Thanks for the defense, I couldn't remember the situation exactly, I remember now. Yea, was one finger sneaky wasn't it.
Webber set his fastest lap that lap, so he didn't back off at all, or turn down his engine, but hey, nothing will ever stop the pro-webber propaganda spread by Webber himself and then printed as fact by peopel too stupid to think for themselves. Vettel was told pretty much the whole race to stay behind Webber to maintain the 2 second gap so his tyres would last, with the team promising him he would be given his chance later in the race, (Mark is too slow, move him out of the way. No hold station Seb, you'll get your chance). The team then decided to go back on their words and not give him a chance and gift slowcoach a win, so he decided to take matters into his own hands and make a race of it, after all Webber had ignored the same instructions time and again, and then he tried to stick Vettel into the wall. The BIG difference between the two situations however, is that Rosberg has always followed team-instructions to stay behind Lewis and Webber rarely did, most famously at silverstone in 2011. But of course you will twist it however you like as long as it paints Lewis in the right and Vettel in the wrong. You have so many double standards it's a joke.
Rosberg was told to hold station behind Hamilton at Malaysia last year. I think he is still owed that favour
and didn't Hamilton say he would be happy to repay the favour? guess he went back on his word, but hey, it's Hamilton so it's okay.
"Lewis was asked to let Nico pass because we believed they both still had a chance to win the race as the strategies played out. But Nico never got close enough to Lewis to make the move â and we were ultimately comfortable with the decision Lewis made to hold position.â Ok that should settle it. Wolff said Mercedes were satisfied that Rosberg never really got close to Hamilton to do the overtake, so there! Oh, and only about 98 per cent of the fan were saying that all along, so I wonder when Wolff finally found out! Mercedes needs to stop sending mixed signals to their drivers or else people will start to thing that all's not right.
And why did it take so long for Wolff to tell us that Lewis car failed while following Alonso and he was lucky to finish the race? That's news to everybody, we never heard that before. Below is what he had to say. As for Lewis... "Putting aside his spin on the first lap, he put in one of the drives of the season - he came from dead last and, at one point, it looked like he could even win the race. He undoubtedly pulled off the overtake of the day, when he ‘monstered' round Vergne into Turn Four; it was a killer instinct move. And that is what the fans want to see. "It was nerve-wracking," he said of the race, as viewed from the pit-wall. "With each car, there was a point when we didn't think they could finish. For Nico, it was behind the first Safety Car when it looked like the brake system had failed. With Lewis, it happened when he started losing fuel pressure - and power - as he was running behind Fernando, with Nico closing in. At that point of the race, we were hoping he could make it to the finish - but we certainly expected the problem would be terminal."
I go by gut instinct, that is what racing needs to retain at key moments...Lewis was right...end off. And Miggins I am not a big Lewis fan but in the face of adversity he is earning respect.
Should we start a "roll up roll up will both Mercedes have a trouble free weekend in Spa" thread soon? As a team they've been pretty shocking with more problems probably hidden behind the scenes: Hungary: Hamilton: Fuel line fatigue causing fire in quali, Fuel pressure loss for final third of race causing significant power loss. Rosberg: Brake by wire gremlins behind first safety car. Germany: Hamilton: Brake disk failure (reported as faulty sealant) causing crash is quali, brake management required in race. Rosberg: Brake management required in race. Britain: Hamilton: All good Rosberg: Gearbox failure when not even really pushing, out of race. Austria: Both drivers having to implement serious brake management, the cars fast why not just add more cooling? Canada: Hamilton: ERS failure, rear brake failure. Rosberg: ERS failure, major loss of braking. Monaco: Last car trouble free weekend?
My only complaint with that whole situation was the flip flopping afterwards. I'd have preferred if he'd have just come out and said he had no interest in sitting back and handing the win to Webber. But that's a minor point. Other than that, good on him. I totally get why teams might want/need to implement team orders, and I hope they don't try ban them again. But you've gotta love it when the driver's go rogue. I still think that they were trying to tell Hamilton and Rosberg hold station with the whole "Bring the cars home" messages (or at least that was my interpretation) in Bahrain. It seemed neither had and desire to give up that one and it was great viewing.
Probably wasn't anticipating it coming back on him in the middle such a closely faught title fight. I'd have said "Up yours!" too!
This is racing. Not a procession. Lewis talks an awful lot of **** (Really put me off him) but if Nico Rosberg or anyone else genuinely think that Lewis should have let him past them they are lying to themselves and letting personal opinions of the drivers get in the way. If Nico was fast enough, he would have been in DRS zone and would have breezed past Hamilton. As it was, he could not get close as his tyres were going on him. Hearing this talk about owing favours and this that and the other really shocks me- if you want that sort of drama go and watch Coronation Street. F1 should be all about racing and making your own strategy work. Race and earn your wins and world championships.
What I would like to know is the reason why Rosberg dropped off behind him. - Was his brakes overheating sitting behind? - Were his tyres going off? - Was he told to hang back until Lewis let him past?* - Was he just not fast enough? *(Dont forget Nico didnt ask, Mercedes told him they were going to make Lewis move)
Thing is on that, he must have known that Hamilton wasn't going to open the door from a second or so back.
Can't remember what race it was but Nico has already done this before in this very season... proper annoyed me, and I still don't know why he dropped back, I think it was Spain?
Or was he hoping that Hamilton would take the bait and drop back crucial seconds to let him overtake then when he rejoins it would have been easier to catch up and pass Hamilton as Hamilton was fighting to keep his tyres from going completely dead on him?
