Mercedes drivers told to obey team orders in future

[jens]

I can't say I agree with much of that. The examples you give of Schumacher etc are totally different situations and eras. Michael didn't build a team around himself, he had a team that gelled well for a number of reasons. He was also a cheat who all too often played the political game regardless of the damage to his legacy. He was the best driver of his generation and I felt he could have done things so much cleaner.

I always expect Hamilton to dominate his team mates and has usually done this, especially in F1. The only season where he was beaten on points was 2011 and the following season he demonstrated his talent when on form. Comparing Lewis with serial underachievers like Alesi and Berger is rather insulting, especially when they are compared to a world champion!

For a guy who has had such bad luck, a number of DNF's, and some dodgy decisions go away from his favour, he's second in the championship and only 11 points behind his team mate. For me he's put the doubters to bed this season even if they can't admit it.

Well, whatever it is, Hamilton does not dominate his team-mates, neither Button nor Rosberg, even if you expect so. Domination is what Alonso has done to Massa and Räikkönen. Do you expect Hamilton to collect twice as many points as Rosberg in some of the subsequent seasons? I don't think so. We have evidence of five years by now (2010-2014) that Hamilton roughly ties on the result sheets with Button/Rosberg combination. Hard data doesn't suggest he should be dominating.

By the way, there are lots of drivers, who have had lots of unluck and DNF-s, including lots of so-called underachievers. Insulting? I don't think so. Perhaps comparing Hamilton to Maldonado would be insulting, but Alesi was a top3 driver on the grid in his prime. By the way, it is not a direct driving skills comparison, more like who those people remind me.

Comparing talented drivers to a World Champion isn't insulting. As you yourself admit, circumstances often play a role in results (also either meaning winning titles or not).

Schumacher's cheating doesn't explain, why did he have such a strong standing in the team though and general influence on the sport. These are different subjects.