What I didnt get is Mercedes saying others had the same issue? Sure.... others had blistering? but it did get to the point where it was every 2 laps there was pit radio with Hamiltion maybe used for soap opera while nothing else happened.
I thought it was engine temps and not tyres that was the overheating issue, or was it both? I do agree the radio transmissions were probably overplayed to make it look like something interesting was happening. Doubtless he was wanting information on anything that could be done to improve his situation, but when does asking for solutions/information cross over into perceived whinging?
A bit (but not much) more info here with Hamilton hinting set up was the issue, or at least an inability to set up the car the way he wanted to for some reason. https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/en/mercedes-amg-f1/f1-2017-hamilton-sochi-russia/ "I don't think about all that right now. Right now we need to understand where the speed was this weekend – where I went wrong with the setup – and then come back for the next race." "Was there a huge different between your setup and Valtteri's setup? LH: Not a huge difference. We were quite close. A little bit of a difference in low and medium which is where I struggled – but I don't really know the details. The direction he was able to go I wasn't able to go, basically. I don't understand fully why. Our driving styles are quite similar, so I'm not quite sure what else in the car wasn't going into the right direction."
IMO his biggest weakness is that, out of the top 4 or 5 drivers, he is the most inconsistent. As to the heating issue, Bottas had it and I think someone else too, though I can't remember who the 3rd was. Hamilton's did stabilise once he'd dropped off Kimi into clean air and seemed to be on par with Bottas, though I seem to recall him complaining about intermittent losses of power. It just adds to my impression the Mercedes struggles more than most in the dirty air.
I wouldn't say he is inconsistent, out of everyone the last few years he has probably been the most consistent. Russia is the first time in a long time that he has been any more than a couple of tenths away from a teammate in both quali and the race. What I do wonder with the Mercedes, is how responsive it is to setup changes? Some cars will have a decent base level of aero/grip, but won't respond to minor changes in the way other cars do, some cars are the opposite and react badly to setup changes. Did they try to change his setup in Russia but nothing worked because the car just didn't respond to these changes in the way they expected? In other words, if Mercedes don't nail the setup of the cars on day one of a weekend, there is little they can do to change the cars for the rest of the weekend?
That's an opinion which can neither be proven or disproven when looking at one season in isolation where the championship was effectively decided on an engine failure in Malaysia. When you look at the performances of the other top drivers, none have been consistently beating their teammates week in week out or can say that they did not have their off days from time to time. I'd say his weakness is still a mental one when faced with adversity (e.g. being beaten by a teammate), as opposed to anything to do with consistency. He can smile for so long about it as a one off, but it does eventually get to him whether it is down to him being the issue or outside factors. If he cannot bring the fight back to Ferrari in the next few races then the Lewis you love to hate will probably come back out again.
Ah, the malaysian engine, bit of a misnomer that, as Rosberg would'n't have been so passive towards the end of the season if it hadn't occured. There's 8 points difference between 1st & 2nd, plenty of opportunity to close the gap through a season.
er, Hamilton lost 25 points, Rosberg gained an additional 3 as a result of the failure, so a 28 point swing. Come on, its not that difficult to work out.
People forget about Monaco last season when Rosberg let Hamilton passed that gained him more then 25 points.
And some people don't understand he'd have been passed anyway, even though it was at Monaco! Equally importantly, some people fail to recognise that F1 is a team sport – and when you are massively slower than your team mate (almost 3 seconds per lap is an eternity in F1 terms), you move over unless your name is Schumacher. The difference in lap time was gigantic. As for what happened last year, there were all manner of different factors. Pointless discussing. It happened. The end.
But could you see Lewis doing it? I honestly couldn't see it, especially when he's fighting the WDC with him.
You forget Schumacher almost helped Irvine win the title In 1999 so he was a team player. Unless you're talking about Ralf Schumacher.
I'm forgetting nothing, VG. Are you forgetting Schumacher was already out of it? – and that he would obviously prefer his team mate to get as many points for Ferrari as possible, as well as to present the biggest possible challenge to his arch-rival… But yes, I'd forgotten about Ralfie. You may have a point.
What!!!? I seem to remember in the final GP in 1999 schumacher finished ahead of Irvine denying him the title