Whats going to Happen at Mercedes

[Big Ben]

Give Hamilton a strong team-mate and the scandal is guaranteed. It can't always be the other one at fault.

[The Black Knight]

Sorry, but malicious intent is not clear at all. The second steering wheel correction was necessary because otherwise Rosberg's car would have ended off the track. He braked and corrected his direction and his maneuver could have worked without an accident, as we see happen in almost every race in similar situations. If Rosberg's car was literally a couple of inches behind, this incident wouldn't have happened. Anyways, this type of collision is extremely common, and we have seen even more experienced drivers commit this type of error (was it Vettel or Button making the same error two years ago?). Most of the time, it's the car that's behind that suffers the most in this type of accident as it has to get back into the pits to change the broken wing.

The way I see it, Rosberg made an overly aggressive move and made a mistake. He suffered from it just as well as he had to go back into the pits to change his wing. Hamilton was a victim, but Hamilton also had some real bad luck because of the tire puncture as tire frequently does not get punctured in this type of accident.

In the end, it's bonkers to suggest that the accident was intentional as we could have seen the outcome being completely the opposite (e.g. if Rosberg's wing detached and broke his suspension or wheels). What we saw was a racing incident, Rosberg's mistake, Hamilton's bad luck, but Rosberg was luckier. Rosberg's error might or might not have justified a penalty. I'll leave that to the experts to debate. If Rosberg should have been punished for this, then everyone else who caused the same type of collision in the past should have been punished too.

Malicious intent was very clear. You go back one lap earlier where Vettel was in a similar situation and he had the smarts to go wide across the kerb. Rosberg could have done the same and carried on to fight another lap with Hamilton. He didn't and he knew exactly what he was doing. You're underestimating these drivers and exactly how good they are if you think they can't judge things like this to within the inch. Rosberg is one of the best drivers in the world and he knew full well that his wing was going to be damaged when he hit Hamilton's wheel, but he also knew that, no matter what happened, he probably wasn't going to come off as bad as Hamilton with a punctured tire. Yes, there was a minor chance that he could have come out the worse but that was very unlikely given the angle he was slicing the wheel at.

It's clear to me now that Rosberg is a dirty rotten cheat. The Monaco incident was clear enough but this one makes it 100% clearer again. The FIA must act on this and so must his team. This kind of behavior is bad for the sport. Not alone that, but Rosberg has now sent out a message that he intends to use his car as a weapon for the remaining 7 races. It could result in someone getting killed or worse so he must be sanctioned. With 8 races to go there was no need for this to be done. He's made it clear that he knows in a straight fight he can't beat Hamilton on pace so he is going to resort to dirty tricks. Lets face it, he hasn't actually beaten Hamilton all year really except for Austria where Hamilton beat himself by messing up in qualifying. He may have beaten him in Silverstone but given Hamilton's pace at the time Rosberg retired it's difficult to see Rosberg having kept him behind.

Anyway, all that aside, action needs to be taken here or it brings the sport into disrepute. And lets face it, F1 is dying as a sport as it is. Television viewing figures are down, half the stalls are empty when you go to races. I normally go to 7 or 8 races a year myself and I haven't bothered this year because seeing Vettel win 9 races in a row just killed my love for the sport somewhat. At least he's getting shown up this year. Action needs to be taken by the FIA now on this.

[steveaki13]

Give Hamilton a strong team-mate and the scandal is guaranteed. It can't always be the other one at fault.

I agree that Hamilton can't deal with fast team mates well, but in this one off incident I struggle to blame Hamilton for anything really.

[donKey jote]

I don't think Ben is getting at this (racing ) incident in particular but at the whole intra-team two-faced whinging.
... From both of them in my view

[steveaki13]

True. Both are ruining Mercedes chances to have won every race. This is when a team that runs team orders would probably have more constructed success.

The fans call for out and out racing which is fun, but you then have to take this sort of thing on the chin.

[zako85]

I agree that Hamilton can't deal with fast team mates well, but in this one off incident I struggle to blame Hamilton for anything really.

With the exception of British GP qualifying, Hamilton hasn't made any mistakes on track. Hamilton is damn fast. I give him that. But does often speak things he shouldn't have spoken. For example, Hamilton claims that Rosberg deliberately hit him. Based on Toto Wolff's terse comment, it appears not to be true. Rosberg is also guilty of this. He should have at least acknowledged his error.

[The Black Knight]

I agree that Hamilton can't deal with fast team mates well, but in this one off incident I struggle to blame Hamilton for anything really.

Really? I'd say more they can't deal with him. Thus they have to resort to unsavory tactics in order to beat him, just like Nico has done and Fernando did in 2007.

[zako85]

Malicious intent was very clear. You go back one lap earlier where Vettel was in a similar situation and he had the smarts to go wide across the kerb. Rosberg could have done the same and carried on to fight another lap with Hamilton.

That's a flawed argument. Even though Vettel went off track in the same place, Vettel went off track for completely different reason. Vettel carried too much speed in the straight and then braked too late. I saw smoke coming from his rear wheels. He was basically out of control. If he did turn, he wouldn't be anywhere near to damage the car in front because Vettel was something like a car length behind. The NBC commentators mentioned outbraking his car as well, when they saw it. Turning car would have probably spun it at that point. Rosberg's incident with Hamilton a lap later was a completely different scenario. Rosberg was following Hamilton closely and was in control of his car. Once we have established the fact that Vettel's off track excursion was completely different problem, what we end up with is that a Rosberg-Hamilton incident is one of too many of this type we have seen in open wheels. It was Rosberg's error, and he deserves to be spanked, but I don't see a clear intent. How can it be a clear intent if Rosberg was just as likely to damage his own car and end the race right there?

Anyway, all that aside, action needs to be taken here or it brings the sport into disrepute. And lets face it, F1 is dying as a sport as it is. Television viewing figures are down, half the stalls are empty when you go to races. I normally go to 7 or 8 races a year myself and I haven't bothered this year because seeing Vettel win 9 races in a row just killed my love for the sport somewhat. At least he's getting shown up this year. Action needs to be taken by the FIA now on this.

Some fluctuation in TV viewership figures have always existed. A drop in TV viewership does not mean much IMO. If it means F1 is dying, then it must have started at least 20 years ago. In 1994 journalists were saying that refueling was added that year presumably because of boring 1992 and 1993 seasons. Vettel did to F1 what Schumacher did in 2000-2005. F1 has always had years of utter domination followed by years of intense competition.

And 2013 was an odd and atypical year when no one besides Red Bull wanted to continue developing a car platform that will be scrapped in a few months. Ferrari was out of game after August, and so were all other teams who could possibly take on Vettel. So a drop in TV viewership was more than expected IMO. If anything, this year will boost F1 popularity. We have all the ingredients. Intense competition for the title fight, drama, and now a "scandal". However, the biggest surprise of this year is the new talents who took F1 by storm: Ricciardo, Bottas, Kyat, Bianchi, etc.

That "F1 is irrelevant, spec, or dying due to bad engine sound, etc" has become some kind of a meme on web sites dedicated to general automotive discussions, usually posted by people who clearly have not followed the current season.

[steveaki13]

Really? I'd say more they can't deal with him. Thus they have to resort to unsavory tactics in order to beat him, just like Nico has done and Fernando did in 2007.

True. My above statement doesn't reflect what I was thinking really.

I should have said he doesn't deal with pressure that well

2007, 2008 and this season (probably some in between I have forgotten) he seems to feel the pressure and for whatever reason he seems to make mistakes or be involved in incidents.

I think his talent deserves another title or maybe two, but I can honestly see him not winning another. I mean however its happened Lewis is falling out a championship hunt that I certainly thought he would dominate.

It seems to me he just feels pressure easily and has a tendency to make errors and get involved in on track and off track trouble.

For the record I hope he finds a way of storm the season end and taking this title.

[The Black Knight]

True. My above statement doesn't reflect what I was thinking really.

I should have said he doesn't deal with pressure that well

2007, 2008 and this season (probably some in between I have forgotten) he seems to feel the pressure and for whatever reason he seems to make mistakes or be involved in incidents.

I think his talent deserves another title or maybe two, but I can honestly see him not winning another. I mean however its happened Lewis is falling out a championship hunt that I certainly thought he would dominate.

It seems to me he just feels pressure easily and has a tendency to make errors and get involved in on track and off track trouble.

For the record I hope he finds a way of storm the season end and taking this title.

Well, he honestly always seems to be on the side of bad luck or a cheating teammate. Hopefully his luck will change over the remaining 7 races. I think this year Lewis has made two mistakes, Silverstone qualifying which was 100% his own fault and Austria which was 100% his own fault. It might seem like he was feeling the pressure on Saturday with him running wide in different corners but that was caused by glazing on his brakes rather than errors he made himself so what seems to be a running wide might not always be that straight forward.