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By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted November 1, 2014 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Lewis Hamilton has won the 2014 United States Grand Prix after starting from 2nd place. The British driver passed Nico Rosberg in a late out-breaking manoeuvre to take the lead and give himself a 24 point lead in the championship with 2 races to go. Rosberg finished P2 with Daniel Ricciardo taking the final spot on the podium for Red Bull.
A 2 stop, 56 lap race lay ahead of the drivers for the 2014 United States Grand Prix. Thankfully, all the suspicions of some teams boycotting the race did not come to fruition. All 18 cars, minus Caterham and Marussia, took to the grid for the race.
Nico Rosberg had the best start off of the front row as he scampered into the lead. Hamilton made a decent getaway but still went slightly defensive to cover off the two Williams drivers on the second row. Felipe Massa managed to get a better start than his team-mate to pass him up the inside into the first turn. Despite having decided not to boycott the race, one Force India was out before the end of lap 1. Sergio Perez was trying his best to gain positions in what he considers the closest thing to a home race. He tried to get up the inside of Sutil’s Sauber into the double left of turn 15, but instead he rear-ended Raikkonen’s Ferrari and then clobbered Sutil. The damage was significant. Debris showered the circuit and both Perez and Sutil would retire from the race. The safety car was bought out.
A number of drivers near the rear of the field elected to pit straight away in order to get their mandatory pit-stops out of the way. This was made even more of a good decision by the fact that the medium tyre was a better race compound, so moving onto them with no real loss was an obvious move. Sebastian Vettel even pitted twice, once to get his mandatory stop out of the way, a second to move back to the mediums tyres that he had started on.
Rosberg got a good start when the safety car came in at the end of lap 4, with the German holding a 0.7 lead by the end of the restart lap. By the end of the next lap, the gap was 1.1 seconds. Valtteri Bottas tried his hardest to get back past his team-mate into turn 1, but Massa managed to resist. Fernando Alonso wasn’t able to do the same as Ricciardo jumped past him in his Red Bull.
Hamilton managed to start closing back in on Rosberg by the end of the first 10 laps to get to within 0.6 seconds of his team-mate. He strangely fell back over 2 seconds on lap 15, with Rosberg electing to pit. Valtteri Bottas pitted from 4th a lap later and rejoined just ahead of Ricciardo who had pitted earlier. The Australian had attempted to execute the ‘undercut’ on the Finn and it just about worked as he used his extra momentum to get by the Williams on the outside. Lewis pitted on the next lap and rejoined 2 seconds behind his team-mate.
Once again, as the two Mercedes drivers got further into their stints, Hamilton seemed to creep back up to the gearbox of Rosberg. By lap 23 he was well within the DRS zone of Rosberg, but slightly too far back to make the move into turn 12. The next lap however was different. It was almost a mirror image of his 2012 pass on Sebastian Vettel as he shadowed his prey all the way down the straight. He pulled it to the inside and appeared to catch Nico napping as his defence came far too late. There were bare centimetres between them, but Hamilton passed him nevertheless. Hamilton had the lead. Within a lap he had pulled over a second on him.
Meanwhile near the back of the top 10, Sebastian Vettel was having a nightmare race. He had started from the pit-lane thanks to a whole power-unit change and had hoped to fight his way through the field. Instead, he was being passed by Romain Grosjean’s Lotus! The Lotus cars appeared to have improved for this weekend as Pastor Maldonado was into the top 10 as well. The Venezuelan hadn’t scored any points all season and was looking to change that, but he would have to take a time penalty at the end of the race for speeding in the pits.
The second and final scheduled pit-stop phase began as the drivers entered the final 26 laps on lap 30. Jenson Button was instructed to pit, but then told not to suddenly as his team-mate Magnussen had pitted instead. He was then told to come in to the next lap. Jenson still decided to make sure that was the case as he replied sarcastically, “Are you sure this lap? Are you sure?”
Daniel Ricciardo once again attempted to undercut a Williams as he pitted from 4th a lap earlier than Felipe Massa. The Williams crew had a slightly delayed stop as Massa was held in his box, which allowed Ricciardo to get through into the top 3. The Mercedes pit-wall decided it was best to pit Hamilton and Rosberg slightly early, despite their tyres being in good condition, to make sure they covered off Ricciardo and Massa. Hamilton pitted first with a 2.9 second stop, with Rosberg following a lap later with a 3.2 stop. The gap was around 3 seconds between the two title rivals and it was now a sprint to the finish to see who would claim the win.
The battle for the final few points positions was shaping up to be a cracker. Sebastian Vettel tried to lunge his way up into 9th past Kevin Magnussen’s McLaren, but his car wasn’t compliant as he slid wide and gave the rookie his place back. He managed to make it stick on the next lap. He then had Fernando Alonso, who had rejoined just ahead, to deal with as he ducked his car up the inside of the Ferrari into turn 1. He held onto the outside through the fast turn 2 to claim the inside line and the position into turn 3. Within a few laps however, he was struggling! His tyres appeared to die as a load of cars breezed by. He had no choice but to pit and rejoin in 14th place and see where he could get up to in the final dozen laps.
Thankfully for Vettel, the gap between 7th and 14th was only 10 seconds as the race drew to a close. Drivers were pushing as hard as they can, with some fighting to stay on the grid next season. Jean-Eric Vergne was a prime example as he pulled off a huge lunge into turn 1 to pass Romain Grosjean. The pair made a little contact on the exit of the turn, must to Grosjean’s disapproval. Vergne then set about getting past Jenson Button, which he did cleanly with 3 laps to go, but soon he was demoted back into 9th as Sebastian Vettel charged through, with the fastest lap in his pocket, to take P8. Vettel was now in the zone as he closed in on Kevin Magnussen to take 7th on the penultimate lap. He was also approaching his long-term rival Fernando Alonso, but he ran out of laps to take the position from the man he may be replacing next year.
Back at the front, the battle hadn’t been wheel-to-wheel, but the two Mercedes drivers had been trading fastest sectors for the whole final stint of the race. The gap between them had fluctuated around 2 to 3 seconds, but Rosberg was unable to get into a position to pass his team-mate. Lewis Hamilton would claim his 5th win in a row, his 10th win of the season and his 32nd win of his career. This would make him the most successful British F1 driver having equalled the record in Russia. Nico Rosberg would take 2nd place, but he was now 24 points behind Lewis with 2 rounds and 75 points left on the table.
Daniel Ricciardo managed to hold off a late charge by Felipe Massa to claim another podium for Red Bull, with Williams finishing 4th and 5th ahead of Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel’s late race charge gave him 7th place after starting from the pit-lane. Kevin Magnussen took 8th place for McLaren ahead of the battling Toro Rosso of Jean-Eric Vergne. Jean-Eric would be demoted a place after a 5 place penalty for his contact with Grosjean.
Pastor Maldonado had crossed the line to take 9th place after an aggressive pass on Vergne on the last lap, but a five second penalty would demote him one place to 10th. He would regain 9th after Vergne’s 5 place penalty pushed him behind Pastor. The performance was the best he has given this season as he took his first points of the year. Team-mate Romain Grosjean would finish just outside of the points in 11th place ahead of Jenson Button in 12th and Kimi Raikkonen; the Ferrari driver having a dismal race. Esteban Gutierrez and Daniil Kvyat were the final two finishers, with the latter having been on course for a points finish until hitting debris in the final few laps.
3 drivers failed to finish the race. Nico Hulkenberg retired with engine issues as he joined team-mate Sergio Perez and his victim Adrian Sutil in an early bath. (Not literally.)
2014 United States Grand Prix results:
Pos. | # | Driver | Team |
1 | 44 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes |
2 | 6 | Nico Rosberg | Mercedes |
3 | 3 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull |
4 | 19 | Felipe Massa | Williams |
5 | 77 | Valtteri Bottas | Williams |
6 | 14 | Fernando Alonso | Ferrari |
7 | 1 | Sebastian Vettel | Red Bull |
8 | 20 | Kevin Magnussen | McLaren |
9 | 13 | Pastor Maldonado* | Lotus |
10 | 25 | Jean-Eric Vergne** | Toro Rosso |
11 | 8 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus |
12 | 22 | Jenson Button | McLaren |
13 | 7 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari |
14 | 21 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber |
15 | 26 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso |
Retirements: Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Adrian Sutil. * – Five second penalty for speeding in the pits. ** – Five second penalty for causing a collision.
Race winner, Lewis Hamilton: “I have an incredible team and an incredible car and I had a great opponent today. It is such a privilege to represent my country and to be top of the driver wins is quite special. The car was great today.”
2nd place, Nico Rosberg: “It kind of sucks for me today. It took too long for me to find my rhythm. Once Hamilton got by I found my rhythm but that was too late.”
3rd place, Daniel Ricciardo: “We are doing what we can. We all had a great weekend so thank to all the fans. It’s a pleasure to come out here. Thanks to Red Bull for giving me a package to fight for the podium and I’m really happy with third place. You can overtake here. I got Magnussen and then Alonso on the restart so it wasn’t too boring out there.”
The drivers now have just a week break until the penultimate race of the season in Brazil, the circuit where on this day 6 years ago, Lewis Hamilton claimed the 2008 world championship. He won’t be able to repeat that feat next weekend as he has a 24 points lead in the championship. Thanks to the double points finale in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton could win in Brazil with Rosberg not finishing and still lose the title in Abu Dhabi should he retire and Rosberg win.
Are you ready to explore the transformative power of athlete sponsorship for your brand? Click here to learn more about how sponsorship can help brands grow and thrive in the exciting world of motorsports.
A graduate in Public, Social and Political Communication from the University of Bologna, he has always been passionate about marketing, design and sport.
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Read MoreIn an era where it is possible to get anywhere with a click, there is a strong temptation to approach teams and properties directly for sponsorship projects.
By doing so, we are convinced that we are shortening the value chain, saving time and money. However, these DYI methods are anything but risk-free and what initially appears to be a competitive advantage soon turns into a problem that is difficult to resolve. That’s why there are agencies. And this is why you should rely on us for your sponsorships.
When first approaching a sponsorship or sports marketing project, it is difficult to know immediately which stakeholders are correct, what the decision flow is, and what the right timelines are for each process. Sports is a very specialized field of action, and fitting effectively into its paths can take a lot of time and therefore money. We, on the other hand, know referents and spheres of action and know who to talk to, when and how. So you are also more effective.
Sports is an immense passion, and for our heart colors we would be willing to do anything. But business is a different business, and it is important to make the best possible strategic decisions based on independent research, statistics and reliable data. A sports marketing and sports sponsorship agency like RTR has an objective, 360-degree picture of the scenario and can tell you what is really best for you: which sport, which athlete, which team. This is because we possess a great deal of data and information on ratings, segmentation and attitudes. Because the numbers don’t lie. Never.
Activations are the real heart of sports sponsorship. Without them, there remains only a blank sticker on a motorcycle, car or uniform and no contact with the public, no emotional connection, no impact on the bottom line. Then how do you do it? It certainly won’t be the teams or the athletes who will help you leverage sponsorship and enjoy the many marketing rights you have paid for. To bring out the best in a sports marketing project you need an agency that knows how to use sponsorship to engage the fanbase on the Web, to reach out to Shopping Centers, to organize hospitality, to develop B2B and B2C opportunities, and to get “your” athletes in front of millions of potential consumers.
Would you ever go to the dealer who sold you the car and ask if the competitor’s car is better? No, of course. So, how do you expect to get firm measurements of the effectiveness of your sponsorship if you do not rely on someone super partes? At RTR, we have always worked with independent third-party agencies that allow us to know the return on any exposure of your brand on TV and in the media. In addition, we believe in calculating ROI as the ultimate measure of your success-so we can tell you for every penny you spend how much you are making.
We have been involved in sports sponsorship and sports marketing for more than 15 years. We are consultants in the sense that our goal is to maximize your investment, but we are also an agency that manages the project from start to finish. We have been doing this since 1995 with passion and professionalism, following three principles that have become cornerstones of our business: independence, verticality and transparency.
I would like to highlight the fact that one of the qualities of RTR is its great ability to approach the sponsorship scenario strategically, together with its passionate attitude, its amazing enthusiasm for solving problems, and its high level of professionalism.
Gianluca Degliesposti
Executive Director Server&Storage EMEA
Eurosport is truly delighted with its business relationship with Riccardo Tafà, who has become extremely popular, thanks to his detailed knowledge of the sports marketing sector and his highly diligent attitude to work.
Francois Ribeiro
Commercial Director
Passion and Expertise are the features that I have found in RTR since the very beginning. Serious and reliable professionals but also very helpful, nice and open-mind people, willing to listen and compare different ideas. All the values in which RTR believes make this agency a partner, not just a supplier, a partner with whom we have had the opportunity to achieve significant commercial results in term of success and image.
Luca Pacitto
Head of Communication
We have been working with RTR Sports Marketing for over 10 years. The objectives and the programmes of collaboration continue to be renewed and to grow with mutual satisfaction. I believe RTR is a team of great professionals led by Riccardo Tafà, who I consider a manager of exceptional skills and with a great passion for his work.
Lucio Cecchinello
Team Principal
I have known and worked with Riccardo Tafà since 1995 when we collaborated for the first time on a project for the Williams Formula 1 team. Several clients followed. After leaving Williams to work for Gerhard Berger then owner of the Toro Rosso F1 Team, I turned again to Riccardo to seek his help in finding a tool supplier for the team and Riccardo duly obliged with an introduction to USAG, a partnership with Toro Rosso which endured for five years. I recently started a new role as Group Commercial Director for the renowned Andretti Autosport organisation and I find myself working with Riccardo once again on a number of interesting projects. Why has this relationship with Riccardo endured ? He’s smart, knows the commercial side of sport inside out and back to front and he’s honest and trustworthy. Riccardo Tafà is a “doer” not a “talker”: in over 20 years I have never had a dispute either with him or with a company that he has introduced and each partnership introduced by Riccardo has delivered quantifiable ROI to rights holder and sponsor alike. I can think of no better testimonial of Riccardo’s diligence, knowledge, contact base and hard work than that.
Jim Wright
Group Commercial Director
The online platform where you can discover the latest trends, strategies and insights from the exciting world of sports marketing.
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