Head To Head Nico Rosberg vs Lewis Hamilton

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I did say the safety car was not out yet and Hamilton probably would have made up some time and enough to get past Rosberg
Does this mean you think it's fair that the driver in second position takes the lead through pitstop strategy? Because that's what essentially is happening then.
 
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Wombcat
Rosberg would have had the same opportunity - as let's face it, the two Mercs were right together on the track. If Hamilton had been able to come in and change tyres, then Rosberg would have been able to as well (and prevent Hamilton from doing it).... One of the skills racing drivers develop is being able to read circumstances and make calls! I am always uncomfortable with Merc's style of management, as it does mean that calls come from the pitwall, rather than drivers.

I'd love to see a ban of all pit-car radio signals. Then, the driver would have to do the work, and make the calls...
 
I am actually getting really tired of Hamilton's bitchy behaviour, constantly moaning on the radio, saying he's a bigger person not to play mind games while he clearly is, and being a drama queen all round.

I've rarely heard anything from Rosberg in the media or on the radio.
 
It seemed to me that a lot of Lewis' radio chatter at Monaco was just him talking out loud. More a sort of conversation with himself than with the Pit Crew,

As for Rosberg, maybe most of what he says is in German and the media don't bother to play/report it in the UK (or other English speaking countries).

Does anyone know how it has all been reported in Germany?
 
Boy that sure escalated quickly.

I'm truly torn here. I simply do not want to believe that Nico intentionally hindered Lewis, but it is clear that Hamilton is convinced, as well as other top drivers, that the maneuver was done on purpose. There are several aspects of the incident that are very strange, and the fact that we've rarely seen anything like that from the Mercedes car does not help matters. Also, there is only one other person (in addition to Rosberg) that knows what inputs are needed to control the Merc, and that person saw something in the data that left him without a doubt as to what really happened.

So imagine you are Lewis. In your mind your teammate/opponent/acquaintance used extremely underhanded tactics to achieve the goal that has been eluding him so often this year. And not only that, it was at the one circuit where passing your teammate is for all intents and purposes, impossible. So in essence, you've been robbed of a legitimate Pole run and (barring unreliability) a race win.

The SC period and the Pit stop kerfuffle was pretty much the straw that broke the camels back though. Gone was any opportunity to have an honest go at Nico. The nightmare weekend was complete and Hamilton's attitude reflected that. The debris in the eye is what it is, and anyone willing to entertain the notion that he made up or embellished the episode better be willing to give a thought or two to the idea that Rosberg entered the escape road on purpose.

Mercedes are quite fortunate to have an old head like Niki Lauda in the mix, as he will not allow the Monaco weekend to simmer over into Montreal. He's been through this before and his recent comments about 1984 are rather enlightening. I cannot imagine that either driver has reached anywhere near the "hatred" that Lauda felt towards Prost in a two-car title fight, and I doubt he'll ever allow them to get there.

Hamilton will be on fire in Canada, in a good way, and you better believe Rosberg knows that. His opportunity to get back on top of the Standings was Monaco, and he seized it by all means necessary. Everyone writing off the title battle will have to wait a bit longer, and I for one am pretty pleased about that.
 
The Artist..... It's common practice with most teams that the driver who is leading is pitted first, even if they have their own engineer calling the shots. Exceptions are:
- if by pitting the 2nd driver they prevent the driver behind him getting the undercut (which would cost the team points)
- if in changeable conditions the first decides it's not yet time for different tires, while the 2nd driver thinks it is
- if there's a clear no.1 policy the best strategy is given to the no.1 driver
Neither of these conditions applied in Mercedes' situation in Monaco, hence Hamilton had no right whatsoever for the undercut.
 
Wombcat
Why? If one driver suspects there's going to be a safety car, whilst the other doesn't, then this is a legitimate reason for stopping. After all, had the safety car picked Rosberg up, he could have found himself behind Jenson Button!....Perfectly reasonable behaviour. - This is absolutely equivalent to the wet/dry situation that you so eloquently described.
 
I wanted to post this in the Jenson vs Lewis thread.

Jenson Button said:
"But you will see a more determined Lewis at the next race. I remember with Lewis that when we had a tussle in a race or there was an issue between us or with the team, he would have a really bad race and be quite outspoken and emotional. And at the next race he would destroy me. He would come back stronger than ever."

Source: http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/2...-lewis-hamilton-will-be-untouchable-in-canada
 
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So imagine you are Lewis. In your mind your teammate/opponent/acquaintance used extremely underhanded tactics to achieve the goal that has been eluding him so often this year. And not only that, it was at the one circuit where passing your teammate is for all intents and purposes, impossible. So in essence, you've been robbed of a legitimate Pole run and (barring unreliability) a race win.


Nico's celebratory reaction as he pitted at the end of qualifying, fist pumping in the air as if he had beaten Lewis without the aid of yellow flags, which he had brought out was questionable. Those yellow flags prevented Lewis from completing his lap, adding to the anger that he must have felt. Hamilton looked that he was on target for pole position as he said, " I was on target for pole. " and " I remember starting the last lap and said this is it, this is going to be the lap. I was two and a half tenths up and didn't get to finish it. "
As Autosport's Edd Straw said, " Hamilton was faster in the first sector, Rosberg's strongest, all the indications are that he would have taken pole and, almost certainly, victory as a result." I think what needs to remembered that Lewis was only .059 behind Rosberg's fastest time.

Nico later made some comments in this Autosport article by Edd Straw saying, " It's a special win, definitely, because Lewis has had the momentum with the results and everything and I really needed to try to break that momentum and I managed to do that this weekend. Of course taking the lead in the World championship and winning here in Monaco, all in all really, really cool." Yeah it's special, and I managed to do this....... Nico was able to break that momentum alright, when he brought out the yellow flag, which ended any chance for Hamilton to complete his final run for pole position on Saturday, and probable race win on Sunday.

I wonder if Nico would ever ask himself, how did I break the Momentum?
 
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