MotoGP 2015 - Rossi fights back in Assen

After seeing Yamaha team-mate Jorge Lorenzo defeat him in four consecutive races, Valentino Rossi knew he had to dig deep to beat the Spaniard at the Dutch TT in Assen, round eight of the MotoGP Championship. He did just that, taking a stunning pole position, his first since Valencia last year and then winning the race after a thrilling battle with the Repsol Honda of Marc Marquez, Rossi's first victory from pole since Misano 2009.

After the lights went out, Rossi and Marquez edged away from the field, after the Spaniard had passed Aleix Espargaro's Suzuki and from then on the pair were in a class of their own, with their nearest rival, Lorenzo, around four seconds behind them as they continued their private duel at the front, Rossi fending off attacks from Marquez and not buckling under pressure.

Marquez though would not disappear, and, with seven laps to go, Marquez made his move into turn one and took the lead for the first time, but crucially couldn't pull away from Rossi, who stayed right on the back of the Repsol Honda before re-passing the reigning world champion with just three laps to go.

As the pair entered the last corners on the final lap, Marquez made a lunch up the inside of Rossi, but as they turned into the corner they touched, Rossi going straight on through the gravel and Marquez over the astro-turf, Rossi looked behind and saw he was safe, and crossed the line to win the Dutch TT, and crucially extend his championship lead to ten points over Jorge Lorenzo.

Behind the leading pair there was a great battle for fifth place, with Espargaro's Suzuki, his Brother Pol on the Tech3 Yamaha, Cal Crutchlow on the LCR Honda, Andrea Dovizioso on the Ducati among the rider's battling it out, with Dani Pedrosa joining them late on after an awful start from 4th place. The battle was eventually won by Pole Espargaro.

Ahead of the battle, Andrea Iannone on the other Ducati had made his escape and was in a very lonely P4, not having the pace to catch Jorge Lorenzo but having plenty of pace in order to pull away from the squabbling pack behind him. Over the course of this year, Iannone has really matured and is certainly someone to watch for the future. If Ducati's new GP15 can keep delivering, don't rule out a win for him later this year, and of course for Dovizioso to!

None of the battling behind though could bother Valentino Rossi, who took his third win of the year in fine style, even if the last corner incident with Marquez was a bit controversial! Rossi last won the championship in 2009. Can he finally take the crown again this year, and equal Gicomo Agostini's record of eight world titles in the premier class? Let's wait and see. Until next time folks. Ciao!

Formula 1 2015 - In-season testing at Austria

Day one

Pascal Wehrlein took control of the Mercedes W06 Hybrid on day one

After a dominant 1-2 in the race at Austria, Mercedes dominated the final in-season test of the Formula 1 season at the Spielberg circuit, with Pascal Wehrlein taking the honours for the team on day one,with a best time of 1m11.005s, and completing 67 laps of the Red Bull Ring, despite the morning part of the session being rained off, allowing for a two hour extension to the end of the session.

Esteban Ocon got behind the wheel of the Force India VJM08

Esteban Ocon completed a good 76 laps at the wheel of the B-spec Force India, with a best time of 1m11.192s , just over a tenth slower than Wehrlien. The Force India team were buoyed by the car's performance, with the full package finally appearing at Silverstone in less than a weeks time, potentially with an inventive nostril nose (not shown in the picture above!).

Max Verstappen had a busy day in the Toro Rosso STR10

Max Verstappen finished the day with a very impressive 92 laps, and a best time of 1m11.328s. Verstappen had enjoyed a strong Austrian Grand Prix, finishing P8 after fighting with Pastor Maladonado's Lotus, and carried on that good form in the test with some impressive lap times, given the conditions on the day.

Antonio Fuoco kicks up the spray in the SF15-T

Antonio Fuoco made his testing debut at the hands of the Ferrari SF15-T, and posted a best time of 1m11.331s and 71 laps, and gathered some good data for the Scuderia. He did blot his copybook later on in the day by crashing the car, but it was a solid debut for the Ferrari Driver Academy racer.

Romain Grosjean had a fairly quiet day in the Lotus

Romain Grosjean was next up with the Lotus in fifth place, completing a rather smaller number of laps at 45, with a best time of 1m11.509s. The Frenchmen sadly retired from the Grand Prix on the Sunday thanks to gearbox issues, and will be hoping for a much better race at Silverstone.

GP2 race Pierre Gasly got some more laps under his belt in the RB11

Pierre Gasly returned to the wheel of the Red Bull RB11, posting a best time of 1m11.757s and completing a very respectable 80 laps, as Red Bull seek to turn their so far atrocious season around. With Force India eyeing their fourth place in the constructors championship with the B-spec VJM08, Red Bull really do need to pick up the pace.

Raffaele Marciello was in action again for Sauber

Raffaele Marciello was next up in the Sauber C34, with a lower lap total of 53, and a best time of 1m11.826s, the last man to post a time in the 1m11's. Marciello is having a solid season in GP2, and hopes that if his performances continue to be good their, he may end up racing for Sauber in 2016.

Stoffel Vandoorne got behind the wheel of the troublesome MP4-30

McLaren's troubled MP4-30 completed 76 laps at the hands of GP2 sensation Stoffel Vandoorne, who had the perfect few days, with a 1st and 2nd in the GP2 races, before driving the McLaren in the test. The team said they had a good day despite the weather, electing to use the older nose before Alonso switched to the new short one the following day. Vandoorne's best lap time was a 1m12.530s.

Susie Wolff was in action again for Williams, giving the FW37 a 39 lap run

Finally, Susie Wolff got another chance to drive the Williams FW37, with a best time of 1m13.248s and only managing 39 laps, the weather disrupting Williams program. She enjoyed herself though and trialed some strange new parts, most noticeably a winglet in front of the rear tyres, which the team said they were using to gather data. Whilst the Williams winglet was illegal, due to its size, there is a loophole for winglet's to be there...will a smaller one appear at Silverstone?

Here is the table with all the lap times and lap totals;

Day two

Nico Rosberg topped the table on day two with a busy day in the Austrian mountains

After dominating the race on Sunday, beating team-mate Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg kept up the momentum and posted the fastest time on the second day of the test, completing a fantastic 117 laps and posting a best time of 1m09.113s. Rosberg no doubt has high hopes for Silverstone, where he won in 2013 and took pole last year. Can he keep up the momentum and beat Hamilton on home ground?

Esteban Gutierrez had another run in the SF15-T

Esteban Gutierrez returned to the wheel of the SF15-T after driving the car at the Barcelona test and posted the second fastest time of the day, with a 1m09.931, and completing a very good 110 laps, only 7 less than Rosberg as Ferrari try harder and harder to bring down the Mercedes star.

Valtteri Bottas sparks his way onto the start/finish straight in the FW37

Williams had a much better second day of the test, with Valtteri Bottas completing a solid 79 laps at the wheel of the FW37, with a best time of 1m10.029s, third fastest for the day. Williams are now firmly back as one of Formula 1's top teams and have high hopes for the best few races. Lets see if they can close the gap to Ferrari.

DTM champ Marco Wittmann had a very busy day at Toro Rosso!

Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann got his first taste of F1 machinery, driving the Toro Rosso STR10, as a reward for winning the 2014 DTM championship. Wittmann should have driven the 2012 car last year, but the day was rained off, so he got to drive the latest machine, as well as giving Toro Rosso some good data. Wittmann completed an astonishing 154 laps, and posted a respectable best time of 1m10.103s, fourth fastest for the day. Whether we will see him in an F1 car again, who knows? But he did enjoy his day, which is always good to hear!

Pascal Wehrlein was in action again for Force India, just like he was pre-season

Pascal Wehrlein was once again in action, this time for Force India as they continued to get the B-spec car ready for Silverstone. Wehrlein posted a best lap time of 1m10.253s, and completed 132 laps, more good data for the team, as they prepare themselves for an important race.

Jolyon Palmer had a good day in the Lotus E23 Hybrid

Britain's Jolyon Palmer was back at the wheel of the Lotus E23 Hybrid, clocking up 110 laps and with a best time of 1m10s.288. The GP2 champion from last year is no doubt frustrated he is not racing this season, but is enjoying his reserve role at Lotus, and is working hard for a race seat in Formula 1 for 2016.

Fernando Alonso got some good mileage in the updated McLaren-Honda

Fernando Alonso managed to get some good mileage on McLaren's new upgrades, 104 laps on the board for the Spaniard and some useful data for the team, after he tangled with Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix. His best time was a 1m10.718s. 

Fernando takes a selfie whilst sat in the MP4-30

Fernando even managed to take a quick selfie before heading out for another run in the MP4-30. Despite the cars lack of pace so far, he seemed to have enjoyed himself! Those upgrades giving him confidence maybe?

Daniel Ricciardo may have had a brake issue, but it didn't stop him putting in over 100 laps!

Daniel Ricciardo had a good day at the wheel of his Red Bull RB11, with 116 laps on the board and a best time of 1m10.827. The car did stop with brake issue's an hour from the end of the session, but the team did get Ricciardo back out again later on, completing a few more laps before the checkered flag.

Felipe Nasr and Sauber had a good second day at the test

Finally, Felipe Nasr finished at the bottom of the timesheets for Sauber, with 138 laps on the board and a best lap time of 1m10.922s, although the impressive lap total was no consolation for the horrific race the team had on Sunday. Manor Marussia, as in Barcelona, didn't take part in the test, as they would learn nothing running a car they have now ran for nearly a season and a half. Lap counts and times/gaps for day two are below;

The next race is of course the British Grand Prix this weekend at Silverstone, where Hamilton will look to make it another home win. Rosberg however won their in 2013, took pole last year and was on course for victory until gearbox issue's intervened. Can he beat Hamilton again? Until next time folks, ciao!

Valtteri Bottas heads down to turn 8, as he prepares to start another lap

All images copyright of their respective Formula 1 team's. Except the selfie. That's Fernando's.

Formula E - The title decider

Piquet Jr became the first Formula E champion

As Formula E headed into London for the final race of the inaugural season, three men were in the fight for the championship: Lucas Di Grassi for the ABT team, Sebastien Buemi for eDams Renault, and Nelson Piquet Jr for the NEXTEV China Racing team. On Sunday,  after a thrilling finale, it was Piquet Jr who emerged as the series first ever champion, beating Buemi by just one, single, point, after starting way down the order.

Berlin

Di Grassi won in Berlin...for a while

The scene for a dramatic double-header finale was set back in May at Berlin, and earlier on this month in Mosocw. In Berlin, Jarno Trulli took a shock pole position, but Di Grassi took the lead on the opening lap, and then went on to dominate the race, to open up a big championship lead. Title rivals Buemi and Piquet Jr finished in 3rd and 5th, however things took a turn for the worse for Di Grassi, as he was excluded from the race results for a technical infringement, handing the victory to Jerome d'Amrbosio. This promoted Buemi to 2nd place and Piquet Jr to 4th, and left the latter at the top of the championship.

Moscow

Piquet Jr took a commanding win in Moscow

In Moscow, Jean-Eric Vergne took his third pole position of the year, but Piquet Jr jumped him at the start and never looked back , taking control of the race and dominating it, extending his championship lead even further as Di Grassi finished in 2nd place, and Buemi in 9th after being given a time penalty for an illegal overtake. As the Formula E paddock headed to Battersea Park in London, Piquet Jr lead Di Grassi by seventeen points, and lead Buemi by twenty three. No one knew at this stage, that at the end of the season, the difference would be one single point.

London-Race 1

Buemi dominated the race on Saturday

The first race in London, on the Saturday, started with Buemi on pole position, Di Grassi in P3 and Piquet Jr in P4. It started slightly embarrassingly for the organisers, as turn 1 was to narrow to accommodate standing start, so it had to start behind the safety car. This was rectified for the Sunday race, bu it wasn't exactly Formula E's best moment.

Vergne was the start of Saturday's race

Buemi dominated the race, leading nearly every lap and withstanding pressure from Jerome a'Ambrosio, who was in impressive form as the season reached its climax, but arguably the start of the race was Vergne. He started P5 but pulled off a great move on Pique Jr into turn 6/7, then round around the outside of Di Grassi in turn 13, locking up both front tyres but still pulling off an amazing pass. Vergne had nothing to lose, and just wanted to finish as high up as possible.

Prost almost got past Piquet Jr

The championship leader however, could not match the pace of the four guy's ahead of him, and started to drop back from Di Grassi. He did close up in the closing stages and almost made contact with the Brazilian, squirming under breaks at turn 14, but he then dropped back again, into the clutches of Nicolas Prost, who had been chasing him throughout the second stint of the race. Piquet held on, he had to. He couldn't afford to lose anymore points to Buemi and Di Grassi ahead.

Buemi closed in on Piquet Jr in the championship

Buemi then crossed the line to take a dominant victory in race 1, to close up to Piquet Jr in the championship and launch himself right back into the fight, after the penalty he received in Moscow. One round left, three men in the fight, with only one able to become champion.

London-Race 2

With turn 1 widened, the field launched from the grid, lead by Sarrazin

Sunday dawned and in qualifying alone, there was drama. Rain had resulted in a mixed up grid, with Stephane Sarrazin, Jerome d'Ambrosio, Loic Duval and Sam Bird the top four, with Buemi in 6th, Di Grassi 11th and Piquet Jr in 16th! With Di Grassi the outsider and Piquet Jr so far back, it looked like Buemi's to lose, and as the lights went out and the cars blasted down through the revised turn one, it all looked good for Buemi.

Piquet Jr went a lap longer than his rivals before pitting

Piquet Jr and China Racing went a lap longer than everyone else at the pitstops, allowing Piquet to have more energy in the second half of the race and thus provide him with more chances to attack. He had made a great start from 16th to 12th and was 10th after the pitstops, then Buemi spun on his out-lap and lost a place to Mahindra's Bruno Senna, and then the safety car came out, thanks to Fabio Leimer's Virgin hitting the wall at turn 6/7, the second crash of the day after Sakon Yamamoto speared into the back of Trulli. This was good news for Piquet Jr.

Bird took the fight to Sarrazin late on

The battle up at the front was getting just as intense as the battle for the title. Bird had got past Duval during the pitstops and then got past d'Ambrosio, and was now right with Sarrazin, and fighting for the lead at his home ePrix! However, as Bird and Sarrazin fought hard, Piquet Jr and Buemi were fighting even harder.

Buemi had to fight hard after spinning

Buemi was now pushing very hard to try and get past Senna, and things were unraveling for him. Piquet Jr's team-mate for the weekend, Oliver Turvey, stole fastest lap from Buemi, which deducted two points from his race result meaning the gap from himself to Piquet Jr was just two points. Turvey then let his team-mate through, meaning Buemi and he were level on points but it would still be Buemi's title thanks to three wins during the season compare to Piquet's two, but then Piquet found a way past Salvador Duran, bringing him into the lead of the championship again...by one point!

Piquet Jr became the first Formula E champion

Buemi got very aggressive with Senna. Nudging him and nudging him, desperate to find a way past but he couldn't do it, and as they crossed the line, it was Nelson Piquet Jr who was crowned the first ever Formula E drivers champion! At the front, Sarrazin had ran out of energy as he crossed the line and was given a time penalty, dropping him way down the order, handing Sam Bird the victory, followed by d'Ambrosio and Duval. The promotion of Buemi and Piquet Jr did not affect the championship results, and one hell of a debut season for the new electric racing series, was over.

Bird and d'Ambrossio celerbrate on the podium

Bird, d'Amrbosio, Duval and Piquet Jr all celebrated at the end of a championship fight that had gripped Motorsport fans all over the world. With new rules and many of the drivers returning, next season could be even better than this one! Can Piquet Jr defend the title? Will Buemi and Di Grassi get their revenge? I can't wait to find out! Until next time folks. Ciao.

Nelson Piquet Jr celebrates the title with his team

All images copyright of the FIA Formula E Championship

Formula 1 2015 - Rosberg dominates in action packed Austria

Rosberg took the lead at the start, defended from his team-mate superbly on the first lap

"To get a day where it's one of the easier wins and not having pressure from Lewis behind was great to see," said Nico Rosberg, after he had just won what must be one of the most impressive races of his career to date. He qualified 2nd, after both Mercedes driver's unusually spun off on their final qualifying laps on Saturday, and at the start of the race he took the lead from team-mate Lewis Hamilton and never looked back.

Rosberg and Hamilton went wheel to wheel on lap one, the German fending of Hamilton

Hamilton probably got quite lucky in qualifying. Rosberg had been faster all weekend, on qualifying and race runs, but Hamilton pulled out a lap good enough pole in qualifying, at a crucial time as it turned out. When he spun, Rosberg had just set a purple sector time in sector 2, but when Rosberg went off at the final turn, Hamilton emerged as the pole winner. Rosberg though didn't let this deter him, taking the lead at turn 1 at the start and defending brilliantly on lap one as Hamilton attacked, before the safety car appeared.

Raikkonen and Alonso came together on the opening lap

The safety car appeared thanks to a crash between Kimi Raikkonen and Fernando Alonso. Raikkonen had started way down the order after failing to exit Q1, and as he exited turn 2 on the opening lap, he lost control of the Ferrari and collected Alonso's McLaren, both slamming against the wall, the McLaren mounting the front of Raikkonen's Ferrari, making for a very dramatic and scary crash. "I don’t know exactly what happened before the crash, I had some wheelspin in an unusual place". said Kimi after the crash, clearly puzzled by what happened.

Alonso's McLaren mounted the front of Raikkonen's Ferrari

It was particulary bad new's for McLaren. Alonso was running with the new parts on his car, and with the race basically being a test session for them thanks to various engine penalties, they now had no chance of gathering data on the car, Jenson Button was still using the old specification bodywork and longer nose on his car. Fernando was still upbeat though despite the crash, saying "I’m optimistic because I know our fortunes will change very soon".

Rosberg judged the restart to perfection

At the restart Rosberg launched away from Hamilton, already aiming to get out off DRS range, as Hamilton in turn started to edge away from Sebastian Vettel's Ferrari. Felipe Massa gave chase in his Williams whilst his team-mate Valtteri Bottas and Force India's Nico Hulkenburg engaged in a very entertaining tussle, the Finn having just passed Max Verstappen's Toro Rosso, a relatively easy task considering the Toro Rosso has a Renault engine.

The Mercedes pitcrew were at their best as usual for their man

Back at the front, Rosberg had eaked out a lead of nearly seven seconds, although Hamilton managed to whittle this down to around three come the pitstops. Rosberg locked up massively going into the pitlane but a quick pitstop and two fast outlaps meant he retained the lead when Hamilton pitted two laps later. Rosberg pulled away once again, and his task got that little bit easier when Hamilton was given a 5 second time penalty for going over the white line at pit exit. Hamilton would now have to pass Rosberg and pull out a gap of over five seconds to win, and with his lack of pace compared to his team-mate, Rosberg now had it in the bag. 

Bottas and Hulkenbug had a great scrap during the race

As the battle for lead settled, Bottas and Hulkenburg resumed their duel for 5th place. Hulkenburg got out ahead of Bottas after they made their visit to the pits, with his Force India team giving him a fantastic 2.7 second stop, allowing their man to hold off the Williams again. Bottas did eventually find his way past the Force India, as the two of them dealt with car's that had yet to pit, but Hulkenburg's drive from 5th to 6th was very impressive, a great way to say goodbye to there launch spec car as Force India prepared to welcome the B-spec VJM08

Bottas had brake issue's, compromising his race slightly

It wasn't plain sailing however for Valtteri, as after he revealed after the race. "Midway through the race I had a brake issue which I had to manage a bit". The brake issue's were later put down to being behind Hulkenburg for so long during the first stint, however he remained upbeat after the race "We have closed the gap to the team in front in the Constructor’s Championship which is a good feeling. Well done to Felipe on a great result to get on the podium".

Vettel was all set for 3rd until his pitstop

Ahead of Hulkenburg and Bottas, Vettel and Massa were fighting it out for the final place on the podium. The Ferrari had been ahead for the whole of the first sting but Massa had kept him honest throughout. Things took a turn for the worse for Vettel, as when he made his pitstop a wheelnut became cross threaded, costing him time and position, as he was passed by Massa and dropped to 4th.

Massa took his first podium of 2015

Despite having the slightly quicker car, Vettel could not find a way past Massa, the power of the Mercedes engine and the slippery nature of the Williams FW37, as well as good defensive driving from Felipe, kept the Brazilian ahead, taking Williams second consecutive podium of the season, and the first for Massa in 2015. After a quiet start to the year, Williams are now finding their feet and crucially, able to take the fight for Ferrari. 

A delighted Felipe on the podium

After the race, Massa said "We made the most of the slower Ferrari pitstop and took all the opportunities that came to us to achieve my first podium of the year". A great result for Massa. With Bottas finishing in 5th, it was a good haul of points for the British team, and with Raikkonen's earlier retirement, it was ultimately a disappointing day for Ferrari.

Hulkenburg drove a fine race, one week on after winning Le Mans

With Hulkenburg's 6th place and Sergio Perez's 9th place after starting way down the order, it was an ultimately successful day for the Force India team. The win at Le Mans really seemed to have boosted the Hulk's confidence and he couldn't stop smiling all weekend, and his smile was still there after the Grand Prix on Sunday. “I’m very satisfied with sixth place today. Going into the race we always knew it would be difficult to keep the Williams of Bottas behind me, so bringing the car home in sixth was probably the maximum we could achieve" he said after his great race.  The B-spec car will be introduced at Silverstone, where Force India really expect their season to take off.

Max Verstappen impressed yet again

Max Verstappen had a great weekend in the Toro Rosso. He and team-mate Carlos Sainz were very fast in the wet in Q1, and Max managed to qualify 7th and finish the race in 8th place after an exciting dice with the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado. His team-mate though wasn't so lucky. Sainz qualified 13th and retired in the race with a loss of power, a rather disappointing weekend then for Sainz whilst his young Dutch team-mate shone.

Kvyat and Red Bull had a nightmare race

Not for the first time this year, Toro Rosso actually outscored the main Red Bull team. Both Red Bull Car's of Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat had to take ten place grid penalties for new engines, and with the cars already lacking pace thanks to the Renault power unit, it was an uphill struggle from that moment onwards. Kvayt managed to qualify 8th before taking his penalty, but his race was ruined after a tangle with Perez at the start, causing front wing damage, and damage to the rest of the car, compromising his race after an early pitstop to change the front wing and he never recovered.

Ricciardo salvaged one point for Red Bull

Ricciardo however had a much more successful race...if you call scoring one point for 10th place a success but that was what Red Bull were fighting for in Austria,their home race, although after the race, he said  "To finish tenth is a good result from where we started today". Well at least he was happy! Daniel used a different strategy of starting on the soft tyre's then switching to the super soft's effectively, passing Felipe Nasr's Sauber late in the race, before chasing down, but not quite able to catch, Sergio Perez. A horrific weekend for Red Bull at their home track, even worse than Ricciardo's 8th place last year. Who knows when Red Bull's season will finally turn around.

Sauber's weekend didn't really got to plan

Talking of Sauber, their weekend was even worse than Red Bull's. Marcus Ericsson had a difficult qualifying and a race from hell, jumping the start and ending up two laps down after his car decided to shut down on him twice in the race. Felipe Nasr meanwhile was running in the points for much of the race, but brake issues meant he lost potions as the race went on, ultimately dropping him outside the points after Ricciardo got past him, which was a shame because he was set for 8th place at one point. Upgrades will be coming to the C34 soon but the driver's will have to wait a few more races before they get their.

Maldonado put in another solid drive, and more points on the board for him and Lotus

Despite his reputation, Pastor Maldonado has driven very well this year, he just hasn't had the luck. He finally got some luck in Canada to score his first points of the year and picked up where he left of in Austria, taking a solid 7th place for Lotus, having qualified just outside of the top ten in 11th place and showing great pace through the race to beat team-mate Romain Grosjean. 

Grosjean was in the mix, until his gearbox decided it had just had enough

Grosjean though did sadly retire thanks to gearbox issues. Maldonado had a very good scrap with Verstappen late in the race, which he ultimately won, despite nearly losing the car at turn 1 and on the start finish straight! "It’s great to get another seventh position and the points that come with it. It was a big moment fighting with Max. The super soft tyres were very hot so losing their grip and you lose a lot of downforce close to the car ahead, but everything was under control!" said Pastor after an exciting race for him. It did look under control...just!

Alonso never even got to the end of lap one

No ones weekend though was as bad as McLaren's. Both cars had 25 place grid penalties, yes, 25. That's despite there only being 20 cars in Formula 1 right now! Both drivers would have to serve different penalties early in the race but Alonso of course never got to serve his, tangling with Raikkonen early on and destroying a lot of the new bodywork.

Button didn't last much longer than his team-mate

Jenson Button did at least manage to reach the safety car restart and take one of his penalties, but that was as good as it got for Jenson. After taking his stop/go penalty, he then had to retired the car due to various issues. "Nothing was broken on my car, but something was wrong – and the switch-changes didn’t make any difference. So the team took the decision to retire the car" said Jenson after the race. A miserable weekend once again for McLaren-Honda. Surely it'll come good soon, right?

Merhi and Manor were fighting with the Bull's early on, believe it or not!

Finally, it was another mixed bag for Manor Marussia. They qualified in 16th and 17th after all the various penalties for the Red Bull's and McLaren's, but Will Stevens retired just after the safety car appeared for the Alonso and Raikkonen crash, thanks to an oil leak. Roberto Merhi though finished 14th, his and the team's highest finish of the year so far, even if he was last! He even managed to mix it with the Red Bull's early on!

Rosberg took a fine 11th career victory

The action though was all very much behind Nico Rosberg, who took his 11th career victory in fine style and closed the gap in the championship back to 10 points, in an exciting race that Formula 1 fans needed. Not a classic, but a good entertaining race. This was a great weekend for Nico, and with his confidence sky high, he really is excited for Silverstone. "Now I’m really looking forward to Silverstone, where I have good memories with the pole last year and the win in 2013". No doubt beating Hamilton on the Briton's home turf would be extra satisfying, and if Hamilton finishes 3rd and Rosberg wins, Nico will take the lead in the championship. Can he take his fourth win of the year? Don't bet against it. This championship is not over yet. Until Silverstone folks. Ciao!

A delighted Rosberg celebrates his win on the podium

All images copyright of their respective Formula 1 team's.