The race opened with a first lap accident between both Marussia drivers, Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton. This happened when Max clipped Jules' rear wheel and sent Jules into a spin. There was quite a commotion as many cars were rounding the turn at the time of the collision. Pieces of debri were flying and landing on the circuit. The safety car was called out immedietley. Both Jules Bianchi and Max chilton had to retire due to the accident.
The next person to retire was Caterham's Marcus Ericsson, who endured issues with his engine. Retiring was the only option. He wasn't the only one to have to miss out on the rest of the race, as his team-mate also had to retire due to suspension failure. That already puts the race at 2 Team Double-Retirements. Marussia & Caterham. Lotus was another team to end up with a double retirement, when both of their cars had troubles as well.
By this time, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg were batteling it out with eachother, when they were both notified by the team that both cars were suddenly suffering from what appeared to be the same problem. While Nico Rosberg was able to carry on, the Mercedes team had to retire Hamilton's car, as it was all over the place from suffering brake loss. A very disappointing end to Hamilton's strong run throughout the season. His last retirement was all the way back in Australia, the first race of the 2014 Season.
Daniil Kvyat and Esteban Gutierrez both retired with only a few laps left in the race. It's always devastating to see rookies fighting so hard and then ending up with car troubles. Throughout the season so far, Sauber drivers, Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil have noted that the car is hard to control and is often "Snappy" at the rear, making it very easy to spin-out. Kvyat, who has managed a good tally of points with the Toro Rosso, has now had two consecutive retirements. His last, being in Monte Carlo, Monaco. But just when you thought everything was fine and dandy, the worst of the accidents was yet to come.
On lap 66-67, Sergio Perez, who was fighting to stay in Second, radioed to his team that he had no brakes, not to mention that he'd also been running without DRS for quite awhile, so the brakes just topped the issues he was struggeling to keep under control. While he sounded calm over the radio, he fought hard to not lose his position, but he couldn't, and Daniel Ricciardo made a pass on him. Sergio, now in 3rd, was fighting around the second to last lap, when Felipe Massa came soaring up behind him. One second it seemed everything in the stands had gone silent, until Massa's car jumped over the Force India, sending them both spinning and smashing into the wall/barriers. Peices flew off of their cars and went flying, while the impacts sounded like blasts.
Luckily, both drivers escaped without injuries. Both able to climb out of their wrecked cars, were later checked out by medical staff and send to a local hospital for mandatory checks. Both passed and were released later. Many people will argue about who caused the accident. But in the end, unfortunately, it was Perez who was handed a 5-Place-Grid-Penalty for the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix. Not only he, but Max Chilton was given the same penalty as well, for hitting his team-ate, Jules.
The safety car was called out for the last lap, but before that, Daniel Ricciardo made a pass on Nico Rosberg and was able to take home his first F1 victory and also, Red Bull's first win of the 2014 season. Rosberg finished in Second, while Vettel nabbed 3rd, to share the podium with Daniel. A huge congratulations to Daniel on his first win. I can only imagine how thrilling it must be.
Personally, while I'm disappointed the race had a bad ending for a lot of drivers, we are absolutely thankful no one was hurt. We must appreciate that the drivers were not injured and will be able to continue in their careers. With that being said, let's go ahead and look at the results from this amazing, crazy and breath-taking Grand Prix.
RESULTS:
1. Daniel Ricciardo / Red Bull / Australia / + 25 Points
2. Nico Rosberg / Mercedes / Germany / + 18 Points
3. Sebastian Vettel / Red Bull / Germany / + 15 Points
4. Jenson Button / McLaren / Great Britain / + 12 Points
5. Nico Hulkenberg / Force India / Germany / + 10 Points
6. Fernando Alonso / Ferrari / Spain / + 8 Points
7. Valtteri Bottas / Williams / Finland / + 6 Points
8. Jean-Eric Vergne / Toro Rosso / France / + 4 Points
9. Kevin Magnussen / McLaren / Denmark / + 2 Points
10. Kimi Raikkonen / Ferrari / Finland / + 1 Point
11. Sergio Perez / Force India / Mexico / + 0 Points / DNF (Accident)*
12. Felipe Massa / Williams / Brazil / + 0 Points / DNF (Accident)*
13. Adrian Sutil / Sauber / Germany / + 0 Points / (One Lap Behind)*
14. Esteban Gutierrez / Sauber / Mexico / + 0 Points / DNF (Energy System Failure)*
RETIRED:
Romain Grosjean / Lotus / France - Wing
Daniil Kvyat / Toro Rosso / Russia - Drive Train
Lewis Hamilton / Mercedes / Great Britain - Brake Failure
Kamui Kobayashi / Caterham / Japan - Suspension Failure
Pastor Maldonado / Lotus / Venezuela - Power Unit Failure
Marcus Ericsson / Caterham / Sweden - Engine
Max Chilton / Marussia / Great Britain - Accident
Jules Bianchi / Marussia / France - Accident
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Article Written By: Amy Hawk.
Bo copyright infringement intended.
