Abu Dhabi: post-race analysis
The bet came off,
huzzah! Even if Rosberg hadn’t suffered ERS woe, it would’ve, so
a rare case of just being completely right. That said, shortish odds,
but still a good way to end the season. I’ll do a proper season
review in a little while.
In title terms, I
would’ve been better off if Rosberg had won the title, but I’d
hedged on Hamilton so I was still green.
The race was
entertaining, though as a title decider it left a lot to be desired.
Off the line, Bottas
yet again left the handbrake on (he needs to sort that out) and
Rosberg had a slow start, losing first immediately and almost getting
passed by Massa. Magnussen also had a very poor first lap.
Hamilton quickly
accelerated away and got outside DRS range. From there it looked like
it might be a strategic game, but fate intervened. Rosberg lost ERS,
which is worth about 160bhp. He also had some other issues, it seems,
and fell all the way from second to a final result of 14th.
It’s worth noting that when something similar happened in Canada
(where he achieved an amazing 2nd) he was partly able to
drive around the problem because the long straight is preceded by a
twisty bit and, excepting the Red Bull of Ricciardo, he was able to
pull a gap during the downforce (rather than power) section. In Abu
Dhabi, there are too many straights to do that, hence why he just
fell through the order.
For Hamilton, it was a
stroll to victory.
After Bottas lost half
a dozen places or so on the line he set about making amends,
overtaking left right and centre, aided by the immense power of the
Mercedes engine. He ended up on the podium, but behind Massa, who had
another strong race. At the end of the season, the Brazilian was
looking the better driver, partly due to Bottas’ atrocious starts.
A fantastic day for Williams, who sealed their third place in the
Constructors’.
Exiting the pits at the
start, having altered the demoted cars to enable easier overtaking,
Ricciardo was right ahead of Vettel. But at the end the Aussie was
4th and his team mate 8th. Both passed several
backmarkers with relative ease, but some way into the race there was
Magnussen. Ricciardo got past him and Vettel didn’t, and that
ultimately made the difference. Ricciardo got clearer air after pit
stops and could exploit the pace of his car, whereas Vettel was in
traffic.
Button was a bit
anonymous, in that he just kept his head down and got on with the
job. Whereas his team mate failed to score (11th), the
Briton managed a very solid 5th. It was the difference
between McLaren staying ahead of Force India or being passed in the
Constructors’. If Button had failed to score, the Force Indias
would’ve accrued sufficient points to claim fifth. Will he be there
next year? I’d guess not, alas.
The Force Indias, after
another weak qualifying, had another good race, ending up 6th
and 7th (good for Hulkenberg being ahead after he got a 5s
stop-and-go penalty).
Alonso and Raikkonen
were 9th and 10th, which somewhat sums up
Ferrari’s season, and why the Spaniard is leaving the prancing
horse. There’s also a rumour that Marco Mattiacci, the team
principal with whom Alonso does not seem to have got along, will also
be leaving. It’s near certain Alonso will return to McLaren.
There was a fair amount
of passing in the race, largely from Bottas and Ricciardo, but the
absence of drama at the sharp end meant that the title always looked
like Hamilton’s.
In the end, double
points made no real difference.
After the race,
Williams celebrated third in the Constructors’. They were ninth
last year, with 5 points. This year they had 320. That is the biggest
turn around since Brawn bought his own team and delivered both titles
in 2009. Claire Williams suggested that the aim in 2015 was to win
races (possible) and the title (not impossible but altogether
trickier). Glad to see Williams doing so well again.
For Ferrari, they’ve
lost perhaps the best driver on the grid and haven’t made a good
car since 2012 (when it was only a perfect season from Alonso which
put him in contention for the title) or 2010. They need to sort
themselves out.
McLaren is in a similar
situation. Magnussen has more years ahead of him, but over the course
of the season Button has clearly been the better driver. It’ll be
interesting to see who they go for to team up with Alonso. How the
Honda engine performs will be critical.
Force India must be
thinking of what might have been. Their form slumped around
mid-season due to going down an aerodynamic cul-de-sac, effectively
losing them time whilst their rivals developed working upgrades.
Fifth was there for the taking but development errors cost them.
However, they’ve got two good drivers in Hulkenberg and Perez, and
retaining their driver pairing for the first time in several years
should help them hit the ground running next year. They also retain
the formidable Mercedes engine.
Toro Rosso did alright.
Kvyat’s good but it’s worth remembering Vergne scored more points
(22 against 8).
Lotus must improve.
It’s been an awful season after last year (the opposite of
Williams). Grosjean’s a very fast driver, but the car matters more
than the driver.
Sauber had their worst
season in history, failing to secure a single point. The car is an
absolute dog, and I hope they can recover for next year. It’s not
so long ago that Perez and Kobayashi got four podiums in a season for
the team.
And who knows what will
happen at the end of the grid? We might lose both Marussia and
Caterham, just one, or neither. I hope they can come back.
Red Bull are in an
interesting situation. Ricciardo’s fantastic, and next year will be
the final Adrian Newey designed car in F1. The Aussie may have a
title chance in 2015. I’m not sure I would’ve promoted Kvyat
quite so rapidly, to be honest.
Mercedes will, I feel,
remain the best team next year. Their drivers are great and will not
lack motivation, their car is the best overall by a mile, and they
aren’t short of cash. However, their one weakness might be that
they’ve established fair racing between their drivers. If Red Bull,
McLaren or Williams line up behind one driver (unlikely at Williams,
could happen de facto at McLaren, and entirely possible at Red Bull)
that could pose a threat. Mercedes also needs to sort its reliability
out. The car was so dominant this year it didn’t matter, but that
won’t always be the case.
Nice to end the season
with a winning tip. I’ll do a season review in the coming days.
Morris Dancer
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