So call Lewis the No1 and tell Nico tough! Fine with that, but this about the team saying one thing and doing another. It's pathetic.
I have read the comments on this topic and they have focused on more or less the same, should Hamilton have done what he did, should Mercedes have interfered. Was the 1-2 for the team more important. Well, just maybe there was another agenda, corporate Mercedes wanted a German F1 WDC. Now, that maybe a controversial suggestion but perhaps that was the motivation. Corporate Mercedes isn't run by a racing pedigree management team and Nikki Lauda has mellowed over the years and is too corporate and frankly a bit of a joke in his public comments. He never says anything meaningful. Lewis may find his relationship with Merc difficult next year. If it is more competitive he will be forgiven, if Merc continue with the advantage I would put money on a Merc orchestrated WDC result. They understand Nico, not Lewis. For me, the Mercedes brand and management are damaged by the attempt to interfere with the WDC result. I am not specifically a Hammy fan and I am pleased for Nico, he has grown up and Lewis is so good he took it for granted, only sorting his starts out late in the season. He had bad luck, but so has Nico in the past.
Here's another question, if Jenson hadn't bailed from Brawn and had teamed with Nico therefore, who would have been the better driver?
It's wishy washy all around. You can't have equal status and then panic and cry when they race. They need to either let them race and stop moaning (expecially when the two cooks put out differing opinions to TV) or have a 1-2 setup.
Martin Brundle on Twitter this evening: "Rarely seen an F1 subject creating such diametrically opposed fan divide. Spoke to quarter of grid afterwards, all said they'd do the same."
Well at least he gets something for his efforts Formula 1 team bosses have voted Lewis Hamilton the clear winner in Autosport's annual poll to name the year's top 10 drivers. Autosport asked all 11 F1 teams' bosses to rank their top 10 drivers, based on on-track performances over this year's 21 races. AUTOSPORT'S 2016 TEAM BOSS'S TOP 10 1 Lewis Hamilton, 234 points (No change) 2 Max Verstappen, 183 (Up two places) 3 Nico Rosberg, 176 (No change) 4 Daniel Ricciardo, 133 (Up five) 5 Sebastian Vettel, 90 (Down three) 6 Fernando Alonso, 67 (No change) 7 Kimi Raikkonen, 61 (Up three) 8 Sergio Perez, 52 (No change) 9 Valtteri Bottas, 26 (Down two) 10 Carlos Sainz Jr, 25 (New entry) WHO VOTED Toto Wolff, Mercedes Christian Horner, Red Bull Maurizio Arrivabene, Ferrari Vijay Mallya, Force India Claire Williams, Williams Eric Boullier, McLaren Franz Tost, Toro Rosso Gunther Steiner, Haas Fred Vasseur, Renault Monisha Kaltenborn, Sauber Dave Ryan, Manor
The team principles are every bit as guily as the layman for ranking the guys in the best cars at the top by default.
I think this is one of the better devils advicate summarys on the fundemental issues with Merc. It's well worth a read.
Have to say the bile that comes his way is unbelievable. Certain people just cant help but find a way of trying to discredit him and criticise him and yet are the same sort who will champion Senna and Schumacher who did a lot worse in their time. They also conveniently forget some of the things Nico got up to in the past two years. The battle between the two of them is bitter and is personal. I would have liked Lewis to be a bit more congratulatory and he did come across as a bad loser it is true. His tactics however were well within his rights as a motor racing driver. Do we want racers or do we want robots?
That's a bit melodramatic. Anyway, If we're at the point where we're going to dismiss racing and support a corporations "racing by numbers" ethos, we really might aswell go home now. If they don't want inter-team competition, just don't allow it, It's that simple! But don't pretend it's an open battle. Right now they're almost deciding the winner by pole. Load of fuss about nothing all this.
At work for a few hours still so can't read just yet but does it also take into consideration that Nico's mechanics are the mechanics of the past two years that Lewis had? I don't think either set have an affinity for either driver as they have worked with both now. Sure from an interteam bragging point of view they will want to better the other side but I don't think ever as far as deliberately sabotaging the race of the driver on the opposite side by means of slow stops (or mechanical failures as some tin hatters have brought up).
except I'm pretty sure Rosberg's stop was even slower, as both sat waiting for safe releases, I think it was the Ferrari's that came in behind. The Hamelots clutching for any straw.
NICO would have went to mclaren instead to team up with Hamilton. Button would have teamed with schumacher.
No, Nico was already signed or at least in final negotiations with Merc, interesting alternative though. Anyway, reading all the other comments, I like that Lewis is not a robot, has the guts to challenge both on and off the track and hope this doesn't dampen his spirit. He is Merc's biggest asset even when going rogue. If Merc accepted that it would do their brand no harm, it does harm Merc trying to influence and now have the fall out. Grow up Merc, it is racing and not a corporate parade. Ferrari may not be the best but have the passion card and we would all love one before a Merc, well I would for sure. Merc need to recognise that.