Artur Craft wrote:And I'm not guessing here. Rosberg cleared the field, to reach 3rd, by lap 14, and was 9s behind Hamilton and 18s behind Vettel, then. Rosberg used the same combination of the other two, after the second pit stop, but in reverse(Hards, then Mediums). Nico finished 4s behind Hamilton and 12 behind Vettel, so a better pace once on clean air.
PS: When he and Hamilton had the same compound on the same stint, from lap 14 to 24, and both were on clean air, Rosberg reduced his gap from 9s to 7,2s, despite using more his tires to pass faster cars like Massa and Ricciardo
While I do agree more or less with the above points that Rosberg might have had a slight pace advantage over Hamilton, I just wanted to clear up that Rosberg was able to pass those quicker cars quite easily. When Hamilton was passing the very same cars (the ones Rosberg had to pass after Massa and Ricciardo), their tyres were clearly going off and they made a few mistakes which Rosberg could use to get by easily. Hamilton wasted quite a bit more time on them while they had a stronger pace.
Also, one can't say that Hamiltons O-P 3rd and 4th stint equals out with Rosbergs P-O stint. They are different tyres, different compound and you are comparing one car with more fuel on option tyres vs the same car on prime, and later a lighter car on prime tyre vs. option tyres. That will never yield an identical picture. The biggest weakness was tyre degredation for both cars, so theoretically, being on the harder compound first and later on the option tyre would be using the tyres more efficiently (what Rosberg did). One could also say Lewis wasted his option tyre when the car was heavier.
Anyhow - Rosberg and Hamilton were pretty equal for long durations of the race when both were on similar stints. Yes, Rosberg closed the gap here and then, but I think they both know they were driving different races. Lewis's mindset was to win the race, I think Rosberg knew he wasn't in any chance of it after that first pitstop when he got held up in the pit-lane and then later in more traffic. His best chance was always P2, as the team told him on the radio at some point (mentioning that he was racing Vettel).