Power Ranking the Formula 1 Teams After 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix
The 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix was the latest in a long line of Mercedes-dominated races. The Silver Arrows of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton recorded their 11th one-two finish of the season, a massive 40 seconds clear of their nearest challenger.
For the second time this season, that was Felipe Massa's Williams. The Brazilian overcame a five-second stop-go penalty to claim an emotional podium in his home city.
McLaren and Red Bull duked it out to be third-quickest, while Ferrari were again further off the pace than they might have liked.
Force India had one quick car and one slow one, Toro Rosso left Interlagos empty-handed and Sauber once again failed to capitalise on a promising qualifying display.
With just one race to go, the constructors' championship positions now seem set. But with double points available in Abu Dhabi, a little bit of luck could go a long, long way.
Looking at reliability, qualifying and race pace, here's how the teams currently rank.
Marussia and Caterham
1 of 10
Marussia and Caterham were once again absent, and a return seems unlikely.
They remain unranked.
9. Sauber
2 of 10
No Change
Adrian Sutil could not repeat his qualifying heroics from Austin but did a credible job, setting the 13th-fastest time. Esteban Gutierrez was even quicker and started a season-best 11th.
Sauber were again within touching distance of those elusive first points of the season.
Things got off to a bad start. Sutil was forced to start from the pit lane due to a cooling issue, effectively putting him out of contention before the race had even begun.
The German toiled away all afternoon but could do no better than 16th and last.
Gutierrez looked good in the early stages but, per the team website, struggled with tyre wear.
He slid back, unable to match the pace of the cars ahead, and he ended up 14th.
Sauber remain ninth.
8. Lotus
3 of 10
No Change
After showing such promise at the previous race, Lotus took a step back in Brazil.
Both drivers were eliminated in Q1, Pastor Maldonado with the slowest time and Romain Grosjean 15th. After other drivers received penalties, they were 16th and 14th on the grid, respectively.
Grosjean started on the medium tyres and did a 24-lap opening stint. At this stage he looked an outside bet for points, but he couldn't make his second set of tyres last.
Forced to switch to a three-stopper, Grosjean was well out of contention when a power-unit failure ended his afternoon on the 64th lap.
Though Maldonado lost ground in the opening third of the race, a strong third stint gave him a sniff of the points.
But the pace deserted him in the final stint. He ended up 12th, just eight seconds shy of a top 10 finish.
Lotus remain eighth.
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7. Toro Rosso
4 of 10
Down One
Daniil Kvyat was the quickest Toro Rosso in qualifying, setting the 14th-fastest time, but the remnants of an engine-change penalty from Austin dropped him back to 17th on the grid.
Jean-Eric Vergne benefited from his team-mate's misfortune. Only 15th on merit, he was bumped up to start from 14th.
A good start from Kvyat saw him 13th after one lap. Having started on the medium tyres, the Russian was able to spend a lot of time in relative clean air and made good progress throughout the race.
Points were on the cards, but as F1Fanatic's data shows, Kvyat tended to be slow through the pit lane. He emerged from his final stop agonisingly close to Valtteri Bottas and Pastor Maldonado, and though he passed the Lotus, the Williams was too quick in a straight line.
Kvyat finished 11th.
Vergne was less fortunate with traffic. On the conventional soft-medium-medium-medium strategy, he spent the opening two thirds of the race staring at the rear of Sergio Perez's Force India.
The Frenchman finally got past at the final round of stops, only to find himself stuck behind Pastor Maldonado. That's where he remained all the way to the flag for a disappointing 13th-place finish.
Expect a close fight between Toro Rosso and Force India in Abu Dhabi.
They drop a spot to seventh.
6. Force India
5 of 10
Up One
Nico Hulkenberg put in a decent lap on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to give the German his first Q3 appearance since the Hungarian Grand Prix. He started 12th.
Team-mate Sergio Perez had a tougher time of things. Carrying a seven-place grid penalty for causing a collision at the previous race, he was eliminated in Q1 with the 17th-best time. The penalty only cost him a single place.
Sunday's race was very much a tale of two sides of the garage.
Hulkenberg put his recent poor form behind him, driving an excellent race. He started on the medium compound tyres and ran out of sync with the other cars at the front of the midfield, even leading for five laps at once stage.
Near the end he fitted the soft tyres for an 11-lap charge to the flag. Exiting the pits in ninth, he quickly passed Kevin Magnussen and closed up to the two Ferraris, but he ran out of time.
He crossed the line in eighth, just two 10ths of a second behind Kimi Raikkonen.
Perez, by contrast, struggled. Never really on the pace and with poor track position, the Mexican finished 15th.
It'll be very close between Force India and Toro Rosso in Abu Dhabi, but for now the Silverstone-based squad move ahead.
They rise a spot to sixth.
5. Ferrari
6 of 10
No Change
Fernando Alonso out-qualified Kimi Raikkonen for the 16th time in 2014 to start eighth. His quickest time was just 0.047 seconds shy of fifth-placed Jenson Button, and 0.122 seconds faster than 10th-placed Raikkonen's best.
The Finn lost a place at the start and was held up for a few laps by Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber. Alonso gained a position, slipping ahead of Sebastian Vettel.
Running split strategies—Alonso on a three-stopper, Raikkonen on a two—the Ferraris spent little time close to each other for most of the race.
But with eight laps to go, battle was joined in the best all-red scrap of 2014.
Raikkonen had track position by virtue of making one fewer stop, but Alonso was on much fresher tyres. The Spaniard attacked but Raikkonen steadfastly refused to yield. The team didn't get involved.
For five laps they went at it, before Alonso finally got a run on his team-mate down the pit straight and they crossed the line just one hundredth of a second apart.
He went on to finish sixth, with Raikkonen seventh. Neither were within a minute of the race winner.
Ferrari remain fifth.
4. McLaren
7 of 10
No Change
Jenson Button qualified fifth, but the gap to the cars ahead was significant. Valtteri Bottas in fourth was six-10ths quicker. Kevin Magnussen, whose best time was 39 thousandths of a second slower than Button's, started seventh.
The gap was bigger in the race.
Magnussen rose to sixth at the start but quickly fell away from his more experienced team-mate. While Button could put some pressure on the two Williams drivers, Magnussen fell back from his second stop onward.
Tyre management appeared to be the key. They lapped at similar times immediately after making a pit stop, but the British veteran was much quicker at the end of each stint.
Button brushed off the attentions of Sebastian Vettel to claim fourth, while Magnussen finished ninth—22 seconds adrift of his team-mate.
McLaren remain fourth.
3. Red Bull
8 of 10
Down One
Sebastian Vettel led the way in qualifying for Red Bull, but he could only manage sixth. Daniel Ricciardo was down in ninth.
The Australian's race was ended by a suspension failure just after half-race distance, but Vettel, who looked a little quicker than his team-mate, ploughed on.
A good strategy call at his second stop had moved him up to fifth, and that's where he remained for most of the grand prix. He had to pass Kimi Raikkonen late on, but he had little trouble doing so and followed fourth-placed Jenson Button home.
Red Bull suffered at the high-altitude Interlagos, their Renault engine incapable of matching the Mercedes teams in the thinner air.
It'll be close with Williams in Abu Dhabi.
Red Bull drop a spot to third.
2. Williams
9 of 10
Up One
Williams set out their stall in impressive fashion in qualifying. Felipe Massa put in the third-quickest time, just 0.224 seconds shy of pole. Valtteri Bottas was half a 10th slower, and he started fourth.
They got away well and, though the two Mercedes ahead were too quick, they looked set for a straightforward run to third and fourth.
Then things began to go wrong. Massa received a five-second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pit lane at his first stop. In part due to this penalty, his second stop's pit entry-to-exit time was nearly eight seconds slower than his best.
Bottas looked set to take advantage, but a seat-belt issue at his own second stop dropped him way down the field. Struggling with tyre wear, the Finn could only manage 10th.
Massa, the quicker Williams all weekend, had more than enough pace to stay third. Never challenged by the cars behind, he secured an emotional home podium.
Williams are up one place to second.
1. Mercedes
10 of 10
No Change
Another race, another Mercedes one-two.
Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton started on the front row and never really looked threatened.
Their pace was especially impressive toward the end of stints, demonstrating the W05's superior tyre management.
At the end, they were a massive 40 seconds clear of Felipe Massa's third-placed Williams. Had both been as quick as Lewis Hamilton seemed to be, it could easily have been a minute.
Mercedes remain first.
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