Hamilton to Mercedes

oh no not Nick Fry!

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. The funniest yet!

 

Lewis's no.1 fan, Alan McNish, reckons Hamilton is a clear favourite at Mercedes.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22062571

Is this true, do you think, just based on Malaysia, or are they just wanting to make him feel settled and important? I can't help remembering all the "Button is favoured" saga that followed Jenson's move to McLaren.

 

I guess we'll find out if Hamilton ends up behind rosberg in a similar situation.

 

We can't base it on 2 races

 

I wouldn't be surprised if Mercedes offered Hamilton No.1 status as one of the ways to lure him away from McLaren. Not that I think Hamilton would have demanded it, but when it's offered who would say no in favour of equality?

 

Well, lets put it this way, I have never heard of a driver that demanded equality where they were offered no.1 status!

 

Lewis is clearly number 1 at Mercedes in my opinion. He was having to fuel save so aggressively by the end that he would've been defenceless to a Rosberg attack, it's not like there was a risk of them colliding like with Vettel and Webber, Rosberg would've just breezed by.

 

I think it's fair to say that Hamilton is only just getting to grips with a new car whereas Rosberg is quite confident in his. Hamilton will get quicker I'm sure, but it's quite clear that he's being assisted to some extent by the team right now to gain maximum points to help towards a big total for the year. I was hoping though that we'd get a better idea of how quick Rosberg is.

 

The pair had traded places a couple of times before the call came in so it's tough to tell if Hamilton is truly #1 or if the team were genuinely concerned about them racing each other. I guess it will become more clear as the season progresses.

 

Agreed, Lewis was brought in as a #1. Rosberg has been denying it all winter and some here have been denying it too but I think we all know deep down, Lewis is the #1 choice and Mercedes know their best chance is with him.

 

From events of the last race, I understand the impression about driver status; it is a natural conclusion to arrive at.

I'm sure the picture will become clearer as the season progresses but my conjecture is that had the positions been reversed (with Rosberg leading in otherwise identical circumstances), I doubt he'd have been asked to pull over for a chasing Hamilton*.

This weekend may provide us with some evidence:
Although I do not feel Hamilton is yet fully at one with his car, he has gained a reputation for scintillating pace over a single lap (best of the lot in my opinion); but let's not forget, Rosberg is also a very good qualifier and is really good around this circuit. If it's dry, my prediction is for them to be very close on the grid, with a good chance for a real battle in the first stint, with Rosberg stopping later. However, by the latter stages of the race I expect Rosberg to be ahead and to finish with more points.

If Rosberg maintains his form at this circuit, Hamilton faces a massive challenge – one which may see him fall short. But if they're close together in the latter stages, and once again without intervening cars, I do not believe they will be encouraged to fight each other, regardless of who is ahead.

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*Of course, we will probably never know…

 

Cosi, Lewis "falling short" surely not possible, is it !!!

Although I do agree, Rosberg's form ain't far off and he could even match Lewis on occasion, also he 's regained that all important savoir faire.

 

A relative term, Ernie; dependent upon one's method of measure!

I'm sure that from Hamilton's perspective, if he considers himself fully up to speed, he will feel that to lose to Rosberg would be to fall short. However, I personally believe it will take him until somewhere around (or even slightly beyond?) the British Grand Prix to be properly dialled in; and we should remember Rosberg is particularly good around the Shanghai circuit.

 

Yes, I figure Hamilton cannot yet be fully 'modus operandi' with his new scenario, it will, as you say take a while for him to maximize.

 

Formula1.com

Exclusive Lewis Hamilton Q&A: We are way faster than I expected 18 Apr 2013

When it was announced late last year that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving McLaren to join Mercedes in 2013, there was considerable shock in the paddock. But after three races - and two podium finishes - Hamilton’s bold decision looks to have paid immediate dividends. We caught up with the 2008 world champion in Bahrain to discuss, amongst other things, what’s gone right at Mercedes and what might be going wrong at his old team…

Q: Lewis, you must laugh at all those who predicted that your career would go south when you joined Mercedes. How does it feel proving them all wrong?
Lewis Hamilton: It feels nice! (laughs) It is good to walk around with my head up and smile at all those who have helped me in my decision and gave me the opportunity. I also feel good about myself. I have really thought it through and it is great to see now that the team is doing so well and that I can contribute to that success.

Q: Can it be that you are the one who is most surprised about the current situation?
LH: No, not really. I remember meeting with Ross (Brawn) before I signed; he came to my house and we sat down and he told me all the plans and I have been in the sport long enough to understand what he was talking about. I could see that Mercedes were en route to making some very positive changes - that they were really, really determined to turn things around. He showed me what potential there was in the car and I thought ‘wow, this sounds good’. Of course I didn’t know how good it would be and, to be honest, I never expected it to be as good as it is now. I thought it would be a slow but steady improvement - but it is way faster than I expected.

Q: The McLaren was the fastest car on the grid at the end of last season and the Mercedes was sometimes two seconds off the pace, but now - after three races - Mercedes is way ahead of McLaren. Would you have believed that if somebody had told you so?
LH: Definitely not. That is probably the biggest surprise - where we are in relation to them. The McLaren at the end of last year was awesome - the quickest car on the grid - and usually if you have the quickest car and there are not massive changes in the regulations you carry that into the next year. So it should, again, be a quick and awesome car, but for some reason - I don’t know why - it hasn‘t happened that way. But that is not my concern anymore! (laughs) And take Mercedes: they had a car that was nowhere, and look - we had a pole position last weekend! What a great feeling that was - it is a beautiful car to drive.

Q: So that marathon of improvement actually turned out to be a sprint…
LH: Ah, it’s not that easy. We still have a lot of work to do. It is still early in the season and we can still have bad races. But fingers crossed that won’t happen.

Q: What is going so wrong at your old team, McLaren?
LH: I don’t really know - I haven’t even spoken to the drivers about what is happening there. It surely has something to do with the downforce on the car. It was there all last year but probably they tweaked something. I thought that the car looked the same, but I was told that they’ve changed the car completely. They’ve probably made some big decisions which they thought would translate into big gains, but that hasn’t happened. Actions like that are not unusual with McLaren. I have experienced that in the past, particularly in 2009 and in 2010 as well. So it’s not unheard of that they make drastic changes. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

Q: And what’s going so right in your current team, Mercedes? The winter tests weren’t that promising - and suddenly you have a pole in China and two podium places so far…
LH: I think that they’ve been lost before. They have even said that. The aerodynamics, the wind tunnel - people were in the wrong place - so they took a step back and tried to analyse everything and move things into the right position. The car has just been on a positive curve since they changed the wind tunnel - since they made all these changes within the last half year - and they’ve been improving at a very serious rate.

Q: And obviously with you they’ve put the right man in the cockpit…
LH: Hopefully. I’ve tried to be as helpful as possible. But even if they didn’t get the results last year, this is a fantastic team and they clearly had the ability back then - but sometimes you just get lost. Even with McLaren - such a great team - they have troubles now. It is so easy to lose your way and it is so hard to find it again. I am so glad that Mercedes have now found it.

Q: We hear that there will be no more team order at Mercedes. Were you surprised that there was one issued in the first place?
LH: True, I haven’t been in that position for a long time and obviously it came as a surprise. I tell you, it is not the greatest of experiences. After the race, as we sat down and talked, I understood the situation and now I feel a lot more positive about it, but also we must make sure that we are never in such a position again.

Q: Without a robust ego you don’t get anywhere in F1 racing. How much elbow room should there be for a driver?
LH: Oh yes. (laughs) Wow, that’s an interesting question - I have never been asked that before. Let me think: I feel that I am fully a team player. Of course when you are driving and are in the position that Nico (Rosberg) was in, he had to put his own ego to one side. Even for me, my ego was affected by it because my team mate was quicker than me at the point, and that is something a driver never wants to see - that his team mate is faster.

Q: So at that point you were both losers - you because he was faster, and Nico because you bagged his podium?
LH: Let’s put it this way: it was a win-lose, win-lose situation.

Q: Your lapse in Malaysia when trying to pit at the wrong team caused much laughter. But in reality, how much contact do you still have with McLaren? You’ve grown up with them so a new contract can hardly cut off such deep roots…
LH: I went to see them in Australia. But I also tried to see them in Jerez, at the test, and there Sam Michael threw me out of the garage. That wasn’t very positive and I don’t feel very good about that. Martin (Whitmarsh) has been great and I have to say that I haven’t had enough contact, so I will give Martin a call.

Q: You’ve looked more concentrated since you joined Mercedes, but you also seem to laugh less - at least during your working hours. Why?
LH: Really? Maybe it is that I have so much to take in at the moment. I don’t have time to laugh and chill. When I was at McLaren I was at the top of everything - I knew everything: what the car was doing, how people reacted - so it was a lot easier as I knew exactly how I wanted to have my car set up. Here I have so much more work to do with the engineers - so many new, different things on the car that I still don’t fully understand - so I have no time to mess around. But don’t get me wrong: I am still having a great time.

Q: From Barcelona onwards, there has been talk of Pirelli looking at the tyre situation. If they made changes would the racing lose the current spice and is there really such suffering at the moment? The way the tyres are now seems to separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of drivers…
LH: I don’t know what’s coming our way, any improvement is welcomed and will be very positive. And about the wheat and the chaff; that’s not really so. The more balls you can juggle the better you are - all the different techniques you have to do to look after your tyres the better you are as a driver - and that is the challenge. So hopefully after Barcelona there will be fewer balls that we have to juggle.

Q: A pole position and two P3 finishes. Isn’t it about time to count down?
LH: Well, yes, second place is the next position. One step at a time. I don’t want to shoot straight at P1 - but of course if it comes, it comes. I am not saying ‘we have to win’. So if we move forward - a second place and then a first - that would be fantastic. So my target for this weekend is to finish higher than last weekend. And all signals suggest that we can do it. I feel very positive for this weekend. Sure it is a very tough track for tyre degradation, but generally I’ve always been quite quick here. So I’ll keep fingers crossed to end up in a better position than last weekend. (laughs)

 

Hmm, clearly Whitmarsh was not the issue.

A clash between Hamilton and Michael may have helped Hamilton decide to leave McLaren? Clearly no lovelost between those two. Lewis pointing out that him and Whitmarsh were still okay.

Sam Michael did a good job of taking Williams to the back of the grid, seems to be taking McLaren there too ..........

 

Jelly odd.

 

4 in a row