The report cards of the Brazilian Grand Prix

Penultimate stage of the 2014 world championship, still a title up for grabs which will be awarded in Abu Dhabi in a challenge entirely at Mercedes. In the meantime, let's focus on the report cards from the race that took place yesterday.

NICO ROSBERG
VOTE: 10
He takes his revenge after just 7 days, when the United States Grand Prix took place: this time it was his teammate who made the mistake. Nico appears at maximum concentration right from the early stages of Friday, then on Saturday he inflicts psychological damage on Hamilton with a pole position on the edge of a thousandths of a second. On Sunday he runs his race: even when Lewis seems to be able to overtake him, he stays calm and doesn't make a single mistake, he doesn't let himself be crushed by the pressure and actually sets the fastest lap several times. He wants to keep the fight for the world championship open and is doing everything he can to get it, as we saw yesterday. In Abu Dhabi we're going for broke and it doesn't mean he can't do it: the number of possible combinations of the various placings leaves the door open for his first world title. He will need a certain amount of character like here in Brazil to make his direct rival give in, we'll see.

LEWIS HAMILTON
VOTE: 6
Fate seems to have fun with the Mercedes drivers or they themselves like to complicate things: Lewis with that spin shows everything and nothing. It could be a simple and very serious mistake in this moment, it could be a sign of mental failure towards the pressure of the "world title": the fact is that the mistake of this race should not have been made. He doesn't put a good face on the podium, going up with a very long face which perhaps still denotes a certain childishness when it's none other than him who makes the mistake. He certainly doesn't have to make a fuss about what happened, he still finished second and reopened a championship that seemed to be settled, but now everything is at stake in the last Grand Prix... who knows the fate of who will smile and above all how much mental stress Lewis will be able to handle in the moments that matter.

FELIPE MASSA
VOTE: 8
A third place that is worth the victory for everything that happened to him in the race: "particular" strategy and problems with the tire change that cost him several seconds, a 5-second penalty for excessive speed in the pit lane, plus he misses the pit box -stop going to the McLaren mechanics. In short, everything that could have happened to him happened to him but Felipe withstood the blows of fate well, finishing in a good third place. A thoroughly deserved performance that showed what he can still do when the situation isn't the best - unlike Bottas: the home air gave Felipe some shine again and he offers emotions and entertainment in front of his fans.

JENSON BUTTON
VOTE: 9
Great race for Jenson who is trying to demonstrate that he still deserves a place in the Formula 1 Circus: he finishes in a "silent" way with an excellent fourth place (unlike his young teammate), remaining behind only the two elusive Mercedes and Mass. Demonstration of character, determination and desire to do things united by a silent consistency and a great reading of the race which the English driver has never lacked. This season he has demonstrated several times that he is able to bring a McLaren in difficulty into the positions that count and he has always done so against all expectations - see the Canadian GP where on the last lap he came fourth, beating Alonso - a sign that the driver is there and he deserves a seat in the top flight next year too. And then one with the pink helmet when do you happen to see him?

SEBASTIAN VETTEL
VOTE: 8
A good race finishes fifth: the whole weekend goes quite well for the German driver. At the start he is mocked by Alonso and remains behind him for several laps although he has an excellent race pace, then thanks to the whirlwind of gearboxes he manages to overtake him and for the rest of the race he remains constant, finishing fifth and bringing the only Red Bull to the points remained after the retirement of his teammate. Now, however, the chapter with the Milton Keynes company is about to close and everyone is wondering what he will be able to do aboard the Ferrari. For the moment he is concerned with bringing home as many points as possible and demonstrating that even after four titles he doesn't lack "hunger", a shame about a truly dull first part of the season.

FERNANDO ALONSO
VOTE: 7
The Spanish driver confirmed himself in excellent physical and mental shape also at the end of the season, fighting with his rivals to achieve the best possible placing, which ended with a sixth place. The clash with his teammate in the final laps was beautiful, where the team seemed to give him the right signal by not giving orders via radio to Kimi to let him pass: Fernando then stuck behind him and passed him, then arriving with a decent advantage. After all, the season ends as it began: his car doesn't perform, but he always manages to bring out the best, showing determination and desire to win, as much as possible. One more race and we will see what his path will be for 2015, even if it already seems confirmed by rumors and facts.

KIMI RAIKKONEN
VOTE: 7
Good race for the Finnish driver who, after a bad start from tenth place, finished in seventh place behind his teammate: protagonist of good battles especially in the second part of the race, he demonstrated that, if he wanted, he could come up with something better than in many other races of this season and that the desire to fight has not disappeared, on the contrary. The two-stop strategy seemed successful and unlike the other races the pace was constant, which bodes well for the last race and above all for the season to come.

NICO HULKENBERG
VOTE: 7
Good performance from Hülkenberg who battles with the top drivers throughout the Grand Prix: mid-race he sinks a bit to the back, but towards the end he starts lapping again very strongly and fights with Bottas in a rather physical way, then in the final he passes Magnussen with agility and finishes eighth, not far from Rӓikkӧnen. The placing is certainly not the best considering his performances last season, but it was still a good race for him. Perhaps the renewal with Force India has loosened the psychological grip that held him tight and in Abu Dhabi we will be able to see him go even a little stronger: unfortunately, no matter how good we are at what we do, sometimes this is not enough and the fear of losing again the seat is always lurking and Nico knows it well but at least for another year he will be able to focus on what matters, that is, driving to the maximum.

KEVIN MAGNUSSEN
VOTE: 5
Although Magnussen showed a little something in the middle of the race, unfortunately his performance this weekend cannot be considered sufficient. He had a low pace throughout the Grand Prix, finishing ninth and in the anonymity of a race that could have been better. Perhaps the lack of experience, especially compared to his teammate, penalized him, but not demonstrating character when necessary is unacceptable, especially when the McLaren you drive does not have the usual tire wear problems highlighted in other Grands Prix and the Mercedes engine is reliable.

VALTTERI BOTTAS
VOTE: 5
Bottas' race was also dull: he finished tenth, picking up a small point and showing difficulties throughout the race, especially in tire degradation. The fact that the Williams mechanics then forced him to make a long pit stop was not his mistake, but here lies the key: after this event Valtteri completely lost himself, ending up in the anonymity of this Grand Prix and must learn to react even when Unforeseeable things happen. He promised himself not to make any more mistakes and that's fine, but there is still a long way to go to learn to improve and what happened, although unpleasant, is part of racing.

DANIIL KVYAT
VOTE: 6
He finished eleventh and immediately outside the points zone, running a good race for Toro Rosso in a weekend that did not give the team any particular satisfaction.

PASTOR MALDONADO
VOTE: 6.5
The only Lotus to reach the finish line, at this end of the season both it and its car in particular seem to be showing signs of improvement, despite yet another disastrous qualifying. We hope that next season they too will return to battle in the front rows thanks to the adoption of Mercedes engines.

JEAN-ERIC VERGNE
VOTE: 5
The euphoric verve of the Frenchman who had accustomed us in recent races to overtaking at the limit and slingshotting into corners seems to have ended. It's true that this weekend the team seemed to be in clear difficulty with the set-up of the single-seaters, but could it be that unfortunately Vergne will be left behind by Toro Rosso next year? Who knows, we'll see in Abu Dhabi what will happen and how the driver will be able to react.

ESTEBAN GUTIERREZ
VOTE: 5.5
For both Saubers the Brazilian Grand Prix was quite dull: they finished at the back, one behind the other. Qualifying seemed optimistic for the Mexican, who started eleventh, but his race pace later proved disappointing. Nothing to be done for the Swiss team which in the meantime has already announced the driver line-up for 2015.

SERGIO PEREZ
VOTE: 5
Simply a ghost since qualifying, he never finds a decent pace in the race and finishes second to last, an abyss behind his teammate. Hasn't he yet assimilated the mistake he made seven days earlier? Maybe, but running with the handbrake on doesn't get you very far.

ADRIAN SUTIL
VOTE: 5
Last place for Sutil, in a race without interesting ideas either for him or for the team that will abandon him at the end of the season.

ROMAIN GROSJEAN
VOTE: 5
Starting from fifteenth place, he retired without any sharp details after a race which still showed some improvements on the part of his single-seater. As mentioned for Maldonado, we will see if with the Mercedes supply in 2015 the team will be able to be successful again, in the meantime Grosjean does what he can.

DANIEL RICCIARDO
VOTE: 5.5
Ricciardo also retired due to a broken arm. It must be said that throughout the weekend the Australian had a hard time digesting the trip to Brazil: never at ease, he didn't seem as "bad" as in Austin, maintaining a subdued race pace which then ended, as mentioned, in a retirement almost saving for how it was progressing.

Ylenia Griggio