I remember watching that live. Epic stuff, but massively dangerous banging wheels due to the risk of flipping. I wonder what Gilles could have done given the chance.
Oh and as for that Rosberg pass, this is motor racing:
Quite! If the marshalls from last Saturday had been judging that one then Arnoux and Villeneuve would have had about 30 seconds of penalties each lol
Rest assured, with having to make up so many places. Rosberg drove his car as hard as possible (in dirty air). Then, notwithstanding, to set lap times so similar to Lewis, as Rosberg could. Rosberg has used his engine just as hard as he can.
I'm no LH fan, by any stretch of the imagination. But even I now struggle to dismiss his results as "bad luck".
As others have said. Events are now accumulating to such a level that exceeds normal statistics.
imo, LH has every right to call out Mercedes and to now publically hold Merc's feet to the flame, for the remainder of the season.
I can't see the team making LH's engine fail on purpose. It was at one of the main sponsors home GP. Not to get a win there is a huge failure. As is pictures of flames coming out of the back of a Mercedes Benz.
Oh and as for that Rosberg pass, this is motor racing:
Motor racing - yes.
Dodgems - no.
Rosberg is no racer - Rosberg couldn't have done what Ricciardo and Verstappen did - side by side for several corners in a row and leaving each other just enough room.
Rosberg's idea of racing is to hit your competitor and hope they come of worse.
Rosberg is no racer - Rosberg couldn't have done what Ricciardo and Verstappen did - side by side for several corners in a row and leaving each other just enough room.
He used to be.
He seems to have forgotten that skill!
How about Vettels bell endery? He really isn't that good without a significantly better car.
From memory Hamilton only used that engine in practice 3, quali and the race so it was effectively brand new.
Add to the fact he will take a grid penalty for the engine swap and possibly for any other element that needs replacing it's a double/triple/quadruple whammy.
I'm not a Britney hater but he is a proper smug bastard.
Yep, the season is a write-off for Hamilton unless Rosberg suddenly starts blowing things up or crashing. Lewis' paranoia is funny to watch though, as if dark forces are capable of having his engine perform brilliantly then let go completely at lap 40.
Having a series of mechanicals while the other bloke has virtually none is improbable, but improbable stuff happens, just not very often.
Why a grid penalty? He stockpiled engines using a loophole that's closed for next year, so as long as he fits one of those they're now part of his allocation for the year and there's no problem.
As above there are better ways of nobbling a race than detonating the engine - bad luck is just that.
a grid penalty? He stockpiled engines using a loophole that's closed for next year, so as long as he fits one of those they're now part
Good news if that's the case.
And from the onboard I watched during yesterday's race Hamilton was cruising it, he was hardly giving it the beans.
Hamilton's poor reliability could be explained by the switch in team mechanics at the beginning of the year.
Ham's not happy so the mechanics are slightly nervous, leading to one instance of finger trouble.
This makes them more nervous and more likely to make mistakes.
They see the other side of the garage is doing fine so this adds to the pressure.
They make more mistakes.
And when I say mistakes, we're talking tiny amounts in F1. An oil feed hose routed slightly tight so it restricts flow to the turbo, a bolt slightly over/undertorqued etc.
Judging from Toto's reaction I'd say it's not a team conspiracy, just down to minor changes that are having a big effect. I say that as not a Hamilton fan but as an anti-Rosberg fan. He seems far too fake and cocky for someone that is no better than a lot of the grid.
Has anyone else spotted how close in the championship Ricciardo is in a year when Merc have apparently "dominated"?
Not a real surprise; Ricc has outscored Hamilton 89 to 73 over the last 5 races.
Rosberg is dangerously close to getting a sense of humour; his comments that he hoped Danni Ricc didn't win again due to the shoe drinking antics were quite comic.
I should imagine he would be quite pleased if Dan did win some more - taking away the big points.
LH is paid tens of millions per year. If the team really wanted NR to win, wouldn't it have been easier to refuse LH's salary demands and let him leave? Seriously, why on earth would anyone believe MB would hire him if they didn't want him to have a fair shot at winning?
Indeed.
Why would a German car manufacturer want a German to be World Champ? It's a complete mystery.
Just employ 2 german drivers then.
This idea that Merc are out to nobble Hamilton is rediculous, no manufacturer wants a rep for unreliable cars.
So of Hamiltons problems have been down to luck and others his own making, these things happen. He can still win the championship so he needs to quit moaning and get on with working with his team for them all to get better.
I don't think LH is unreasonable to, at least, say it seems a bit odd, and it does. But it is just bad luck. I'm sure he realises that now. He can still win it.
That Bahrain vid up there ^^^^^^^^
Wasn't LH on shagged/slower tyres whilst NR was on fresher/faster tyres in the last battle?
Just employ 2 german drivers then.
No, no. no.
You need a German, and a fast one. If the german is winning, keep it that way by nobbling the other. If Danni Ricc is closing then deploy both to keep the team well ahead.
I don't honestly believe this is what is happening, but if it was it's the obvious motivation.
I don't buy the whole 'German driver winning is best' stuff. If Rosberg wins the WDC then they sell more cars in Germany. If Hamilton wins they sell more cars in the UK and, more importantly, the US. He has a much higher profile in the wealthy young market that buys expensive cars, hanging out with other stars and appearing at fashion events for example. This makes the cars appear 'cool' and fashionable, Rosberg probably appeals more to their traditional market of middle-aged golfers.
As long as Merc have a winning car with WDC driver in it then they're happy. Having 2 WDC drivers may be better but it could also cause internal problems.
Does anyone know why Mercedes swapped the mechanic teams over?
I don't for a second believe Mercedes would screw things up for Hamilton but I can very well believe Bernie is pulling some strings somewhere. It's in F1's interests to keep the title race as interesting and alive as possible so I'm sure he's had influence in results in some form.
Bernie influences results through an unequal allocation of money.
Can you imagine the joy of one side of the garage knowing they are moving over to Hamiltons side and the other moving to Rosbergs.
One side had won 2 championships with Hamitlon and now possibly winning a third whilst the other side must be kicking themselves if Hamilton doesnt win it this year.
Does anyone know why Mercedes swapped the mechanic teams over?
for equity in the teams of mechanics - so they don't bias one driver over the other, they swap every year or two.
Why would a German car manufacturer want a German to be World Champ? It's a complete mystery.
I reckon that a lot of people at Mercedes would like to see a German champ in a German (ish) car - all other things being equal, and that's the bit for me that makes it very hard to believe Hamilton is being deliberately nobbled. I just can't see that they would prefer their target audience seeing their engines blow up to Hamilton beating Rosberg.
No one is deliberately knobbling Hamilton and most definitely not Mercedes. As above if Merc didn't want him to win they would have refused his salary demands last year and LH would now be running around in 3-6th in an inferior car. Mercedes is a global business, what's important is they win constructors and championship and keep pishing the brand forward as sporty rather than dull old mans car.
LH has a massive ego (fair enough he is a sport where that's not uncommon) and being beaten by his team mate in the same car is in his mind "not possible", so it must be a conspiracy.
igm agrees with Jamba shocker.
He's right you know.
Mercedes to enter Formula E...
http://www.grandprix247.com/2016/10/04/mercedes-takes-up-an-option-to-enter-formula-e/
Saw that Muffin Man, given the likely direction of road car development it makes a lot of sense. Also FE already seems to have more interest from a younger audience than F1 so is good for marketing. Don't think FE is big enough to take them away from F1 yet, but given the uncertainties post 2020 its a good backup plan.
Bernie refuted reports that he was seen tipping a bag of sugar into the fuel tank of a Merc.
He also later denied claims that he's a "knob".
[url= http://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-1/2016/10/03/lewis-hamilton-being-sabotaged-by-mercedes-is-an-absurd-suggesti/ ]Coulthard on the possibility of sabotage.[/url]
He also later denied claims that he's a "knob".
You can't believe everything he says.
"Yer big-ends gone mate - gonna cost 'ya!"...
http://www.grandprix247.com/2016/10/06/mercedes-lewis-engine-suffered-a-big-end-bearing-failure/
Ban phones from drivers press conferences. Pretty disrespectful from Lewis.
Just employ 2 german drivers then.
They tried that. One was too old and kept crashing into shit, one was just shit.
Pretty disrespectful from Lewis
Really? Utter over-reaction from old fart journo's is how I read it.
The language might be a bit near the knuckle but that's all; the rest is in good fun. Much more so than Kimi's bored monotone.
Ban phones from drivers press conferences. Pretty disrespectful from Lewis.
When you see what he was messaging it's hard fo see it as anything other than massively distespectful. Just another press conference and he couldn't be bothered with it.
...and Liberty Media want to engage with younger F1 fans. Even my daughter follows Lewis on Snapchat and often shows me things he's posted.
^^^^Grumpy Old Farts! 😀
Just another press conference and he couldn't be bothered with it.
About time someone showed F1 journos the respect they deserve. Mandatory press briefings are a complete dull-fest of cliched comments from the drivers/managers/footballers, at least Lewis gave them something to actually write about.
They really are dreadful, given that everything has to be approved by marketing types why not just wait for a press release from them!
Same questions every week and just how dull are the majority of the drivers?
Whilst off sick earlier in the week, I managed to catch some BSB and WSB races, proper racing that was.
The horror! "Massively disrespectful" Really? He's just farting about.
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That's right up there with weeing on the cenotaph.
Off with his head!
