Lewis Hamilton

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Smithers said:
That's sort of the point I was making in the race thread about picking and choosing when team directives are to be used. Merc have controlled every racing mile to the benefit of both drivers. I don't blame Lewis although personally I think it was boarderline and is no different to Alonso blocking Lewis in the pits, but I blame Merc for creating their own monsters and then acting shocked when they bite.

There are fundemental issues behind the scenes evident in Lewis's quit threat after Spain. That is a major issue, a lead driver willing to walk out or calling the teams bluff? For Merc to unwillingly up Nico's contract in response speaks volumes for me. When a driver thinks or does become bigger than the team it's time for both to move on.
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Did he actually threaten to quit after Spain, or is that just a media non-story again because Werdheim did the following test and not Hamilton, so 2+2 was made to equal 5 by the press?

Hamilton was correct to try and win the championship on Sunday, what the team didn't have the balls to do was tell him straight that Nico was to be WDC and Hamilton should not try to influence that. They did it, as ever, by making it sound like it was a racing strategy decision during the race, but when the message is decoded its clear what they actually meant.

Mercedes are too used to controlling the races. Hopefully they will hurt next year when they actually have to race the field properly (here's hoping!)
 
Personally I think the issue in Abu Dhabi was entirely created by the team management. There was no need for a team order. They could see what Hamilton needed to do and publicly stated before the race that he wasn't to do it. But of course he was going to do it, that was his only chance of having any control over the outcome of the championship. And I can't think of any driver who would have meekly sucked that one up.

It looked like evidence of unnecessary micromanagement by the team. They considered their 1-2 more important than a driver having a chance of winning the WDC. They need to sort out their priorities.
 
eddie_squidd said:
It looked like evidence of unnecessary micromanagement by the team. They considered their 1-2 more important than a driver having a chance of winning the WDC. They need to sort out their priorities.
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The managements priority is to the team, not the individual drivers. So from that point of view, they did what they had to. They have no priority to the fans to provide an exciting race.

What they fail to realise, is they got more coverage because of what Hamilton did, than if he had cruised into the distance and there was no battle in the later laps.
 
I feel a bit sorry for the behind the scenes folk at Mercedes. For 3 years they've created outstanding cars, yet because of a handful of bosses at the top a lot of people just have disdain for them.
 
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allsaintchris. said:
The managements priority is to the team, not the individual drivers. So from that point of view, they did what they had to. They have no priority to the fans to provide an exciting race.

What they fail to realise, is they got more coverage because of what Hamilton did, than if he had cruised into the distance and there was no battle in the later laps.
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But the team had already won the WCC and one of their drivers was guaranteed to be WDC. There was no need to interfere so long as it was clean and no wheel banging. This could all have been solved by Nico actually trying to win the race and not come in 2nd. If he had of put his car on pole then he could have dictated the pace him self. Problem solved. But he was too happy to play the numbers game which luckily for him did work out in the end but don't put your title in someone else's hands and then complain they aren't playing your game.
 
taeleon said:
But the team had already won the WCC and one of their drivers was guaranteed to be WDC. There was no need to interfere so long as it was clean and no wheel banging. This could all have been solved by Nico actually trying to win the race and not come in 2nd. If he had of put his car on pole then he could have dictated the pace him self. Problem solved. But he was too happy to play the numbers game which luckily for him did work out in the end but don't put your title in someone else's hands and then complain they aren't playing your game.
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What we want, and want Mercedes want are two different things.

Toto is a businessman first and foremost. Him and Paddy are paid by Mercedes to get a 1-2 in every race. I really don't think they care in which order the drivers finish, but if they think something will stop that happening they have shown they will not hesitate to make instructions that are good for the team, but bad for a race.
 
No fan of any current driver (however, starting to pull for Mad Max..)
I see nothing wrong in what Hamilton did yesterday..
Did he brake test his team mate? Don't think so?
Did he try to punt him off? Don't think so?
What did he do wrong? Set a slow pace up front? He's the lead driver, isn't that his prerogative?

The only way he could have won is if he backed his Team mate into the pack or his Teammate had a DNF, with Merc's reliability of late, that DNF was unlikely... So he tried but the rest of the cars are so much slower than the Mercs that they couldn't get past, even when Vettel was on faster tires at the end of the race!

Also, if Hamilton was driving that slow, then why not try to overtake him?

Yes, he disobeyed team orders, but they won the constructors ages ago... they should have just let them race, only one of their drivers was ever going to win the WDC too, so this over management of the last race, IMHO was OTT..

Had he drove away at the start, Rosberg would have driven away from the pack as well and just stuck himself 3-5 seconds behind Hamilton.. would have been a ****e/boring race!

If we are to believe RB will have a good car next year and Ferrari make a return to form, Merc would be foolish to give Hamilton any form of ban/suspension, when push comes to shove, they know Hamilton can mix it with the other drivers (Rosberg to a lesser extent)

Also, bit harsh on Hamilton, he won more races, more Poles and for no fault of his own was denied another race win in Malaysia, that one DNF on its own cost him the WDC, not including the engine issues he had at the start of the season, Rosberg, other than a Gearbox issue, did he have any other issues? I can't recall any..

But, you can only play the hand your dealt and he was dealt a good one but he still had to make it count, which he did, so fair play to Rosberg and congrats, some may say he didn't deserve it, but, like football, the table doesn't lie, if you finish top, you were the best that year, and overall, he was!
 
Glad to see there's unanimity in here. It's hardly reasonable to think any F1 driver worth their salt would give up the ghost on even the faintest chance of the title until the bitter end.

Admittedly problems could have ensued if overtaking was attempted but then, isn't overtaking the idea of racing in the first place? I can't see Hamilton could be held responsible if others made a hash of it behind him. They are all supposed to be in the Top 22 drivers in the world and it's not exactly a hostile circuit to do it on.
 
Hamilton is a twat - his self importance fuelled by a sycophantic British press.

However, nothing wrong with him backing Nico up into Vettel. Pity Max's tyres were pretty done by the last few laps or it could have been even more exciting.

I'm also already fed up with idiots questioning the 'worthiness' of Nico's WDC. He deserves it. WDC's have been won/lost on reliability in the past and will be again in the future. It's in the nature of the sport.
 
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JonnyBaws said:
No fan of any current driver (however, starting to pull for Mad Max..)

Also, bit harsh on Hamilton, he won more races, more Poles and for no fault of his own was denied another race win in Malaysia, that one DNF on its own cost him the WDC, not including the engine issues he had at the start of the season, Rosberg, other than a Gearbox issue, did he have any other issues? I can't recall any..
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Shut up, you twat. **** off and watch a sport you actually understand.
 
I think Brundle summed it up nicely..

"Hamilton's tactics were unfair on his team-mate, uncomfortable to observe, and disrespectful to his team. And I'd have been surprised and disappointed if he had done anything else. He's a hard-wired winner and that's why he's a three-time champion. Senna and Schumacher have done worse. It won't win Hamilton many friends but he won't care one bit, and it's fascinating to see that he took much of the post-race media coverage which was all part of his desire to minimise Rosberg's title if he couldn't win it himself."
 
Smithers said:
I think Brundle summed it up nicely..

"Hamilton's tactics were unfair on his team-mate, uncomfortable to observe, and disrespectful to his team. And I'd have been surprised and disappointed if he had done anything else. He's a hard-wired winner and that's why he's a three-time champion. Senna and Schumacher have done worse. It won't win Hamilton many friends but he won't care one bit, and it's fascinating to see that he took much of the post-race media coverage which was all part of his desire to minimise Rosberg's title if he couldn't win it himself."
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Brundle hates Hamilton with a passion FACT!
 
Smithers said:
I think Brundle summed it up nicely..

"Hamilton's tactics were unfair on his team-mate, uncomfortable to observe, and disrespectful to his team. And I'd have been surprised and disappointed if he had done anything else. He's a hard-wired winner and that's why he's a three-time champion. Senna and Schumacher have done worse. It won't win Hamilton many friends but he won't care one bit, and it's fascinating to see that he took much of the post-race media coverage which was all part of his desire to minimise Rosberg's title if he couldn't win it himself."
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I can't agree with the first sentence, but the rest is spot on.

Nico said he wasn't sure whether he would take the No.1, next year, but this illustrates exactly why I would in his position. Rubbing it in Hamilton's face every day, will absolutely give Nico the best chance of coming out on top again next year.
 
I don't think it has lost Hamilton many friends in the world of F1 that exists outside of the Mercedes boardroom.

Everyone could see what he was trying to do. He didn't do it dangerously, raced at a decent speed still so as not to cause an accident behind, but enough that it did give Rosberg an uncomfortable time. All he needed was for Rosberg to take his eye off the ball, lock a wheel etc and run wide then suddenly he would be down in 4th and a WDC going Hamilton's way.

He didn't brake test, lift on an apex or do anything bad like that, so whilst what he did was hard, it certainly was not disrespectful to racing.
 
I'd go further than that Chris. His was possibly drive of the day on Sunday. He judged it perfectly, and was in total control all of the time. You will never see a better example of a driver totally controlling a race.

The only other driver with a shout of DoD might have been Verstappen for a good recovery drive.
 
eddie_squidd said:
I'd go further than that Chris. His was possibly drive of the day on Sunday. He judged it perfectly, and was in total control all of the time. You will never see a better example of a driver totally controlling a race.

The only other driver with a shout of DoD might have been Verstappen for a good recovery drive.
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Or Nico, who coped with everything they could throw at him, under the most pressure?

Or Vettel, for coming up with and executing a Podium winning strategy?
 
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Sportista said:
Or Nico, who coped with everything they could throw at him, under the most pressure?

Or Vettel, for coming up with and executing a Podium winning strategy?
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Nico did what he needed to do without taking risks, as he did for the last four races.

I'll give you Vettel though, a good shout. He used his head like Ham did.
 
In the end....

If any of us were told hey first lap sorry mate you now need to drive round and lose the championship cos rosberg is second and we want 1/2 results we woyld try to do something.

I dont think hamilton could do any more.

If we look back at verstappen under safety car in brazil. he was so agressively all over raikkonen looking for grip. tormenting the guy every lap... its aggression and you know if hamilton didnt do it he woyld be worse.

Rosberg held his nerve and did pass verstappen but obviously with much better tyres.. im glad he proved himself up to it even if he isnt the greatest ever.
 
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