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By Emanuele Venturoli| Posted November 7, 2014 | In Formula1, MotoGP, Sport News, Sport Sponsorship, Sports Marketing
Nico Rosberg has qualified on pole position for the 2014 Brazilian Grand Prix after edging out team-mate and title rival Lewis Hamilton by 3 hundredths of a second. With just 2 races to go in the championship, including tomorrow, Rosberg and Hamilton were concentrating on themselves for the fight for pole, however they were caught by surprise as Williams came within a few tenths of the Mercedes duo. Felipe Massa took 3rd in front of his home crowd with Bottas 4th, but it could have been much better as the pair bailed out of their final runs.
Q1:
The much threatened rain that had been forecast for this weekend failed to materialise for qualifying. Once again, with the financial issues affecting Caterham and Marussia, there would be 4 cars eliminated in Q1 and another 4 in Q2 before the top 10 shoot-out.
Nico Rosberg would continue his run of being fastest in every session so far this weekend after topping all 3 practice sessions. He was 2 tenths clear of Hamilton, a margin that had stayed the same throughout practice.
Esteban Gutierrez and Adrian Sutil found out earlier this week that they would not be racing for Sauber next year after the appointment of Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. They were now fighting to get a drive next year with another team. They were both at risk of being eliminated in Q1, so they came out on the fastest tyre straight away.
Sebastian Vettel was also under threat of elimination in the session while he suffered with a brief engine glitch. He wasn’t pulling away very well on the exit of corners and subsequently was only 13th, 2 positions away from elimination.
Both Lotus drivers had seemed to be improving after their reasonable showing at Austin last week, however they were both eliminated in Q1 along with Sergio Perez who has a 7 place penalty due to his contact with Sutil last time out. Jean-Eric Vergne would also be eliminated and would later go onto to complain that his car was awful to drive.
Out of Q1:
15 | Romain Grosjean | Lotus-Renault | 1’12.037 |
16 | Jean-Eric Vergne | Toro Rosso-Renault | 1’12.040 |
17 | Sergio Perez | Force India-Mercedes | 1’12.076 |
18 | Pastor Maldonado | Lotus-Renault | 1’12.233 |
Q2:
Daniil Kvyat decided not to make a single run in the second session of qualifying to save tyres for the race. The Russian also had a penalty for an engine component change. Three other drivers would join him in not making it into the top 10.
Rosberg once again topped the session for Mercedes, but this time the Williams drivers were in 2nd and 3rd, with Hamilton 4 tenths off of Rosberg in P4. The Williams drivers had both managed to put in impressive lap times despite not looking as comfortable as the Mercedes drivers. Perhaps they would be able to get their 2nd pole position upset of the year like they had done in Austria.
Sutil failed to make it into Q3 as he had done in Austin after running off track at Juncao. His team-mate would also be eliminated. Nico Hulkenberg had started on pole position for this race in 2010 but wasn’t able to get into the top 10 this time.
Fernando Alonso was just on the cusp of elimination in P10 after being pushed down by Daniel Ricciardo who only made one run in the session and managed to go P8.
Out in Q2:
11 | Esteban Gutierrez | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’11.591 |
12 | Nico Hulkenberg | Force India-Mercedes | 1’11.976 |
13 | Adrian Sutil | Sauber-Ferrari | 1’12.099 |
14 | Daniil Kvyat | Toro Rosso-Renault |
Q3:
The sudden improvement by Williams had really opened the door for a fantastic fight for the penultimate pole position of the year. To add to this, the pole position trophy could be claimed by Nico Rosberg if he took P1. Finally the outright qualifying record at Interlargos set by Rubens Barrichello in 2004 was under threat after the repaving of the entire circuit had added a lot of grip to the track.
Lewis Hamilton was the first man to set a time before once again being beaten by Rosberg. However this time Nico did not hold the advantage he had done in previous sessions. He was on provisional pole by just a hundredths of a second. The two Williams drivers were next but were both having scruffy laps. Despite this, Bottas got within 2 tenths once again, with Felipe Massa managing to get a few hundredths down on Hamilton even though he had been 4 tenths off as he entered the final sector.
As the drivers came out for their final runs, it really looked as though the Williams pair had a chance if they could hook their laps together.
Hamilton was the first to make his final run and managed to take the top spot despite having a lock-up at Bico de Pato. The lock-up had forced Hamilton to go a little wide into the corner, which would ultimately be the difference between him and pole position. Rosberg capitalised on Hamilton’s mistake to take pole position by just 3 hundredths of a second.
The Williams challenge ended soon after if had begun as both Massa and Bottas bailed out of their final laps. They would still lock-out the 2nd row on the grid, with Massa getting 3rd at his home race. Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel would take the 3rd row with just 8 thousandths between the pair. Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso were also within the same tenth as Button and Vettel. They will line up 7th and 8th, with Daniel Ricciardo and Kimi Raikkonen completing the top 10.
2014 Brazilian Grand Prix grid:
Row 1 | 1. Nico Rosberg 1’10.023 Mercedes |
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2. Lewis Hamilton 1’10.056 Mercedes |
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Row 2 | 3. Felipe Massa 1’10.247 Williams |
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4. Valtteri Bottas 1’10.305 Williams |
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Row 3 | 5. Jenson Button 1’10.930 McLaren |
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6. Sebastian Vettel 1’10.938 Red Bull |
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Row 4 | 7. Kevin Magnussen 1’10.969 McLaren |
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8. Fernando Alonso 1’10.977 Ferrari |
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Row 5 | 9. Daniel Ricciardo 1’11.075 Red Bull |
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10. Kimi Raikkonen 1’11.099 Ferrari |
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Row 6 | 11. Esteban Gutierrez 1’11.591 Sauber |
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12. Nico Hulkenberg 1’11.976 Force India |
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Row 7 | 13. Adrian Sutil 1’12.099 Sauber |
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14. Romain Grosjean 1’12.037 Lotus |
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Row 8 | 15. Jean-Eric Vergne 1’12.040 Toro Rosso |
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16. Pastor Maldonado 1’12.233 Lotus |
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Row 9 | 17. Daniil Kvyat* No time Toro Rosso |
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18. Sergio Perez* 1’12.076 Force India |
*Both Perez and Kvyat had 7 place grid penalties.
Pole-sitter, Nico Rosberg: “It’s the perfect job only if it works out tomorrow. Up to now it has been going well. I’m in the best place to be for tomorrow, but I need to make it happen in the race. The adrenaline is there, the tension, the excitement. It’s not been changing that much, I’m just here, I’m going for it, pushing myself to stay optimistic all the time. I have learned from Austin, I know what I need to do better so from that point of view, I look forward to tomorrow.”
2nd place on the grid, Lewis Hamilton: “It was great fun out there. Nico did a great lap. I think I lost time at Turn 10 and maybe a tiny bit in Turn One. But it was great having to keep going out and fighting – that’s what qualifying should be all about, and being that close is really exciting – I hope everyone enjoyed it. It’s a long race tomorrow and it should be really exciting with all the pit stops. I want to win as much as anyone else.”
3rd place on the grid, Felipe Massa: “It’s very emotional to be here in Brazil and have a competitive car and start in the top three. I didn’t use everything I could from the car – I got a lot of traffic in my last run. There were also problems in the garage and I couldn’t improve my lap time. Everyone was improving a bit on the second set. I was not going to improve to beat them but maybe I could get close. It was very tight between team-mates but I think that’s the good thing. I’m so happy. I hope it’s just the beginning for a good result tomorrow.”
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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