That doesn't really make sense. According to Lewis, his issues started before. At Singapore, to be precise. Also, Lewis did turn focus away from F1 after the US GP.GPR-A wrote:Clearly, as soon as Lewis won the title, Nico's car became faster than Lewis'. Until the US GP, there was a big danger of Vettel thumping Nico and so long as Nico stays behind Lewis, there was always a danger of Vettel getting ahead in champinship. If one driver is slower than the other, the best way to make him faster, is to slow down the faster guy. After Lewis won the title, Nico was down in dumps and Mercedes needed to cheer him up. Cheer up is what they did.
Nico took pole in Japan and Russia, and should have won at least the latter.GPR-A wrote:Clearly, as soon as Lewis won the title, Nico's car became faster than Lewis'.
I don't see how he was "much quicker" when he was chased down and overtaken? He was pushed to his limit and made a mistake. At the last few races he was also chased down by Hamilton, but the tracks protected him to a certain extent. I would say Abu Dhabi he outperformed Hamilton on merit for sure. Nico has been quicker on occasion, but only on occasion, not as consistently as Hamilton, and the results reflect that.ME4ME wrote:Nico took pole in Japan and Russia, and should have won at least the latter.GPR-A wrote:Clearly, as soon as Lewis won the title, Nico's car became faster than Lewis'.
Even at the US GP, Rosberg was quicker much of the weekend.
Isn't that what happened in 2014? Nico beating all year long in qualifying and Lewis chasing Nico in championship until Monza. Next year, it's a different car and there would be different tyre strategies due to 3 different compounds made available in race weekends. So, it would be a headache to set a car up for three different compounds. Whoever adjust to the new car and new tyres faster, it's his championship.Diesel wrote: Next year, Rosberg needs to capitalise on what I see as complacency starting to creep in for Hamilton. If he can hit the ground running and win the first 2-3 races, it might shake Hamilton up a bit and give Rosberg a real chance at the championship.
Last year, Hamilton had some bad luck through mechanical failures. He did explain his weakness in qualifying that he changed this year a bit of his approach, possibly a slight tweak in driving style, which improved him enough to tople Rosberg on that front.GPR-A wrote:Isn't that what happened in 2014? Nico beating all year long in qualifying and Lewis chasing Nico in championship until Monza. Next year, it's a different car and there would be different tyre strategies due to 3 different compounds made available in race weekends. So, it would be a headache to set a car up for three different compounds. Whoever adjust to the new car and new tyres faster, it's his championship.Diesel wrote: Next year, Rosberg needs to capitalise on what I see as complacency starting to creep in for Hamilton. If he can hit the ground running and win the first 2-3 races, it might shake Hamilton up a bit and give Rosberg a real chance at the championship.
I am desperate to see a competitive Ferrari and McLaren (yeah long shot, but why not). I am fed up of equality crap and want to see a genuine competition between drivers, instead of pre-determined and controlled sh**.
I really don't care much for Toto, he runs his mouth more than most drivers do. Not to mention he has more than a little conflict of interest going on with managing Bottas.PlatinumZealot wrote:Next year I want the sh*t to hit the fan between the drivers, Lewis wins it and gets fired by Toto and then Ferrari take him up.. Lewis Vs Vettel 2017!
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... up-change/
Yea, it always seems reactionary, never premeditated.Writinglife wrote: Since Hamilton joined the team, he's been playing second fiddle and displayed very little aggression, even when he does, it comes across more as temper tantrums then a focused, calculating move.
As great a driver as Lewis is, I just don't see him and Ferrari being a winning combination.PlatinumZealot wrote:Next year I want the sh*t to hit the fan between the drivers, Lewis wins it and gets fired by Toto and then Ferrari take him up.. Lewis Vs Vettel 2017!
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff ... up-change/
i fully agree with you, but that's exactly the reason i would love to see vet/ham in the same team. that would give us some serious entertainment and dramaSchuttelberg wrote: .....
Agreed to most points. I look at one glaring difference between the two in race trim. How many times Rosberg was at Hamilton's tail for a complete race, putting pressure? We have seen Hamilton doing it almost every time when he is behind Rosberg, overtaking on tracks where opportunity is available. When Hamilton gets ahead, he disappears. Pole position, then track position and the advantage of priority pit stop is the only savior for Nico. If Pole and then lead on first lap is not available, then it is almost 100% that Nico loses the race.turbof1 wrote:We should perhaps also not forget that Rosberg actually is a very, very capable driver. It might not seem that way at times, but the fact is that usually there's very little to pick between them. Rosberg is making Hamilton work hard for the victories, and when Hamilton does not work hard he gets beaten. Wolff is wrong to consider to replace one of them with a slower driver; you need that rivalry to keep both of them on their toes.
I'll just like to say something about this-ScottB wrote:I think for me, I go with ocams razor.
Lewis: He was on fire for much of the season on track, and living an increasingly hectic lifestyle off it. When he was presumably focused on his goal, he was able to sustain his performance, but with nothing left to shoot for this year, some of that drive may naturally have slipped, and his admitted partying will have taken its toll.
Nico: Head to head, he seems to make mistakes under pressure. A mixture of Hamilton hanging him out to dry and then winning the title in Austin seems to have fired Rosberg up, but also with no pressure, he was perhaps more mentally free to step up and beat Lewis.
Throw into the mix tyre pressure changes and car developments then I think we arrive at the answer. The big question will be what happens next year. If Lewis comes back refocused and blows Nico out the water like he did at the start of this season, that could well demoralise Nico. Alternatively if Rosberg carries his recent superiority into 2016, we'll get the interesting prospect of seeing how Lewis will respond...