Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

[Quintessentially]

Hey, here's a rumor we start: Seb is going to replace Lewis, so re-signing Nico makes no difference to the team whether Lewis likes it or not.

Erm ok. As pointed out above, Hamilton's contract ends in 2015. There's also no guarantee Mercedes will keep their dominance and desirable seats could turn up elsewhere.

 

[Quintessentially]

Hamilton is a WDC, he needs to make calls, I'm prety sure button/alonso/senna/schumacher/prost would've seen their teammate not pit and just dived into the pit lane with an 'I'm coming in guys' message, and then dealt with the flak after the race. .

Drivers can't just dive into the pits on their own accord unless they've been given the option to pit. There's a danger tyres temps may not be ready or the team are not in a position to service the car. These could be more detrimental than staying out for an extra lap or two. It's happened before and on a track like Monaco, it would be daft for any driver to think they can invent their own pit-stops.

 

[sobriety]

That's a call you make as a driver, you know you're in the pitstop window, so your tyres are at least in their warmers, you decide that it's worth the gamble and you come in. Lewis was chastising himself for not doing it on the radio.

 

[TomysF1]

I wish this battel going to the wire and even more 'psychological' aspects will pop up. It's good for media

 

[Quintessentially]

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that even in teams where there's a clear number 1 and 2, unless you've been specifically given the option to pit. The strategy at Mercedes is to service the car ahead first and it would've Rosberg's tyres being readied. Hamilton diving into the pits because he saw an opportunity would've only resulted in a scramble that could've possibly cost him a lot of time bearing in mind how busy the pit-lane was at the time. By Hamilton's own admission, he knew they were not going to bring him in even if he anticipated the safety car and he didn't risk going in because he understands the importance of getting confirmation from the pits before pitting. The last time Jenson tried to pit on his own accord, he went to the wrong pit box. I don't think it's easily appreciated the busy workload drivers have to cope with in the moments preceding a pit-stop and after. You're a constantly being reminded of settings to engage to ensure everything goes to plan. With kers and hybrid technology these are even more critical now.

 

[sobriety]

Thats why I said 'you gamble'. That's my last post on this as we'll have a stupid circular 'someone on the internet is wrong' argument otherwise!

 

[Quintessentially]

There's no right or wrong here. I'm trying to highlight the potential pitfalls of going against the team but yeah let's agree to disagree.

Looks like Lauda's prophecies are coming true Link

 

[The Artist.....]

I'm afraid it doesn't work like that even in teams where there's a clear number 1 and 2, unless you've been specifically given the option to pit. The strategy at Mercedes is to service the car ahead first and it would've Rosberg's tyres being readied.

That's really not true. Both sets of tyres would have been ready (in their tyre blankets). Usually the mechanics are on a hair trigger, and if a driver announces "I'm coming in", then they run, grab the tyres, and get into position; usually this takes about 10 seconds. Look at the announcement from Vettel in Spain!

However, such actions might piss the team off.....

 

[RasputinLives]

Jenson Button has done it on many occasions (puts tin hat on)

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Is there any more information about who used the prohibited engine setting and when?
It seems established that Hamilton did it at Barcelona, as we know that he was made to apologize for it. But what of his statement that Rosberg also did it at Bahrain? Is this just an accusation, or is this documented fact as well?

 

[Road of Bones]

I thought Toto made it quite clear after the race: Mercedes operate a strict pit-stop policy, and do not permit their drivers to come in on the fly unless there's a problem. Lewis lost out during the SC yesterday because he was second on the road, but I expect if the positions had been the other way around, Mercedes would've done exactly the same to Nico instead.

It's what you have to do, if you're a team running a "no number 1 driver" policy- it must be scrupulously egalitarian at all times. Had they allowed Lewis to deviate from the plan, what would that have said to Nico?

We could debate this ad infinitum, but in reality Mercedes were absolutely correct in what they did during the race- Lewis might feel hard done-by, but he should remember that the shoe could very well be on the other foot later on in the season, and Nico will have to toe the company line to Lewis' advantage instead.

However, if one of them breaks ranks later in the season, expect the situation to go nuclear...

 

[Hamberg]

Jenson Button has done itvon many occasions (puts tin hat on)

Which is why I thought make up your own bloody mind!

That said, it sounds like he was reprimanded after Spain and punished by having his toy taken so maybe he knows not to go against team orders.

He seemed a little miffed the team stood by Nico after reverse-gate and then didn't put it right in the race.

 

[Quintessentially]

What's not true? As I said, a team preparing for the first driver to pit could possibly not readily be in a position to swap procedures if the second driver suddenly announced he is coming in and the time taken to change things around could be costly. The negatives of pitting through your own choice definitely outweigh the gains under these circumstances. There are only a limited number of pit crew and there have definitely been a few occasions where drivers have suddenly pitted and the team don't appear to be ready. I don't recall what happened in Spain with Vettel. Was Danny due to pit as well and he decided to dive in first?? The whole idea of Hamilton pitting first was to gain the marginal seconds he needed to get ahead of Rosberg. He needed a very fast pit stop and pit crew suddenly shuffling around wouldn't have helped.

 

[RasputinLives]

Didn't Jenson actually do it at Monaco this weekend? When he saw the safety car was out he braked hard and dived in the pits a lap before anyone else.

 

[The Artist.....]

As I said, a team preparing for the first driver to pit could possibly not readily be in a position to swap procedures if the second driver suddenly announced he is coming in and the time taken to change things around could be costly.

1. The team weren't preparing for Rosberg coming in.
2. The team managed to service both drivers the following lap - with no significant delay for Hamilton (other than in the time it took to swap Rosberg's old tyres out and Hamilton's new tyres in.
3. It takes 10 seconds to move from sat in the garage to be stood ready for a driver!
4. Both sets of tyres are "ready" to go at any moment!

 

[Quintessentially]

1. The team weren't preparing for Rosberg coming in.

I'm sure they were. It was announced by Crofty and Brundle before Sutil's excursion into the barriers that both drivers had been told they were in the pit window and it has already been mentioned that lead driver gets first preference.

1. The team managed to service both drivers the following lap - with no significant delay for Hamilton (other than in the time it took to swap Rosberg's old tyres out and Hamilton's new tyres in.

That's because Hamilton had to hang back so not to lose time in the pits. Again this was mentioned during commentary.

1. It takes 10 seconds to move from sat in the garage to be stood ready for a driver!

Can't confirm. This would vary from team to team and their set procedures.

1. Both sets of tyres are "ready" to go at any moment!

The devil in the detail is in the time taken for same pit crew to swap one driver's tyres for the other's.

 

[The Artist.....]

Quintessentially
In a pit garage, ALL THE TYRES ARE READY IN BLANKETS ON SHELVES.

No tyres needed "swapping about" - the reason for this is there are regularly needs to have "emergency" stops - such as when a driver gets a puncture or suchlike. It's not like going to KwikFit where the mechanics suck their teeth and say "Oh, i'm not sure if we have any of those tyres in stock today"... They're all ready... In their blankets - even the sodding WET TYRES will have been ready cooking away in their little blankets!

The only time any problem occurs is when the team is already out in the pitlane. Which they weren't.

 

[Hamberg]

Think about it this way, a driver gets a puncture a corner or two before pit entry but can make it back. Will the pit crew make themselves ready with the right tyres?

 

[The Artist.....]

Being honest, in this case, all it needed was for this conversation.

1. "Yellow flags - is Nico coming in?"
   
2. No
3. "I'm coming in - get ready for me"

The team would have been ready as they would want to maximise their WCC points!

 

[racecub]

Can I just add my two pennoth here about Lewis'radio messages, strategy and the post race comments of both Lewis and Toto. I watched FAR too much F1 yesterday sky and BBC.
First Lewis' post race comments. When asked about his radio calls, he explained the difference between Merc and McLaren. He wasn't comparing Merc unfavourably just saying they were different. At McLaren he and his strategist would make the call, at Merc a central strategist does it and the leading driver gets the first/ optimum call. Lewis stressed he was just saying they are different and he said the Merc strategist was excellent. Now put that in context with his first call after the safety car
"I knew we should have pitted straight away". ( thinking as he would have at McLaren , racer brain on)
" but I knew you wouldn't bring me in" ( recognition that he's in Merc now, it works differently.)
That's how I would interpret that comment rathe than petulance as has been suggested. It's just Lewis' thinking process being verbalised.
And his next comment
" I can't believe there's a safety car" again, simply Leiws verbalising his thoughts. He's not having a ago , just ruing the loss of his slight chance of overtaking Rosberg.

And Toto's comments: Toto was asked about Lewis' comments and why they didn't pit the lap before. He explained there was so much going on, to take into account, maybe they could have done, but Lewis wouldn't have been brought in before Nico. He was clear on that, first driver gets first pit call.
He was then asked what if Lewis made the decision to pit? He said the drivers don't make that decision at Mercedes, they wait to be called.
He was then asked , what if Lewis just came in? That doesn't happen, he reiterated.
So there you have it. Like it or not. The drivers do not make the call at Mercedes. I can see some merit to this, especially with two highly competitive and fairly closely matched drivers. These two are already suspicious of each other's actions. Mercedes have to be seen to be fair or the situation becomes unmanageable.