Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

[nexkoyotl]

i like them both, but i think Nico its proving something this season, and i hope he continues like this the rest of the season

 

[Mephistopheles]

Could be.... teabagyokel

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Umm I seem to remember a certain driver winning his second race for McLaren when he joined them in 2010 he seemed to settle in to the new car and team fairly quickly...

That's quite achievable when you join a team with a car that is race-competitive and predictable that's better than everyone elses. The Merc has fantastic qualifying pace and Lewis has managed to extract most of it, despite his problems. The car is crap in the race though, isn't it? You are comparing apples with pogo sticks.

[Edit] Remember when Alonso joined Ferrari and was getting beaten by Massa? We all knew he would get the better of him once he settled in and he certainly has. Rosberg, in my opinion, is a much better driver than Massa.

 

[The Artist.....]

ExtremeNinja

I don't think it can be argued for one second that the McLaren in 2010 was "Better than everyone else's"... There was a certain team called Red Bull in the way too, and Ferrari had won the first race in Bahrain... I think that McLaren probably had the third best car at the time...

Similarly, in 2013, Ferrari and Red Bull are the class of the field, but Mercedes are probably the third best car at the moment, albeit with the best qualifying pace.... However, they're probably further off in terms of overall speed and consistency this season than McLaren were in 2010.....

EDIT
It seems I forgot about the existence of the Lotus team... Mercedes are probably the fourth best car at the moment.....

 

[Bill Boddy]

....as long as you don't look too closely at Force India?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Not really the point I was making I simply meant that there was no issue getting used to the new car at that time....

 

[ExtremeNinja]

The Artist.....

You are right and I apologise for getting mixed up with the years.

2010 Australia was bloody mess dictated by safety cars and lucking on to the right tyre. Everyone hit everyone and the pack was shuffled a few times. Jenson knocked Alonso out, Webber hit Hamilton up the rear (only affecting his own race), Jenson dived in on a gamble for tyres with his fingers crossed for rain to stop after finding himself behind Lewis who had started 11th. It looked like an idiots move when he went very wide at the first two turns and then it came good in the second and third sectors just as the rain stopped. Hamilton got a whack up the rear from Webber meaning he lost out to Rosberg whilst Webber had to pit for a new wing and Vettel retired from the lead. Button's highlights of the race were hitting Alonso at the start, going backwards in the race, lucking out back up to 2nd on a pitstop that looked stupid even immediately after he had made it and then inheriting the lead from the retired Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel. I don't think even he expected at any point to win that race.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Not really the point I was making I simply meant that there was no issue getting used to the new car at that time....

Nope, but the car was as he liked it. When it wasn't he was useless. The car isn't as Lewis likes it and he is doing well.

My point is that they are not the same car.

Example: I get in Johns car and set a laptime 0.2s of his pace. He gets in mine and sets a laptime 0.6 off of my pace. There are a multitude of factors that can contribute to this and it is neither all machinery nor all man.

 

[Mephistopheles]

And my point is, when its Lewis it's a reason but when it is anyone else it's an excuse......

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Where is the excuse? He has admitted that Nico is doing a better job and that he needs to do something about it. That's not making excuses. That's facing up to a problem. The next step is to analyse the root of the problem and try to fix it. It's pretty clear he is doing that, too.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I think that he may be referring to the attitude of posters rather than to what Hamilton says or does.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Wouldn't it be more productive to talk about the drivers rather than making sweeping digs at people for not having the same opinion as you about your favourite driver? I would much prefer to do that if anyone will join me.

[Edit]...and I promise to treat you all as individuals rather than members of the opposition.

 

[Lewywo4]

Pretty good commentary from Coulthard, analyzing the two.

 

[Fenderman]

Looks like Lewis and his engineer had some understeer left to dial out.

 

[Incubus]

Yes nut looking at footage you also get the sense that is where Nico'd duperior knowledge of the car and his team pays off. This is an evolution of he car he has been driving for years and he knows it inside out. He has the full confidence of just turning in sharply and throwing the car into the apexes and jump far over the kerbs knowing what the car can and cannot do. Lewis by comparison is more cautiohs and looks still in process of learning his new car.

 

[Lewywo4]

He has the full confidence of just turning in sharply and throwing the car into the apexes and jump far over the kerbs knowing what the car can and cannot do.

Jumping far over the curbs at Canada, is a way of maybe having your name added on the list, of those who crashed into the..... " Wall of Champions. "

 

[Brogan]

So how does one explain the relative performances of Hamilton and Rosberg at Canada?
They were very close in qualifying but the race is a different matter with Rosberg way off the pace of his team mate.

Is it just set up?
Or a combination of track surface/temperature and driving style?
Or all of the above?

 

[Hamberg]

all of the above plus Hamilton is better?

 

[The Pits]

Maybe it is Roscoe?

 

[The Artist.....]

.. or maybe the team's now biased towards Hamilton
(Sorry, couldn't resist - after some idiot posted that Mercedes were showing bias towards Mercedes on one of the other fora!)