racecub
Champion Elect
Rosberg has beaten Hamilton in the qualifying battle this season, and he has the trophy to prove it. He has undoubtably proven that he is a force to be reckoned with. I doubt there's another on the grid who could have taken on Hamilton as successfully as Rosberg has, remember Hamilton won the qualifying battle against a two time world champion in his rookie year.
However, the qualifying battle may not be as clear cut as it first appears, and without wanting to take anything from Rosberg's achievements, I just want to explore a few things.
Firstly the obvious one. Lewis had three issues in qualifying, not of his own making, without which he would likely have had the pole.
Monaco, Hamilton was up when Rosberg went off. He may have had the pole, but it could have gone either way.
Hokenheim and Hungary, without the brake issue and the fire I think Lewis would have had the poles. He aces those tracks and had been on top most of those weekends
So that's two, maybe three poles to come off Rosberg's tally and go onto Hamilton's tally. Already the picture looks different.
The other thing to look at is how the two went about their racing. Lewis is on record during the year saying he was interested only in the big prize, the championship, and if small battles, records were lost in pursuit of the big prizes, so be it. So did Lewis sacrifice qualifying to have a better car on race day? Toto let that cat out of the bag on Sunday, he said that was why Lewis was faster.
Let's look deeper. Hamilton gave an interview on BBC on Monday where he described the intense psychological battle that went on between the two protagonists. I would be one side of the table with my engineers said Lewis, Nico would be the other side with his. Every time we had an idea he would copy it, and vice versa. Things reached a peak after Spa, SO I CHANGED HOW I DID THINGS. And we won.
Here's the whole interview.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30191344
So is that the point that Hamilton began setting his car up for the race? But he would have to do so in a way that Rosberg couldn't copy. So did he...and his engineers...switch to the race setting at the last minute? Maybe just before the Q3 run? That would account for the small errors Lewis was making in some q3 runs in the second part of the season. Yet race day his car was generally better set up and Rosberg was making the errors. No pit to car coaching would also hinder Rosberg.
Lewis is good at adapting to car changes, he often does so instinctively, so the switch to a race set up during Quali he would cope with, albeit a few errors were made.
An example of Hamilton dealing with a major car set up change is given in a recent article written by Will Buxton. The year is 2006, Lewis is fighting for the GP2 title. The race is at Istanbul Parc. I was at that race and watched a masterful performance by Hamilton, but I didn't know what had happened behind the scenes. I urge you to read the article by Buxton, it's excellent, but here briefly is what he said about that race. Lewis had won Silverstone, but Piquet had taken the next race. On the Saturday at Istanbul Parc, Piquet had taken the pole and the win and Hamilton could see the championship slipping away. He had to do something. So he asked his engineers to take all the wing off his car and strip it back to Monza spec. The engineers said he would not be able to drive it at this track like that, he'd spin. Hamilton was insistent, so reluctantly they did as he asked. Shortly after the start of the race the engineers fears were realised and Hamilton spun to the back of the grid...but thereafter they watched something very special and engineers up and down the pitlane stopped to watch and applaud. He set about overtaking every car right up to second place, and never again did the car step out of shape. He'd adjusted in one lap to the new limits of the car.
The article by Buxton is a long one,but well worth the read, it encapsulates Hamilton beautifully
http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com
So eight years on is Lewis using the same skills to get around data sharing? Is he switching his set up late to avoid Rosberg copying and having time to adjust to Lewis' new set up? Is he sacrificing his qualifying to win the race? To win the championship? It's worth thinking about.
However, the qualifying battle may not be as clear cut as it first appears, and without wanting to take anything from Rosberg's achievements, I just want to explore a few things.
Firstly the obvious one. Lewis had three issues in qualifying, not of his own making, without which he would likely have had the pole.
Monaco, Hamilton was up when Rosberg went off. He may have had the pole, but it could have gone either way.
Hokenheim and Hungary, without the brake issue and the fire I think Lewis would have had the poles. He aces those tracks and had been on top most of those weekends
So that's two, maybe three poles to come off Rosberg's tally and go onto Hamilton's tally. Already the picture looks different.
The other thing to look at is how the two went about their racing. Lewis is on record during the year saying he was interested only in the big prize, the championship, and if small battles, records were lost in pursuit of the big prizes, so be it. So did Lewis sacrifice qualifying to have a better car on race day? Toto let that cat out of the bag on Sunday, he said that was why Lewis was faster.
Let's look deeper. Hamilton gave an interview on BBC on Monday where he described the intense psychological battle that went on between the two protagonists. I would be one side of the table with my engineers said Lewis, Nico would be the other side with his. Every time we had an idea he would copy it, and vice versa. Things reached a peak after Spa, SO I CHANGED HOW I DID THINGS. And we won.
Here's the whole interview.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/30191344
So is that the point that Hamilton began setting his car up for the race? But he would have to do so in a way that Rosberg couldn't copy. So did he...and his engineers...switch to the race setting at the last minute? Maybe just before the Q3 run? That would account for the small errors Lewis was making in some q3 runs in the second part of the season. Yet race day his car was generally better set up and Rosberg was making the errors. No pit to car coaching would also hinder Rosberg.
Lewis is good at adapting to car changes, he often does so instinctively, so the switch to a race set up during Quali he would cope with, albeit a few errors were made.
An example of Hamilton dealing with a major car set up change is given in a recent article written by Will Buxton. The year is 2006, Lewis is fighting for the GP2 title. The race is at Istanbul Parc. I was at that race and watched a masterful performance by Hamilton, but I didn't know what had happened behind the scenes. I urge you to read the article by Buxton, it's excellent, but here briefly is what he said about that race. Lewis had won Silverstone, but Piquet had taken the next race. On the Saturday at Istanbul Parc, Piquet had taken the pole and the win and Hamilton could see the championship slipping away. He had to do something. So he asked his engineers to take all the wing off his car and strip it back to Monza spec. The engineers said he would not be able to drive it at this track like that, he'd spin. Hamilton was insistent, so reluctantly they did as he asked. Shortly after the start of the race the engineers fears were realised and Hamilton spun to the back of the grid...but thereafter they watched something very special and engineers up and down the pitlane stopped to watch and applaud. He set about overtaking every car right up to second place, and never again did the car step out of shape. He'd adjusted in one lap to the new limits of the car.
The article by Buxton is a long one,but well worth the read, it encapsulates Hamilton beautifully
http://willthef1journo.wordpress.com
So eight years on is Lewis using the same skills to get around data sharing? Is he switching his set up late to avoid Rosberg copying and having time to adjust to Lewis' new set up? Is he sacrificing his qualifying to win the race? To win the championship? It's worth thinking about.
