Hamilton sets his car for the race. He admitted to it in a cryptic way twice this weekend, and Toto also revealed the same after Q3. Notice how happy he was after missing pole? There is so much evidence he is focusing on race pace and using his speed advantage to make up for quali. So to him starting second is a victory over the rest of the field. I really don't think Rosberg is as fast as Hamilton. However I acknowledge that Rosberg has made less mistakes in qualifying.
Here is the second time this weekend Hamilton hinted of his race setup. I can't find Toto's quote though..
Q: (Livio Oricchio - Globoesporte.com) Lewis, can you explain to us more about the turning point at Spa-Francorchamps? What happened exactly when suddenly you started winning, winning, winning - probably this is the main reason you are here, celebrating the world title?
LH: Yeah. Well, Spa was a low moment. It was a very difficult scenario to be in and going back years ago, I wouldn't have reacted the way I did this year. I would have chosen another way which wouldn't have been a positive and I guess with age, as I said, and just maturing and having a different perspective on life, I think I handled it a different way, I really thought for the following days and really turned my focus to a different area. I came back to the next races with a slightly different approach and I won't explain exactly what I did because I need to bring it to the next races next year but I did tweak some of my approach throughout the weekend which helped me get those wins. I've still got some improvements to make, qualifying was good this year but could be better. It would make it much easier if I could get qualifying sorted because the race pace is very much there. Inside the team? Nothing really changed, I don't believe. The team has been amazing. It's been very hard for them. They've wanted both of us to win, having to be very balanced but ultimately they've done an exceptional job. It is a great group of people in this team; t
here's a lot of love in this team, a lot of passion and it's been a real privilege to work with these people