Rosberg vs Hamilton

[beau1]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

early days of course but after 1 race merc looked better yesterday then in OZ last year but regardless yes thats basically what im saying with the addition that after yesterday i have more faith that they are now moving up the grid and i didnt get that feeling in prior seasons from MS or NR hence my original comment.

A personal feeling is fine; I see nothing wrong with that . If you think Hamilton will add something in the future that is fine; he probably will.

What I do see problems with is the first bit of your statement. Mercedes to me look in basically the same position as they did at Oz last year. They qualified in basically the same positions as in 2012 and had a similar race pace when Michael was actually in the race.

[Razzzor]

With Rosberg dominating China and Schumacher running second up until the pit stops then retiring... then MS fastest at Monaco and Rosberg finishing second, that was far more hopeful than Hamilton sliding back to 5th at Melbourne. He only led the race because of his alternate strategy.

One thing I've been thinking about is, just ignoring Hamilton, and looking at Rosberg. He qualified 6th and would have finished 6th. If McLaren were where they were last year, that would have been 8th (even 9th if Webber wasn't napping). That's really no improvement at all on last year, where for most of the year the best they could hope for was around 7th and 8th after RB, Ferrari, McL. or 10th even if Lotus was having a good day, and they usually were.

This year Lotus ARE fast, and they've got FI to deal with. Only McLaren are out of the picture for now.

Hamilton is really the one that made Mercedes look better in Melb with his grid spot, but he didn't have the speed to keep it.

Have Mercedes improved at all? I still think so, they were so fast in practise and testing. Maybe just the colder Aussie conditions ruined their tyres during the race? Wrong strategy anyway.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by beau1

A personal feeling is fine; I see nothing wrong with that .

haha thanks buddy

just hope i dont have to eat me words over the rest of the season if the results dont come more frequently and team really is just in the same position as last year.

i guess thats why we watch!

Razzzor good point about them being on the wrong strategy too.

[beau1]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

haha thanks buddy

just hope i dont have to eat me words over the rest of the season if the results dont come more frequently and team really is just in the same position as last year.

i guess thats why we watch!

Razzzor good point about them being on the wrong strategy too.

I do hope that Mercedes can improve eventually; if not for Brawn's own job. I just don't really see much of a step up as of yet!

[Knowlesy]

Well the technical recruitments should see them being able to at least sustain development, if not this season than definitely next. Things will improve, the team appears to be actually taking it seriously now and have a ridiculously strong driver lineup now to boot.

The reliability is still an embarrassment though and, like I said earlier, will probably distort the Rosberg/Hamilton battle quite a bit.

[deeks6]

If Lewis could just convert his ten-tenths ability to the track, I doubt anybody would beat him, let alone Nico ...

[Born Racer]

If Webber could just convert his qualifying into a decent start.. but we don't go on about it. Well, maybe a bit.

A decent showing against Hamilton by Rosberg this weekend, but qualifying hinted to me that Lewis will pull prodigious raw pace out of the bag to seal himself some important advantages this season. Roll on Round 2.

[TF110]

The strategy the Mercedes' had was good but they pit too early on the first stint. If they could have went another 4 or 5 laps on those opening Super Softs, perhaps the strategy would have worked. You can't fault Hamilton for placing 5th because a strategy that didn't pan out. Just like you can't fault Rosberg for the car failure. IMO they pit too early in the first stint. They should have went another 4 laps or 5 laps. The tires probably would have held their times stable for that amount of time. The 1:33s were the pace of Rosberg and Hamilton while running 1-2. The guys who switched to mediums were going about 1:32s high 1:31s. I think they reacted too fast when they saw how quick the mediums were.

I think if some of the Q3 runners would have chose mediums, they could have done what Sutil did and do the opening stint for a good while and hold their place. It would have worked better for them because they were higher placed than Sutil, if they could have made those tires last that long. I think teams need to take a good look at that, but Melbourne is just Rd.1!

[Airhead]

Keke is better than Lewis, end of story.

[JamesH]

Originally Posted by Airhead

Keke is better than Lewis, end of story.

Which story?

[Marbot]

Originally Posted by TF110

The tires probably would have held their times stable for that amount of time.

Quite possibly, and I'm sure that Mercedes would have also thought that with the benefit of hindsight. As too would Force India with regard to putting Sutil on the super-soft tyre too early.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Born Racer]

Originally Posted by Airhead

Keke is better than Lewis, end of story.

Oranges are a better citrus fruit than apples.

[deeks6]

moral victory for who?

[Knowlesy]

Cool it deeks.

[GT6]

I think Rosberg will be unhappy with Brawn but convinced he can take Hamilton

[Razzzor]

Round 2 to Hammo, but I think Rosberg was consistently faster all race long. He dropped that 5 secs at the start with a car in between them, caught up quickly, then was forced to sit behind for the rest of the race. Definitely wasn't using his tyres like Hamilton was, and even sitting RIGHT up behind in the last stint, they weren't fading.

Very interesting.

I wonder if Rosberg had anything for the RB's, had Hammo not been in his way for half the race. Probably not.

[Knowlesy]

I don't think either driver was using tyres in the last stint.

Rosberg had the upper hand all weekend really, but again qualifying helps a great deal for Lewis. Malaysia is a weak track for Hamilton, his weakest IMO relative to teammates, so quite an escape really.

[peckstar]

Protected driver/

cant be that good if he needs protection.

[deeks6]

Very gracious Hamilton ... well done

[Beryl]

Originally Posted by Razzzor

Round 2 to Hammo,

He should share it with Brawn.

As you say, Rosberg was faster all race and would have finished ahead if it wasn't for team orders.

[deeks6]

cancel

[beau1]

Interesting team dynamic here now.

I can't recall Michael and Nico being told to back off and they got awfully close at times.

Advantage Nico on speed but advantage Lewis on team status.

[Swedish Brick]

Originally Posted by Beryl

He should share it with Brawn.

As you say, Rosberg was faster all race and would have finished ahead if it wasn't for team orders.

Or would they both have run out of fuel?

[Peter Mallett]

I think we learn from today that these two are currently very evenly matched.

[formerf1champ]

I loved David Croft's defence of Hamilton "Is it fair that Hamilton should be asked to slow down because he has little/no fuel left and Rosberg has?" LOL! Yes, you ********!