Lewis Hamilton has set the record straight at Canada, coming back from the disappointment that befell him in Monaco. The Brit virtually led the race from start to finish, ahead of team mate Nico Rosberg. Williams driver Valtteri Bottas completes the podium
J0rd4n wrote:I am hoping they do replace Rosberg after next season (that's if he doesn't want to leave himself) and bring in someone else, but I don't see it happening. If they're still dominating, then Rosberg does the job for them. Sits there and claims second place. No point spending for a second top driver unless the field tightens up and they need someone quicker. It would be nice to see Alonso vs Hamilton part two but it wont happen.
Interesting, because I actually think Rosberg might just be quicker than Alonso. I think Rosberg has developed well over the years. I would like to see him at Ferrari against Vettel.
I think that Nico is tremendously fast, not far from the pure speed of Lewis, but Nico lacks something that Lewis or Fernando have. Nico needs everything to be perfect in order to win, if he has problems he simply looses it.
It would be stupid for Mercedes to choose another driver. This is the perfect the situation for them, they have potential winner(Hamilton) and the second driver who usually ends the races quite close, but not givin too many problems to Lewis. Mercedes dont need a driver who ends 30 seconds behind, but they dont need neither a driver who wins to many races because it could be an enormous tension in the team. And if they had a very close competitor this could be problematic.
Yeah, I agree. Sadly for us, that is the case. We might not see an exciting title battle for a while now. However, Nico could leave on his own accord. It depends on his patience and his ability to take risks. Say for example, Kimi's seat became available. He's getting sick of coming second to Lewis. Do you think he'd consider jumping ship? I don't see a title for him at Mercedes and you never know where Ferrari could be in a few years if they keep this development rate up. Or will he just play it safe, sit at Mercedes and accept second and the occasional win? Depends how desperate he is for a title I suppose. Fernando is desperate for a title and he's done something similar, taken a huge risk because he didn't see it working out at Ferrari.
Or maybe just concede that he isn't quite there pace wise (as he has done in the first two races). There's no shame in that. And it's not something that couldn't be overcome with a bit of fortune, hard work etc... True, it's probably difficult to beat a Alonso or a Hamilton or even Vettel in the same team and same car, yet Rosberg pulled it off quite a few times last year - especially in qualifying (which shows that he has the raw pace), Ricciardo did so too, and Hamilton beat Alonso back in 2007.
Rosbergs issue is that last year, he had a big advantage mentally. Perhaps not from a race-pace perspective, but leading the championship gives confidence and a bit of peace because you start to play the number game, drive intelligently without too much risk. Which is IMO one of the reasons why Rosberg nailed qualifying so many times; he was less under pressure. He was simply in a very comfortable position, also helped by the technical issues Lewis had that put him on the back step. Now, there have been no technical issues so far and Hamilton, like last year, has won pretty much the same races he did last year, with the difference of not being hindered by a DNF. So he is riding on success, is ahead in the championship which is making him an even stronger competitor.
As I said though, a DNF and a win for Rosberg could turn the tables quickly, especially if he adds another win. I think people underestimate how important the "mental" aspect is.
Not for nothing, Rosberg's Championship is the only thing that lends credibility to Hamilton's recent success. Otherwise, he'd just be the guy who's had the best car. — bhall II #Team44 supporter
Phil wrote:Or maybe just concede that he isn't quite there pace wise (as he has done in the first two races). There's no shame in that. And it's not something that couldn't be overcome with a bit of fortune, hard work etc... True, it's probably difficult to beat a Alonso or a Hamilton or even Vettel in the same team and same car, yet Rosberg pulled it off quite a few times last year - especially in qualifying (which shows that he has the raw pace), Ricciardo did so too, and Hamilton beat Alonso back in 2007.
Rosbergs issue is that last year, he had a big advantage mentally. Perhaps not from a race-pace perspective, but leading the championship gives confidence and a bit of peace because you start to play the number game, drive intelligently without too much risk. Which is IMO one of the reasons why Rosberg nailed qualifying so many times; he was less under pressure. He was simply in a very comfortable position, also helped by the technical issues Lewis had that put him on the back step. Now, there have been no technical issues so far and Hamilton, like last year, has won pretty much the same races he did last year, with the difference of not being hindered by a DNF. So he is riding on success, is ahead in the championship which is making him an even stronger competitor.
As I said though, a DNF and a win for Rosberg could turn the tables quickly, especially if he adds another win. I think people underestimate how important the "mental" aspect is.
You should get a job at Sky. Looks like you love discussing the mental aspect like them.
Phil wrote:Or maybe just concede that he isn't quite there pace wise (as he has done in the first two races). There's no shame in that. And it's not something that couldn't be overcome with a bit of fortune, hard work etc...
Or maybe instead of throwing broad statement like that with no purpose other than avoiding facts and elevating drivers despite evidence to the contrary we should focus on particular races, like Canada? I didn't notice any pace short-comings in Canada, on the contrary you'd expect a big gap between a driver with huge brakes problems and the one with zero problems, not 1-2 seconds, wouldn't you agree?
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/toto-w ... 00437.html
OK, now they say it was close to retirement for Rosberg. As close as "10 laps and attack" or closer? Wolff: "After the first third of the race Nico's brakes were in danger - very, very high temperatures," In the race on lap 27 which I believe is in the second third of the race "Raikkonen has pitted strat 5 push hard" I guess it was push hard but against KR not LH . Fine, whatever they say but then it wasn't such a perfect, flawless race after all and exciting battle of drivers giving their best, was it? It was more close to retirement kind of race then. Plenty of room for improvements.
Far too early in the season. No one can reliably conclude Kyvat is better than Ricciardo at this stage. Red Bull wont kick out a driver who got them 3 wins in a sub-par car and beat a 4x world champion. The only one under threat this season is Kvyat. If he proves himself, he will stay and partner DR.[/quoteof course its too early but driving the same car and without problems by either, kvyat has been faster. and in case you missed it, marko has already said that ricciardo and kvyat have to prove themselves if they want a drive next season as rb have two drivers currently providing better results with their equipment.
PlatinumZealot wrote:
Very good post. (Mods why can't I upvote anymore?)
Voting is disabled in race threads. Always has been. Understandable as the threads can (and do) get quite heated at times and people would probably get in to voting wars.
If you are more fortunate than others, build a larger table not a taller fence.
ringo wrote:
I disagree, everyone had to adapt to the new cars. Vettel had 19 races to figure it out, and if he was better that year things would have eventually evened out and he would have at least been close to Daniel. Daniel was simply on form last year. For the same reasons you say Seb didn't have a good year last year, they may well be why Danny is not looking so sharp this year. Drivers don't always maintain the same level of performance, they are human and can be out of it from race to race or season to season. Danny was simply the better driver last year.
Hmmm, where is the disagreement? That was exactly my point. Seb had a bad year last year, Daniel has it this year. Every Driver has had bad years, some more pronounced than others, though. Plus, Dan is still a very good Driver, just nopt in the perfect shape he was in last year.
anybody notice polls where driver of the day votes give it today ?
vettel ended up with a better strategy than massa , started beside him , finished beside him , had the quicker car and ended up beside him ..yet he hardly gets a mention
wonder why
to the optimist a glass is half full ; to the pessimist a glass is half empty ; to the F1 engineer the glass is twice as big as it needs to be
J0rd4n wrote:I am hoping they do replace Rosberg after next season (that's if he doesn't want to leave himself) and bring in someone else, but I don't see it happening. If they're still dominating, then Rosberg does the job for them. Sits there and claims second place. No point spending for a second top driver unless the field tightens up and they need someone quicker. It would be nice to see Alonso vs Hamilton part two but it wont happen.
Interesting, because I actually think Rosberg might just be quicker than Alonso. I think Rosberg has developed well over the years. I would like to see him at Ferrari against Vettel.
I think that Nico is tremendously fast, not far from the pure speed of Lewis, but Nico lacks something that Lewis or Fernando have. Nico needs everything to be perfect in order to win, if he has problems he simply looses it.
I think that is not entirely fair for Nico. Like last year in Moscow he showed that he can also come from the back and deal with problems.
But I do agree I'd place Rosberg on par with people like Webber, Coultard and Patrese, one notch below guys like Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton and Schumacher.
And actually they are the ideal ones to have as a second driver.
Was it a better strategy? I thought massa started 15? And im not sure there is that much of a performance differential between williams and ferrari AT CANADA...just look at how well mercedes powered cars did over the entire weekend. Vettel also had a bad pit stop early and was put back in the position to pass a lot of cars. So you had vettel finish closer to his team mate and in front of a driver that started 3 places ahead, whose teammate also finished ahead of a ferrari.
It seems pretty cut and dry. Maldonado had a good drive finally...but hes not getting much attention either.
. Fine, whatever they say but then it wasn't such a perfect, flawless race after all and exciting battle of drivers giving their best, was it? It was more close to retirement kind of race then. Plenty of room for improvements.
