Rosberg vs Hamilton

[numbersix]

I suspect the call was motivated by the worry that LH would have taken any chance available to stop NR overtaking and possibly caused both cars to end up in a tyre wall. Indeed it nearly happened.

Either way, I'll bet there was an interesting discussion afterwards in Mercs' offices about what "letting both drivers race" actually means.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by numbersix

Either way, I'll bet there was an interesting discussion afterwards in Mercs' offices about what "letting both drivers race" actually means.

Well it looks like Merc may throw caution to the wind and let them knock nine bells out of one another after the summer break. Should be quite interesting.

[chillibowl]

nico post race interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fm5bJMOm2xM

always hard to read much into these considering the effort and energy expended during the race but for me it seems NR is quite aware of the dangers of being perceived as the one who asked LH to move out of the way.

he seems very emotional as well but again the race just ended.

on a different note one story i read this weekend was that LH is looking for a contract extension for 3 more years at a speculated (without source to be fair) 90mil euros.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ha...r-90m-contract

obviously this should be taken with a grain of salt but i think its fair to say if LH is looking for 90 and NR is suggested to only be getting 55 then how much favoritism could they really be showing NR?

imo nothing malicious in the team order call. just bad timing and even poorer execution from a team in panic mode. actually that should be the real story here. too many chefs in the kitchen and a lack of calming influence on pit wall. Ross Brawn is missed.

[Articus]

Nico isn't a world champion. Once you have a WDC, you immediately command a higher price. It's why Kimi Raikkonen still gets coin.

[chillibowl]

sure but winning the first title for a Merc team is what i think Merc puts the premium on.

actually think LH's comments earlier this year about growing up rich vs not growing up rich speaks to the marketing strategy merc has in mind in promoting its new 'affordable luxury line' sub $30K CLA class. selling cars to the middle class of the world is where the money is at the moment.

LH fits with that aim whereas NR isnt relatable imo for the selling of reasonably priced goods.

anyways in this case i think the value is measured in terms of value to the company and not in number of previous wins or world titles anyways.

[davyboy]

Originally Posted by Articus

Nico isn't a world champion. Once you have a WDC, you immediately command a higher price. It's why Kimi Raikkonen still gets coin.

I know what you're getting at, but by that rate Vettel ought to be by far and away the highest paid driver on the grid... and he's not... not by a long way.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Articus

Nico isn't a world champion. Once you have a WDC, you immediately command a higher price. It's why Kimi Raikkonen still gets coin.

Extraordinary though that is........

[chillibowl]

more bad luck for LH and his car!

[Aysedasi]

Unbelievable........

[Articus]

Whose ladder did he walk under?

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

more bad luck for LH and his car!

Ooops.

[garcon]

Hamilton to be disqualified and have a ten place grid penalty for deliberately positioning his car in such a way as to damage FIA property.




(possibly)

[chillibowl]

(probably)

[wdave0]

Originally Posted by garcon

Hamilton to be disqualified and have a ten place grid penalty for deliberately positioning his car in such a way as to damage FIA property.


(possibly)

[beau1]

Originally Posted by aki13

It seems to me Hamilton rarely gets on with a team mate or team. Its his nature of wanting to win.

However I believe there does seem to be a big smell of Rosberg dislike creeping into British media and many fans on different forums.

We had the same with Vettel too. The "Can he actually pass anyone or just win from the front" in an attempt to justify him being average and getting lucky for 4 world championships.

This is what I was getting at but Knowlesy wanted to throw around a bit of pettiness rather than having a reasonable discussion.

I can only assume he must be missing the view of Didcot Power Station and he's taking it out onto the forum.

[321Go]

A highly paid, highly popular, highly rated English driver, who some say is the best - some may say second best, driver on the grid, get's beaten by a lowly rated German, perceived to be a number two driver at best, to the drivers title for a German manufacturer powered by a German engine. What a dream outcome for the German team. And for Germany. A marketing departments dream.

Mercedes said just recently that they will clamp down on their drivers making strategy decisions on track that will effect the race strategy. Even said they both will make equal number of stops. In Hungary, Mercedes called Lewis in for his second stop. Lewis ignored and stayed out. He said it was too early. He was right. And by ignoring the call, he had just that little left to fight and stay ahead of Nico.

Mercedes also asked Lewis to slow down and let Nico through. Lewis ignored and said if Nico gets close he will, but he will not slow down for him. He was right again. Because by ignoring the request, Lewis kept his position on track in front of Nico.

Lewis has made quite a number of calls of his own on his race strategy when on track this year. Nico has made just two, possibly three calls of his own so far this year. So when Mercedes said they were going to restrict their drivers making strategy calls, were they trying to limit Lewis' input? Or Nico's?

[JamesH]

Except Mercedes sell cars worldwide. An everything German season just sells cars to Germans...and that market is pretty such saturated already.

So not that much of a marketing triumph.

Odd though that Merc have said they will let them battle it out,but they won't allow radically different strategies and will keep the same number of pitstops. Doesn't sound like letting them battle it out at all.

[jedrinck]

Wow, some people are really paranoid about Mercedes possibly sabotaging Hamilton. How many Germans are in that team anyway? Wolff and Lauda are Austrian, I would assume most of the staff are British and Rosberg is Monégasque, of Finnish and German descent. Not an ideal situation for a conspiracy against a Brit, is it?

[wnut]

http://www.grandprix.com/ns/ns28616.html

Why don't they separate their strategies and setup data, and allow the drivers and their engineers to make on track calls.

Only then would they actually be racing one another, and then we would have a better idea of who the better driver actually is.

P.S. I think you are right about the marketing value of Nico winning to Mercedes James.^

[sparkione]

However I believe there does seem to be a big smell of Rosberg dislike creeping into British media and many fans on different forums.

Perceptive of you. That's because we don't like him...It's not illegal (yet).

[321Go]

Let's face it... Lewis Hamilton was only employed at Mercedes to make Nico Rosberg look great.

[JoestForEver]

Originally Posted by sparkione

However I believe there does seem to be a big smell of Rosberg dislike creeping into British media and many fans on different forums.

Perceptive of you. That's because we don't like him...It's not illegal (yet).

Yet it's obviously injustice and pathetic to do so. F1 is not BF3.

[Greem]

So it looks like the season is panning out to be Golden Boy against Golden Boy, with Golden Boy vs Golden Boy as a support event. In other news slightly further down the grid, Golden Boy is fighting with Golden Boy for intra-team supremacy, but the Golden Boy vs Iceman fight is turning out to be slightly predictable.

Meanwhile, at the back, Chilton and Bianchi seem to be getting along just fine.

[wnut]

How is this working for you now Nico?


http://richlandf1.com/?p=7701

[321Go]

Originally Posted by wnut

How is this working for you now Nico?


http://richlandf1.com/?p=7701

Lewis Hamilton then: "I have to say big congratulations to Nico. He drove a smarter and more controlled race than me this afternoon and deserved to finish where I did. The team made the call for us to hold positions and we both respected that."

Nico Rosberg now: "Lewis didn't let me by although he was ordered to so, so that's obviously not good, and we need to discuss that internally."