[Race] The GROAT - Round 1 - 1979 Dijon vs 2014 Montreal vs 2010 Yas Marina

[crmalcolm]

1979 Dijon
Gilles Villeneuve made the best getaway at the start of the race, blasting between the two Renaults to lead pole sitter Jean-Pierre Jabouille into the first corner. For René Arnoux, however, the start would be nothing short of miserable, with the Frenchman making a mess of his getaway to find himself in the middle of the swarm heading into the first corner. As the field sorted itself out through the opening corners Arnoux would find himself down in ninth, with Renault's hopes of a dominant victory put into doubt.

Indeed, come the end of the opening tour Villeneuve would open out a fair lead over Jabouille, whose counter-charge was being undermined by the presence of Villeneuve's teammate Jody Scheckter. They were chased by Nelson Piquet and a fast starting Jean-Pierre Jarier, with Lauda, Jacques Laffite and Alan Jones staying ahead of Arnoux. Didier Pironi was next ahead of Mario Andretti, with the whole field making it around the first lap without issue.

Villeneuve continued to dance his Ferrari away from Jabouille at the head of the field, although the Frenchman did manage to drop Scheckter early on. That meant most of the home-crowds attention was left to focus on the progress of Arnoux, who picked his way back up the order after his poor getaway. Fortunately for them Arnoux's progress was rapid, with quick-fire moves on Jones, Laffite and Lauda putting him back into the top six.

The only man to give Arnoux some signs of resistance proved to be Jarier, who would bravely keep his Tyrrell between the Renault and fifth position until lap seven. Four laps later and Piquet fell the #16 Renault, before Arnoux came sweeping onto the back of Scheckter a few laps later. Indeed, come the end of lap fifteen Arnoux had his Renault sliding inside the #11 Ferrari at turn four to claim third.

With that the top three seemed settled, for Villeneuve was safely ahead of Jabouille, although still pushing hard, while Arnoux was chasing hard to catch his teammate. Scheckter was next, in what was to become an increasingly lonely fourth, while Piquet was really struggling to keep Jones at bay for fifth. The Brazilian's issues came from the fact that his Brabham was becoming jittery mid-corner, with the rear of the car twitching at the worst moments. Elsewhere, Mario Andretti was out of contention with a brake issue, while Jochen Mass was already a lap down after a skirt came apart on his new Arrows.

The race settled down after that, with the overall picture staying the same for ten laps, until Lauda threw himself into a spin on lap 24 and could not restart. That coincided with the beginning of a push from Jabouille to catch Villeneuve out front, with the Renault ominously closing in on the Ferrari by a few tenths a lap. By lap thirty Villeneuve's lead was all but gone, although Jabouille was to be denied an early move.

For lap after lap Jabouille saw his efforts to pass Villeneuve swatted aside, with backmarkers and untimely slides preventing the Renault from moving clear. Half-distance came and went with no sign that it would change, with the pair also pulling away from Arnoux in third. Indeed, there seemed to be a general stalemate throughout the field, for Jones was unable to pass the broadsiding Piquet, while Andretti was in and out of the pits with leaking brakes.

The lead fight only intensified after lap 40, however, with first Keke Rosberg and then Elio de Angelis inadvertently getting involved and finding the Ferrari and the Renault screaming either side of them. Indeed, it was the latter's involuntary involvement that gave Jabouille the lead, for Villeneuve went to the outside of the Shadow through the final corner and hence compromised his exit. Jabouille was therefore clear to power inside both the Shadow and the Ferrari to charge through into the lead on the start/finish straight, with the 100,000 strong crowd roaring in delight.

With that Jabouille was out of reach, and duly disappeared into the distance from Villeneuve who was beginning to struggle with his tyres having pushed so hard early on. He duly began to slide into the sights of Arnoux, just as Piquet slid off the circuit backwards and into the catch fencing, his reflexes having finally been overcome by his twitching rear-end. That put Jones up into fifth place, which would soon become fourth when Scheckter's pace dropped as his tyres also faded amid the strain.

Indeed, both Ferraris would come under pressure from behind as the race wore on, for Scheckter would have to resist Jarier and Clay Regazzoni, while Arnoux quietly closed on Villeneuve. Scheckter was the first to fall, with first Jarier and then Regazzoni passing without any real issue, before Arnoux latched onto Villeneuve's tail with ten laps to go. By that stage Villeneuve had also begun to nurse a brake issue, and hence it seemed inevitable that Arnoux would sweep through to second.

Unfortunately for Arnoux no one had told Villeneuve that he would be unable to defend, for the #12 Ferrari simply swatted aside Arnoux first two attempts on laps 71 and 72. Arnoux then found himself baulked on the following couple of laps by backmarkers, before launching another attack at Villeneuve on lap 75. Again, Villeneuve seemed to gain just enough grip to prevent Arnoux slipping ahead, with Arnoux taking that as a sign to pause and plot a last gasp assault.

That assault came just two laps from the flag, with Arnoux finally getting a run on Villeneuve out of the final corner to pull ahead as the pair started the penultimate lap. Yet Villeneuve was not to be denied, and duly shot back into second as Arnoux ran wide midway through the penultimate tour. They then came streaking through to start the final lap side-by-side, with the pair literally going wheel-to-wheel as they hit the brakes for the first corner.

A thrilling final tour saw Villeneuve and Arnoux run virtually as one through the first half of the lap, with both briefly able to get their nose ahead. Halfway around and Villeneuve seemed to have the upper-hand, holding the inside line through the hairpin, only for Arnoux to get a better exit and shoot past on the sweep down the hill. Then, on the run to the final corner the Renault V6 hiccoughed to gift Villeneuve a run at Arnoux into the final corner, and with the better inside line.

All eyes would be on the final corner as the pair charged into the right-hander wheel-to-wheel, Jabouille having long since swept home to claim his and Renault's first victory. With the crowd still roaring at the sight of Jabouille becoming a national hero, Villeneuve's scarlet Ferrari appeared fully ahead of Arnoux's yellow-black Renault, although the Frenchman was closing onto Canadian's gearbox. They duly flashed across the line almost nose-to-tail, with Villeneuve still ahead, although both were more than satisfied after their thrilling duel.

As the crowd began to calm down from the late duel and Jabouille's victory the rest of the field came across the line, with Jones a lonely fourth ahead of Jarier and Regazzoni. The latter pair had had a late duel for fifth, although not to the extent of the fight for second, but were both satisfied with their day's work. Scheckter was a lonely seventh having had to stop for fresh tyres, while Laffite was a very quiet eighth for Ligier.


2014 Montreal
Weather forecasts expected the race to be partially cloudy and warm; conditions in itself were sunny. The air temperature was between 27 to 28 °C (81 to 82 °F) and the track temperature ranged from 44 to 49 °C (111 to 120 °F); Every driver from first to tenth began on the supersoft compound tyres. When the race commenced at 14:00 local time, Hamilton made a faster start than his teammate Rosberg. The latter locked up entering the first corner and drifted wide in front of Hamilton as he fended off the former to the right. That put Hamilton onto some grass and allowed Vettel into second. At the entry to turn three, Chilton lost control of the rear of his Marussia, and oversteered into the car of his teammate Bianchi. Bianchi was launched airborne as his and Chilton's wheels interlocked. He spun into a barrier beside the track. Bianchi was unhurt and he and Chilton retired. The accident prompted the safety car's deployment since track marshals were needed to clear oil and debris laid on the circuit.

The field conserved fuel under the safety car, which was withdrawn at the end of lap seven. On lap eight, Rosberg immediately drew clear from Vettel whose Red Bull car was slower by about 10 km/h (6.2 mph) on a straight. Pérez passed Button on the approach to the final chicane for tenth on that lap. On the next lap, a turbocharger connector pipe failure on Ericsson's car prompted his retirement in the pit lane to prevent engine damage. Kvyat oversteered and spun at turn one on the tenth lap; he fell to the rear of the field. On the same lap, Hamilton used DRS to pass Vettel into the last chicane for second position. Sixth-placed Ricciardo was delayed by the Williams pair of Bottas and Massa, whom he could not pass due to a slower pace on a straight. Behind him, Vergne delayed the Ferrari pair of Alonso and Räikkönen, Pérez and Button. Pérez's super soft compound tyres began degrading by around laps 13 and 14. Ricciardo made a pit stop at the conclusion of lap 13 in his attempt to pass both of the Williams drivers.

Williams responded by calling Bottas into the pit lane for the soft compound tyres on lap 15. The same was done with his teammate Massa on the next lap. Vettel was about six seconds behind Hamilton by his own pit stop on the lap for the soft compound tyres. On the 17th lap, Alonso made a pit stop and his higher speed moved him past Vergne for seventh. Rosberg was more than two seconds ahead of Hamilton, when he entered the pit lane one lap later. Hamilton took the lead on lap 18 and maintained it before his own pit stop on lap 19. Rosberg clipped a kerb on the inside of turn four and lost control at the rear on that lap; he narrowly avoided contact with a barrier and continued. Afterwards, Rosberg led with Hamilton second and the Force India duo of Pérez and Hülkenberg third and fourth. Vettel's slower pace allowed Bottas and Ricciardo to draw closer. On the 21st lap, Kvyat illegally drove across the final run-off area to avoid an overtake by Räikkönen. Maldonado retired with a loss of engine power on the following lap.

During the 23rd lap, a loss of rear car control put Vettel wide during an attempted pass on Hülkenberg at the hairpin. After a half spin at turn one lap 25, a rear-left wheel problem caused Kobayashi to retire after the first chicane. As Hamilton slipstreamed Rosberg on the main straight that lap, his teammate locked his tyres into the final chicane and cut the corner. The stewards investigated Rosberg; he was not penalised. Hamilton's race engineer Pete Bonnington advised the former not to take risks. Further down the field, Massa passed Alonso on the outside through the first and second turns for eighth on the 27th lap. Hamilton drew to within less than a second behind Rosberg on lap 28 and had DRS available the following lap. In the meantime, Button overtook Kvyat around the inside at the hairpin for 12th and Vettel held off Bottas at the final chicane. Pérez in third managed his super soft tyres enough to prompt Force India to extend his stint on them. On lap 35, he made a pit stop to switch to the soft compound tyres and rejoined the circuit in 10th.

Bottas entered the pit lane from fifth on lap 36 in his attempt to pass Vettel. Red Bull responded by bringing Vettel in on the next lap. Hamilton had drawn close to his teammate Rosberg; Mercedes observed warm temperatures on both cars' engine control systems on the kinetic motor–generator units. Hamilton's failed into turn ten on lap 36 and Rosberg's shut down on the approach to turn one on lap 37, losing their engines 160 hp (120 kW). That lowered their top speed on the straight by 32 km/h (20 mph) and were four seconds a lap slower than before after instructions to restart the electric control systems were unsuccessful. Hülkenberg made his pit stop on lap 41 and Williams put the third-placed Massa on a one-stop strategy due to Mercedes' reduced pace. Rosberg entered the pit lane on lap 44; a delay with the installation of his left-front tyre elevated Hamilton to the lead.

Hamilton's second pit stop on lap 46 overheated his rear brake discs, as Massa took the lead. An error from Hamilton at the hairpin that lap allowed Rosberg to claim second from his teammate. Hamilton then slipstreamed back past with DRS; he ran onto a run-off area at the final corner, and passed Rosberg, before relinquishing second position to his teammate. He ran off the track twice more, and was retired in the pit lane at the start of lap 48. Tyre wear on Massa's car prompted Williams to revert to a two-stop strategy. He entered the pit lane at the end of that lap. Rosberg retook the lead on the following lap. Mercedes told him to go faster in the first sector to prevent Pérez from using DRS on the straight. On lap 49, Kvyat retired with a drivetrain fault at the hairpin. On the 57th lap, Bottas' had tyres that were 12 laps older than his teammate Massa's. Bottas locked his flat-spotted tyres at the hairpin to allow his teammate Massa past. He then used DRS to overtake Hülkenberg; Massa passed Bottas on that lap.

Massa passed Hülkenberg for fifth before the final chicane on that lap. He drew closer to Vettel and Ricciardo on lap 57, and set the race's fastest lap on the following lap, at 1 minute and 18.504 seconds. On lap 60, Alonso on the inside overtook Bottas for seventh between turns one and two. Bottas lost eighth to Button soon after. Grosjean retired with a broken rear wing on the following lap. On lap 64, Vettel narrowly avoided hitting the rear of his teammate Ricciardo under braking for the hairpin. Vettel ran wide to prevent a collision, which allowed Massa to turn onto the inside line as Vettel jerked in turn 11. Massa gained on Vettel on the long straight; he did not pass him because he forgot to use DRS. In the meantime, Pérez had rear brake problems. On the 66th lap, Ricciardo used DRS, and steered to the outside to pass Pérez for second entering turn one. He went onto the grass at the corner. That caused Vettel to nearly hit Pérez's car in the following concertina effect.

Ricciardo lowered Rosberg's lead to seven-tenths of a second between laps 66 and 67. Gutiérrez entered the pit lane with an energy storage system failure on the 67th lap. On the back straight at lap 68, Ricciardo used DRS to pass Rosberg for the lead. On the next lap, Pérez went off the racing line and Vettel found space to overtake him for third at the end of the back straight. Pérez was slow on the start/finish straight from having an untidy exit out of the final corner. On the final lap, Massa's front right tyre and Pérez's left-rear wheel collided. Pérez rammed into a barrier at 32G, as Massa narrowly avoided collecting Vettel en route into a tyre wall in a 27G impact. The safety car was deployed to neutralise the race and Ricciardo took his first career victory, the first for an Australian since Mark Webber won the 2012 British Grand Prix. Rosberg finished second and Vettel third. Off the podium, Button, Hülkenberg, Alonso, Bottas, Vergne, Magnussen, Räikkönen, Pérez, Massa, Sutil and Gutiérrez were the final finishers.


2010 Yas Marina
The conditions on the grid were dry before the race, the air temperature at 29 °C (84 °F), track temperature at 33 °C (91 °F); and no rain expected. The race's formation lap commenced at 17:00 local time (UTC+4), with all 24 drivers getting away cleanly. Vettel retained his pole position lead into the first corner, followed by Hamilton, with Button moving into third after Alonso made a slow start. At turn six, Schumacher tried to pass teammate Rosberg around the outside, while battling for eighth position. Schumacher spun his Mercedes, which meant he faced the rest of the oncoming field on track and was collected by Liuzzi, causing both drivers to retire on the spot and the safety car to be deployed. In order to aid any losses that a pit stop may have cost under normal racing conditions, six drivers – Rosberg, Petrov, Jaime Alguersuari, Bruno Senna, Lucas di Grassi and Christian Klien – made pit stops at the end of lap one, and rejoined the circuit between 17th and 22nd. Racing resumed at the end of lap five when the safety car pulled into the pit-lane. The top five remained static until the end of lap eleven.

Webber – who brushed the armco with the right-hand side of his car three laps previously – pitted after struggling for grip on the super-soft, option tyres. He rejoined the circuit 16th, and behind the early-stopping trio of Rosberg, Petrov and Alguersuari. Four laps later, Alonso also brushed the Turn 19 barrier before pitting. He rejoined just in front of Webber, who had moved up the field steadily, and was running 13th – and set the race's fastest lap at the time – by the time Alonso pitted. Vettel and Hamilton continued to set quicker lap times than their championship rivals, despite being on heavily worn option tyres compared to the fresher, hard tyres of Alonso and Webber. That pairing caught up with Petrov towards the end of lap 18, a battle that would go on until the race's conclusion, with the Renault driver having already stopped for tyres. Five laps later, Alonso tried to overtake Petrov under braking for Turn 11 but had to back out of the manoeuvre, narrowly avoiding the back of the Renault. On the same lap, Hamilton pitted from second place. Vettel pitted from the lead on the next lap, and rejoined the circuit comfortably ahead of Hamilton, but in second place behind Button, who had still to stop on track. Hamilton had filtered back into the race in fifth position, behind Kubica and Kobayashi who were running similar strategies to Button out front. After passing Kobayashi, Hamilton closed in behind Kubica but found it hard to pass the Renault, akin to what Alonso had been suffering behind Petrov. Despite having nearly 40 laps on the harder tyre, Kubica's pace was still of a substantial level to hold off the advances of Hamilton.

Button pitted on lap 39 to release Vettel back into the lead, holding a lead of nearly twelve seconds over Kubica. Button rejoined in fourth place behind Kubica and Hamilton, with Kubica ever increasing his margin over Petrov and Alonso, who were running inside the points again in seventh and eighth respectively. Kubica finally pitted on lap 46 from second place, and came back on track in sixth place, crucially ahead of teammate Petrov, Alonso and Webber; the latter pair seeing their championship chances dwindling with every passing lap. In clean air, Hamilton set the race's fastest lap on lap 47 – 1:41.274 – as he closed slightly on Vettel. No further passing attempts were made on track, and thus, Vettel led the race to the end, to take his fifth win of the season. The McLarens of Hamilton and Button completed the podium ahead of Rosberg, the Renaults of Kubica and Petrov, Alonso and Webber. Rounding out the points were Alguersuari and Massa, the Ferrari driver having never got ahead of his rival in 40 laps of battling. With the poor results of Alonso and Webber, Vettel claimed the championship to become the youngest Championship winner in the sport and became the first driver to simultaneously lead the championship for the first time, and as a result win the championship since James Hunt in 1976. His championship-winning margin was four points over Alonso, with Webber a further ten points behind in third.