Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

Mark Hughes article: http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...e-brakes-on-Lewis-Hamilton-at-Mercedes-so-far

Lewis Hamilton said:
My problems have been there since the first race," admits Lewis. "Even in winter testing I was struggling, particularly with the brakes. The set-up on the car in terms of brake cylinders and steering wheel functions is a lot different to what I had [at McLaren] where I'd been for years and where it was always the same.

Mark Hughes said:
It's interesting that Hamilton identifies braking as a key part of his struggle. Just as at McLaren he has a preference for Carbone Industrie brake discs rather than the Brembos used by Rosberg in conjunction with the Brembo calipers that are a standard part of both Mercedes.

Mark Hughes said:
Since the start of the season the team has been trying to give him that elusive combination with redesigns of the brake cylinders, but to date it has not worked for him.
 
Maybe Hamilton would be doing better if he'd accepted that the McLaren and Mercedes were very different cars and had tried to get to grips with all the differences, instead of trying to morph bits of it into a McLaren. Especially as the McLaren is such a junk car this season.
 
I don't think it's that simple.
Certain drivers just don't get on with certain components.

Think back to Barrichello in 2009, he only started getting results after the brakes were changed to his liking.
Or Raikkonen who demanded a complete redesign of the Lotus steering rack.
 
It's never simple with brakes. It was one of the first things Alonso requested and got early in his year at McLaren. He was having his struggles until McLaren changed the brakes on his car to suit his driving style, which was very different to Hamiltons,
 

There were some other quotes that I also found ineresting, in this same article by Mark Hughes:

Hamilton said: I just could not get my front tyres switched on all through practice and into qualifying. That's the first time I've
ever experienced that. The only time my front tyres switched on was in the second and third sectors on my final lap in Q3.

Hughes said: In both these sectors he was actually faster than Rosberg, but not by enough to overcome the defecit he had incurred in the first sector where his cold tires gave him a lack of front grip.

Hughes said: Hamilton's approach is more visceral, in that he attacks and then tries to interpret what he's just felt to the engineers, trying to get the car to the point where his improvisational skills automatically produce the lap time. With the Merecedes, he has not got there yet. But he almost certainly will, in time.

Hughes said: The competition between the two is fascinating, bur even Rosberg is not expecting things to always be going this way. To beat Lewis you have to have everything perfect. If not, you won't beat him.
 
Lewywo4

Now reading the article again my feeling would be that if Button was in the other car not Rosberg the results would be the same because Button likes to feel the car underneath to gain confidence.

Rosberg is learning a few lessons either from Schumacher to make sure to prepare for race day with a race pace car..he 's learnt how Button was preparing his race weekend to Hamilton at Mclaren
 
Lewywo4

Now reading the article again my feeling would be that if Button was in the other car not Rosberg the results would be the same because Button likes to feel the car underneath to gain confidence.

ll_leone......I believe that all drivers must have a certain feel for a car that they like, in order to have any sense of confidence with that car.

If Jenson was in a more competitive car, and had taken pole position, he could have won that race at Monaco, just like Nico.
 
F1ang-o That is why I see Nico having learnt a few things from Schumacher in order to beat Hamilton

Lewywo4 The brakes appear too sensitive for Lewis' like which I interpret as someone like Jenson would be far more happier because he is that driver that needs the feel

Lewis has more aggressive style than Nico and not use to the sensitivity

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I respect Mark Hughes as a journalist he's very analytical he's been called a few things in the past which are absolutely absurd when making analysis on drivers
 
Hughes has only recently started to modify his belief that Hamilton isn't a "thinking" driver but he still can't help himself. The idea that Hamilton has no sensitivity is also something Hughes is trying not to say anymore but can't help doing that either. The fact is that what Hamilton wants is more range of sensitivty in the brakes which is not the same as Hamilton lacking sensitivity. It seems to me that if Lewis himself thinks his performance was so below par then Rosberg is not in as comfortable a place as we think he is. Had Lewis said "I got the most out of the car and did the best I could" that would be another story, methinks.
 
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