The results of the 2014 British GP would see Williams Martini driver Valtteri Bottas finish in a fantastic second place. Having started from fourteenth it was such a great result for Valtteri and the Williams team. Team-mate Felipe Massa would not achieve such a result having being involved in a crash with Raikkonen seeing him retire in the pits. A second place for the Williams Martini team, what an achievement from the team!
British GP Race Review
On a dry day the
Williams Martini team would see their cars start from fourteenth and
fifteenth for the 2014 British Grand Prix. Valtteri Bottas would lead his
team-mate Felipe Massa in what was Felipe's 200th Grand Prix. The grid had
changed with Chilton getting a ten place grid penalty to start seventeenth
and Gutierrez received a five grid place penalty seeing him start
nineteenth. Maldonado had being excluded from qualifying due to a technical
infringement after qualifying. On pole was Rosberg from Vettel, Button,
Hulkenberg, Magnussen, Hamilton, Perez, Ricciardo, Kvyat, and Vergne tenth. Alonso and Raikkonen would start from sixteenth and eighteenth
having also struggled in qualifying like Williams. On the tyre front only
the Ferrari's would start on the hard tyre while the top ten were on used
medium tyres. Both Williams cars would start on new medium tyres.
The grid would move off on their parade lap and would return with Rosberg
taking his spot at the front. The grid would form up and the lights would
come on and go off and we would have Felipe fail to get away. At the front
it was Rosberg from Button but there would be a major accident with
Raikkonen that would see the race red flagged. Raikkonen had run wide and
would spin on the grass on the Wellington Straight and when he was coming
back his car would hit a kerb or ditch seeing him spin into the barrier.
Felipe was able to get away from the grid and was coming through the area
running behind a Caterham and would hit the debris from the Ferrari. Felipe
would suffer a punctured rear tyre in the accident. With the red flag Felipe
was able to get his car back to the grid.
Replays had
shown Felipe having to brake very hard to avoid the spinning Ferrari.
Thankfully Raikkonen was able to get out of the car and was taken away in
the medical vehicle. The Williams team would change Felipe's puncture rear
tyre but after a time the team would push his car back into the pit lane.
Another driver also to come into the pit was Chilton. Prior to the red flag
Valtteri had being running in ninth after a great start. Another driver to
run wide on the opening laps was Perez who would be down in nineteenth. As
Valtteri waited on the grid the Williams team would announce that Felipe's race was over. There was now a concern over the
guardrail where Raikkonen had hit as it was badly damaged. A repair team
would go to the scene as the teams were told that they would be restarting
under the Safety Car. Several drivers had changed their drivers with Alonso
moving to the medium.
Felipe would say his start was hampered by a clutch problem. He would add
that "It was a difficult weekend and let's move onto the next one". The
matter of Chilton coming into the pit lane under the red flag was under
investigation. Chilton would be given a drive through penalty for his
infringement. The repairs were finally made to the guard rail and it was
announced that the race would restart at 2:05PM. Vergne had also changed
from medium to hard tyres along with Ricciardo and Vettel. Finally the grid
would clear and the cars would move away behind the Safety Car. Rosberg
would back the field up but would jump away to be have a big lead as they
crossed the line. Valtteri would get past Kvyat for eighth while Hamilton
was attacking Magnussen for third. So we now had Rosberg leading from Button
and Hamilton. Valtteri would also get past Ricciardo to be seventh.
Hamilton would
get past Button with Rosberg leading by 4.0 seconds. Valtteri would also get
past Hulkenberg going into Stowe to be sixth and now running 1.3 seconds
behind Vettel. Alonso was now in tenth running behind Kvyat. DRS was now
enabled as Alonso passed Kvyat for ninth. Valtteri had closed the gap to
Vettel slightly with the gap 1.0 seconds. Alonso would then pass Ricciardo
to take eighth. At the front the Mercedes cars were setting almost identical
times with six laps completed of the fifty two. Alonso would pass Hulkenberg but was now under investigation
for his car being out of position on the grid at the original re-start. Lap
nine and Rosberg was leading by 5.7 seconds over Hamilton. Ricciardo would
pass Hulkenberg for ninth at Stowe. Gutierrez and Maldonado would have a
coming together as Gutierrez tried to pass the Lotus. Gutierrez would suffer
a puncture seeing him go off into the gravel. Vettel would pit after a short
stint on the hard tyre seeing Valtteri now
fifth.
After lap eleven the order was Rosberg from Hamilton, Button, Magnussen,
Valtteri, Alonso, Ricciardo, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, and Vettel now tenth.
Ericsson would pit and retire as Valtteri closed in onto Magnussen. Alonso
would get a five second stop and go penalty for his grid infringement.
Valtteri would pass Magnussen around the outside at Stowe. Valtteri was now
1.5 seconds behind Button so it was likely for him to close the gap quickly.
Kvyat would pit from ninth on lap fifteen as at the front Hamilton had
closed the gap to Rosberg. Ricciardo would pit from seventh on lap
sixteen with Valtteri right behind the McLaren of Button. Valtteri would
again pass another driver around the outside at Stowe this time it being
Button.
Valtteri was now
up into third but he was 28.4 seconds behind Hamilton. With the Mercedes
cars running a second faster than the Williams third was looking like the
best Valtteri could achieve. Rosberg would pit on lap nineteen coming back
out into second. Valtteri would say that he felt his tyres had another ten
laps in them. Alonso was now attacking Button for fourth as Rosberg said
that he was having a gearbox problem on the down change. Magnussen was in
sixth followed by Vettel and Hulkenberg. Lap twenty and Hamilton's lead was
15.9 seconds over Rosberg. Ricciardo would pass Hulkenberg for eighth as
Rosberg set a new fastest lap, 1m:38.309. The big question was when would
Hamilton pit as he was losing time to Rosberg. Sutil would pit from tenth on
lap twenty four with Hamilton also coming in stopping for the hard tyre. A
different strategy for Hamilton as Rosberg moved back into the lead. Vettel
would pass Magnussen for sixth as on lap twenty six Alonso would pit taking
his five second penalty at the same time.
On his hard tyre Hamilton would set a new fastest lap, 1m:37.176, to be 4.4
seconds behind Rosberg. Valtteri was now 23.9 seconds behind Hamilton with
Button 14.2 seconds behind the Williams. Hamilton would continue to reduce
the gap to Rosberg as Magnussen pitted on lap twenty eight. Rosberg would
slow coming on the radio to say that he was having gearbox problems Button
would pit on lap twenty nine as Hamilton took the lead. Rosberg had come to
a crawl being past with Valtteri. Rosberg would also be passed by Vettel and
Ricciardo and he would stop on the grass. Hulkenberg would pit from eighth
on lap thirty as out on the track Rosberg would finally retire. Valtteri was
now 24.7 seconds behind Hamilton with Vettel sixteen seconds behind
Valtteri. But Valtteri had yet to pit and he would do so on lap thirty two.
He would take on the hard tyre coming back out in third behind Vettel.
Hamilton was now leading Vettel by 41.5 seconds with Ricciardo 6.4 seconds
behind Valtteri.
It was looking
like Valtteri was on a one stop strategy and he was able to close the gap to
Vettel taking second. Vettel would pit on lap thirty four returning in
fifth. But Alonso would get past the Red Bull going around him at Copse in a
very brave move. Hamilton was still leading by 41.6 seconds over Valtteri
with Ricciardo third. Button was now fourth followed by Alonso, Vettel,
Magnussen, Kvyat, Hulkenberg, and Vergne tenth. Kvyat would pit from eighth
on lap thirty seven dropping to tenth. Everyone up to ninth had been lapped as Vettel tried to get past
Alonso but the Ferrari would not give up keeping his place. Ricciardo had
lost time to Valtteri with the gap now 9.2 seconds. Hamilton would pit on
lap forty two taking on the hard tyre for his final stop. Valtteri was still
second some 20.4 seconds behind the Mercedes. Vettel continued to challenge
Alonso for fifth coming on his radio complaining about Alonso's driving.
With eight laps remaining Vettel and Alonso would continue to run close
together with Vettel complaining that Alonso was using more of the track
than he was allowed. Valtteri was running in a safe second with Ricciardo
now 14.2 seconds behind the Williams. Alonso would not give up his spot but
Vettel would finally get past Alonso at Copse. The pair ran very close
together in what was a hard fight between the pair. Four laps remaining and
Hamilton was still leading Valtteri with Ricciardo third. Button was fourth
followed by Vettel, Alonso, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Kvyat, and Vergne tenth.
The final laps would count down and Hamilton would start his final lap and
would complete this without issue to take victory in the 2014 British Grand
Prix. Valtteri would finish his last lap to come home a brilliant second to
turn around a weekend that had gone badly what with car brake downs and
crashes. Ricciardo would finish third followed by Button, Vettel, Alonso,
Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Kvyat and Vergne..
Sorry, only registered users may post in this forum.
We record all IP addresses on the Sportnetwork message boards which may be required by the authorities in case of defamatory or abusive comment.
We seek to monitor the Message Boards at regular intervals.
We do not associate Sportnetwork with any of the comments and do not take responsibility for any statements or opinions expressed on the Message Boards.
If you have any cause for concern over any material posted here please let us know as soon as possible by e-mailing
abuse@sportnetwork.net