Hamilton Vs Rosberg 2014

[gridwalker]

The longer Hamilton's form holds, the stronger he will be : the guy just seems to shine when his confidence is high.

If the status quo holds, I can seen Nico's morale breaking and his performance sliding. I am pretty sure he expected more of himself after becoming known as the man who beat Schumacher. If he can't grab a win soon, I don't think he'll stay in contention as the other teams regain ground.

[Just_a_fan]

The only person who can beat Hamilton is Hamilton.

By that, I mean that he is in a "happy place" at the moment and when he is in the "happy" mindset he drives to the best of his ability.

We saw recently how even better tyres and the use of DRS wasn't enough to get by him when he is driving at his best. I'm convinced this is why his rookie year (especially the first part of it, anyway) was so good - he was just happy to be there and had nothing to worry about. The result was clear for all to see.

If Hamilton loses focus because of self-inflicted racing issues or, more likely, external issues such as girlfriends, then Rosberg will be able to take advantage. If Hamilton has another DNF due to a car failure not of his making then I think he'll weather that and still be strong. If he messes up and starts to get inside his own head a bit then he'll fall away. We've seen this before.

If both Mercedes drivers bring their A-game to each race I think Hamilton is strong enough to beat Rosberg. But he needs his A-game or he will struggle. Rosberg's best chance of beating Hamilton is to beat him in the paddock by working on Hamilton's mindset. He won't beat him on pure track speed alone. If Rosberg has a DNF then I think he'll struggle to catch up.

[George-Jung]

..the guy just seems to shine when his confidence is high..

That goes for everybody..

[gridwalker]

Some more than others

[f1316]

I think Rosberg was fast enough in Bahrain to win and in Australia we really have no basis for comparison; Lewis dominated the other two races so has clearly been the stronger but let's not forget Rosberg's issues in China.

I don't think it's that cut and dry yet. It will only take Rosberg to win the next race for the whole perception to change.

For those pointing to Hamilton's record in Spain, don't forget that Rosberg was the stronger last year.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

I think Rosberg was fast enough in Bahrain to win and in Australia we really have no basis for comparison; Lewis dominated the other two races so has clearly been the stronger but let's not forget Rosberg's issues in China.

I don't think it's that cut and dry yet. It will only take Rosberg to win the next race for the whole perception to change.

For those pointing to Hamilton's record in Spain, don't forget that Rosberg was the stronger last year.

Well Spain 2013 was Lewis Hamilton's worst race ever, so I don't think that's fair to compare. He had some big brake issues during the season and never felt very comfortable in the car. That's not the case in 2014 obviously.

The Mercedes driver has admitted that for the first time in his career he does not have the confidence he needs with the braking characteristics of his car.

And although Hamilton is optimistic that a solution will eventually be found to help him get back on terms with Nico Rosberg, he knows that he has to take full responsibility to get it sorted.

"I have never in my life had any brake problems, even since I was five years old when I first drove a car," said Hamilton.

"I have never had a brake issue in confidence with the brakes. This is the first time I have had that experience. It definitely catches you a little bit off guard."

[Montyinct]

Does anyone think that bringing big upgrades could change the car's characteristics to a point where it can go towards one drivers more than the other, in terms of driving style?
Could that explain why Hamilton struggled to Match Rosberg in Barca last year maybe? Considering that WO4 was made with Nico in mind more than Hamilton, and any parts would improve the car would also give more confidence.

[johnsonwax]

I think Rosberg was fast enough in Bahrain to win

Then why didn't he? Started on pole and with a .4s gap, new option tires and the DRS and he couldn't pass Lewis in 10 laps. Nico should have won that race handily.

[f1316]

I think Rosberg was fast enough in Bahrain to win

Then why didn't he? Started on pole and with a .4s gap, new option tires and the DRS and he couldn't pass Lewis in 10 laps. Nico should have won that race handily.

He didn't because he didn't do a good enough job - that's fair enough, and I do think that roles reversed Hamilton would have made a pass stick.

But Rosberg was faster in qualifying and I believe that a better start would have seen him win the race. My point being that I think Rosberg is still good enough to beat Hamilton on enough occasions for the championship to go the distance.

[dans79]

At this point in the season Hamilton is definitely the stronger of the two in my opinion. I think the main reason Lewis is dominating right now, is because he drives more by feel than by numbers. I think the press propaganda about the 2014 rules suiting the "technical " drivers better, is completely wrong. Look at the other top teams, the technical drivers are at a disadvantage to their teammates, Alonso over Kimi, Dan over Seb. I think as long as the cars stay tail happy, Lewis will always have the measure of Nico in an equal fight.

The other area I think Nico is lacking is race craft. He is to predictable as seen in Bahrain and China. If you give him a glimpse of the inside line, he seems to always take it and then out break himself and kill his momentum out of the turn.

[PlatinumZealot]

Does anyone think that bringing big upgrades could change the car's characteristics to a point where it can go towards one drivers more than the other, in terms of driving style?
Could that explain why Hamilton struggled to Match Rosberg in Barca last year maybe? Considering that WO4 was made with Nico in mind more than Hamilton, and any parts would improve the car would also give more confidence.

Hamilton is very strong in Barcelona actually. If memory serves, in the early part of 2013 it was widely known that he had major problems adjusting to the braking with Mercede's FRICS system which was very different from what he had at Mclaren.

Rosberd was constantly half a second faster in the heavy braking sector 1 at Monaco too.

In my opinion the 2013 Mercede's FRICS was not as good overall, as we learned at the end of the year when Merc figured out the way to get consistent pressure and volume in the system and better thermal characteristics for better consistency.

[RicerDude]

I'n not sure what to think of Hamilton's ability in Barcelona. In 2012 he got pole by 6 tenths and out-qualified Button by 1.3 seconds and his pace was good in the race, then, on the other hand, 2013 was probably one of his worst ever races.

[Glyn]

At this point in the season Hamilton is definitely the stronger of the two in my opinion. I think the main reason Lewis is dominating right now, is because he drives more by feel than by numbers. I think the press propaganda about the 2014 rules suiting the "technical " drivers better, is completely wrong. Look at the other top teams, the technical drivers are at a disadvantage to their teammates, Alonso over Kimi, Dan over Seb. I think as long as the cars stay tail happy, Lewis will always have the measure of Nico in an equal fight.

The other area I think Nico is lacking is race craft. He is to predictable as seen in Bahrain and China. If you give him a glimpse of the inside line, he seems to always take it and then out break himself and kill his momentum out of the turn.

Schumacher on the other hand... Found gaps where gaps shouldn't have existed.

[gray41]

I'n not sure what to think of Hamilton's ability in Barcelona. In 2012 he got pole by 6 tenths and out-qualified Button by 1.3 seconds and his pace was good in the race, then, on the other hand, 2013 was probably one of his worst ever races.

I think he's relatively good here, had a chance to win in 2011 against Vettel he just couldn't get passed even with DRS. In 2010 he was massively unlucky when he crashed out from 2nd on the penultimate lap, where he would have split the dominant RedBulls. Thinking back to 2007 and 2008 he finished on the podium.

With the car he has right now its hard to see how he could be beaten here.

[ringo]

I agree with those who mention the fric system. The mercedes last year was like a lotto machine when it went to certain tracks. It was affected greatly by the tyre temperatures and the driver that got the setup right by chance would do ok and the one that got it off by an inch would suffer in the race. I think that's what happened in the barcelona race. Hamilton was going backwards and so was Nico, only Hamilton was worse.
Barring any of those issues, Hamilton should have the better race this year; knock on wood.

As for Monaco, it's the same thing, braking was the issue again. The gap to Nico was hundreths of a second as well. I wouldn't say Nico is stronger than any other driver here. Hamilton aslo made an error with the safety car.
if he had come in the the pits the right time, who knows, maybe we'd have a nice race on our hands between the two.

At the end of 2014, something tells me Hamilton may have already won the championship before the last race.
And if he hasn't, then i think it's likely Mercedes will be very conservative with the car and make sure he brings it home for a decent points finish to stay in touch if Nico goes on to win.