Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

[cider_and_toast]

Am I the only one with "Love will tear us apart" by Joy Division going through their heads at the moment?

 

[Lewywo4]

Where would Rosberg go? but Hamilton in a Ferrari is Wolff's worst nightmare,and Ferrari will dump the second driver to have him whatever the cost

.

Lewis really wouldn't look too bad in red.

 

[Il_leone]

Rosberg's contract is up next season

Hamilton just signed a 3 year contract and the biggest draw in F1 right now so from a marketing view it makes no sense for Merc to be rid of him and his wages would be £50m pay off

There are a few drivers Mercedes would recruit to replace Rosberg who are available for 2017

i) Bottas
ii) Verstappen
iii) Wehrlein
iv) Ocon

There are however few drivers with proven caliber who Mercedes would accept currently that can replace Hamilton
i) Vettel - unlikely to leave Ferrari
ii) Ricciardo - still under contract

 

[cider_and_toast]

All of whom have now been given a very clear signal by Wolff that who ever gets the second seat will have to put up and shut up. Not many drivers on your list would accept a number 2 drive regardless of it being with Mercedes.

 

[Il_leone]

Wehrlein and Ocon are Mercedes backed drivers and Toto would want either of them to be in the 2nd seat - they would accept being No 2

Verstappen is such a rebel he would destroy the team harmony and prepared to upset anyone

Bottas has not been tested at higher level

It seems like Toto thinks that there are cliques within the Merc team and there is danger of imploding with the current drivers

 

[cider_and_toast]

That's because Toto is wrong. Absolute equity means that there is so little difference between drivers it's almost impossible for second placed car to beat the front runner. It's normally the fractions of margins that decide races. With real freedom to fight then the drivers and garages would have a lot more options and the two cars would have a far greater chance on the track.

 

[snowy]

Mercedes have dug themselves into a hole and Toto's recent statements show just how confused they are. Their pursuit of team cohesion and driver equity has torn them apart. If only they had allowed their drivers to withhold data, cheat and conspire against each other. The fans would be much happier, the team would be much more creative, the drivers would know exactly where they stand and they'd all be able to laugh and joke about just how dastardly, unhanded and shitty the other side of the garage is!

You only have to look at how both Nico and Lewis get along with the rest of the drivers in the paddock to see that the only friction between the two of them is that created by trying to be team mates. **** the team say I.

 

[cider_and_toast]

I wouldn't quite go that far but they do need to let go a little.

 

[erinha]

First Wolff talks about drivers not getting along that it may cause a change in the driver line up. Then Hamilton says that there is no problem and results are pretty good. Then he talks about Rosberg constantly complaining about things. After that some journalists say that Hamilton's been the one creating tension with his engineers and such, especially for last couple of races. Who knows what's been going on behind closer doors though...

 

[Il_leone]

Well the problem is Hamilton wants to race to win and compete for wins. So he does not like the fact that equal strategy means the lead car always gets the first call and there is no excitement for the fans.

Really I think it would help F1 if Ferrari were competitive because the Mercedes have to race each other and not hold formation and the drivers decide their own strategy

 

[teabagyokel]

I would imagine that Rosberg feels that Hamilton is trying to beat him on strategy during races, when Rosberg tends to dutifully box on instruction. Because he is.

 

[Lewywo4]

[QUOTE="erinha, post: 297608, member: 4561. After that some journalists say that Hamilton's been the one creating tension with his engineers and such, especially for last couple of races. Who knows what's been going on behind closer doors though...[/QUOTE]

Some journalists may believe that Lewis is the main problem, but even Jenson had to raise his eyebrows in disbelief by the comments that Rosberg had made to Hamilton.

[MEDIA

 

[snowy]

Mercedes ought to clarify their policies on the use of engine modes. And let us fans know just why they feel it necessary to dictate when and where their drivers conserve power or expend it.

 

[Il_leone]

maybe the FIA should ban the pits telling drivers which engine mode to run

 

[erinha]

maybe the FIA should ban the pits telling drivers which engine mode to run

So that they blow the engines up in a couple of races? I also remember people getting angry at Vettel in Malaysia 2013 because he conserved enough power before coming near Webber and attacking him, but the team wanted them to do nothing because Webber was critical...

 

[Il_leone]

erinha Why not blow the engines because they are there to race not be muzzled . It was great back in the 80s and early 90's racing because the drivers were always being tested plus if it was not reliability they were punished for their mistakes not like the stupid wide run off areas on modern circuits


People got angry at Vettel because he turned the engine up to attack Webber but did Red Bull do anything ? No so really when you start telling drivers to turn down the engines and not attack your teammate and one of them does not because they want to win . Then what as team principal are they are going to do with their drivers? The only team that might do something is Ferrari but that usually the No 2 driver who gets the boot

I can't see either driver at Mercedes wanting to turn their engines down if they were 1-2 and Vettel was behind them given they want to gain maximum points

 

[Bill Boddy]

If there were a threat from any driver the Mercedes team would not tell the drivers to turn down the engines unless it was absolutely necessary. Normally they do it once there is a sufficiently large gap; then it is only to hold position to make it look like their advantage does not look as huge as it really is.

 

[Il_leone]

Yes bill that is the logical thing to do but we've seen Hamilton at both Mclaren and Mercedes does not believe in holding station when he sniffs a scent of victory for himself

 

[Road of Bones]

The absolute last thing Mercedes want is for their drivers to be "racing"- they'd much rather it's all sorted out through a time trial on say, the day before, and then their 2 drivers dutifully hold station as they trundle round in circles for 90mins on a Sunday. Toto Wolff can drivel on about "equality" and "fairness" all he likes, but the last thing Mercedes care about is putting on some entertainment by allowing their drivers to get close enough to one another to actually "race"- which is why we haven't seen any action like Bahrain '14 this season- it generated too many grey hairs among the Merc management.
I get the impression that the drivers don't like this arrangement much either (except for the guy who's doing the winning on a given weekend, anyway).

 

[snowy]

My feeling is that the engine mode management is something that Nico is unwilling to revise or discard. And Lewis has for some time now found very frustrating and limiting. Lewis has time and again shown that he can get better fuel economy and this would explain Nico's reluctance to criticise Mercedes race strategy.