Rosberg Stages Season Recovery With European Grand Prix Win In Baku

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

Starting the 2016 Formula 1 season off in dominant fashion with four wins and a sizeable lead in the drivers' championship, the last three grand prix events have been a source of frustration for Nico Rosberg. Following the high-profile lap 1 wreck with Mercedes AMG teammate Lewis Hamilton, Rosberg's lead in the championship points has fallen to 9 markers heading into the inaugural Formula 1 race in Baku, Azerbaijan. A slump for the German occurring at the same time as Hamilton won the Monaco Grand Prix and Canadian Grand Prix has resulted in a tightening points battle.

Arriving for the first-ever European Grand Prix being held on the 6.001-kilometer Baku City Circuit, the 22-car Formula 1 field was once-again led by Nico Rosberg after scoring pole position in qualifying. Rosberg was joined on the front row by a Red Bull Racing car piloted by Daniel Ricciardo and a second starting row consisting of Ferrari race cars. Due to a mishap in qualifying, the second Mercedes AMG driver Lewis Hamilton would start 10th making the European Grand Prix the most recent occasion where the three-time world champion suffered a poor starting position due to an error.

Prepared for 51 laps, the inaugural Formula 1 event in Baku opened in a dominant fashion for Nico Rosberg's Mercedes AMG machine. Before his first pit stop on lap 21, Rosberg had built up on a 20-second lead on the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel. Second place starting Ricciardo dropped to third in the running order in the early laps.

An optimistic day for Toro Rosso driver Daniil Kvyat was ended early. Starting the European Grand Prix sixth, the Russian parked his Ferrari-powered race machine in the team's garage after just 8 laps due to a suspension failure. Later in the race, Kvyat's teammate Carlos Sainz Jr. would also suffer the same issue leading to a double retirement by the Toro Rosso team. Suffering two suspension failures, the team has proceeded to investigate the cause of the problem.

Photo Credit: FOTO STUDIO COLOMBO PER PIRELLI MEDIA

Fighting up from 10th place, Lewis Hamilton climbed to 4th place by the 12th lap of the event. Positioned in third place early, Kimi Raikkonen's European Grand Prix quickly went south. Contending with the debris of a plastic bag within one-quarter distance of the race, Raikkonen was handed a pit road procedure violation penalty following his lap 8 stop. A five-second time penalty was added to the Ferrari's position at the end of the event.

With each lap, the European Grand Prix fell deeper in to the grasp of Nico Rosberg. At the finish line, the German won his 5th Formula 1 event of 2016 by a healthy 16.696-second margin over runner-up Sebastian Vettel. Describing the race as a straightforward afternoon, Rosberg commented in post-race "I am so happy to win here in Baku. I really felt at one with the car in a way I’ve never felt before. I didn’t have the feeling that something would go wrong at any point today. The car was awesome this weekend, so thank you so much to the team for this."

With a second and fourth place finish, Ferrari's result after the 51 laps on the Baku City Circuit was impressive considering the manner Mercedes-Benz powered race cars of factory and customer teams tended to dominant practice sessions. For Sebastian Vettel, the European Grand Prix is the third time in 2016 the Ferrari driver finished in the runner-up position and fifth podium. Still searching for a first win of the season, Vettel's consistency near the front of 2016 Formula 1 races has the four-time world champion close to second place Lewis Hamilton in the overall season points. Kimi Raikkonen missed the podium but has so far collected points on five of the seven grand prix events this season.

Splitting the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel Despite achieving a runner-up spot in qualifying on Saturday in his Mercedes-Benz powered Force India race car, Sergio Perez started the European Grand Prix in seventh place due to an accident in final practice. A car proven to be very fast on the streets of Baku, the Force India emerged strong over the course of the race. Running fourth in the late laps, Perez closed tightly to Kimi Raikkonen. While Perez needed only to stay within five seconds of Raikkonen Ferrari to inherit the podium spot but the Mexican decided to take the position on-track. At the first turn on the final lap, the Force India slipped by the red race car to take third place. Sergio Perez's finish is the second podium in three events. He has also claimed points in the last five races largely contributing to Force India building up s firm hold of fifth place in the constructors' points standings.

Photo Credit: Force India F1 Team

As predicted by Pirelli, many of the front runners elected for a single pit stop strategy. In the final running order, the top-six finishers elected for the one stop for soft compound tires. Red Bull Racing decided on a two-stop plan in the European Grand Prix that ultimately resulted in a grid spot gain for Max Verstappen but a loss of ground by Daniel Ricciardo. Ricciardo started on the front row but came across the line 7th at Baku followed by Verstappen in 8th place.

The victory for Nico Rosberg reverse a trend that was occurring in the hunt for his first Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship. With Mercedes AMG teammate and defending 2015 champion Lewis Hamilton providing the main competition for Rosberg, 51 laps at the Baku City Circuit gave the German some extra breathing room. With Hamilton finishing in fifth place, the points gap between first and second place drivers in the overall 2016 title fight is now 24 points (Rosberg added 15 points on Hamilton in the final results).

The next race for the 2016 Formula 1 tour is a trip to Austria competing at the Red Bull Ring. The Austrian Grand Prix is set for July 3rd.

2016 Formula 1
European Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #/ Car #/ Driver/ Team/ Engine

1 6 Nico Rosberg Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari
3 11 Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes-Benz
4 7 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari
5 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes AMG Mercedes-Benz
6 77 Valtteri Bottas Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
7 3 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull TAG Heuer
8 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull TAG Heuer
9 27 Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes-Benz
10 19 Felipe Massa Williams F1 Mercedes-Benz
11 22 Jenson Button McLaren Honda
12 12 Felipe Nasr Sauber Ferrari
13 8 Romain Grosjean Haas F1 Team Ferrari
14 20 Kevin Magnussen Renault Renault
15 30 Jolyon Palmer Renault Renault
16 9 Esteban Gutierrez Haas F1 Team Ferrari
17 9 Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari
18 98 Rio Haryanto Manor Mercedes-Benz
19 14 Fernando Alonso McLaren Honda
20 28 Pascal Wehrlein Manor Mercedes-Benz
21 55 Carlos Sainz Jr Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari
22 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Ferrari

Hamilton Harnesses Top Time in Hot Hungarian Grand Prix Qualifying

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The 2015 Formula 1 season is in the process of crossing its halfway point this weekend as the stage is set for the 30^th annual Hungarian Grand Prix. The race is also the final race before a month-long summer hiatus for Formula 1 teams. For this reason, drivers and teams want to set a good impression before heading into the latter half of the season.

Just outside of the capital of Budapest, the Hungarian Grand Prix is the 10^th event on the 2015 schedule. Second only to the Monaco Grand Prix street circuit, the 4.381-kilometer Hungaroring gains notoriety for being among the slowest and tightest courses the Formula 1 tour has to deal with in the 2015 season. For this reason, handling overrides all-out engine power when racing on the 12-turn track. There is a theory that the Hungarian Grand Prix will allow some of the performance-challenged teams will be on equalized grounds. Last year, Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo pulled-off a victory in a series largely dominated by Mercedes AMG. However, with the consistent front-running performance of the Mercedes AMG team in 2015, there is no place where the team’s advantage isn’t shining through.

With the series engaged in the dog days of summer, track temperatures at the Hungaroring soared to the highest levels recorded this Formula 1 season for qualifying. According to tire supplier Pirelli, track temperature held at 52 degrees Celsius. The warmth combined with the dry weather conditions led to a fast track surface. At a Q3 lap time roughly 7/10ths of a second quicker than the 2014 pole time set by teammate Nico Rosberg, Lewis Hamilton recorded a 1-minute, 22.020-second one-lap effort to take the top spot for the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix. The Hungarian Grand Prix is a race the Brit has won four times. Hamilton’s successful pole run places Mercedes AMG in possession of all 10 pole positions available during the 2015 Formula 1 campaign. Nico Rosberg captures snatched the other front row spot at the Hungaroring.

Leading the second row is the Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel. Interestingly, Vettel’s top time in Q3 was still slower than the pole position of Rosberg in 2014 symbolizing how far the Mercedes AMG team is ahead of the competition. Ferrari’s gains have been notable in 2015 in the hands of Sebastian Vettel and occasionally in the car of Kimi Raikkonen who starts fifth Sunday.

Based on their recent performances, a fourth and seventh place starting spot for the Red Bull Racing entrants could be viewed as a success. Defending winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix Daniel Ricciardo will start in fourth (the same position where the Australian won the 2014 race). Russian teammate Daniil Kvyat is placed on the fourth row of the race in the second Red Bull-Renault.

Both Williams Martini Racing cars will start in the top-10 but Head of Performance Engineering for the team Rob Smedley himself responded to the Hungaroring as, "It’s not a circuit that suits us as much as other tracks do". Valtteri Bottas took sixth place in qualifying for the grand prix while Felipe Massa will start in eighth. Rounding out the top-10 in the line-up for the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix is Max Verstappen and Romain Grosjean.

With weather reports calling for a warm, dry event, the 70-lap Hungarian Grand Prix will start at 8:00 AM Eastern time on Sunday.

2015 Formula 1

Hungarian Grand Prix

Starting Line-up

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
2	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
3	5	Sebastian Vettel	Ferrari	Ferrari
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	Renault
5	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari
6	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
7	26	Daniil Kvyat	Red Bull	Renault
8	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes-Benz
9	33	Max Verstappen	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault
10	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Mercedes-Benz
11	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
12	55	Carlos Sainz Jr	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault
13	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
14	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	Mercedes-Benz
15	14	Fernando Alonso	McLaren	Honda
16	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	Honda
17	9	Marcus Ericsson	Sauber	Ferrari
18	12	Felipe Nasr	Sauber	Ferrari
19	98	Roberto Merhi	Manor Marussia	Ferrari
20	28	Will Stevens	Manor Marussia	Ferrari

Hamilton Triumphs Over Rosberg for Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and 2014 Championship Victory

Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

The last race of a 19-race tour started in mid-March in Australia, a 20-car field of advanced gasoline/electric hybrid Formula 1 race vehicles sat on the grid for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. During 18 races, the clean slate that drivers and teams entered 2014 filled up in the favour of Mercedes AMG. Winning 15 races before arriving in the United Arab Emirates, Lewis Hamilton's late-season roll has permitted him to stand 17 pounds ahead of teammate Nico Rosberg. With the championship on the line thanks to double points being awarded for the final grand prix of 2014, Rosberg charged to the pole on Saturday with no plans of letting the title slip away. Only 55 laps remained to decide which one of the Mercedes AMG teammates would be crowned the 2014 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship.

Right from the time the lights went out to start the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton set out to do everything he needed to go to lock up the 2014 championship. Hamilton seize a poor start by the pole-sitting Mercedes AMG race car to gain the lead right off the bat. By the second lap, Hamilton held a 1.4-second advantage ahead of Rosberg.

Behind the Mercedes AMG cars, the final start of the 2014 Formula 1 season did not go without incident. Realistically driving for his job with McLaren in 2015, Kevin Magnussen made contact with both Nico Hulkenberg and Adrian Sutil on lap 1 of the race. By closer examination by the race stewards, it was ruled that Hulkenberg was at-fault for forcing Magnussen's McLaren off the track. Kevin Magnussen continued to the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but was unable to score points. Despite a five-second penalty levied against him, Nico Hulkenberg brought his Force India-Mercedes across the line in sixth place.




Photo credit: Pirelli Photo Service

A race starting late in the afternoon at the Yas Marina Circuit, natural light from a boiling sun lessened on the 5.554-kilometer track. With much of the field starting on Pirelli supersoft slick tires, pit stops came early for the Mercedes AMG cars with Hamilton in on lap 10 and Rosberg pitting on lap 11. Felipe Massa was able to lead the grand prix briefly until he pitted on lap 14. Lewis Hamilton regained the lead with a 2.3-second interval on Nico Rosberg as the two Mercedes AMG cars lapped at the top of the field.

While Lewis Hamilton appeared to be maintaining the upper hand on his teammate by the time the race was reaching half distance, the championship challenge attempt of Nico Rosberg lost momentum (literally). Around lap 24 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Mercedes AMG race car of Rosberg was lapping the Yas Marina Circuit slower. Through telemetry, the team realized the lost pace on track was the result of the Energy Recovery System (ERS) failing. Typically resulting in over 150 horsepower from the integrated gasoline/electric powertrain of the Mercedes AMG W05 Hybrid race car, Rosberg quickly lost ground with Hamilton and was caught and passed by Felipe Massa on lap 27. Running slower than the pace of the leaders, Rosberg backslid through the field. Through the mechanical gremlins biting the car of Rosberg, the 2014 championship because Hamilton's. Showing the poise of a champion, Rosberg would heroically finish the race in his wounded race machine in 14th place.

Without having to even finish the race the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Nico Rosberg dropped down the running order, Lewis Hamilton was by no means willing to quit. Maintaining the pace he showed all this season, Hamilton concluded the 2014 season crossing the finish line at the Yas Marina Circuit first. Collecting his 11th win for the year, the newly-crowned two-time Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton tied himself with the second-most in a season with Michael Schumacher in 2002 and Sebastian Vettel in 2011. When Hamilton won his first championship in 2008, he captured only five grand prix victories.

Driving for the modern Silver Arrows, Hamilton's win marks the first drivers' title for a full-fledged Mercedes-Benz factory Formula 1 driver since Juan Manuel Fangio's 1955 championship. Following the event, Chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG Dr. Dieter Zetsche said in a statement from the German automaker, “He has truly earned that title with a fantastic performance this year. At the same time, I would also like to congratulate his team-mate Nico Rosberg and all of our staff in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart on this fascinating and highly successful season.". On the Mercedes AMG team's website, Lewis Hamilton was recorded saying he felt ".. a bit lost for words really".



Photo Credit: Mercedes AMG

Capturing two spots on the podium, the Williams Martini Racing organization finishes off what has been a productive 2014 season. A season-best grand prix result for Felipe Massa, he leapfrogged his teammate Valtteri Bottas early in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and stayed ahead for the checkered flag. Finishing within 2.5 seconds of the factory team, the customer Mercedes-Benz engine inside the Williams of Massa got close to Hamilton at the end. "It was good to be racing and pushing the Mercedes. I hope this is a strong building block to go on for next year. The team progressed so much throughout the year, which is why we were able to get podiums in the second half of the season; we will continue this forward movement into next year." said Felipe Massa in a team release. Posting more consistent results in 2014, Bottas claims a higher position in the overall drivers' standings after 19 races. In fourth place, Valtteri Bottas is the highest placed non-winner in the points launching over Sebastian Vettel thanks to the double points headed out at the end of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

With six Mercedes-Benz powered cars finishing in the top-10 after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, many of customer teams performed well in the season finale. Besides the already-mentioned Williams team, Jenson Button took fifth place with a McLaren-Mercedes in what was the last race where the team and engine supplier will be together. With both cars finishing in the points, Force India posted a total of 28 points as Nico Hulkenberg finished sixth and Sergio Perez crossed the line in seventh.


With qualifying times excluded due to a rules infraction on their Red Bull-Renault race cars, Daniel Ricciardo and Sebastian Vettel ended the 55-lap distance inside the top-10. In fact, Ricciardo finished in fourth place, 8.3 seconds behind third place. Vettel finished in eighth place in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix driving his Red Bull-Renault. Finishing 2014 fifth overall in the drivers' standings for 2014, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull Racing ends the season much differentially than 2013. Already announced as leaving Red Bull Racing after capturing four world drivers' championships in a row with the outfit, Vettel's new home in Formula 1 should be confirmed soon. Strongest rumours indicate the German will be driving a Ferrari next season.




Photo Credit: Pirelli Photo Service

The Red Bull Racing cars existed as the only Renault-powered competitors to score points at Abu Dhabi. Jean-Eric Vergne driving for Toro Rosso finished 12th while Lotus F1 Team driver Romain Grosjean crossed the line 13th, one lap down. The Caterham car driven by Will Stevens in his first-ever Formula 1 race went the whole distance of the event to finish 17th but the teammate driver of Kamui Kobayashi retired due to a bad vibration. Renault's showing in the final race was also embarrassed by a reported electronic problem on the Toro Rosso of Daniil Kvyat and a fiery eruption of the powerplant on the Lotus of Pastor Maldonado.

In the final two point-paying positions, the red Ferrari race cars with Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen allowed the Italian team to capture fourth in the constructors' points. Along with Vettel, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix marked the final race that Fernando Alonso would run with Ferrari. Finishing 2nd overall on three occasions, Alonso's time at Ferrari was fruitful but concluded without the ultimate goal the driver/team pairing had wanted.

After 19 races, the 2014 Formula 1 season concludes with a fantastic show of dominance by the Mercedes AMG team and another championship for Lewis Hamilton. With the 2015 season four months away, the victors will possibly spare themselves a little time to celebrate their success this season before turning attention to next year.



2014 Formula 1
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Race Results

Pos #	Car #	Driver	Team	Engine
1	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
2	19	Felipe Massa	Williams	Mercedes-Benz
3	77	Valtteri Bottas	Williams F1	Renault
4	3	Daniel Ricciardo	Red Bull	Renault
5	22	Jenson Button	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
6	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
7	11	Sergio Perez	Force India	Mercedes-Benz
8	1	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull	Renault
9	14	Fernando Alonso	Ferrari	Ferrari
10	7	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	Ferrari
11	22	Kevin Magnussen	McLaren	Mercedes-Benz
12	25	Jean-Eric Vergne	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault
13	8	Romain Grosjean	Lotus	Renault
14	6	Nico Rosberg	Mercedes AMG	Mercedes-Benz
15	21	Esteban Gutierrez	Sauber	Ferrari
16	99	Adrian Sutil	Sauber	Ferrari
17	46	Will Stevens	Caterham	Renault
18	10	Kamui Kobayashi	Caterham	Renault
19	13	Pastor Maldonado	Lotus	Renault
20	26	Daniil Kvyat	Scuderia Toro Rosso	Renault

The Best and Worst of Teammate Championship Battles in Formula 1

This weekend, the 2014 Formula 1 World Drivers' Championship will be decided with the outcome of the final race of the tour's season; the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at the Yas Marina Circuit. Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the dominant duo of 2014 wheeling the Mercedes-Benz F1 W05 Hybrid race cars for Mercedes AMG, stand 17 points apart heading into the race event. Though their collective efforts resulted in 15 victories in 18 races in 2014 providing the Mercedes AMG team with a constructors' title, Rosberg and Hamilton are left to duke out the outcome of the drivers' title.

Since 1950, the teammates have finished in the first and second place in the Formula 1 World Championship 17 times in past seasons (if you include the 1997 season Williams drivers Jacques Villeneuve and Heinz-Herald Frentzen finished at the top after Michael Schumacher was excluded from the official results). For Mercedes-Benz, it is the second time their drivers will be placed in a one-two scenario in the points. Juan Manuel Fangio won the championship over Mercedes teammate Sterling Moss in 1955. The last time teammates finished at the top of the points occurred a decade ago when Michael Schumacher convincingly prevailed over teammate Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari.

Below are five examples of teammates who matched each other in neat identical equipment knowing, between the two drivers, only who could be proclaimed a champion.

1950: Alfa Romeo with Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio

In the first season of the Formula 1 tour, the young post-war racing scene of 1950 was immediately dominated by Alfa Romeo. The Italian automaker won all but one of the races involved in the 1950 Formula 1 schedule (the Indianapolis 500 was originally scored as a Formula 1 points race allowing a Kurtis Kraft-Offenhauser driven by Johnnie Parsons to claim a victory on the schedule). For the inaugural world drivers' championship, it was Italian Giuseppe Farina and Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio in battle against each other. With only the best four of seven race finishes counting on the tour, Giuseppe Farina won the title thanks to wins at Silverstone, Monza and the Swiss Grand Prix at Circuit Bremgarten. Farina's one and only Formula 1 title, Fangio would win his first of five championships the following season. The two drivers are also recorded as the oldest competitors to be crowned Formula 1 champions.

1967: Brabham with Denny Hulme and Jack Brabham

An almost ridiculously impossible idea in modern Formula 1 racing, the recently-departed Sir Jack Brabham was a driver and team owner through the second-half of the 1960s. Not only was Brabham able to win races the with the same name, the Australian won a championship in 1966. For 1967, the Repco-engined Brabham race cars driven by Jack Brabham and teammate Denny Hulme faced Lotus and their all-new Ford-Cosworth DFV V8 engine. While the Lotus-Ford was powerful and quick, the Brabham-Repco proved more consistent over the course of the 1967 season. With 9 of 11 races being tallied for the drivers' title, the New Zealand driver Denny Hulme 2 wins and 8 podium finishes gave him a 5-point edge over his boss. Hulme moved to McLaren in 1968 while the Brabham team would perform poorly a season after winning the driver and constructor title.

1979: Ferrari with Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve 

The Ferrari team's long tenure in Formula 1 has resulted in 15 constructors' championships and four occasions where two team drivers finished one-two for the drivers' title. In 1979, teams hunting for a technological edge with ground effects and turbocharged engines contributed to a season plagued with front-running drivers claiming numerous race retirements. Ferrari team drivers Jody Scheckter and Gilles Villeneuve enjoyed a more reliable 1979 campaign with five DNFs combined (less than the total non-finishes of the third-place in points Alan Jones. With one fewer retirement, Scheckter was able to claim a four-point edge over the Canadian driver.

The title was a well-earned honour after much hard work for Scheckter as a veteran in Formula 1. The South African driver finished second in the championship in 1977 driving a Wolf-Ford owned by Austrian-born Canadian Walter Wolf. The 1979 Ferrari season produced Jody Scheckter's only championship and was the highest points placement in the career of Gilles Villeneuve.

1984: McLaren with Niki Lauda and Alain Prost

Frenchman Alain Prost would gain the status as a Formula 1 legend between a career that stretch from 1980 to 1993 consisting of 51 race victories within at time. While he would win four championships, Prost would finish second two consecutive times in the drivers' point before claiming his first. On the second occasion was in 1984 when Alain Prost returned to McLaren after three seasons with the Renault team. Competing in his 12th season in Formula 1 competition, returning McLaren driver Niki Lauda was aggressively challenged by the young Frenchman in the team's Porsche-powered race machine. Prost posted seven win in the 1984 compared to Lauda's five but the more veteran Formula 1 pilot's four second-place finishes kept him in the hunt. A rain-shortened Monaco Grand Prix ultimately cost Prost the championship. Instead of nine points for a win, the race being called prior to the half-way distance resulted in 4.5 points for Prost. Niki Lauda won the 1984 drivers' title by half a point becoming the closest season-ending championship result in the history of the open wheel racing tour.

The championship victory for Niki Lauda was his third and final Formula 1 title. Defending his title, Lauda retired from the sport after the 1985 season where Prost assumed champion honours.

1989: McLaren with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna

The 1989 Formula 1 season was a battle among two motorsport titans. Teammates at McLaren, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost rapidly shifted from having a generally cooperative relationship to being bitter rivals. Joining the team in 1988, Senna claimed his first championship with McLaren by overcoming Prost by three points thanks to eight race wins.

In 1989, the catalyst to what morphed into an outright poisonous relationship between Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna was the second race of the year at San Marino. Acting against an pre-race agreement, Senna passed Prost on a restart to win the event. First and second in the championship with the top eleven finishes coming for the championship, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost headed into the second-to-last race in Suzuka, Japan. Failing to finish in five races, Senna required a good finish at the Japanese Grand Prix to contend against Prost. Both McLaren-Honda race cars started on the front row with Senna taking pole. During the race, Alain Prost gained the lead but Ayrton Senna was able to caught the other McLaren on lap 46. With a chance to pass Prost, Senna ran alongside his teammate intent to take the lead. The two cars fought their each other into a corner and made contact. Prost retired following the collision but Senna continued in his McLaren-Honda. Despite crossing the line first, Formula 1 stewards ruled Senna missed a chicane and disqualified the Brazilian driver effectively heading the 1989 world drivers' title to Alain Prost. A similar incident occurred the next season at Suzuka with Ayrton Senna remaining with McLaren and Prost joining Ferrari. That time, Senna came out as the victor for the 1990 championship.

The Senna/Prost battle for the 1989 championship is considered the ultimate inner-team fight some Formula 1 observers were expecting to see arise in 2014. An altercation during the Belgian Grand Prix saw a rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg erupt in a very public manner. However, after what seemed to be some stern words from team principal Toto Wolff, the relationship between the two championship contending teammate has appeared civil. The outcome of the 2014 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix will conclude whether the fight between the Mercedes AMG drivers will be another storied one.