Jackie Stewart thinks the break between races will hep Rosberg. IMO It might take some of the psychological pressure off but he's still got to find a way past Hamilton. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118732 "At the moment, I think he is depressed about the situation as Lewis has been delivering with such consistency," three-time world champion Stewart told AUTOSPORT. "But that might not last forever. Nico is a top-line driver and he can overcome that. "We've just had back-to-back weekends and now he has more than a week off from driving and from racing. "That will give him some time to get his head back in the right place."
Can't see it making a big difference although I do think he'll be a stronger forced to be reckoned with.
If he continues with the mindset that it is impossible to over his sister car then how can he ever think about beating his team mate? His only option is to get pole and then we will see if his team mate will be satisfied with following him home which I very much doubt. We saw it a few times last season when he was on pole only to see Hamilton chase him down and beat him. Maybe he should try his team mate's tactic of running the first part of the stint protecting his tyres and then have a blast a few laps before his pitstop. But it doesn't look very much like he is going to be on pole because even Ferrari is getting in front of him. I would love to see him on pole though and see how he will adapt this time in terms of keeping Hamilton and the two ferrari cars behind him. That would be interesting. If at any time he takes pole and Hamilton beats him again that's his championship hope gone right there. His teammate will have a massive psychological advantage over him and one that will be difficult to overcome for the rest of the season. I know it is early in the season, but if he doesn't step up now, with the Ferrari so fast, he could quickly become the No.2 at Mercedes, especially if Ferrari makes another step.
I do feel a bit sorry for Nico as it seems he has been listening to F1 pundits who have been saying he is the cerebral driver the thinker and that will see him in beat Lewis in 2014, unfortunately for Nico he bought into this baseless theory from the anti Hamilton establishment who seem to be judging Lewis from his 2011 season and are not prepared to accept that the Lewis of that year is no more. And we now see in 2015 Lewis has raised his game putting huge amounts of distance between himself and Nico in quali and in race mode we see the usual Lewis trade mark over Rosberg , the 2sec gap with Lewis just doing enough to keep Nico out of DRS zone even though listening to Crofty and Brundle you would have thought every time Nico got within 2 seconds of Lewis Nico was making a credible challenge only for Lewis to open the gap again when needed , it really is the cat playing with the mouse. Nico is truly in a confused place mentally as those who said he was going to use his smartness to beat Lewis are now the ones slating the poor boy and what must be more confusing for Nico is seeing Lewis in the media rubbing shoulders with rap stars, showing off his new hair style, showing off his tattoo's, having his face on the cover of Man of the World magazine etc, and then showing up on a race weekend and blowing his teammate away when poor old Nico as just been studying Lewis's data. The truth is while people have been judging Lewis for what he has been doing off the track they have not seen the the complete driver of 30 years old that has evolved in the last couple of years on the track as we are now seeing thought process being added to raw talent.
Lewis is 5x the man he was 4 years ago. There is no doubt about that, I just hope he doesn't fall back to how he was when times were tough. He has shut me up that's for sure, however hard it is to watch him win races!
His lifestyle is no issue for me, if it keeps him in a good place then what is the problem? People just want to abuse him over anything. I would also like to make a point over this statement from Toto Wolff who has always been supportive of Nico. Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has no doubt Nico Rosberg will find his feet and form this season and give team-mate Lewis Hamilton a run for his money, in the battle for the Formula 1 world title. Rosberg has been distinctly second best to the reigning world champion so far this campaign, losing out in all four qualifying sessions and grands prix to the 30-year-old Briton. Ahead of this weekend's fifth round of the championship in Spain, Hamilton has already built a 27-point cushion over Rosberg, with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel a further point adrift. Rosberg highlighted last season what can be achieved, because after his opening victory in Australia Hamilton reeled off four wins in a row, only for the German to take a stranglehold on the middle part of the year. Wolff sees no reason why Rosberg cannot stem the currently relentless Hamilton tide as he told AUTOSPORT: "When you look at their performance in qualifying in China, for example, there were just four hundredths between them. "That is not someone who is clearly beaten. "That is a tiny little edge which was enough for Lewis to make it on pole and control the race. "It could have been completely different if Nico had been on pole. "Nico wouldn't be in Formula 1 as a multiple race winner and a challenger for the championship if he allowed himself to be destabilised after a few races. "I fully expect him to come bouncing back. I don't know when it will happen, but he's always going to be there, no doubt." As last year, Wolff is also anticipating a battle for the crown through to the final race of the year in Abu Dhabi. The controversial double-points system of last season has been scrapped, but Wolff sees no reason why Hamilton, Rosberg, and even the Ferraris of Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen will not be fighting it out to the bitter end. Wolff added: "I think it could go to the wire with Ferrari. "Even if we continue to do one and two, and they do three and four, it could go very long into the season, and then it becomes clear as to who stays in contention for the championship. "Anyway, between Lewis and Nico, I expect it to continue like it's done, and then Ferrari is not part of the equation." Only in China qualifying has Nico been close to Hamilton. He doesn't realise that yet again he is mediocre in races!
Following the race, Hamilton appeared displeased by radio communications from the Mercedes pit wall while he was driving through the corners at the Curcuit de Catalunya. After his final pit stop, Hamilton was instructed by the Mercedes not to attempt chasing Rosberg down. Here is the full exchange between Hamilton and the team: Hamilton’s Race Engineer, Peter Bonnington: “Looks like it is a big ask to do it, so maybe better to consolidate the position.” Lewis Hamilton: “If you are saying it is not possible let me know.” Peter Bonnington: “Yeah I don’t think it would be possible with the remaining laps, we’d be better just looking after this one, let him have it.” Lewis Hamilton: “Is it impossible is what I’m asking?” Peter Bonnington: “Yes, he is going to respond if we pick the pace up. It would be impossible.” When asked by Sky Sports about the instruction after the race, Lewis revealed, “Naturally I ignored that. “It’s not nice for a driver to hear that. I’m here to race, not finish second”. “I think the engine was fine.” “But, still, it’s not something you want to hear. So I’ll definitely be making sure that that’s not said again.” Hamilton issued a warning to Mercedes.
I think that's harsh from Hamilton, unless he knows that yesterday was the last race for the current engine? The engineers have to look at the bigger picture, and you know Hamilton would blame the team if he had a failure this season and Rosberg didn't, despite Rosberg appearing to have heeded those kind of messages so far this season.
I didnt think he had enough laps to catch Rosberg to be honest, but didnt they push Rosberg last year to try to catch up to Hamilton when Hamilton was on the harder tyres and Rosberg were on the new softer tyres? I really wanted to see how much of a distance Hamilton would have put Vettel going full pelt in the final stint though. What I was surprised about was how fast was Hamilton on the hard tyre. I think he was much faster than those on the softer tyre. I think if he had overtaken Vettel in the first stint or on the first pit stop we could have had a really hot race to the finish. as mercedes would have had to put both cars on the same tyre strategy.
I think his pace in that stint was more a factor of empty track rather than being stuck behind Vettel, and knowing he needed to pump in hot laps to make the strategy work. Rosberg clearly had an awful lot in hand, had Hamilton been seriously closing he'd have matched him, or done enough that Hamilton couldn't catch within the distance. Even by the first stop the gap was about 8 seconds, and Rosberg wasn't flat out in establishing that.
Yes but Hamilton was being held back by Vettel. As you saw as soon as he jumped Vettel he was able to put in very fast laps. So the 8 seconds gap Rosberg had to by the first stop was largely due to Hamilton not being able to pass Vettel. There was one corner before the DRS straight where Hamilton's car was a bit slow because he was catching Vettel very quickly but by the time he got to that corner he fell back and couldnt make the pass on the straight. I think that if Hamilton didnt have that slow start we might have seen one of those close fights, even though I still think Rosberg would have won, but it would have been close. On that track the only real hope I think Hamilton had if he was in second place from the start would have been to undercut Rosberg. With the nature of that track I very much doubt two cars with the same specs would be doing a lot of overtaking of each other on track. It was still good to hear the racer in Hamilton when he asked his race engineer if it was an impossible task. He told Hamilton he didnt think it was possible, but Hamilton asked "is it impossible that's what I am asking?" I think he was trying to find out if it was totally out of the equation before he finally shut up shop and cool engine.
Exactly, perfection is what every F1 driver has aimed for, not one has yet achieved it. And they never will.
Well there has only been one winner this year. Hamilton has comprehensively out raced him this year. Where does Rosberg go from here?
Carry on being Hamilton's lackie, or Mercedes replace him and add Wehrlein, Alonso or Magnussen to the team. Career wise, I think Nico has peaked sadly.
