• The Final Stint - Brazilian Grand Prix

Rosberg shines through F1 storm

Politics reared its ugly head again in Brazil, with the news going into the race dominated by the failure of talks around cost-cutting and an engine unfreeze failing. Luckily, the Brazilian Grand Prix treated us to a great on-track show - headlined by the tense fight out in front between the Mercedes title contenders. ESPN picks out five of the major talking points from the weekend's race.

F1 teeters on the precipice

Formula One is in a mess right now and it's not yet clear how it's going to come out of it. Once again, the idea of three car teams was raised on Sunday, which is a option open to the sport but one that remains very unlikely. A two and half hour summit meeting of team principals and Bernie Ecclestone yielded no clear progress on Saturday night and left the sport's three smallest teams convinced there is some kind of agenda in place. Force India, Lotus and Sauber had been looking to get a base payment from the sport's commercial rights holder to help them compete with the top teams, but that now appears to be off the table. Instead they are concerned that the status quo will remain in place, making it increasingly difficult for them to compete with F1's top teams. Eventually they are concerned they will be pressured into running customer cars in order to survive, creating a two tier Formula One with a constructors' championship and a teams' championship. Such a move would fundamentally change the face of F1 and leave the sport's future in the balance with the danger that one constructor pulling out would kill two teams. It is also unlikely such a formula would help revive the falling viewing figures and fill the empty grandstands that remain at many races. F1 is already on the precipice and it looks like it's about to take a plunge.LE

Rosberg delivers

© Getty Images

Enlarge

Nico Rosberg needed a victory in Brazil. From the get-go at Interlagos Rosberg was just on it, topping every session and taking pole before the lights had even gone out. It is true that Lewis Hamilton had the pace to beat him in the race but it is also true Rosberg turned in a faultless drive out in front, refusing to buckle under the pressure being exerted by his Mercedes team-mate in the final stint. The difference between Austin and Interlagos was that Rosberg refused to let Hamilton get close enough to attempt a pass in the latter, maintaining just enough of a gap to ensure the victory. He put Hamilton in a position where, after his earlier spin, the onus was on the Brit to make something happen to victory. Hamilton ultimately was quicker on Sunday but was never close enough to make a pass. Rosberg still goes into the finale in Abu Dhabi needing something else to happen to be 2014 world champion but it was a victory as important for his mindset as it was for his title chances. That said, the title is still very much Hamilton's to lose. The last time Mercedes did not have both cars finish a race in first and second was the rain-affected Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break. Rain will not be a factor in Abu Dhabi. If Mercedes can ensure a double finish again it is hard to imagine he will not claim at least the second-place finish he needs to be world champion again. He can afford to take a more measured approach to Abu Dhabi but whether the thoroughbred racer inside him decides to do so is another matter entirely. NS

Freeze or thaw?

One reason the bigger teams seem slightly apathetic to the concerns of the sport's smallest outfits is perhaps because they have more pressing issues on their agendas. Mercedes is currently at loggerheads with Ferrari and Red Bull (powered by Renault) over the ongoing issue of whether to lift the engine freeze - which currently means manufacturers can do no work on engines after homologation, which happened this year on February 28. At present development can only take place in the winter, using a 'token' system allowing manufacturers able to change 48% of 45 engine components at the end of the current campaign. That rule has meant it has been impossible for Ferrari and Renault to close the gap to Mercedes this season. The proposal put forward was to allow 13 additional tokens - relating to individual engine changes - to be allowed mid-season. Mercedes offered a "slight compromise" during meetings in Brazil, lowering it to just five tokens to be used in July 2015, leading to discussions breaking down on Saturday.

Marco Mattiacci and Christian Horner are leading the charge for an engine thaw © Sutton Images

Enlarge

The following day Ferrari team boss Marco Mattiacci said: "We don't give up on a very fundamental principal of Formula One, that is innovating, that is competing. Probably someone does not share these values of Formula One." Red Bull's Christian Horner was equally critical, saying "it's all rather frustrating because we sit down and talk about things; you leave the room and think you have agreed to something and then it changes." Toto Wolff said both sides were guilty of changing their minds throughout the weekend and re-iterated his concern about the huge costs an engine thaw would cause. Protecting Mercedes' position of dominance is certainly a factor, too. The discussions will resume this week but it seems the two sides are no closer to resolving anything than they were before Interlagos.NS

The curious case of Jenson Button

Jenson Button is no longer talking like a man who has his heart set on staying in F1. As the Fernando Alonso/McLaren will-they-won't-they soap opera drags on, Button appears to becoming increasingly disillusioned by his current employers. It's no secret he has explored other options - any racing driver would - and a move to endurance car racing is looking increasingly likely. "All you've got to do is drive the car as fast as you can and carry yourself as well as you can, the rest isn't in your hands," he said after Sunday's race. "It's all I can do right now, go out and enjoy my racing, and I loved it today. You have good days and bad days in a situation like I am, in terms of mentally. I don't think any of the days on the circuit have been negative, they've been positive." Should McLaren make him an offer, it's no longer seems entirely guaranteed he take it. LE

Return of the Iceman?

Well, not quite, but all in all the weekend was better for him and we were finally treated to the Raikkonen/Alonso duel most people dreamt of when the Finn moved to Ferrari. A slow second pit stop before that duel had left him on the back foot. Raikkonen held firm with some splendid defensive driving against his outgoing team-mate, but eventually his old tyres and the DRS zone on the start/finish straight brought the duel to a premature end. Of course, we are a long way away from seeing the Raikkonen of yesteryear but it was evidence that, when he has a "normal" weekend, the Finn still has plenty to offer. On Saturday it was revealing when Raikkonen said: "we've tried many things differently in races this year and it hasn't worked out and has probably cost us points. If it doesn't work, I'll pay the price for it, it's fine " The trial and error Raikkonen is talking about means he wrote this current season off a long time ago and, with Alonso set to leave and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel all but confirmed, there may well be hope at Maranello the next Ferrari can be more in line with the Finn's driving style.NS

© Sutton Images

Enlarge

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.