Double points finale now likely to decide title

2014 Russian Grand Prix stats and facts

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Lewis Hamilton joined Nigel Mansell as the sixth most successful Formula One driver in terms of race wins by taking the 31st victory of his career at Sochi.

One more victory will make Hamilton the most successful British driver of all time in terms of race victories.

If Hamilton shared Sebastian Vettel’s fondness for setting fastest laps, he might have achieved his second ‘grand slam’. He led every lap of the race – for the fifth time in his career – and set pole position, but was beaten to fastest lap.

That went to Valtteri Bottas, for the first time in his F1 career. That means two-thirds of the 21 drivers who raced on Sunday have set fastest lap at least once – the ones who haven’t being Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Pastor Maldonado, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniil Kvyat, Marcus Ericsson and Max Chilton.

Sunday’s race ensured that Hamilton will win more races than anyone else this year. But despite taking his ninth win to team mate Nico Rosberg’s four, it wasn’t until the 39th lap of the race that Hamilton surpassed Rosberg in terms of laps led this season.

Double points to influence title battle

Hamilton’s fourth consecutive victory equalled his personal best streak, set earlier this year. If Mercedes continue to finish first and second in the remaining three races, Rosberg now has to win all of them to beat his team mate to the championship.

Hamilton is 17 points ahead of Rosberg and therefore cannot win the championship at the next race. If his lead over Rosberg after that race is less than 25 points, then the championship cannot be decided until the double points finale in Abu Dhabi. Unless Mercedes unreliability strikes Rosberg again, that is unlikely to happen.

With Ricciardo now 92 points behind Hamilton and with a maximum of 100 available over the final three races, it is highly likely the next round of the championship will ensure the drivers’ title is won by one of the Mercedes pair.

Work out how the drivers’ championship could be decided using F1 Fanatic’s Points Calculator:

A new round of the championship

Russia became the 31st country to host the world championship, and Sochi Autodrom is the 71st different venue to have held a round. Home driver Daniil Kvyat was therefore especially delighted to achieve his best-ever starting position of fifth. This was also the highest starting position for a Russian driver – Vitaly Petrov never qualified higher than sixth.

Although this was Kvyat’s home race, Russia is a vast country and his home city of Ufa in Bashkortostan is 1,500km from Sochi. To put that into perspective, eight of the circuits on the 2014 F1 calendar lie within 1,500km of Vettel’s home town of Heppenheim: Silverstone, Circuit de Catalunya, Hungaroring, Spa-Francorchamps, Monte-Carlo, the Red Bull Ring, Monza and the Hockenheimring.

Jenson Button and Kevin Magnussen scored McLaren’s best result since their two-three finish at the season-opener. That moved them ahead of Force India in the championship.

Maldonado broke new ground in a minor way by becoming the first driver to carry over part of his grid penalty from one race to the next. Under the new power unit penalties introduced this year if a driver receives a grid penalty but cannot serve all of it at one race it carries over to the next, but no further.

In Maldonado’s case he only qualified 20th and so the grid penalty had little effect. Chilton was then given a gearbox change penalty, making Maldonado’s completely inconsequential, until he too changed gearboxes, which finally moved him to the back of the grid. Complications such as this are likely to continue as engine and gearbox life is strained over the final races.

Mercedes win constructors’ championship

Mercedes wrapped up the constructors’ title in style. Hamilton and Rosberg occupied the front row of the grid for the ninth time this year and the fifth race in a row.

In the race they claimed their ninth one-two finish this year. One more will equal the all-time record of ten, set by McLaren in a 16-race season in 1988 (this year there are 19 rounds),

Mercedes are the 15th different team to win the constructors’ championship. The title was introduced in 1958, so although Mercedes were the dominant force in F1 in 1954 and 1955, there was no teams’ title for them to win.

Among the previous winners of the championship is the previous incarnation of the Brackley-based team, Brawn GP. As are the 1971 constructors’ champions Tyrrell, whose F1 entry was purchased by Craig Pollock in 1998 to form the British American Racing team, which eventually became Mercedes by way of Honda and Brawn.

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Review the year so far in statistics here:

Spotted any other interesting stats and facts from the Russian Grand Prix? Share them in the comments.

2014 Russian Grand Prix

Browse all 2014 Russian Grand Prix articles

Images © Daimler/Hoch Zwei, Force India

Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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147 comments on “Double points finale now likely to decide title”

  1. I will post a picture of me in a tutu if Rosberg manages to win another race on genuine pace.

    1. @xtwl I’ll make sure you remember that…

    2. Unless you are a female ballerina, please don’t. Lol

      1. In todays society, you could have a female ballerina named greg… Careful what you wish for ;)

    3. ColdFly F1 (@)
      13th October 2014, 16:21

      @xtwl, look forward to that ;-)
      Just to make it less ambiguous (genuine pace), can we say Rosberg wins a Mercedes 1-2?
      (or we should ask Keith to include in the poll if Ham was on ‘genuine pace’)

      1. @coldfly Sure. Why not? ANY Mercedes 1-2 lead by Rosberg.

        1. It’s not entirely the same thing though. Rosberg was by no means faster than Lewis in Monaco, but his “spin” did help him get the win anyway.

    4. I want two pictures if it happens at Abu Double.

    5. Can I have a picture either way ?

      What! — i like Tutu’s

  2. Well, as long as Lewis and Nico are within 6 points of each other going into the final round and they get a 1-2 finish, double points won’t play a role in the outcome of the championship.

    That’s what i’m hoping for, anyway.

    1. @stigsemperfi ???

      If they’re within 6 points of each other, surely it *will* play a role, since the difference between first and second in Abu Dhabi will be 14 points.

      1. @optimaximal, yes but normally the gap between first and second is 7 points so it would make no difference to the outcome.

        1. @stigsemperfi I did realise the context of your comment as I was reading through the thread. You mean ‘you won’t accept the championship result’ unless it’s decided by less than what would be a normal result, yes? :)

          Some people still think that of the 2008 title…

          1. @optimaximal, if not that, than whoever is leading the championship going into the final round stays there at the end.

  3. That red piece of the pie chart is only going to get smaller over the years.

    1. Remember a friend making an similar comment in the early 90s. I agreed with him. We were both wrong. Never underestimate them.

      1. Not being around in the early 90s, was it really a similar situation to this? That would be very interesting if it was, I knew they went through a bad spell, but know none of the context behind it. Was it something to do with a regulation change á la 2014 that led to the slump?

        1. Jody Scheckter was the last driver to win the driver’s championship for Ferrari in 1979 before Michael Schumacher won the championship for Ferrari in 2000. So that was a much longer time without winning. However, they came close to winning a few times though, Alboreto was second in 1985 and Prost came close to winning in 1990. 1982 saw Villeneuve/Pironi with a very competitive car that might’ve won the championship if they didn’t have their accidents in which Villeneuve died and Pironi shattered his legs thus ending his career. And then there’s Schumacher who tested Ferrari’s 1995 V12-powered car when he was signed by them and his initial surprise at them not having won the championship with a car he deemed so fast. So yes, their previous spell was much longer, but they did build very competitive cars during that time.

  4. Bernie will catch so much heat if Rosberg wins it through double points.

    Surely next year’s tv figures would drop even more.

    1. Have you seen a picture of Bernie lately? or read any articles involving his “legal issues” ?

      Bernie has skin of Asbestos ,

      He doesnt get burned … :)

      @lockup

      1. @greg-c Lol well that’s true. Still, if it makes viewing figures FALL then Bernie will look a bit foolish.

        No fool like an old fool, as the saying goes. And a lot of people must be watching for when he gets too old at long, long last.

  5. It’s just so stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid! (double points that is)

    I will be furious if double points decide the championship.

    1. My real problem is that Hamilton could win the next two races, DNF at Abu-Dhouble, and we’d have a so-called championship where the guy who won 11 races was beaten by the guy who won 5.

      1. Nico’s father was WDC in 1982 with only 1 win, doesn’t make hem less of a champion ;)

  6. I was thinking about this today, if Nico goes into the last round 7-13 points down and wins Abu Dhabi the title is his under double points, but not without! I really want Nico to win, but not under double points!!

    1. Rosberg going into Abu Dhabi 31 points behind (Merc 1-2 with Ham winning in USA and BRA) and Hamilton has a DNF in Abu Dhabi.

    2. Something like this would be what you want.
      USA: Rosberg wins, Hamilton DNF. Ros leads by 8.
      BRA: Hamilton wins, Rosberg 2nd. Ros leads by 1.
      ABD: Rosberg wins, takes title regardless what Hamilton does.

      1. @bleu

        Winning due to unreliability will cheapen a title just as much as winning it by the double points farce. Not sure that is what @ayrtonfan12 would want either.

        1. @hyakuyagami Winning due to unreliability is just ‘one of those things’.

          Case in point – Lauda losing to Prost in ’85, Senna losing to Prost in ’89. Wait, I sense a pattern!

        2. @hyakuyagami
          Correct- I don’t want to see one win by the other going out, we want the WDC to have earned it fair and share in a fought battle until the end!!!

      2. What’s the point in that simulation? Might as well put: Rosberg wins, Hamlton DNF; Rosberg wins, Hamilton DNF; Rosberg wins, Hamilton DNF; Rosberg wins championship, hooray!
        What concerns me is the opposite: Hamilton wins the next two races with Rosberg second, which on form would seem very possible, then he gets a DNF in Abu Dhabi and despite losing out 11-4 or 11-5 in race wins, Rosberg still becomes champion finishing first or second. On what basis would that be remotely deserving?

        1. Keke Rosberg only won a single race during his championship year, yet ended up with more points than everyone else through consistent performances.

          At the end of the day, whichever driver has the most points, wins. The number of times on the top step of the podium is effectively irrelevant. It’s a shame that commercial interference has messed about with the final glut of points.

          Speaking of ‘commercial interference’, if Bernie’s ‘medal’ idea had been instated, wouldn’t all the championships since 2011 have been whitewashes?

      3. no chance lewis does not win austin.Austin is a hat trick for lewis.HOWEVER:ABU DHABI is a CERTAIN DNF for lewis or rather DidNotStart DNS even 100%.Brasil is not a good one for lewis historically.

        1. Imagine, Lewis finds Vettel’s 2013 power..
          USA: Ham wins, Ros DNF = +42
          BRA: Ham wins, Ros 3rd (let’s think someone from RBR or Williams is very lucky that day, for example home podium for Massa) = +52
          ABD: who needs watching this Tilkedrome if everything is decided?

          1. i would love that…

        2. What terrible logic leads you to say it will be a DNS in the final race?

          This is a driver who, at the halfway point of the season, had a car catch fire & burn in qualifying. He finished 3rd in the race.

        3. Abu-Dhabi is a bit of a gremlin for Hamilton, but he’s won there already, and was leading when his brakes failed in 2010… and when he ran out of gas in 2012. Don’t know if he could have beaten Vettel without Vettel’s tire exploding in 2011, though.

          So yeah– Hamilton’s really fast at Abu Dhabi, right until his car explodes. His best chance is to pull a Senna, and ram Rosberg off the line. :)

    3. The rules are the same for everyone,

      If someone wins the WDC because of the points system, so be it!!

      hopefully if the systems broke, it may get fixed, but if the dbl points rule doesn’t get involved this year, it may just get held onto for next !

      what about all the teams below Merc.

      busting for a chance to move up the WCC ladder with these available points,

  7. I have a question about the grid penalties. Vettel has already said he needs to use a 6th component for his PU and is going to skip qualifying and start in the pitlane in Austin as a result. Does this mean his grid penalty will carry over to Brazil? Seems fairly pointless to me.

    1. @iamjamm I’ve been checking in on the comments all day, sadly no one answered you. I’d like to know this as well because I think you are absolutely right. If Vettel doesn’t take part in qualifying, he qualified last and can’t drop down the grid. So the penalty should carry over.

      Starting from the pitlane and not receiving a penalty would be like gifting him 12th place in qualifying without him even driving.

    2. @iamjamm, @dh1996

      My understanding is that the grid place penalties are applied (and can be carried forward) for changing individual components. If a complete power unit is used then the penalty is that the driver must start from the pit-lane. Presumably they are therefore going to use a full set of extra power unit components and take the pit-lane start, therefore it doesn’t matter where he qualifies and there is no penalty to carry over.

      1. Now if only the teams could co-operate, they could all decide to fit a new PU and create the impossible scenario of 20+ cars starting from the pit-lane, forcing the FIA to rethink (Never!) or have another Indy like farce laid at there doorstep.

        1. Funny. +100.

    3. My understanding is that starting from the pit-lane is considered the equivalent of a 10 place penalty, even if you qualified 22nd.

      1. no because as soon as you join the track it is a lot easier to catch everyone up when they are bunched up and fighting for the first 2 laps.

  8. I think Rosberg now knows that he just cant ‘win’ the championship this season. If he does win the final race and take the championship because of double points, I think most people would regard Ham as champion even if the math said different.

    1. I think most *BRITISH* people would regard Ham as champion even if the math said different.

      Fixed that for ya!

      1. The one with the most points will be champion in my eyes. That does not mean that the champion has been the best driver over the course of the season. Daniel Ricciardo has been the best driver thus far, Hamilton has not been at his best, despite his own comments. Yes, I am British.

      2. I’m British, and firmly rooting for Rosberg.

        1. I’m not british and Lewis is the BeST!!!

          1. Im not British but like Lewis and chips, :)

        2. @ladym, don’t say that on the Sky Sports F1 page! You can’t say anything nice about Rosberg there!

        3. @ladym, Irish fifth columnist.

      3. If any driver wins due to the double points factor it will be a travesty. It would place a huge asterisk on the 2014 WDC. Even if the WDC winner would officially be champion due to most points, it would be a constant question mark following them everywhere.

        Fixed it for you, took names and nationalities out of the equation.

        Oh, and I am not British or a supporter of either driver most likely to win the 2014 WDC.

    2. It will depend if he is 6 points or less behind then if he wins its on his own merit. If he wins the next two he is 3 points behind, assuming Lewis is 2nd at both. So it would take a bad race or car failure for Lewis for this to happen really, and based on the purple patch Lewis is going through I think it would have to be the latter to be honest- Nico has lost his mojo after Spa!!

      That’s not to say it cant fix this at all, but he is running out of time real fast!!

      1. If Lewis wins at least one more race, and finishes at least second in the other two , the championship is his. If he wins two more races, he needs to finish at least 5th in Abu-Dhabi.

        Note that he’s never won Brazil– or even finished higher than 4th. I think it’s also about the only long-term race on the calendar he hasn’t won.

    3. If Rosberg wins on Double points he will be Champion and when people look back in the record book it will read Rosberg. How it came to be will soon be forgotten – just as other more “deserving” drivers have been forgotten through the years.

      1. >> How it came to be will soon be forgotten – just as other more “deserving” drivers have been forgotten through the years.

        +1 – Having been raised in a Prost-fanatic household, I used to get so angry about the fact that Senna won the 1988 championship despite scoring 11 fewer points than Prost because of the ‘drop 3 worst results’ system… but the record books show that Senna has 3 WDCs and Prost has 4, and no one disputes this now. It is difficult to establish exactly what constitutes the ‘best’ or ‘fairest’ points system (e.g. whether the current 25-18-15 etc system is better than the previous 10-8-6 etc system), but it seems obvious (to me, at least) that all races should count equally towards the world championship.

        I hate the concept of Abu Dhabi’s double points as much as the next person, but ultimately this is the way the championship works this year (and, hopefully, never EVER again). So to suggest that it ‘won’t count’ if Rosberg wins it at Abu Dhabi is ridiculous. Unfortunately, the points system is what it is, and we’ve all been aware of it for the entire season thus far, so we just have to live with that.
        I agree with @ayrtonfan12 in that I want Rosberg to win, but for double points not to be a factor; sadly this looks highly unlikely to happen now.

        1. @ladym At the end of the day, people also think Prost is unworthy of both his ’85 and ’89 trophies for various reasons, including his reliability vs. Lauda in the former and the shenanigans of ’89.

          1. @optimaximal True, and there are people who think Vettel is ‘unworthy’ of all his titles because of RBR’s superior performance, and some even argue that Lewis doesn’t deserve his 2008 title because the result of Singapore 2008 shouldn’t really count as it was fixed… there are all sorts of reasons why people will dispute the outcomes of championships. But creating a deliberately weighted points system in an attempt to artificially ‘spice up’ a championship battle is completely unnecessary and avoidable, and there is really no excuse for it to happen.

          2. @ladym But there’s plenty of precedence in other championships. I honestly believe that most of the ‘ill feeling’ comes from the fact that Bernie let Abu Dhabi buy the event to offset the dull race their track often delivers.

            After all, were Interlagos to offer a double points finale, I don’t think we’d have half the ruckus because it’s a good track that often gives good races and everyone loves it.

        2. @ladym

          I am obviously from the Senna-Fanatic household but totally agree with you on the old system being wrong in the 80’s. I think at one stage it was based on best 11 results or something!

          As mentioned Keke in 1982 proved being consistent worked. I think Alan Jones didn’t win too many in 1980 did he (without doing a quick Google cheat :)

          Let the boys race, all races are equal and he who has the most points at the end gets a nice trophy (its not that hard is it) :)

        3. the current point system is a little too geared towards consistency though i think.

          If you regularly finish 2nd or 3rd you don’t need to win many races to be up there.

          I started watching F1 in the 90s with the top 6 scoring 10-6-4-3-2-1 points respectively and most seasons were i would say won by the driver who won the most races (you could argue 98 Schumacher won less races but drove better than Hakkinen, that year Hakkinen won 8, Schumacher 6) But then 2nd place was only worth 60% of the points that 1st place. today that number is 72% of it. So Rosberg’s season just sums up this point perfectly. He has won 4 races but apart from Hungary where he finished 4th he has finished either 1st or 2nd in every race he completed and retired twice. The current system rewards consistency very well. If you have the best car in the field like Nico this year, you can be in the situation we are in now where he has only arguably out raced Lewis in 1 GP (Monaco, Austria was hamiltons own fault) in a straight fight.

          It is a hard situation i guess for the FIA because you want the lower places of the top 10 to be worth fighting for but then at the moment i think there is 2 much weight towards the consistency side of things.

  9. Hamilton could win the next 2 races then retire in Abu Dhabi, with Rosberg finishing 2nd in all three races. So it could be that Rosberg wins the championship with 4 wins to Hamilton’s 11 wins.

    1. Would that be 10 wins for Lewis- I thought yesterday was #8 (???)

      1. Yesterday was #9

    2. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      13th October 2014, 13:47

      Well the double points are not the only reason, it also has to do with Hamilton having more retirements and Rosberg a lot of 2nd places.

      In the old point system Hamilton would ONLY have been 1 point ahead of Rosberg, if Rosberg won 2 races and Hamilton the last (ignoring double points), Rosberg would be Champion despite Hamilton having 10 wins and Rosberg only 6. With nobody (outside UK) complaining about it.

      Luckily today’s point system rewards winning better than the previous.
      FYI I am 100% against double points just want to put it “double points decide championship” in perspective.

      1. Stop saying that “nobody otside the UK”…Hamilton is loved worldwide

        1. You got that right! I am not from UK nor Europe but a massive fan of Lewis.

        2. That’s weird, I’m English, and I’ve always kind of assumed Hamilton was not really supported outside of our shores, not saying anything against any one who supports Lewis (I support Lewis), but the way people from other countries speak of him is not always the most encouraging.

          1. We love him (generally speaking) here in Barbados and the rest of the Caribbean.

          2. @williamstuart I am in the US and almost everyone I know who watches or pays attention to F1 here is a HAM fan for some reason. I’m not sure why, but it is what it is.

          3. @williamstuart @beejis60 Listen to Will Buxton on the latest 5Live F1 podcast – Hamilton is basically the biggest F1 driver in the US (and other places) since Schumacher, largely thanks to his management positioning him well commercially. Mercedes are also using their drivers in their promotional material, further increasing both of their US-cred.

          4. We only speak about Hamilton like that because he’s a bit of a dill. It’s nothing personal, we still think he’s a very good driver.

          5. Im from brazil and on a recent poll regarding the most popular driver for brazilian people, hamilton got 40% of the votes. Felipe was 2nd with less than a half of that.

  10. With his current advantage of 17 points over Rosberg, Hamilton can now finish 2nd to his team-mate in Abu Dhabi and still win the title.

    Really hope this fake double-points show-rule doesn’t affect the title, nor the retirements…

    1. @jeff1s You’re ignoring the next two races… If ROS wins the next two then HAM will have to beat ROS on track, regardless of placing.

  11. If Hamilton were to win the next 2 races and Rosberg finish 2nd, then he would lead the Championship by 31 points going into Abu Dhabi, and have 11 wins to Rosberg’s 4.

    If Hamilton were to then have a retirement in Abu Dhabi, Rosberg could win the title by finishing at least 2nd and by winning less than half the races that his team-mate has won. I think that most neutrals would find this appalling, and therefore hope that reliability doesn’t strike either driver again this season.

    Also, for the championship to be won before Abu Dhabi, Rosberg would need to retire in one of Austin or Brazil, and finish 3rd in the other. Unlikely.

    1. Jelle van der Meer (@)
      13th October 2014, 13:56

      I would say double points are not the only thing at fault, as your example easily got happen without the double points.

      To make it more extreme, Rosberg could be champion by only finishing 2nd and never winning a race despite Hamilton winning 13 races.
      Hamilton 13 wins = 325 points add 6 retirements and Hamilton has 325 points.
      Rosberg 19x 2nd = 342 points and Rosberg would be champion

      With the previous point system and smaller gap between 1st and 2nd it was even worse
      Hamilton 15 wins = 150 points add 4 retirements and Hamilton has 150 points.
      Rosberg 19x 2nd = 152 points and Rosberg would be champion

      Weirdly enough Bernie’s medal suggestion does not look that bad now for the British fan while a few years ago it was absolutely trashed on this forum.

    2. Keke Rosberg won the title in 1982 with 4 drivers all claiming more victories than him.

      1. Get ready for a repeat of that.and i am not a fan of rosberg,but he is a very good driver nonetheless.very good.i believe people do not give rosberg the credit and respect he deserves.

        1. 100% agree rosberg is a excellent driver and he don’t get the real respect for that
          and a good sportsman i like hamilton but i think he talk too much bs this year

      2. Apples and oranges. In Keke’s case he was the most consistently good among the 5 you name. Today, The son is only facing one man, and that man has comprehensively out performed him. Of course it’s not over. If he leads Hamilton home three times, then a win on the weight of points with a 2 win deficit is fair enough. He would have earned respect, as well as the title.

      3. @tonyyeb And the world and his dog know Keke didn’t deserve that title, hence why his name is almost never brought up. Heck, if Nico wasn’t in F1 I doubt we’d have even heard Keke’s name in the last 5-10yrs

  12. So Hamilton is now the only driver who can win the title before the Abu double. It would need him to win the next two races with a DNF and a 3rd or lower finish from Rosberg. ( if my maths is correct.)

    1. Yep that’s correct, Rosberg can’t mathematically win the title before Abu Dhabi.

      Also interesting, is that if Hamilton and Rosberg both win a race each before Abu Dhabi, and both finish 2nd in the other, then Rosberg would need Hamilton to finish 3rd or retire in Abu Dhabi.

      The odds are stacked in Hamilton’s favour, however if he retires in Abu Dhabi then the title is all but guaranteed to go to Rosberg given the Merc pace advantage.

      1. Sorry for the double post, but I believe the only realistic scenarios that would null the double points effect of Abu Dhabi would be for Rosberg to win both Austin and Interlagos (with Hamilton second). Hamilton would lead Rosberg by 3 points, and a 1-2 finish (Winner takes the Championship) in Abu Dhabi would bring the same result regardless of Double points.

        Similarly, if Hamilton retires once before Abu Dhabi, but wins the other race, he’ll trail Rosberg by 1 point, and again it would be winner takes all regardless of double points.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          13th October 2014, 16:38

          @sparkyamg, or we can hope for Abu Double to be less than 75% race distance. Half (double) points!

          Just get Piquet back – he can make it happen.

        2. I was thinking that we’d encounter this type of situation, where regardless of double points the winner of Abu Dhabi will be the champion. It would be further proof that this double points stuff is nonsense (as if we needed more).

  13. Budapest in Hungary is closer to Sochi than Kvyat’s hometown is. Of course the new home of the “European” Grand Prix in Azerbaijan is significantly closer than either of them. Didn’t realise just how close the circuit was to Georgia!

    1. Ricciardo’s home race is 2700km from his hometown. That is the record of current drivers.

  14. This is why I wanted Rosberg not to score yesterday. While I do want Hamilton to win the WDC, I don’t want to take the heat out the competition, however I’d love to crap on Bernie’s chips by having it all sewn up before Abu Double.

  15. Hey lets have a medal system, the most golds will win the title ;-)

    1. It should be like that, more emphasis should be placed on the driver with the most wins rather than points, as this would encourage far more fighting. We would also see no more of drivers giving up fighting against a rival to improve reliability or not get involved in a potentially bad scrap, like we saw in Monza. Then again you could say that part of being a ‘complete’ racing driver is being consistent and fast…

      1. Th problem with a medal/wins system is that in most cases the championship will be wrapped up early?

        Under that system this year I think Hamilton would have clinched the title at Monza.

    2. Isn’t that what bernie proposed a few years ago?

  16. “Unless Mercedes unreliability strikes Rosberg again, that is unlikely to happen.”

    @ Keithcollantine, Ha! Editors curse :)

  17. It was the first time since the 1994 Canadian Grand Prix that a team took part with just one car throughout the weekend. We miss you Jules. It was the first time that Max Chilton retired due to a mechanical problem.

    Lewis Hamilton needs one more win to become the outright most successful British Formula One driver of all time in terms of wins and for most wins by a British driver in a season. He already holds the record for most pole positions and podium finishes for a British driver. He needs 12 fastest laps and three more World Titles to surpass the records in those areas. Perhaps the toughest British record for Hamilton is Jim Clark’s record for most Grand Chelems, which stands at 8, whilst Hamilton has just one. Prior to this season, Hamilton had never won more than two races in a row, now he has won four in a row twice.

    It was Daniel Ricciardo’s worst race result since the Austrian Grand Prix, and Sebastian Vettel’s worst race finish of the season. It was Kevin Magnussen’s best result since the Australian Grand Prix and Jenson Button’s best result since the British Grand Prix.

    Mercedes clinching the Constructors’ Championship with three races to go is the same as Red Bull last year and in 2011, although without double points it would have been wrapped up earlier.

    The Enstone team have now had their longest pointless run since they were known as Benetton – 10 races. To add to that, Grosjean and Maldonado had their worst finishes of the season in 17th and 18th respectively.

    It’s the fifth time in which Felipe Massa has been classified in a race outside of the points. Bottas has had this just once.

    Sergio Perez has now scored in each of the last five races, whilst Nico Hulkenberg has scored in just three out of the last five. It is the Mexican’s equal longest streak, split between last season and this season.

    1. It turns out Nico Rosberg set a record too during the race regarding Pirelli tyres…

      https://www.racefans.net/groups/f1/forum/topic/help-3/#post-278689

    2. I don’t think fastest laps proves your the most successful driver. Not too many drivers care about that statistic. Wins and Championships are what matters.

      1. @craig-o Funny you say that because a fastest lap is all what he didn’t get in Sochi to make it a Grand slam which for me really proves how dominant a driver can be over a weekend.

        1. petebaldwin (@)
          13th October 2014, 15:37

          @xtwl – a grand slam means nothing. Towards the end of a race when you’re out in front, why risk it? Why put extra stress through components that have to do another race? Why risk going off when you have it wrapped up?

          What about drivers who pit near the end for new tyres. They are bound to go quicker so does that make them dominant?

          In my eyes, going for a FLAP at the end when you are leading is stupid driving. You get no points for it but are risking a lot of something that is meaningless.

          1. @petebaldwin For the sake of statistics? I spend a lot of time in online league racing and when I’m in the lower ends of the points or not at all I ususally pit for a fresh set of options, If I have it, to set that fastest lap. I’m really one who enjoys taking fastest laps, podiums wins for the sake of statistics.

            I understand it means nothing to you and from your completely rational point of view it doesn’t at all as the win was in the bag. I also didn’t ment to say the fastest lap shows dominance, but Hamilton needed it to complete his Grand Slam which does show dominance.

          2. @petebaldwin, I bet Seb V mentioned how many fastest laps he had achieved when he applied for his new job.

  18. Double points makes me hate F1

  19. I’m really hoping that it is announced that double points will be dropped for next year, purely out of selfishness.

    I have said from the beginning that I will not watch Abu Double in protest. I have since revised that with “unless they have already announced that they are dropping it next year”, as a protest makes no sense then*.

    As the championship is unlikely to be decided before then, I am going to end up missing out or going back on my principals. As I don’t want either of them, I’m hoping for that announcement.

    *The other reason, of course, being that it leaves me with a chance of being able to watch. It all seemed so easy at the beginning of the season. Actually sacrificing something for what you believe in is more difficult than saying you will… :(

    1. Its already dropped for next year

      1. When was that announced? I must have missed it.

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      13th October 2014, 16:47

      @drmouse, just watch it with 1 eye closed ;-)
      it’s the principle that counts!

    3. Really? You’re not going to watch the title decider at Abu Double? Wow. Be prepared to miss out on a lot even if it is double points.

  20. came to an end a sequence of 348 consecutive GP for car # 17, started at the Brazil GP 1995.
    The car # 6 is the only one to attend all GPs since Belgium 1982

    21 is the smallest number of cars on the grid since Monaco 2011

    1. @erivaldonin What about when Perez didn’t start in Malaysia this year (or Hulkenberg didn’t start in Australia last year)?

      1. well, both did not start, but claimed a place on the starting grid.
        therefore both grid had 22 cars

  21. I’m calling it now. Hamilton to lead Rosberg in a one-two in Austin. Then Hamilton to win Brazil, with Rosberg not finishing to take his lead to 49 points.
    Hamilton then retires from a 30 second lead in Abu Dhabi with engine problem, for Rosberg to cruise over the line to win by a point.

    Heard it here first!

  22. after 31 wins, hamilton is finally part of the constructors’ championship winning team. no other driver had taken so many wins without having contributed to a constructors’ championship.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      13th October 2014, 16:48

      good stat.

    2. he did win the constructor in 2007 with mclaren, only to be disqualified and ron denis to loose $100 million because of alonso fernando.IT WILL BE A HARD ONE TO FORGET for ron denis $100 million gone plus constructors championship taken away in 2007,would you rehire such a guy??I Know I would not.

    3. This means that Juan Manuel Fangio is again the driver with more victory (24) without having contributed to the constructors’ championship.
      considering since 1958 until now, the statistic goes to James Hunt who won 10 times

  23. If Hamilton won the next 2 races, and DNF the last, and Nico won…. it will be be a tragedy !!!

    1. not if nico DNF in Austin and brazil too then lewis wins.

  24. But again.mercedes is well capable of setting hamilton car a blaze again like hungary.

  25. First time poster here. But I check out the site daily.

    I think this double points thing is awful. It feels like to me that it makes the rest of the season a moot point.

    1. As a first time poster @clavius , it’s tradition to shout the boys a pint at the local. please nominate time and place, ;)

  26. As most people are pointing out, if double points ends up deciding the driver’s world championship, it will be a tragedy. What annoys me more is that if a Sauber finishes tenth in Abu Dhabi then they will leapfrog Marussia in the standings all for the fact that it is double points. This just shows how much of a farce the whole idea is that Jules Bianchi works hard in Monaco to earn his ninth place and secure 10th in the standings, just for it to be taken away because another team’s driver finishes a position lower but earns extra points.

    Although I don’t want double points to affect any result in the standings, part of me wants it too just so the FIA can see how ridiculous the whole idea is and remove it ASAP.

    1. @rob8k I agree completely, although if it does change the result, the FIA / Bernie will probably think that it worked successfully as it had an impact, and hence they would keep it. Plus it’s no secret that Bernie is not a big fan of Marussia for some reason.

    2. 10th place for Sauber in Abu Dhabi would only give them 2 points, the same as Marussia, however Marussia would still be ahead of Sauber because their best finishing position is ninth, one place higher than Sauber’s best

      1. @rob8k @retardedf1sh They also achieved it earlier in the season, which would give it precedence if it mattered.

    3. So everyone gets double points? All this time i thought just the WINNER of the race got double points. I guess this makes it slightly less unfair. Under my calculations HAM could have all the remaining races and 2nd in abu dahbi with ROS coming 2nd in all the remaining races but winning the last would make ROS the winner by 1 point. Now that would be majorly unfair for HAM.

    4. Will it really be such a tragedy ?

      Im not siding with dbl points,

      Im just wondering will it really be so bad ?

      I think the rule that Pirelli choose the compounds is worse ,

  27. “The ones who haven’t [set fastest lap] being Daniel Ricciardo, Kevin Magnussen, Pastor Maldonado, Jean-Eric Vergne, Daniil Kvyat, Marcus Ericsson and Max Chilton”

    What, Chilton hasn’t set a fastest lap?!! I am shocked.

    On a different note, why does the penalty carry over rule only apply for the engines? It would make a lot more sense for it to apply for every grid penalty surely.

    1. @strontium Strictly speaking it applies to all power unit components, not just the internal combustion engine, but we haven’t seen a grid penalty for a change of component other than an ICE yet. And yes, it is confusing to have some types of grid penalty that carry over and others which do not. Simplicity does not appear to be a goal of the F1 regulations.

  28. They MUST drop this ridiculous idea,whoever wins will not want to win The World Championship in this way,wish they’d get rid of it this year.

  29. Hamilton is guaranteed to end the season having finished ahead of Rosberg more than Rosberg finished ahead of him in races they both finish (and that’s despite Hamilton’s woes in Germany).

  30. I dont agree with a medal system but I do a agree that a bigger gap should be in the points per each position. Something like:

    Win: 25pts
    2nd: 9pts
    3rd: 8pts
    4th; 7pts
    …10th: 1pt

    1. I think the 7 points difference between 1st/2nd is about right to be honest.

      If you make the difference too big then your going to get drivers winning championships much easier with championships been decided much earlier, Especially if you have 1 team/driver dominating as we saw with Vettel in 2011/2013.

  31. It seems that the double points rule works just fine. All of us have our calculators on the table, speculating and guessing. It opens the door for any outcome and we will all watch the final race to see a champion getting its crown. At the end of the championship Bernie will get his tv ratings and he will be mighty happy about the decision he took. He already said that if he didnt believe in the idea he would of never put it to practice. All he cares is money and figures and he will have reached his target. Good night

    1. Every year Bernie does something that is the final straw for a number of otherwise commited fans, keeping some LH and NR fans watching the last race when they might not if the championship was decided will not result in higher fan numbers overall.

  32. Oh god please don’t let Double Points affect the championship. This rule can do no good – either the right driver wins the title anyway (in which case what was the point) or someone less deserving wins in a contrived and artificial way, to the detriment of the sport. Worst rule they’ve ever introduced.

  33. If the leading contender has a mechanical in Abu Dhabi I hope Mercedes do the Corinthian thing and retire the sister car.

    1. Buckley’s.

  34. Under the 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 system, Hamilton would be leading by 1 point. Bottas, Vettel, and Alonso would all be separated by just 1 point.

    First race since Germany that no German driver has led a lap.

    First time since Austria that the Red Bull that has started ahead has also finished ahead. First time this has happened in a race where both finished since Spain.

    And some more from magnetimarelli.com:

    19th different track on which Hamilton has managed pole – equals M Schumacher, 1 less than Vettel, 3 less than Prost’s record.

    9th front-row lockout for Mercedes this year – most since McLaren in 1998. First team to manage 5 consecutive front-row lockouts since Williams in 1996-97.

    Best qualifying for Button in a dry session since India 2012.

    McLaren’s longest pole drought since Canada 2001 to Canada 2003.

    Joint best qualifying for a Toro Rosso in a dry session (equals Britain 2013).

    4th time this year that Vettel has gone out in Q2 – as many as in 2009-2013 put together.

    26th podium for Mercedes this year – 1 more than McLaren in 1988.

    First time since USA 1982 that the official top 5 finishers all had the same engine make (although Gilles Villeneuve was DQ’d from 3rd in 1982).

    Vergne equals Buemi’s record for most starts for Toro Rosso (55).

    Worst overall result for Red Bull without accidents/mechanical problems since China 2008.

    10th race without points for Lotus – longest streak for the Enstone team since 1985 (when they were Toleman).

    1. Rosberg did lead in hungary, monza, suzuka, and i think spa as well. Vettel had also led in singapore.

    2. Oops – should have said ‘First race since China that no German driver has led a lap’.

  35. Alex McFarlane
    14th October 2014, 15:57

    Am a minor Hamilton fan and hoping that double points won’t make a difference to the championship.

    There is one stat that could soften the blow for Ham fans though if he gets beaten to the title – Rosberg had still led more laps of the season until around half way through Sochi, so despite not picking up the wins he’s been there or thereabouts. I still think Ham deserves it more because he’s had Ros in his back pocket for most of the season.

  36. Surely Bernie introduced this double points race just to be sure that the title was not decided until the last race, thinking people will not watch otherwise. It should be no surprise that this is still the likely outcome.

    Are there any stats on ticket sales and TV audiences in other seasons where the drivers’ championship has gone to the wire?

  37. I would to ser real formula1 race, no absurd regulations … double points, fuel limit and even more, limits on every 1/4 of the race.
    Some driver has to slow down because the fuel limits.
    This is not a proper race …
    Racing car is about speed up to te limit, drive up to the limit!!

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