extremely close competition.
McLaren were in there, as were the weekend's biggest surprises, Lotus. Toro Rosso and Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari also featured, as did Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull.
Seven different teams scored points; only Sauber and Force India missed out.
Looking at reliability, qualifying and race pace, here's how the teams currently rank.
Unranked: Marussia and Caterham
1 of 10
Marussia and Caterham were not present at the race.
If either returns before the end of the season, they'll rejoin the rankings.
9. Sauber
2 of 10
Down One
Adrian Sutil put in his best qualifying lap of the season to get through to Q3. He was due to line up 10th, but this became ninth after Jenson Button's grid penalty. Esteban Gutierrez was a more typical 16th.
The team looked set to at least challenge for their first points of the season, but Sergio Perez had other ideas. The Force India man took Sutil out on the opening lap, leaving Gutierrez as Sauber's sole representative.
He wasn't quick.
With Caterham and Marussia out of the way, the Mexican was comfortably the slowest man in the race. He trailed home a lucky 14th after Daniil Kvyat's late difficulties.
Sauber drop a spot to ninth.
8. Lotus
3 of 10
Up One
Romain Grosjean has received most of the Lotus-directed plaudits this year, but Austin was team-mate Pastor Maldonado's chance to shine. He qualified 11th, while Grosjean started last.
Recent form suggested they'd both struggle in the race, but surprisingly the E22 looked competitive.
The two drivers spent most the race running at a similar pace to Kimi Raikkonen, McLaren and Toro Rosso. As the race neared its conclusion, Grosjean looked set to be the lead Lotus home.
But Jean-Eric Vergne's BTCC-style lunge damaged his car, leaving Maldonado to take up the charge. The Venezuelan did so in impressive style, marking his best performance of the year with his first two points.
Lotus are up one to eighth.
7. Force India
4 of 10
No Change
Force India once again had a mediocre Saturday. Sergio Perez was their quickest qualifier, but he could only manage 12th. Team-mate Nico Hulkenberg was 13th.
We never got to find out whether their race performance would have been better.
Perez was out on the first lap, a good start thrown away when he hit Kimi Raikkonen and Adrian Sutil when battling for ninth.
Hulkenberg followed him into retirement 15 laps later. The German had run over debris from the crash and suffered a little car and tyre damage, the resulting pit stop dropping him further down the field.
His pace looked the same as the McLarens early on, but an engine failure ended his day.
Force India remain seventh.
6. Toro Rosso
5 of 10
No Change
Unusually, Toro Rosso didn't get the job done in qualifying. Daniil Kvyat was 14th (demoted to last due to an engine change penalty), with team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne in 15th.
But after the early safety car came in, their race pace looked broadly similar to that of Lotus, Kimi Raikkonen and Force India. In the closing laps, both looked set for points.
Vergne didn't do his chances any good by running into Romain Grosjean when attempting a spectacular pass. He finished ninth on the road but was dropped to 10th by the resulting grid penalty.
Kvyat could have done even better. Running the soft tyres after a late final stop, he probably had the pace to catch and pass everyone down to eighth-placed Kevin Magnussen.
But his car was damaged while he tried to scrap his way through the pack, and he ended up coming home last.
The great masters at snatching failure from the jaws of success struck again, but the pace is there and reliability looks good.
Toro Rosso remain sixth.
5. Ferrari
6 of 10
No Change
Fernando Alonso qualified on the third row for the seventh time in 2014, starting sixth. Team-mate Kimi Raikkonen was a couple of tenths further back in ninth.
Early on in Sunday's race, they were running line astern—Alonso sixth and Raikkonen seventh. As has been the case so frequently this season, their paths soon diverged.
Alonso finished sixth, holding off the fast-charging Sebastian Vettel. He later revealed to the press he was suffering a tyre vibration so bad he could hardly see the track on the final two laps.
Raikkonen was involved in the first-lap contact which took out Adrian Sutil and Sergio Perez. He received a fairly robust whack from behind, which Ferrari engineering director Pat Fry said "might" have affected his race pace.
Whether it did or didn't, the Finn suffered excessive tyre wear and finished up a disappointing 13th following a late third stop.
Alonso's Ferrari is ahead of McLaren. Raikkonen's is behind. Taking an average, the Woking squad edges it.
Ferrari remain fifth.
4. McLaren
7 of 10
No Change
McLaren continued their strong recent qualifying form. Jenson Button set the seventh-quickest time, with team-mate Kevin Magnussen eighth after his 10th consecutive Q3 appearance.
Button's gearbox penalty dropped him to 12th and elevated Magnussen to seventh.
Both made first lap pit stops under the safety car, and for much of the race they looked the quickest "midfield" team, albeit by a small margin.
As the race neared its conclusion, Magnussen managed to hang on to his tyres to record an eighth-placed finish.
But Button struggled, suffering what he described as "unusual" tyre wear. A net ninth with four laps to go, he finished 12th.
McLaren remain fourth.
3. Williams
8 of 10
No Change
Valtteri Bottas qualified third for the fifth time in seven races, with team-mate Felipe Massa beside him on the second row.
Massa got the jump on Bottas on the run up to Turn 1, but even with the positions reversed the team looked favourites for the final podium spot behind the two Mercedes cars.
They reckoned without Daniel Ricciardo.
In an otherwise uneventful race for the duo, they each lost a place at a pit stop. Massa finished fourth, with Bottas fifth. It was a disappointing result.
But Williams will be buoyed by the absolute gulf that existed between Bottas and sixth-placed Alonso—one minute and five seconds.
Third in the constructors' championship is safe, and that's where they remain in these rankings.
2. Red Bull
9 of 10
No Change
The Circuit of the Americas was expected to reward raw power, so Red Bull won't have been overly confident heading into the weekend. Daniel Ricciardo qualified fifth, over a second shy of pole.
Team-mate Sebastian Vettel, having changed his power unit, started from the pit lane.
Ricciardo made a poor start but made some beautiful overtakes to haul himself back to fifth. Each pit stop saw him gain a place from a Williams, and he held on to finish third.
Vettel's pace was poor early on, and the four-time world champion made little impact, but after his second stop he came alive.
A late switch to soft tyres saw the German scythe through the midfield for a seventh-placed finish, a fine recovery drive.
Red Bull remain second.
1. Mercedes
10 of 10
No Change
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton secured Mercedes' 10th front-row lockout of the season in Austin.
They got away in formation and built a small lead over the chasing Williams cars and Daniel Ricciardo's Red Bull.
A brief battle between the two for the lead of the race didn't slow them down, but the gap to the cars behind wasn't growing as quickly as Mercedes might have been expecting.
When the Silver Arrows rejoined the track after their second stops, leader Hamilton was less than eight seconds clear of third-placed Ricciardo.
But suddenly they came alive, and at the end the gap was a more comfortable 25 seconds.
Mercedes remain on top.
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