2016 Austrian Grand Prix - Spielberg, Fri 01 – Sun 03 Jul 2016

[NathanOlder]

Ted Kravitz is disgusting as foock with all this hamilton worshipping.

Being English is enough of an excuse to be a completely biased imbecile according to some members of this forum.

Are you British ? If not, why are you watching Ted ?

[RPieter]

Any YouTube videos online already? I had to experience the last 16 laps in the cab via F1 app, horrible

[Alguck]

Rosberg knew he was going to get overtaken with the problems he was having, and threw everything and the kitchen sink at Hamilton to keep his position. Trying to push him wide even when he was clearly behind, and then not leaving a centimeter with a broken front wing when Hamilton was rejoining ...

agree 100% , he could have become Mercedes hero today for making the right choice, accepting 2nd (in light of his brake problems), bringing nice 1-2 home, but he opted to do it the usual, Rosberg, way

There's no trophy for ‘Mercedes hero of the day’. Had he given in, people would be bashing him for being a pushover, for not being a true racing driver, not wanting it enough.
Hamilton still would have been able to brake in time before leaving the race track, and even if he had had to leave it, there wouldn't have been anyone blaming him for it. I feel like Ham was a tad too angry with how his race went, considering it was his to lose from the beginning.

@langwatd There was space for Hamilton on the outside. Just not space for him to turn in where he would have liked, but clearly that is not illegal.
Even if it was, that's no reason to turn in where there's another car. Had the stewards found Rosberg's move to be illegal, they still could have punished him. No need to run into him. I see the fault to be ~50-50, although Rosberg was struggling with his brakes, Hamilton seemed to know what he was trying to do, imo.

[NathanOlder]

Did he have brand new Soft tyres or brand new Supersoft tyres? If he had new Softs, fair enough, those would have been better.

If he had new Supersofts, would he have had a chance to pass Rosberg? My guess is no.

They gave Hamilton used softs (7 laps old I think) and Nico's were brand new (or at worst 1 lap) super softs.

It's just all rather strange. Hamilton was the defacto leader. He was first and leading. Then Mercedes decided to pit Rosberg early (despite him already being in a good position) - probably in an attempt to get a 1 & 2. Fair enough. This offset both strategies. They kept Hamilton out, as to suggest he was on a 1-stop race. That is how Rosberg ended up with track position. Theoretically, the assumption was that Rosberg would pit towards the end and fall back again. Yet then they pitted both cars again - this time Hamilton first, but only to give him the worse tire. That really makes it seem that the team somehow wanted to give Rosberg an advantage. Technically, at the point Mercedes pitted both cars, Rosbergs was 11 laps older than Hamiltons. So they knew Hamiltons tire would last to the end on good pace. Yet they brought him him as well AND gave him the worse tire.

Then Hamilton, realising this, comes on the radio to question why Rosbegr is on the softer tire.

Seriously, this shunt and collision is very much Mercedes own fault.

Very well put Phil. I noticed at 1 point Nico was over 30 seconds off the lead. Yet Merc let this fall to 20. Then pit Lewis knowing he will be just behind Nico. Only themselves to blame.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Did he have brand new Soft tyres or brand new Supersoft tyres? If he had new Softs, fair enough, those would have been better.

If he had new Supersofts, would he have had a chance to pass Rosberg? My guess is no.

They gave Hamilton used softs (7 laps old I think) and Nico's were brand new (or at worst 1 lap) super softs.

It's just all rather strange. Hamilton was the defacto leader. He was first and leading. Then Mercedes decided to pit Rosberg early (despite him already being in a good position) - probably in an attempt to get a 1 & 2. Fair enough. This offset both strategies. They kept Hamilton out, as to suggest he was on a 1-stop race. That is how Rosberg ended up with track position. Theoretically, the assumption was that Rosberg would pit towards the end and fall back again. Yet then they pitted both cars again - this time Hamilton first, but only to give him the worse tire. That really makes it seem that the team somehow wanted to give Rosberg an advantage. Technically, at the point Mercedes pitted both cars, Rosbergs was 11 laps older than Hamiltons. So they knew Hamiltons tire would last to the end on good pace. Yet they brought him him as well AND gave him the worse tire.

Then Hamilton, realising this, comes on the radio to question why Rosbegr is on the softer tire.

Seriously, this shunt and collision is very much Mercedes own fault.

+ Lewis got, a cumulative, 3.3 seconds slower pit stops compared to Nico. They did not even bothered about clearing the debris on Nico's, in their pursuit to let him out.

[NathanOlder]

Good point.

[Pierce89]

He saw Rosberg coming, which is why he waited to turn in until he was at the outer edge of the corner

Outer edge? There was still plenty of space and after that the run off area. In any case there was no need to turn in like there was no car between him and the racing line. He may not like to give Nico the space he would have needed, but that's racing.

Seriously? How long did he need to wait until he could turn in, until he was in America?

No, not America. Just wait till there's not a car sitting there, where he turns.

[Alguck]

Did he have brand new Soft tyres or brand new Supersoft tyres? If he had new Softs, fair enough, those would have been better.

If he had new Supersofts, would he have had a chance to pass Rosberg? My guess is no.

They gave Hamilton used softs (7 laps old I think) and Nico's were brand new (or at worst 1 lap) super softs.

It's just all rather strange. Hamilton was the defacto leader. He was first and leading. Then Mercedes decided to pit Rosberg early (despite him already being in a good position) - probably in an attempt to get a 1 & 2. Fair enough. This offset both strategies. They kept Hamilton out, as to suggest he was on a 1-stop race. That is how Rosberg ended up with track position. Theoretically, the assumption was that Rosberg would pit towards the end and fall back again. Yet then they pitted both cars again - this time Hamilton first, but only to give him the worse tire. That really makes it seem that the team somehow wanted to give Rosberg an advantage. Technically, at the point Mercedes pitted both cars, Rosbergs was 11 laps older than Hamiltons. So they knew Hamiltons tire would last to the end on good pace. Yet they brought him him as well AND gave him the worse tire.

Then Hamilton, realising this, comes on the radio to question why Rosbegr is on the softer tire.

Seriously, this shunt and collision is very much Mercedes own fault.

+ Lewis got, a cumulative, 3.3 seconds slower pit stops compared to Nico. They did not even bothered about clearing the debris on Nico's, in their pursuit to let him out.

On Austrian TV they said thed DID clear at least some of the debris.
Also they mentioned that Lewis' used supersofts were not comparable to Nico's, but I don't remember which number of laps they already had on them. Softs did sound like his best option.

[Pierce89]

Did he have brand new Soft tyres or brand new Supersoft tyres? If he had new Softs, fair enough, those would have been better.

If he had new Supersofts, would he have had a chance to pass Rosberg? My guess is no.

They gave Hamilton used softs (7 laps old I think) and Nico's were brand new (or at worst 1 lap) super softs.

It's just all rather strange. Hamilton was the defacto leader. He was first and leading. Then Mercedes decided to pit Rosberg early (despite him already being in a good position) - probably in an attempt to get a 1 & 2. Fair enough. This offset both strategies. They kept Hamilton out, as to suggest he was on a 1-stop race. That is how Rosberg ended up with track position. Theoretically, the assumption was that Rosberg would pit towards the end and fall back again. Yet then they pitted both cars again - this time Hamilton first, but only to give him the worse tire. That really makes it seem that the team somehow wanted to give Rosberg an advantage. Technically, at the point Mercedes pitted both cars, Rosbergs was 11 laps older than Hamiltons. So they knew Hamiltons tire would last to the end on good pace. Yet they brought him him as well AND gave him the worse tire.

Then Hamilton, realising this, comes on the radio to question why Rosbegr is on the softer tire.

Seriously, this shunt and collision is very much Mercedes own fault.

+ Lewis got, a cumulative, 3.3 seconds slower pit stops compared to Nico. They did not even bothered about clearing the debris on Nico's, in their pursuit to let him out.

Are you guys seriously implying that Merc was sabotaging their double WDC . That's just funny.

[siskue2005]

Any YouTube videos online already? I had to experience the last 16 laps in the cab via F1 app, horrible

[jz11]

Rosberg knew he was going to get overtaken with the problems he was having, and threw everything and the kitchen sink at Hamilton to keep his position. Trying to push him wide even when he was clearly behind, and then not leaving a centimeter with a broken front wing when Hamilton was rejoining ...

agree 100% , he could have become Mercedes hero today for making the right choice, accepting 2nd (in light of his brake problems), bringing nice 1-2 home, but he opted to do it the usual, Rosberg, way

There's no trophy for ‘Mercedes hero of the day’. Had he given in, people would be bashing him for being a pushover, for not being a true racing driver, not wanting it enough.
Hamilton still would have been able to brake in time before leaving the race track, and even if he had had to leave it, there wouldn't have been anyone blaming him for it. I feel like Ham was a tad too angry with how his race went, considering it was his to lose from the beginning.

@langwatd There was space for Hamilton on the outside. Just not space for him to turn in where he would have liked, but clearly that is not illegal.
Even if it was, that's no reason to turn in where there's another car. Had the stewards found Rosberg's move to be illegal, they still could have punished him. No need to run into him. I see the fault to be ~50-50, although Rosberg was struggling with his brakes, Hamilton seemed to know what he was trying to do, imo.

for you there isn't, but for Rosberg this could have been a great opportunity to score points with the team and Toto, if he would have accepted 2nd

this is unfathomable to me, he is leading championship by large margin, he would have lost nothing by coming home 2nd, and gained massive respect for it not just from the team, but from the mature fans of the sport, but instead...

and as for Hamiltons race, hanging him out there on the 1st sting, then BOTH pitstops were pretty horrid - 4.5sec 1st one, and 3.5 2nd one, I didn't see ROS 1st stop time, but 2nd one was 2.3, so this wasn't really Hamiltons race to lose (except for that one small mistake on the outlap after 2nd stop), he did everything he could from his seat, it was the team to blame for the awful situation they put him into

so if there is anyone to blame, apart from Rosberg, for this accident - it was the team, that made this mess happen

[Spoutnik]

For the last stint, Lewis was on 7 lap used Soft and Rosberg 1 lap used Supersoft (the one's from the qualy when it start to rain I assume)

[wesley123]

Outer edge? There was still plenty of space and after that the run off area. In any case there was no need to turn in like there was no car between him and the racing line. He may not like to give Nico the space he would have needed, but that's racing.

Seriously? How long did he need to wait until he could turn in, until he was in America?

What's the alternative? “I've waited long enough, I will turn in now, no matter who's next to me.”
We've seen that many times, it happens.

The alternate would have been for Rosberg to not attempt to run his team mate off the track.

Hamilton did everything in his power to prevent an collision(which is why he steered in very late to begin with, much, much later than you normally would have done in overtakes like these)

[Phil]

Assuming Nico wouldn't have made it to the end on what would be then 60 old tires, I would have loved to see him try to close the gap of 22+ seconds in 16 laps. They didn't have to pit both cars, much less Lewis. Given Rosberg had nearly already covered the stint Hamilton needed to to cover the end of the race.


@Pierce89 - do you have a better suggestion on how a car starting in 6th and behind by around 7 seconds ended up ahead and was gifted the softer tire despite the other not really having to pit?

[wesley123]

Outer edge? There was still plenty of space and after that the run off area. In any case there was no need to turn in like there was no car between him and the racing line. He may not like to give Nico the space he would have needed, but that's racing.

Seriously? How long did he need to wait until he could turn in, until he was in America?

No, not America. Just wait till there's not a car sitting there, where he turns.

Which is why Hamilton turned in much, much later to begin with.