2016 Brazil GP. Drivers Press Conference

How Rosberg can win the title in Brazil

History can be made this weekend in Brazil - triumph, and Nico Rosberg will secure himself a first Formula One world championship crown. In fact there are seven ways in which the German can clinch the title at Interlagos, as we detail below...

                                                 
As the graphic indicates, the title is in Rosberg's hands. With a 19-point margin over Lewis Hamilton heading into Brazil, victory would give the German an unassailable points lead - and therefore the 2016 crown. If that were to happen, he would be only the second son-of-a-past-champion to take the title himself - the only other time this has happened in history was with Graham Hill (champion in 1962 and 1966) and son Damon (champion in 1996).

Rosberg can also win the title if:
He finishes second, and Hamilton is fourth or lower
He finishes third, and Hamilton is sixth or lower
He finishes fourth, and Hamilton is seventh or lower
He finishes fifth, and Hamilton is eighth or lower
He finishes sixth, and Hamilton is ninth or lower
He finishes seventh, and Hamilton finishes outside the top 10

On the flip side, should Hamilton triumph, he would guarantee the title goes down to the wire in Abu Dhabi - which would be the second time in three years that the two men have contested a world championship crown at Yas Marina.

History isn't exactly on Hamilton's side though - the Briton has nine starts in Brazil, but is still yet to win. Conversely Rosberg has won the last two races in the country...

(source: f1.com)

Lewis Hamilton interview with Fiona Bruce (2016)

F1 2016 Mexican GP. JP Montoya interviews Kimi Räikkönen

2016 Brazilian Grand Prix preview

The 2003 Brazilian GP was slippery.

How many can remember the Brazilian Grand Prix in 2003 when most of the cars retired the race and Alonso was taken to the hospital? Let's hope nothing like that happens.

When the 2003 race at Interlagos was red flagged there was only two men on the podium: Kimi Räikkönen and Giancarlo Fisichella. Kimi stood on first place, Fisi on the second and Alonso was supposed to be standing on third place but was forced to go to the hospital after the crash that ended the race.

At the next Grand Prix Kimi had to give his number one trophy from Brazil to Fisi because the race control changed the results after the race. There was so much going on that they didn't even know who had won the race when it was stopped. If Kimi had kept his 1st place he would have been world champion in 2003.

Here is a video with a few highlights of the race:

Last year Nico Rosberg won the race. Take a look at last year's results:

I am pretty sure the top3 will have the Mercs and a Red Bull up there this year.

Here are my predictions:

Pole position: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Race:

1. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
2. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes
3. Max Verstappen, Red Bull

Fastest lap: Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes

Surprise: Felipe Massa will have a great weekend.

Post your own predictions to our F1-4-LIFE PREDICTORS LEAGUE!

The rules:

POINTS:  1st - 3  2nd - 5  3rd - 10 

HOW IT WORKS: the aim of the game is simply predict who comes where in the race (top3). A total of 18 points can be won on a race day. If you get winner and and 3rd place right but 2nd wrong you get 13 points same if you get 1 correct. eg. 2nd you get 5 points. If a driver wins the race and you said he would come 2nd or 3rd no points would be awarded. Same if he came in another position, and you predicted that wrong. A table will be posted up every race weekend. The point scoring system will change once the cars become more competitive. Everyone will say a merc 1,2 so it won't be close or fun. 

HOW TO SUBMIT YOUR PREDICTIONS: send an email to f14lifeblog@gmail.com or message the Facebook page to submit your predictions. You have until lights out to make them. If you submit them when the race has started they won't count. So be quick! like the Mercedes. 

THE PRIZE: the winner of the league will win themselves a admin place on the F1 4 LIFE page along side AE, JT, MW, MH, JI and PM. If you don't want to be an admin you are welcome to participate anyway. We may also come up with some other prize if it helps. 

That's it for today and if you want to send me feedback then email me: f14lifeblog@gmail.com

6 occasions the title has been settled in Brazil

Next weekend's Grand Prix in Brazil could well determine the outcome of the 2016 title fight. For the first time in his career, Nico Rosberg's fate is in his own hands: win, and he will be crowned champion, regardless of where Lewis Hamilton finishes. With the German bidding to make history, we look back on the six previous occasions when Interlagos has played host to the outcome of the championship battle...


2005 - Round 17 of 19

BEFORE - 1. Alonso, 111 pts; 2. Raikkonen, 86 pts
AFTER - 1. Alonso, 117 pts; 2. Raikkonen, 94 pts

After five years of Ferrari dominance, it was Renault's Fernando Alonso who grabbed the 2005 championship by the scruff of the neck with victories in three of the first four races catapulting him into an early lead. McLaren, though, soon came to the fore, the superlative pace of the MP4-20 undermined only by suspect reliability. Kimi Raikkonen led the fightback, and by Belgium, Round 16, the Finn had six triumphs to his name - the same as Alonso. Even so, the Renault man was in a commanding position, his unerring consistency earning a 25-point advantage heading into Interlagos. Raikkonen's slim hopes of keeping the title alive dwindled as Alonso took pole, with the McLaren man lining up fifth. By the flag Raikkonen had fought through to second, behind team mate Juan Pablo Montoya - but there was no stopping Alonso. Third gave the Spaniard an unassailable points lead - and therefore a first world championship crown.

2006 - Round 18 of 18

BEFORE - 1. Alonso, 126 pts; 2. Schumacher, 116 pts
AFTER - 1. Alonso, 134 pts; 2. Schumacher, 121 pts

One year on, and Alonso was involved in another championship scrap - although this one went down to the wire. Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher was the adversary, with the German's somewhat surprise retirement announcement - and Alonso's decision to switch to McLaren - adding yet more intrigue to a tense, and at times heated, rivalry. Ferrari and Renault dominated throughout, winning all but one race. It was Alonso who held sway for much of the season, but with two races to go Schumacher wrested the championship lead from the Spaniard, level on points but ahead on countback. Disaster struck in Japan, however - Schumacher's engine blew while he was leading, handing Alonso a victory that moved him 10 points clear. With the title on the line in Brazil, Schumacher suffered more misfortune: a glitch in qualifying left him 10th, while he also suffered an early puncture in the race itself. He fought back valiantly to finish fourth - but could do nothing to derail Alonso, who enjoyed a comparatively smooth route to second on the road, and a second championship crown.

2007 - Round 17 of 17

BEFORE - 1. Hamilton, 107 pts; 2. Alonso, 103 pts; 3. Raikkonen, 100 pts
AFTER - 1. Raikkonen, 110 pts; 2. Hamilton, 109 pts; 3. Alonso, 109 pts

Three men headed into Brazil in with a shout of the title in 2007 – and it was Kimi Raikkonen who came from furthest back to snatch the ultimate prize. For much of the season the Finn had appeared an outside bet for the crown, with McLaren's new signing Fernando Alonso or rookie starlet Lewis Hamilton looking more likely champions. But as tensions frayed - and mistakes crept in - within the McLaren camp, Raikkonen racked up the points. Six straight podiums kept him within mathematical touching distance going into Brazil, but even so the title was Hamilton's to lose. The Briton's four-point cushion quickly became a deficit, however: an error on the opening lap, coupled with a gearbox problem, limited him to seventh at the flag. Alonso, meanwhile, was third, but it wasn't enough: Raikkonen, ceded first by Ferrari team mate Felipe Massa, had prevailed on the road and in the title race, overturning a 17-point deficit in the final two races.

2008 - Round 18 of 18

BEFORE - 1. Hamilton, 94 pts; 2. Massa, 87 pts
AFTER - 1. Hamilton, 98 pts; 2. Massa, 97 pts

No season finale can match the drama of 2008 as Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa laid on the finest of sporting theatre. The pair had duelled ferociously all season, momentum swinging constantly as brilliance, mistakes and misfortune came thick and fast. By China, the penultimate round, Hamilton had gained the upper hand in terms of points, although both he and Massa sat level on five wins. It all came down to Interlagos. Massa claimed pole, and led as the lights eventually went out following a 10-minute rain delay. Hamilton, meanwhile, looked secure, needing only to finish in the top five to clinch the title. There was a twist in the tale though: the rain returned and, as drivers pursued differing strategies, Hamilton was suddenly bumped to sixth. He was still in that position when Massa crossed the line, and a partisan home crowd erupted in celebration. Fortune had one more card to play though: into the last corners of the last lap, Hamilton, on intermediate tyres, picked off Toyota's slick-shod Timo Glock. The title - by one point - was his.

2009 - Round 16 of 17

BEFORE - 1. Button, 85 pts; 2. Barrichello, 71 pts; 3. Vettel, 69 pts
AFTER - 1. Button, 89 pts; 2. Vettel, 74 pts; 3. Barrichello, 72 pts

After 2008's epic denouement came 2009's fairytale, as the Brawn team emerged from the ashes of Honda's withdrawal to take the season by storm. Jenson Button was at the forefront, winning six of the opening seven races to build a comprehensive championship lead. But a subsequent fallow period, during which the field closed Brawn's early technical advantage, allowed team mate Rubens Barrichello and Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel to close. A much-needed podium in Italy gave Button breathing room, and meant he arrived at Interlagos - now hosting the penultimate round of the season - 14 points clear. Qualifying ramped up the tension - as the heavens opened Barrichello claimed pole, while Button and Vettel were mired down in 14th and 15th respectively. The Brazilian led in the early stages, but fortune chose not to smile on him: his race unravelled and he eventually fell away to finish eighth. At the same time Vettel and Button surged forward - and while Vettel beat the Briton to fourth, Button had done enough to clinch a first world championship crown.

2012 - Round 20 of 20

BEFORE - 1. Vettel, 273 pts; 2. Alonso, 260 pts
AFTER - 1. Vettel, 281 pts; 2. Alonso, 278 pts

New records were set as seven different drivers triumphed in the opening seven races of 2012 - but by mid-season one driver had managed to pull clear of the pack: Fernando Alonso. In what was arguably his finest season to date, the Spaniard was 34 points ahead at the mid-point of the year, and 29 points clear heading into the final stretch. Defending champion Sebastian Vettel began to hit back though: victory in consecutive races in Singapore, Japan, Korea and India moved the German ahead, and by the USA, the penultimate round, the Red Bull man led Alonso by 13 points. It all came down to Brazil - and once again Interlagos delivered a stunning climax. The drama centred around the opening lap - Vettel got a poor getaway from fourth, and was then tagged by Bruno Senna at Turn 4. Suddenly facing the wrong way amidst a charging throng of cars, Vettel somehow emerged unscathed and without serious damage. Advantage Alonso - but Vettel wasn't giving up. Despite a slow stop, and a large crack opening up on the floor of his car, the German began to fight his way back up the order. The decisive move came 14 laps from the end, as Vettel recaptured seventh - enough to make him champion if he made it to the flag. He went one better: Michael Schumacher's generosity gave him sixth, and with it a third world title.

2016 - Two races to go

GOING INTO BRAZIL - 1. Rosberg, 349 pts; 2. Hamilton, 330 pts 

After two years of being bested by his team mate, Nico Rosberg has the opportunity to strike back next weekend in Brazil. Momentum has swung between the pair over a fiercely contested season, but the basic equation is now simple. Win, and a first championship crown will be his. Having prevailed at Interlagos for the last two seasons, does history beckon for Rosberg in 2016?

(source: f1.com)

1997 Brazilian Grand Prix (ITV)