Hamilton - Is revival possible or Is a new Champion in the making

I think that Lewis will (of course) rack up some wins this year. But I think that Rosberg now sees himself as a legit WDC contender. He has the confidence now. As with any other sport or activity, a certain portion of it comes down to confidence. After Lewis had it wrapped up last year and let Rosberg up off the mat, so that he could celebrate his WDC and play with his celebrity pals, I thought, why waste an opportunity to crush Rosberg's spirit forever?! As much as Lewis has said that he's a fan of Ayrton Senna, some of the things that Lewis does make it seem that, while a fan, his personality and approach (commitment and focus) are VERY different. Based on how he played the game, I believe that Senna would have used the end of last season to establish complete dominance over Rosberg. There can only be one king on the throne.

So far, Rosberg has not fallen prey to the jibber-jabber mind games that Lewis likes to play in the press. He's just gotten on with it this season. And he's been fairly careful not to antagonize Lewis and create a spark. He's just gotten on with the program, while Lewis let himself fall off form last season and he's been hit with several issues this season. I'll still pull for Lewis, because I don't abandon my drivers in down times. But if Rosberg takes the WDC this year, I can say that a deserving driver won it.

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Are you guys insinuating that Nico has an advantage because of those engineers ?
Because , if you are , then aren't you saying that Lewis had that advantage until now ?

It can't be that you're saying that it's the change itself because they both changed .

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I am not saying that. But it is very odd that they would do that. I really cannot see any good reason for swapping the engineers and breaking the rapport that the driver has developed with his engineers. It certainly give us an opportunity to speculate so lets do that. What are the sort reasons that Merc would seek to swap the engineers on either side of the grid?

1. Driver and engineers have stopped enjoying working with each other.
2. A driver complains the other driver has the best engineers and wants them.
3. The rivalry between both side of the garage has become quite uncomfortable, such that a change was proposed to switch allegence t calm the rivary.

I am sure you can come up with other examples.

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Are you guys insinuating that Nico has an advantage because of those engineers ?
Because , if you are , then aren't you saying that Lewis had that advantage until now ?

It can't be that you're saying that it's the change itself because they both changed .

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They have indeed swapped parts of the crews because towards the end of last season there developed a we-against-them mentality between the two groups of mechanics and they wanted to avoid fracture within the team. I'm with you on that one. Everyone who insinuates that Lewis' bad luck is down to the mechanics, implies that that was the case for Nico before. I'm not buying it. Rosberg went into the season highly motivated by his three wins at the end of last season. There is a reason why in most sports mental coaches are being introduced. The psychological side of it shouldn't be underestimated.

It could be a strugge for Lewis to catch up unless Nico has some equipment issues IMO. Nico seems to have found a lot more confidence over the last year or so, and the cars still seem to favor the clean air. If Nico keeps it up with good starts, Lewis and the team have to figure out strategy to get by Nico during the race.

Combine that with the possibility that the Ferrari's are in the game more often, along with maybe even the RBs and a couple more potentially podium cars, and things could widen in the points quickly.

It will be interesting to see how the season shapes. I think Lewis is more of a type that can push fast laps when needed, but that can be both good and bad at times. Putting in those fast laps also opens him up for more chances of driver error or incidents with other cars. Nico seems to be fairly cool these days, and though maybe not as outright fast, consistent if nothing else.

I think if Nico keeps cool and keeps his head in the game, it's his season to finally take a WDC. But I'm not sure he can do that, as he does seem to get shaken up more easily when things are more even in points, or especially when Lewis is beating him on track.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I am not saying that. But it is very odd that they would do that. I really cannot see any good reason for swapping the engineers and breaking the rapport that the driver has developed with his engineers. It certainly give us an opportunity to speculate so lets do that. What are the sort reasons that Merc would seek to swap the engineers on either side of the grid?

1. Driver and engineers have stopped enjoying working with each other.
2. A driver complains the other driver has the best engineers and wants them.
3. The rivalry between both side of the garage has become quite uncomfortable, such that a change was proposed to switch allegence t calm the rivary.

I am sure you can come up with other examples.

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You answered your own question. There was a development of internal strife within the team and that's why they switched some engineers and mechanics - not the whole teams by the way, just a few from either side.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

I am not saying that. But it is very odd that they would do that. I really cannot see any good reason for swapping the engineers and breaking the rapport that the driver has developed with his engineers. It certainly give us an opportunity to speculate so lets do that. What are the sort reasons that Merc would seek to swap the engineers on either side of the grid?

1. Driver and engineers have stopped enjoying working with each other.
2. A driver complains the other driver has the best engineers and wants them.
3. The rivalry between both side of the garage has become quite uncomfortable, such that a change was proposed to switch allegence t calm the rivary.

I am sure you can come up with other examples.

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The reason Mercedes gave was 3.

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Originally Posted by Nitrodaze

Yep, Mercedes gave Hamilton's engineers to Rosberg this season for some bizarre reason.

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What the bloody hell for ? Why change a winning formula ?

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Originally Posted by Bagwan

Are you guys insinuating that Nico has an advantage because of those engineers ?
Because , if you are , then aren't you saying that Lewis had that advantage until now ?

It can't be that you're saying that it's the change itself because they both changed .

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Yes and Nico then gets the "Better Crew" !
Get your money back Lewis ,in those "Brown Envelopes" Thats shit !

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Originally Posted by driveace

What the bloody hell for ? Why change a winning formula ?

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Mercedes still has a winning formula, just that it is a different driver winning now.:p:

Anyway, I would not like to blow this thing out of proportion. Hamilton is still fast, just has had some unluck and webberesque race starts. But he is bound to bounce back. At least the good thing is that we are likely to have a championship fight this year.:)

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Originally Posted by driveace

What the bloody hell for ? Why change a winning formula ?

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Because there was friction within the team. Mercedes men were keeping data from Mercedes men and the bigwigs decided to shuffle things up. However if the current WCC standings were the result of the mechnics swap, wouldn't that mean that Nico had an inferior crew for the last two seasons? I don't think so.