2014 Belgian GP - Spa-Francorchamps

[Richard]

Funny no one has mentioned had Rosberg waited only 1 more lap a DRS pass most likely would've been successfully completed way before Les Combes.

Oh trust me. I´ve said it like 5 times by now.

Agreed, after seeing how close they were I was settling in for some DRS ping pong and wondering how the team would play the strategies to anoint the winner.

[SectorOne]

Seems like if you have that sort of tool at your disposal and you think you are faster, why not use it i mean it´s basically a free overtake and Hamilton can´t do anything to stop it.

anyway, another angle of it all, still don´t get what he´s doing to be honest.

[JimClarkFan]

This is one thing about F1 which has become so annoying. The problem is that the action on the track is rarely as exciting as it is made out to be by the media and fans, who continually make mountains out of mole hills. F1 is more about politics, engine noise than what happens on the track - racing seems to be an after thought. No other motorsport gets on like this, it seems to be institutional in F1.

Sorry for the rant, this thread just reminds me of much I dislike about F1. Get on with your lives folks instead of dissecting every minutia of Rosbergs moves, both are probably spoiled brats, millionaires and won't have to face the daily grind of proper work like you or I.

[smellybeard]

Whatever sanction Merc F1 impose on Rosberg, it now looks like it's going to be run through the lawyers and the directors.
Who is the reserve?

[Shrieker]

@JimClarkFan,

I'd upvote that.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Whatever sanction Merc F1 impose on Rosberg, it now looks like it's going to be run through the lawyers and the directors.
Who is the reserve?

Although its the only punishment that would be effective, I realistically cannot see them taking Rosberg out of the car (for 1 race). Even if they had some special clause in the contract, I cant see it happening. He knows he got away with it, and it's given him an even bigger advantage in the WDC.

[JimClarkFan]

@JimClarkFan,

I'd upvote that.

Thanks Shrieker, I knew it would take a fellow MotoGP fan to understand

[Edax]

Whatever sanction Merc F1 impose on Rosberg, it now looks like it's going to be run through the lawyers and the directors.
Who is the reserve?

Although its the only punishment that would be effective, I realistically cannot see them taking Rosberg out of the car (for 1 race). Even if they had some special clause in the contract, I cant see it happening. He knows he got away with it, and it's given him an even bigger advantage in the WDC.

I'm not so sure. Toto Wolf is quite outspoken. It does not seem this thing is over yet.

"If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement," said the Mercedes chief.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/28921431

Those are pretty strong words.

[SectorOne]

Mercedes might do something but so might the FIA. I don´t think it´s water under the bridge just yet.

Causing a collision is an offence under F1's sporting regulations.

Had the information come to light before the result was finalised, the stewards would have investigated.
An FIA spokesman said the result had been declared official, adding: "So for us, it's over."

The FIA has the power to re-open a case and reconvene the stewards of a meeting if further evidence comes to light, as it now has following Hamilton's remarks and Mercedes' admission that they were a "broadly accurate" reflection of the meeting.

A senior figure in F1 with knowledge of the stewards' process described the clash as "a little incident with fairly profound consequences".
The stewards judged the clash between Hamilton and Rosberg on lap two of the race as a 'racing incident' and decided to take no further action.
But the senior figure added that had the FIA known of Rosberg's remarks before the meeting was declared over, "the stewards might have hauled him up and said we need to reinvestigate it because we need to look at it in a completely different way".

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/28922696

[ScottB]

Whatever sanction Merc F1 impose on Rosberg, it now looks like it's going to be run through the lawyers and the directors.
Who is the reserve?

Do they have one? Di Resta was mentioned awhile back, and he's a Merc driver in DTM, so I suppose they could pull him in if they had to.

For me, it sounds like there's been a lot going behind the scenes. It seems like Rosberg was particularly angry about Hamilton not moving over in Hungary (had he ever actually been close enough for that to happen I might be a little more sympathetic, but anyway...), and still was when the team turned up in Belgium. Wolff being as obviously furious as he was in public (I would imagine therefore, that he was even angrier than that in private) to me suggests that there's been some frank discussions, and both drivers had been told to play nice. The 'point' that I assume Nico was trying to make, was that if Hamilton can ignore the team, so can he, so he's decided to try and pull off an aggressive, risky move at the start of the race that then ballsed everything up.


I doubt that Mercedes will 'punish' him, but with the team certainly seeming rather angry at Rosberg, they may start consciously or unconsciously favouring Lewis...

[Waywardism]

I suspect Nico's anger is more about how Hamilton pushed him out in Hungary rather than not slowing down to let him past. Ted mentioned at the end of his notebook that he had made a comment about Bahrain aswell. So I think the point he was trying to make is that he won't be pushed again.

[RZS10]

I suspect Nico's anger is more about how Hamilton pushed him out in Hungary rather than not slowing down to let him past. Ted mentioned at the end of his notebook that he had made a comment about Bahrain aswell. So I think the point he was trying to make is that he won't be pushed again.

And yet he forgets what he did himself in similar situations (e.g. Canada, and don't forget Bahrain a few years ago...) Rosberg seems more and more like an entitled brat, talking about "you have to read the rules to make a comment" after the race and according to Lewis walking into the meeting feeling all confident that it was all Lewis fault. He thought Lewis was required by the rules to leave space in this situation, that is at least how i understood Wolffs statement.

I can just see him ... sitting at home bothered by the situation in hungary and studying the rulebook thinking about retaliation

Looking at the gif over and over again i don't believe the "not avoiding a collision" version - he steers away first but then probably decides "now i will prove a point" and just turns right into Lewis' tyre ...

//The worst thing about all this is that he will probably get away with it, but the Mercedes is known for overthining everything, maybe the PR department will decide that most people might see Rosbergs possible title as one won by his teammate having issues with the car they built and him deliberately slitting his teammates tyres - and will decide to put all cards on Lewis for WDC ... [-o<

[NTS]

I suspect Nico's anger is more about how Hamilton pushed him out in Hungary rather than not slowing down to let him past.

I think so as well. Hamilton defended very aggressively at that point, a bit too much in my opinion. If Rosberg had at that point said "I will not move off the track" they would have both ended up in the wall. So that may very well be the reason he decided not to go off the track in this race, while Vettel in a similar situation on lap 1 decided to go off the track to avoid an incident.

And looking at it with some irony... it worked. Vettel had a damaged floor through his evasive action, while Rosberg actually gained 18 points on Hamilton for his move.

[dans79]

I'm not so sure. Toto Wolf is quite outspoken. It does not seem this thing is over yet.

"If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement," said the Mercedes chief.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/28921431

Those are pretty strong words.

whatever it is, I hope it's something that hurts him points wise.

[i70q7m7ghw]

I'm not so sure. Toto Wolf is quite outspoken. It does not seem this thing is over yet.

"If Lewis has said that it's going to be a slap on the wrist and that there's going to be no consequence, then he's not aware of what consequences we can implement," said the Mercedes chief.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/formula1/28921431

Those are pretty strong words.

Let's see, they've got plenty of time until the next race. Fair play to them if the follow those strong words up with strong actions, but I just can't see it. It's all playing in to Rosberg's hands nicely.