Official Not606 USA GP Chat and Predictions

I think we're seeing a smarter Hamilton than we have seen in the past, and winning by .1 of a second yields no more points than thrashing your opponent by 10 seconds. He showed his speed by coming from 3 seconds behind to leading Rosberg by close to 5 seconds at one point. But after that, he mostly seemed to just control the race. There's speed there, I'm just not sure we're seeing it.

 

No but that hasn't been the case though has it? In a wheel to wheel and racing battle, Rosberg has not won. In Bahrain he had faster tyres and still came second, In Spa he punctured Hamilton's tyre, In Monza and Russia he locked up and missed the chicane, In Suzuka he was passed around the outside of turn 1 in wet conditions and he was passed at this race today from a fair way back. When he's been racing Hamilton for position he has struggled.

 

I wonder if Rosberg put in that fast lap to try and scare Hamilton into burning his tyres, otherwise why did he bother? Maybe he ruined his own tyres, was a massive anomaly.

 

I haven't figured that either. But Hamilton just seemed to manage the gap after that initial charge. I though Rosberg maybe just had an iffy second set of tyres, but apparently not.

 

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Has Rosberg ever come out on top in a straight fight this year?

 

Good job he no longer needs to win either race then.

 

I think today proved again that on a whole, Hamilton just has that killer instinct that Rosberg will never have and that is the difference between them. Even when Rosberg does finally have the edge on pace, he doesn't have that eye for when and where to pounce or feel for how hard he can push at that time. That's the difference between a very good driver and a world champion.

 

Something that was interesting in the interviews with Will Buxton was that Rosberg complained that he was struggling with the changing wind direction. Hamilton said that he watched the direction of the flags around the track to adapt to the changing wind conditions. Neither were asked about wind (if I recall correctly), but apparently they were both very conscious of it.

 

Also there was a subtle change in front wing at Hamiltons stops, not Rosbergs.

Again that comes down to Killer instincts, Always have the feeling that Rosbergs strength is getting his head down and consistently driving away with an empty track ahead of him with no interference, he's a fantastic front runner but that strength is also a weakness, when he's in a battle, either in front or behind, he doesn't have that clarity of thought in the heat of battle that allows a champion to pick a pass, block a move or adapt to changing conditions to gain an advantage.

Put it this way, how many people genuinely thought even when Rosberg stuck a lap in 1 second quicker than Hamilton, "he's going to win this"?. I never. In fact i felt that the fact he wasn't really pulling clear of Hamilton when he was in front made it pretty clear early on it was Hamiltons race, because the second he did get close, he'd make a chance to pass, something Rosberg just doesn't do.

 

Jeff Gordon just tried to punch out Brad Keselowski's lights after the race just now. F1 needs some of that.

 

Man, that would really suck. Let's hope Lewis completes the magnificent seven and they can drop double points forever.

 

I really think what is hurting Rosberg much more than Hamilton is the partial ban on driver coaching. The fact that Hamilton makes his own decisions contrary to his race engineer sometimes and those decisions usually pay off tells you he is on top of his craft. I think Rosberg depends more on the instructions he is given to help make his race and the ban on coaching seems to have hurt him a bit. Today he said it took him much longer to get his new tyres up to speed and he couldn't understand why...while Hamilton was on it from the time he left the pit lane. Also the thing about the changing direction of the wind...Hamilton adapted while Rosberg didn't seem to know what to do. We always hear about how much more intelligent Rosberg is compared to Hamilton but it seems as though Hamilton is way better at adapting to new tracks, changing conditions and new rules and regulations. One more thing, I think Hamilton knows the car is really fast so he simply sets up more for the race than qualifying. Maybe that too is also why Rosberg goes through his tyres quicker than Hamilton. When they called in Hamilton for his final stop Hamilton was telling them the tyres are still great.

 

Rosberg has never shown anything other than the odd fast lap on an empty track.

 

He's certainly quick... But he seems to be missing something here and there. He's not a bad driver though, just not necessarily great.

I don't want to be too harsh on him... He could yet be world champion.

 

Villeneuve was WDC.

As to Hamilton, he has no need to push his car, so there's nothing to gain from it. It's a shame the 2012 Mclaren wasn't this dominant, a Button/Hamilton fight would've been far more interesting than the meek surrendering of Rosberg

 

I'd say Rosberg is much better than Villeneuve. He had a wonderful ability to bin it for no apparent reason.

And yeah... Button would certainly have provided a bigger hurdle than Rosberg imo.

 

Most correct statement I've read all week.

 

No idea why button was frustrated with the pit calls. Kevin was ahead so he got first dibs. Heat of the moment probably.

 

He was told to pit, then at the last moment told to stay out. Any reason why he seemed to struggle so much in the race?