Nico Rosberg conceded that he “thought it was all over” after being hit by Sebastian Vettel on the first lap of Sunday’s Malaysian Grand Prix, before going on to extend his lead in the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
Rosberg started second at Sepang on Sunday, but looked set to lose his eight-point lead in the title race after being clouted by Vettel at the first corner.
With Mercedes teammate and title rival Lewis Hamilton leading the pack and seemingly bound for victory, Rosberg picked his way through the field to recover to fourth place with 16 laps to go.
On lap 40, Hamilton’s engine failed and caught fire, forcing the Briton to park up and retire from the race, his title hopes going up in smoke before his eyes.
Rosberg was able to keep calm in the closing stages despite getting a 10-second time penalty for contact with Kimi Raikkonen and finish the race third.
“Turn 1, I thought it was all over,” Rosberg admitted.
“I’m really happy to have been able to fight back in such a way all the way to the podium, that’s been great.
“Apart from that, in general, I wished for a better day today, but that’s the way it is sometimes.”
Rosberg’s championship lead now stands at 23 points with five races remaining, but the German will not let up in his bid for a maiden F1 title in 2016.
“It’s a good moment in general,” Rosberg said.
“Looking forward now to the next one, full attack.”
Three riders remain locked in a tight battle with 17 points separating the leader Cooper Webb from third-place Chase Sexton and these are only a few Supercross numbers to consider entering Seattle.Chase Sexton made a statement in Detroit with his second win of 2023. – Feld Motor Sports
Webb and Tomac won the last four championships with two apiece in alternating years, but they were not one another’s primary rival for most of those seasons. On the average, however, the past four years show an incredible similarity with average points earned of 21.0 for Webb and 21.3 for Tomac. With five wins so far this season, Tomac (23 wins) leads Webb (19) in victories but Webb (43) edges Tomac (41) in podium finishes during this span.
Tomac has won two of the last three Seattle races and those two wins in this stadium are topped only by James Stewart. Fittingly, if Tomac gets a third win this week, he will tie Stewart for second on the all-time wins’ list. Tomac tied Ricky Carmichael for third with 48 wins at Oakland and took sole possession of that spot with his Daytona win.
Sexton still has a lot to say and after winning last week in Detroit, he is speaking up. The Supercross numbers are against him entering Seattle, however, because a points’ deficit this large after Round 10 has been erased only once. In 1983 David Bailey was 47 points behind Bob Hannah, and like Sexton he was also in third place. Bailey took the points’ lead with one race remaining.
The seven points Sexton was penalized last week for jumping in a red cross flag section in Detroit could prove extremely costly.
In fact, it has been a series of mistakes that has cost Sexton the most. In the last two weeks, he lost 10 points with a 10th-place finish to go with his penalty. Erase those, and all three riders hold their fate in their hands.
Plessinger’s heartbreak in Detroit is still fresh, but the upside of his run is that was his best of the season and could turn his fortunes around. Prior to that race, he led only seven laps in three mains. He was up front for 20 laps in Detroit with five of those being the fastest on the track.
Last week’s win by Hunter Lawrence tied him with his brother Jett Lawrence for 17th on the all-time wins’ list. With the focus shifting to 250 West for the next two rounds, Jett has a great opportunity to pull back ahead. The real test will be at the first East / West Showdown in East Rutherford, New Jersey on April 22.
Last Five Seattle Winners
450s 2022: Eli Tomac
2019: Marvin Musquin
2018: Eli Tomac
2017: Marvin Musquin
2014: Ryan Villopoto
