Mercedes Inter team Battle - Hamilton Vs Rosberg

I think Hamilton's strongest races are yet to come, and I also think Mercedes/Brackley will step up their game. It's easy to get behind a driver and give him your full support when you know that he will extract the maximum out of the car and your efforts won't go wasted.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

Indeed. Hamilton is on top form and Mercedes have a little bit of work to do as Brawn admitted. The cars one lap pace is on the button but straight line speed seems to be lacking as seen yesterday. Still, its not the disaster so far that a fair few people hoped it would be. Lewis made up for the fuel woes in Malaysia by outperforming Rosberg for much of the weekend. I'm looking forward to a close battle between these two as I think Nico can take it to Hamilton more often than not.

---

I'd agree with that but Hamilton seems to be hitting a sweet spot now with the car based on this weekend and Rosberg was nowhere near him in qualifying, which actually really surprised me as I regards Rosberg as one of the best qualifiers I have ever seen. Much like Rosberg to Schumacher last year, the currently points tally doesn't really reflect the true story and it has been much closer than the points table suggests.

Next weekend in Bahrain will be interesting to see what will happen and whether Hamilton's qualifying dominance will continue to that weekend as China was the first GP where I was actually convinced he was genuinely quicker than Nico and considering how good NIco is on that track it really surprised me.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Black Knight

I'd agree with that but Hamilton seems to be hitting a sweet spot now with the car based on this weekend and Rosberg was nowhere near him in qualifying, which actually really surprised me as I regards Rosberg as one of the best qualifiers I have ever seen. Much like Rosberg to Schumacher last year, the currently points tally doesn't really reflect the true story and it has been much closer than the points table suggests.

---

Of course. Nico has retired from two out of the three races so he has lost points obviously. Had he finished those races it would show a truer picture apart from a third place Nico really should have had in Malyasia IMO. Hamilton has put his car where it needs to be in qualifying so far which has made the difference in a car that is not quite at the front when long stints are factored in.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by The Black Knight

Next weekend in Bahrain will be interesting to see what will happen and whether Hamilton's qualifying dominance will continue to that weekend as China was the first GP where I was actually convinced he was genuinely quicker than Nico and considering how good NIco is on that track it really surprised me.

---

I see it differently. I thought Malaysia was the only race of the three where Nico showed he deserved to finish ahead of Lewis. In Oz Nico retired and after being outqualified by his new team mate. Nico shows sporadic fast pace but as has been said he needs to channel this in Q3 too. Being faster than your team mate at certain points during the race was what was often said about Button, but it needs to work consistently.

Bahrain will be a test because its an aero track and allows a driver to show outright pace, especially in qualifying. I expect Lewis and Nico to be close here and lets hope for another Mercedes pole at he very least. I think the track will suit Red Bull and Ferrari as shown in previous years however so I think its a bit early for a Mercedes win.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by webberf1

If anything, Pirelli should be being praised for their great ability to produce tyres EXACTLY how their customer (in this case the FIA/FOM) wants. If you are going to hate on the tyres in F1 (which, as I've said is stupid), hate the customer not the maker.

---

agreed. The blame falls 90% on F1/FIA and 10% on pirelli, because at the end of the day they do choose which compounds to bring.
But they got it right at the end iof their first year when tires were lasting pretty long.

OK

Back to Hamilton/Rosberg
As it stands 3-0 hamilton
Although I am rooting for Hamilton, I don;t want to see rosberg retire from races or loiter down the grid. If Hamilton is to make a title challenge he will need Rosberg to take points away from his competitors. and perhaps even but up there fighting for podiums and more himself. no matter what folks think. The best thing for Vettel over the past 3 years has been webber. Without him, he would have probably only won 1 championship. Not so much because of team orders, but more so by his own wins and ensuring that he inflicted damage to the other title challengers with race wins and high finishes himself.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by henners88

Of course. Nico has retired from two out of the three races so he has lost points obviously. Had he finished those races it would show a truer picture apart from a third place Nico really should have had in Malyasia IMO. Hamilton has put his car where it needs to be in qualifying so far which has made the difference in a car that is not quite at the front when long stints are factored in.

I see it differently. I thought Malaysia was the only race of the three where Nico showed he deserved to finish ahead of Lewis. In Oz Nico retired and after being outqualified by his new team mate. Nico shows sporadic fast pace but as has been said he needs to channel this in Q3 too. Being faster than your team mate at certain points during the race was what was often said about Button, but it needs to work consistently.

Bahrain will be a test because its an aero track and allows a driver to show outright pace, especially in qualifying. I expect Lewis and Nico to be close here and lets hope for another Mercedes pole at he very least. I think the track will suit Red Bull and Ferrari as shown in previous years however so I think its a bit early for a Mercedes win.

---

thankfully we only have 4 days before we find out :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

Anyway, how Lewis and Merc are performing now is WAY above many people's expectations. In hindsight, folks predicting last year that Lewis was gonna struggle in the midfield and Jenson and Mclaren were gonna win the championship, seems so funny now. :p

---

I'm guilty on that one... but happy to be. ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

On a more serious note, Lewis seems to be going backwards during races at the beginning of a season, as evidenced by last year and this year. Hopefully sooner rather than later him and Merc will hit the sweet spot with their setup and start having stronger races. I would bet on Lewis winning Canada for sure. Still, two podiums in a row is a great result.

---

Are Mercs/Lewis's tyre deg issues more to do with the car setup or Lewis's driving style. If we look at Lewis's qualy performance it seems that he has a large pace advantage over Rosberg over a single lap in max attack mode yet there possibly are early signs that Nico's set-up and/or measured race pace and/or superior ability to care for the tyres to be more effective on race day. Is this most likely to be car setup differences between both of them or Lewis's natural attacking driving style being less suited to the latest incarnation of uber-fragile Pirellis?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

On a more serious note, Lewis seems to be going backwards during races at the beginning of a season, as evidenced by last year and this year. Hopefully sooner rather than later him and Merc will hit the sweet spot with their setup and start having stronger races. I would bet on Lewis winning Canada for sure. Still, two podiums in a row is a great result.

Anyway, how Lewis and Merc are performing now is WAY above many people's expectations. In hindsight, folks predicting last year that Lewis was gonna struggle in the midfield and Jenson and Mclaren were gonna win the championship, seems so funny now. :p

---

Lewis outqualified the car and a testament to how great he is over a single lap. Over a race the car is there or there abouts so going backwards is somewhat inevitable considering tyre issues. Senna had similar feats and problem in Lotus.

Last year bad start in Australia, beaten by JB in China, then tyre lottery and shoddy pit stops and still quicker than JB - that and reliability cost Lewis WDC rather being beaten by team mate every now and then.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CaptainRaiden

Anyway, how Lewis and Merc are performing now is WAY above many people's expectations. In hindsight, folks predicting last year that Lewis was gonna struggle in the midfield and Jenson and Mclaren were gonna win the championship, seems so funny now. :p

---

Not guilty your Honour. I predicted Lewis would be right up there and Mercedes will be challenging for podiums and a couple of wins back in November. Right on course at the moment :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

Not that the dwarf gives a **** about what we're thinking, but we should petition to kick Pirelli the **** out of F1, they should never be allowed to get anywhere near ever again.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

Does it matter? I'll be hanging dead over someone's fence before I ever nail Pirelli's to my car, just because the idiots ruined my favourite sport. I don't give a **** about thir road tires. They ****ed up my favourite sport,so no penny from me for them.

---

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dj_bytedisaster

I know that they don't give a flying **** about me, but all it takes is a few tens of thousands people and Pirelli will have a serious dent in the sales. I'm an atheist, but i'd be willing to pray if that's what it takes to get rid of them.

---

With such well thought out posts like that, I am sure there are thousands, if not millions, willing to follow you.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Knock-on

Im sure theyre holding a shareholders meeting as we speak because theyve lost your custom :D

---

:laugh:

Rosberg 0.3 tenths ahead of Hammy in almost every lap thus far. I see a pattern forming here for sure. If Hamilton pulls it out in qualifying again I think it's a sign it could well be like this for the coming year, though Rosberg is bound to out qualify him eventually. Interesting weekend ahead! It will tell a lot more about the pairing again I think.