On tap this week:
- Rosberg blows it
- Maxwell shows them how it's done
- Vettel, Ranger move up in career marks
- Maldonado falls afoul of stewards
- Quote of the Week: Vettel honours Bianchi
- Latifi is getting noticed
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg might want to take heed of an old saying about the little things making a big difference.
About two-thirds of the way into Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix, a critical tire decision not only lost Rosberg the race, but it also highlighted why his teammate Lewis Hamilton will win the 2015 championship.
It happened right before the final stops for tires, when Rosberg decided he would take the conservative route against his engineer's advice and use the same medium tires as the trailing Hamilton in his final stint, despite having the option of using the faster softs to the finish. Gambling on being able to manage the less durable softs enough to pass the two cars ahead and then get to the end in the lead should have been a no-brainer.
Not making the aggressive decision to go with the faster tire — one that his teammate definitely would have taken without hesitation in the same situation — was not only devastating for Rosberg's title chances, but also underlined why Hamilton will become a three-time world champion this year.
There's little doubt that had Rosberg gone with softs he would have easily passed eventual winner Sebastian Vettel and been comfortably in the lead, rather than battling with Ricciardo. In the end, Rosberg crossed the finish line eighth, two spots behind Hamilton who extended his lead in the points by four to 21.
It's no wonder Rosberg was unhappy after the race: "Racing is very tough sometimes. It's an awful feeling to lose it at the end. At the moment I'm not looking forward to the summer break."
Random thoughts
Forced to start at the back of the grid at Connecticut's Lime Rock Park due to an electrical failure in qualifying, Toronto's Scott Maxwell put on a clinic in Saturday's Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Northeast Grand Prix. Maxwell passed 41 total cars and 11 in his GS class to take the lead at about the halfway point, just before handing the car to teammate Billy Johnson who went on to take the chequered flag. "The key was staying consistent and staying out of trouble. I knew we had a good chance if I handed Billy a good car to close the race," Maxwell said.
By the numbers
Sunday's win in the Hungarian Grand Prix gave Sebastian Vettel 41 career victories, tying him with the late three-time world champion Ayrton Senna for third overall in Formula One history. Roxton Pond, Que.'s, Andrew Ranger's triumph on Saturday at the Autodrome St-Eustache gave him sole possession of the career victories record in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. Ranger's win moved him out of a tie with D.J. Kennington at 19. Meanwhile, Mercedes' bid to become the first F1 team to have both cars on the podium for 10 consecutive races ended Sunday in Hungary when neither of its drivers made it into the top-3.
Technically speaking
Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado scored a hat trick in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, but not the awe-inspiring pole, win and fastest lap weekend that has happened just 155 times in the history of F1. The accident prone Venezuelan had an eventful race after getting penalties for crashing into Force India's Sergio Perez, speeding in the pitlane and passing another car during a safety car period. "It was a tough race and the stewards were certainly very strict today, very tough on driving with me and many other drivers," he said.
Quote of the week
"Merci Jules, cette victoire est pour toi, cette victoire est pour toi. You will always be in our hearts. We know sooner or later Jules would have been part of this team."
— Hungarian Grand Prix winner Sebastian Vettel dedicating his victory to late F1 driver Jules Bianchi, who died on July 17 from injuries suffered in the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix.
The last word
Canadian racer Nicholas Latifi is getting noticed in Europe, albeit in an unconventional way. The 20-year-old from Toronto's first GP2 start this year was less than a lap old when he attracted the ire of another driver after Sergio Canamasas accused him of pushing him off the track and into the barriers.
The Spaniard's press officer issued a post-race release later with a succinct headline: "Latifi crashes into Canamasas on the first lap." Latifi, who was not penalized, continued to finish 15th in Saturday's race before ending the second race on Sunday one position higher. Two weeks ago, Latifi became a bit of a YouTube star after a spectacular crash at the Red Bull Ring in a Formula Renault 3.5 Series race when he ran into the back of Roberto Merhi, who slowed drastically at the finish line. Merhi, who also drives for Manor in F1, received a one-race ban for the incident.
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Jeff Pappone