It would be a shock if Rosberg is shown the door. First pole and win by Nico... As well as 5 good (4 1/2) years in general. I think I would need my inhaler. Lewis to return to Mclaren. But I don't think management will let this happen. Someone will simply have to submit.
Benson Twitter - Wolff: "It wasn't deliberately crashing. It was deliberately taking into account that if Lewis moves or wd open it could end up in a crash”
It's all semantics. Either way it was an avoidable set of circumstances that ultimately cost the team. Though I can completely understand why the want to try put a lid on the "deliberate" language.
People are quick to say Hamilton is a moaner when things don't go his way. They also have short memories when he upstaged the then world champion Alonso in 2007. It was Alonso who was kicking and screaming. In the end, the battle cost both of them. It could happen again.
Just occurs to me that this is kind of the opposite of what happened at Mclaren in 2012. Boot on the other foot and all that.
Well, this has certainly stoked the fire further! Without the post-race comments I'd have said it was 90% Nico's fault, but if he really did mean it (rather than adapting the situation to his advantage post-race as speculated), then that's going to seriously create problems. Going to be really interesting to see where Mercedes go from here. A slap on the wrist, a fine, public apology, whatever - it's not going to matter to Rosberg or appease Hamilton. But how much further can you go without making the situation there untenable for one of the drivers? If anything, has this established Rosberg as the teams de facto number 2 driver? Had Schumacher hit Barrichello it wouldn't have mattered, these things happen. The other way around and Barrichello would have been under serious internal pressure. Hamilton ignores team orders? These things happen in the heat of the moment. Rosberg messes up? Big drama. Rosberg probably cost the team 25 points today. In Hungary, Hamilton probably cost the team 7 points(ish). Different scale granted, but massively different reaction. I don't think the team will leap to benching Rosberg right away, but it'll be a thought. Instead I think they'll force Rosberg to defer to Hamilton wherever possible until Hamilton's caught up a suitable number of points. With plenty of races to go, and the dominance of that car they should be running line astern in enough races for Rosberg to "give the points back". Should Rosberg refuse to play ball, then they'll put someone else in the car. But if they reach the point where Rosberg's ignoring anything the team says and have to carry through with that threat, then I think they'll have to change their line-up for next season. The contract situation should make that fun.
I would be truly shocked if they went down that route and I could only see that be like pouring fuel on the fire. I'm not sure the team can really do anything about it without hurting their own position. I'm not even sure they should do anything about it other than draw a line in the sand and threaten them with the boot if they cross the line again.
Ah, I just mean how Whitmarsh kept backing Button after he continually ignored team orders, interfering with Hamilton's own championship ambitions in the name of letting his team race (even though it was apparent that only one party was benefitting). Now, Mercedes keep backing Hamilton after he has ignored team orders, interfering with Rosberg's ambitions... I'm not stating anything about how good one or the other driver is, but in terms of simple mathematics, it's clear to me that Rosberg holds all the cards now.
Gotcha. I still don't buy the whole team orders bit in Hungary... Rosberg just wan't there and Hamilton said he'd let him by if he got up there. Plus, he was actually racing him for position. There was a lot of things to take in to account on that one. Had the roles been reversed on that, I'd have been bitching at Hamilton to get his backside in gear and get on with it. By all accounts, Rosberg was still sore from it though.
Agree completely re: Hungary, I think Hamilton was well within his rights to act as he did there and Nico just got the wrong idea. From Rosberg's perspective though the team has a history of putting Hamilton's desires ahead of his own. Reckon this is just Benson stirring ****, but it'd be amiss not to mention that the FIA does have the power to re-convene the stewards in light of Rosberg's remarks (you will perhaps recall Fuji 2007): http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/28922696
They'd have to have something to back up whatever happened in that debrief.... which would need Mercedes to basically throw Rosberg under the bus. I doubt there will be any further action.
Rosberg's comments on BBC show he is no sportsman. When asked about the accident to say, I'm disappointed because it cost me the win, while not mentioning one word of regret to how he ruined Hamilton after finishing second himself, shows he has no class. I was undecided about him until this moment, the guy is a bad egg.
Just about all F1 drivers are selfish bastards that only give a crap about themselves when it comes to racing. Rosberg is no different to the rest.
