Rosberg’s car ‘like it was damaged’ – Wolff

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In the round-up: Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff says Nico Rosberg had so much difficulty getting his tyres to ‘switch on’ it was as if his car was damaged.

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A brand new, unexpected victor last time out in Spain followed up with a race to forget in Monaco ending up starting on the back row of the grid before crashing out. This sentence could fit in 2012 or 2016 (Maldonado and Verstappen).
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78 comments on “Rosberg’s car ‘like it was damaged’ – Wolff”

  1. Hamilton didn’t realize until after the race that Nico had let him through? So he must have thought he made an epic pass for the whole race? OMG wow that guy is deluded. Probably thinks he made up the gap and won the race with his tyre call too. Lol ego FTW. Like Singapore last year with his comments about looking good for the win until he retired. LOL.

    1. That’s some impressive mental gymnastics, there. Well done, I guess.

      Perhaps he thought Rosberg had a problem, or had a really bad exit from the first corner – plenty of reasons why he might have been a lot slower. “Why?” wasn’t ever going to be particularly important to him during the race.

    2. “With Hamilton revealing a ‘rule’ in Mercedes that stipulates the faster driver be assisted by his team-mate if victory is at stake, the defending champion – after sweeping past on lap 16 on the run to Casino – says he didn’t realise Rosberg had moved over [/i]for that reason[/i] until after the race. ”

      He knew he moved over, he didn’t realise why he moved over. He assumed Rosberg had a problem.

    3. Hahah. Guess for over a hundred minutes, it was ‘Hammertime’ in his own mind.

    4. Fudge Ahmed (@)
      31st May 2016, 11:09

      Deluded? Pot, kettle, black.

    5. And that’s how people, like Hamilton, get a much worse reputation then he deserves.
      People just assume things, make their own vision of a story… Silly.

      Hamilton went to Rosberg when he heard of it. Class act from Nico I must say.
      I don’t know if Lewis would have done it so quickly…

      The car could have been damaged, but I bet in those conditions if you don’t have 100% confidence, a few degrees in temperatures could mean less grip, less bite in the brakes, could be enough, no?

    6. Tony Mansell
      31st May 2016, 14:02

      What a terrible post. What are you 5?

    7. Oh come on…. Clearly Lewis was thinking Rosberg is on the wrong mode again and fiddling with the knob and going away from the racing line to defense, but Lewis know better and didn’t follow Nico this time around.

      1. Haha good one. +1000

    8. Ahhh the arm chair expert strikes again.

    9. Are you really stupid or did you not watch the race. when Hamilton passed Rosberg he would have been very aware that he had been allowed to pass by Rosberg. what he didn’t know was whether it was under team instructions, mechanical problems or Rosberg’s own decision to let him pass.

    10. Jesus christ! Is that your logocal conclusion? That a threetime worldchampion didnt understand he was let through? Iám glad youre nobodys heartsurguon.

  2. I think Mercedes and it’s two drivers really have it together, and are managing a fascinating rivalry very very well. It’s not always easy but I think it is as Nico said this weekend when asked about Spain…it’s behind them and they are better as a team overall at handling everything. So glad, and it’s understandable, that it sounds quite sure that Nico will be retained and we’ll get more of this. Cannot stress enough how opposite this is to MS/Ferrari and how ‘disastrous’ it would be for F1 if Mercedes had designated a number 1. It is only ever just easier for the team manager and the number 1 while the number 2 and the rest of the world are left empty, especially with a dominant team. Thank goodness, and I’ve been saying it from day one of this rivalry, they let them race, and can work as a team at the same time. Huge kudos to the whole team, including both drivers, for that.

    1. Well said @robbie. I’ve really enjoyed the battling between the Mercedes drivers, if anything I’ve be disappointed that unreliability had robbed us of more of it. I’m so so glad they can race. Agreed, respect to Mercedes

  3. https://vimeo.com/167446101

    spanish gp onboard highlights

    1. That’s awesome footage

      Thanks for sharing

  4. I’m still baffled by Kvyats judgement in Rascasse. I can honestly feel bad for the guys luck ever since the switch happened to STR. I wonder how we all would have reacted if the overtake move was made successfully.

    But, Kvyat think he should do everything he can to keep his seat. I for one don’t want to see Pastor M in this car.

    1. I too felt bad for the man and honestly I still find Redbull’s treatment of the guy unacceptable.
      No matter how good Max is, and he is quite good, they should have waited till the end of the year to make changes. Max is not the greatest thing since sliced bread.
      Shafting any young person with prospects the way Kvyat was right after a podium finish is so destabilising and it could lead to a downward spiral for some.
      Let’s hope he stays in F1 but I guess he may decide to try his fortune elsewhere at the end of the year. And I will not be surprised if he does that.

    2. If he does a few races like this, I’m sure he’s gone..
      Believe me, Red bull doesn’t change for a few results.. They see much much much more then we can.
      Kvyat doens’t come over that smart vs Verstappen/Ricciardo/Vettel.. and his results are decent, but not special.
      They have enough talent and yes it’s a hard world. But you’re not looking for decent, you are looking for the next world champion!

      1. Couldn’t agree more. I mean, it’s not exactly like Buemi, Alguersari, Vergne etc. were slow, or erratic, for that matter. I’d consider any one of those guys good enough… but not great… not special. RBR are looking for Seb Vettel 2.0.

  5. At first I thought Nico’s car just isn’t set up towards the wet scenario, but even when the track dried he barely had enough speed to attack that McLaren, and we all know McLaren is not a fast car. That’s when I’ve realized that it can’t be just his setup. Car simply wasn’t working properly. It was way too slow to be just about a setup, or an iffy set of tires or anything of that sort.

    1. Problem is, when you have a problem with warm up the issue compounds itself so easily, you have no confidence because you have no grip or brakes so you drive slower, as a result you have even less temp in your brakes and tyres so you drive even slower still. Doesn’t look like at the moment there was anything physically wrong with the car causing the issue, we already know both ROS & HAM car has warm up issues, just looks like HAM was able to control them better. Who knows though, by next week we may have some more information.

      1. @woodyd91
        You’ve basically went and not read anything I wrote. I said that the fact that he kept having those issues in dry, when keeping up the brake temps wasn’t a problem, is a sign that there was more to it than just something related to temperature or track wetness or anything temporary like that.

    2. I think the problem in the second phase of the race was the the Usoft just wasn’t the right tyre to be on.

  6. What many people failed to grasp concerning the Mercedes team order (yes, Toto have finally realised that it makes sense to use team orders sometimes) was that Merc was not prepared to have a repeat of Spain at Monaco. Nico was painfully slow and was defending a non-defendable position from a team mate who was breathing down his neck and was determined to pass no matter how aggressively Nico defended.
    Now, if both men were leading the entire field and there was no position to gain, Nico can defend all he liked but seeing an opportunity to challenge for the win slipping away and hoping to avoid the embarrassing situation in Spain which frankly should not happen to an established team or brand as Mercedes, the decision was made to have Nico move over. The presence once again of the Mercedes over-all boss in the garage meant Toto had to get the situation under control and make the call, equal treatment or not.
    It is a no brainer that in a team such as Merc with two very good drivers, team orders are absolutley necessary when there is a position to be gained for the team particularly when there is a driver who is clearly faster than the other. And it does not matter who the driver is. Now, if the aim is not eventually met and the position not gained, the driver who was slipped past has to return the position before the end of the race assuming there is no other car or position separating the two drivers. Concerning their first lap clashes, each of them should maintain their starting positions relative to each other at least for the first 2 laps except where one of them has compromised his position due to a bad start or other errors. These are things which are expected of a top team to have internally discussed and every one aware of. You don’t put two hens in the best poultry house ie Merc F1 team, dangle the best feed in front of them, in this case the F1 Driver’s title, and expect them not to fight for it. At least let there be some order, in-house, to the process.
    Mercedes team order last Sunday was not just about giving the faster driver a chance at challenging for victory, it was also about ensuring that both drivers don’t take themselves out on the streets of Monaco because obviously Nico was going to defend with every fibre in him while Hamilton was definitely going to get past. I guess every team principal was watching with interest what the bosses at Mercedes would do. 6 long laps at 2 second deficit per lap was already too long.
    So it was a smart call which eventually did pay off for the team. The hope is that when next such call is made, let it be in a situation where the necessity is as clear as it was last Sunday in Monaco and let whoever the driver is, with team spirit in mind, give way for the other.

    – “It’s a communication error that has happened at short notice, with 30 seconds notice, that on a normal working day would have been no issue at all.”

    Monaco definitely has a way, at least in recent times, of serving up a memorable race to F1 fans.
    “Communications error” it was last year at Mercedes, “communications error” it is this year at Redbull. Understandably, it’s tough for driver fans to deal with when it hits home, but that’s why such races receive high ratings cos the inexplicably unexpected happened. Ricciardo’s 13 minute pitstop was difficult for me to watch same way I was dumdfounded during 2015 Monaco GP.

    1. @Tata Wolff didn’t ‘finally realize’ team orders are sometimes necessary. They’ve done this sort of thing before. NR’s car was ‘like it was broken’ and Monaco is so hard to pass at, that it was no-brainer. I don’t think they were concerned about another coming together so much as just concerned about DR taking off. They fairly gave themselves a chance to see if Nico’s temps would come up and they weren’t so they made the call. I believe that even if they hadn’t made the call Nico would not have aggressively defended. He knew he did not have the car to defend in those conditions.

      1. I agree with everything you say except the end bit. There’s no way of knowing how aggressive Nico would have defended. Although no blame has been proportioned which is probably the correct decision, Nico was well aware of his inability to defend aggressively in Spain after being in the wrong engine mode. That as we all know clearly didn’t stop the legal but very aggressive defending.

        1. @james Different though in that the mode setting in Spain was very temporary and was addressed by Nico immediately, whereas he was just nowhere in Monaco and had some time from the team to try to get temps up and was just handcuffed.

  7. Red Bull drivers are talking a lot these days…

    1. Everyone talks… Media decides who has a voice.

  8. l much as l like Nice l think he is gentleman, I believe he under preformed, he didn’t cope with the conditions, and rain and track exposed his ability, he was defensive from the drop of the flag.

    1. I think Nico has done enough lately to prove that it was the car and tires not him underperforming. Hr didn’t just suddenly forget how to win at Monaco.

  9. Lol one forty should read one fourteen, someone’s asleep, not even on a wet monaco or a 1950’s monaco.

  10. No word from RBR regarding how pit stops are ruining the racing for fans and that it should be banned immediately? Wow! :O

  11. How slow was Carlos’ pitstops?

      1. Carlos should be given a go in RB also this year

        1. I agree. Maybe they should swap Carlos and Verstappen for the next two races to see how he does in the Red Bull.

          1. @ultimateuzair You could wonder though how ‘fair’ that is. Catalunya, the track all drivers have done the most laps at, and Monaco, a one of a kind track with very specific requirements. Carlos will get his time.

  12. The dutch pit reporter said Mercedes told him Nico’s brakes overheated, so he let Lewis by at the request of the team.
    I guess he misheard them? (Overheated / underheated)

  13. I honestly thought I saw Rosberg slightly hit the wall on one of the opening laps at Rascasse. I could be wrong but that might explain it.

    1. @hahostolze
      I’m glad you mentioned that, I was starting to think I’d imagined that.
      I think he hit the wall while they were running behind the SC, although I don’t recall it being mentioned by anyone on TV, or in the post-race interviews.

    2. I thought I saw something like that too, but no one mentioned it. His left rear will slightly glanced the was when he was exiting Rascasse, because it seems he floored it to prevent being overtaken by Hamilton down the pit straight, and the rear just stepped out to the left.

  14. What are Ferrari smoking to think that they are in the title fight this year? They have the third best car at the moment, and they think that’s good enough to win? Unless we get a season like 2012, that won’t happen.

  15. Over…
    I like Arrivabene but Ferrari needs organization.
    Red Bull too, apparently.

    1. Ferrari have been missing that extra something for many years. I have to think if there was an actual tire war and testing was allowed (really allowed), they would be much more competitive.

  16. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    31st May 2016, 10:21

    Some thoughts on a stellar weekend of driving performances: https://opinionatedmotorsportfan.com/2016/05/31/driver-of-the-week-daniel-ricciardo/

    1. @william-brierty While I think you do DR justice with your comments, and even though you point out his misfortunes, I think you ignore how much that helped LH, but rather make it sound like LH won the race single-handedly due to his cumulated experience.

      Blatantly missing is LH’s luck in having a Nico with a problematic situation, and ultimately a move-over off a team order that thankfully for LH was a no-brainer for NR. On other Monaco days we have seen NR keep LH behind him all day just as LH did to DR. It can and often does happen at Monaco.

      Also downplayed is the pit blunder that is the only reason LH got ahead of DR. And within LH’s ‘masterly’ defence on DR, he nearly blew it by overcooking it at the chicane and having to go straight through, and was lucky the outcome of that was as it was.

      I’m fine with a little bad luck for Nico and a little (more than a little in this case) good luck for LH, as it kind of levels out the season a bit more, and to ignore the realities of NR’s and DR’s bad luck and LH being the beneficiary from both drivers’ day, seems a bit strange.

      1. how was it bad luck when it was nico who couldnt turn his tyres on??thats driver error not a car problem.

        1. Even if it was as simple as driver error, which I don’t buy, nor has that been indicated by the team as they said both drivers were having issues, it was still lucky for LH that he had ‘driver error’ and that he readily complied to the team order. On a different day LH might have spent it behind NR, unable to get by, as has happened before.

      2. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
        31st May 2016, 13:18

        @robbie – But Lewis Hamilton didn’t get top plaudits in my piece for the exact reasons you mention. It is a piece that tries to aggregate performances across the junctures where their fortunes were in their own hands, and in this regard, Daniel Ricciardo was markedly the best performer.

        I decided to give Hamilton a shout-out because he conserved the tyres excellently (he set FLAP on US that had done more than forty laps at the time), because he defended against a faster car resolutely and serenely and because he made the all important call to skip the stop for intermediates. Would he have won had Nico not let him through or had Red Bull not made that pit blunder? No. Is that anything to do with how Lewis drove? No. Yes, those eventualities gave Lewis the opportunity to demonstrate his skill, but there is a limit to how helpful counterfactualism can be. Had Sainz mirrored Checo’s strategy he doubtless would have scored his maiden podium, and would have been a shoe-in for “Driver of the Day”. He didn’t.

        The hypothetical permutations are infinite, I can only work with what actually happened. And what did actually happen was Daniel Ricciardo produced a weekend that further affirmed his ranking as among the very best in the world.

        1. @william-brierty Fair comment. But again, and I’ll sound obsessive here, ‘he’ (LH) did not make the call. The team decided collectively. I’m sure I sound like I’m trying to take something away from LH here, but it is only because I feel he had more luck than you are claiming. No biggy though. I’m 95% with you on LH here, and 100% with you on DR. I really enjoy reading your extremely well worded comments be it on here or on opinionatedmotorsportfan.

          1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
            31st May 2016, 15:26

            @robbie – We cannot pretend to know the ins-and-outs of the strategic decision making structures, but Hamilton vehemently took ownership of the call in post-race interviews, so I guess it was an idea that he perhaps initiated and was subsequently supported by the team, or one of a number of options given to him by Bonno.

            I’m glad you like reading my thoughts – this afternoon I’m writing a short piece on Ricciardo’s pole lap, I’ve noticed something uncanny about it. That should be up tomorrow so be sure to check it out.

          2. Paddy Lowe commented that they were already looking at the scenario & crunching the numbers. The gaps were getting tricky with traffic & other people making their stops. They had the inters ready in pit lane as that was the standard plan, but in exploring all options they asked Lewis how his tires were. He said they were fine & he didn’t need to stop. The inters went back in the garage & the rest is history.

          3. @robbie ‘I’m sure I sound like I’m trying to take something away from LH here, but it is only because I feel he had more luck than you are claiming.’

            No explainations needed Robbie, as you make it totally obvious in this, and indeed the majority of your posts, that you are no fan of Hamiltons.

          4. @stubbornswiss Yeah the reality is I don’t mind him nor would I call myself a fan. It’s more for me some of the things he says and some of his attitudes that bug me, combined with some people’s comments around here that cause my remarks. I don’t mind playing devil’s advocate at times too. I might come off like a Nico fanatic too, but I am not. Just a supporter of his that wants to see if he can become a WDC. If you’ve read enough of my stuff you will also see that I have agreed with LH on certain controversial things around him at times too.

  17. Fudge Ahmed (@)
    31st May 2016, 11:14

    All Hamilton needs to seal a 4th WDC is to pray for a couple more wet races this year. Sorry Nico fans but he’s never shown any decent wet weather ability.

    1. Somehow I don’t think you can say never.

    2. @offdutyrockstar How about last year in Silverstone where he only lost because Hamilton got the call for dry tyres first. He was closing in on Hamilton very fast.

      1. Fudge Ahmed (@)
        31st May 2016, 11:57

        @xtwl wasn’t Hamilton 3rd and Rosberg 4th after they both got mugged by the Williams off the line? Of course he would pit first? And he finished 10 seconds ahead of Rosberg do you really think he was going hell for leather with a gap like that? Come on.

        @robbie was Brazil 2014 a wet race? If so I retract my comment of ‘never’

        1. Fudge Ahmed (@)
          31st May 2016, 12:04

          Just had a google, no that race was dry too. Only example I can recall of outright beating Lewis in mixed conditions was USA qually last year.

          1. @offdutyrockstar You started by claiming Nico has never shown any decent wet weather ability. Without even investigating I’m sure that is not the case. Now you’ve turned it into NR never beating LH in mixed conditions which is a different argument than NR never doing well in the wet, and one that deserves closer examination as to circumstances. Are you sure you are accounting for the typical type of wet weather occurrences like safety cars and race stoppages etc? I’m guessing, because I will not be taking the time to suss this out, that NR is better in the wet than you are giving him credit for.

          2. Fudge Ahmed (@)
            31st May 2016, 13:14

            Calm down. My comment was that he has never shown decent wet weather ability, perhaps I should have used the word EXCEPTIONAL as anyone driving an F1 car does of course have driving ability beyond most mere mortals, but the legends of the sport have always EXCELLED in such conditions in comparison to their peers, Nico has never done this.

            Perhaps you should investigate because that is the case.

            When I refer to mixed conditions i’m referring solely to the weather.

            Anything else?

          3. Wow dude, I couldn’t be calmer. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Maybe you should go back on tour and expend some of those drugs on stage rather than here.

        2. @offdutyrockstar None of the things you said are things I claimed. Fact is Rosberg was very much closing the gap on Hamilton in mixed conditions at that time and had it continued to be that weather Rosberg surely would’ve found a way around Hamilton.

          Sorry Nico fans but he’s never shown any decent wet weather ability.

          Above is what you said and 2015 Silverstone is a clear example of that not being true.

    3. will be easier to pray for more redbull blunders and nico DNF, get over it he luck out on this one. Nico has not gone anywhere yet. More insteresting is who of the midlfield team drivers will get that ferrari drive, right now Perez got on top of Grosjean and Riccardo may decide to give Redbull a taste of their own medicine.

  18. so nico simply couldnt turn his tyres on.and dont forget lewis was alot faster in the dry last season in monaco.

  19. ColdFly F1 (@)
    31st May 2016, 13:03

    I’m a bit surprised by Toto’s answer on Hamilton’s performance.
    Q: Lewis did an amazing job doing 31 laps on the wet tyres…
    TW:
    Well, Lewis is part of the team and we all did it together – to manage the situation in the right way. You could see that once he ‘cleared’ Nico his pace was matching Ricciardo’s pace, but it was not enough to catch up. The only way to achieve the race win was to gamble, to stay out on the wet tyres. It really dried up significantly in the first and second sector, but the third sector remained wet so it was a dialogue between the driver and his crew giving all the information he perceived out there. It was an aggressive call to let him stay out, but in the end a successful one. Then obviously Ricciardo’s pit stop went sour, and that was it for Lewis.

    Toto does not seem overly complementary of Lewis’ (individual) performance!
    – “Lewis is part of the team and we all did it together”
    – “(his pace) was not enough to catch up.”
    – “it was a dialogue between the driver and his crew” where LH gave “all the information he perceived”
    – “It was an aggressive call to let him stay out”

    1. dude is 100% corporate, all that comes out of his mouth is public relations. You should trust him as much as you would trust a lawyer representing a client. His deliberate attempts to shape the conversation around his own interests, for me, makes him an unreliable source, especially considering how he managed his ‘ties’ with Williams, and how the regulations are keeping Merc, and Ferrari in good shape.

    2. Well I think Toto was asked the question in a way that made it sound like it was solely LH’s decision to stay out, and when to pit. I think TW is just stating the facts. It’s always a team effort, and if he seemed to you to not be that complimentary to LH, the other side of the coin is that he was being complimentary to the whole team. Nothing wrong with that. I’m sure he is thrilled for LH’s win, and should be, given how strong DR was.

    3. Robbie might have a point about the way the question was asked, having something to do with the emphasis that TW put on the team effort. TW ís outspokenly complementary of LHs performances, even when he is ‘just cruising’ to victory.
      Factual nothing wrong with the first three statements. Last one is a bit more ambiguous. According to LH he did make the call for staying out there on the full wets. So I guess, given statement three and four, Merc analysed all the data and decided to have LH his way, judging it was worth the try and thereby also having their own way. Btw, I can’t remember LH ever overruling Merc about when to pit. So not a bad call on LHs side, but still needed the approval of Merc.

  20. I have to say that I am a little disappointed in the disparity between the freedom of words used in the reportage and the restriction of words in the comments.
    Reporting the f-word (“Renault slates ‘aggressive’ Kvyat after clash (Autosport)”) may be accurate, but it runs counter to the comments policy of this web site (“3. No swearing.”). And so it seems that we are allowed to read the word, but not use it. Slightly double standards? Please note that I have not repeated the word in full from the editorial; if I did you would remove this comment, but perhaps you are going to do that anyway.

    1. William Jones
      31st May 2016, 17:31

      Community management =/= journalism. If you could guarentee all commenters would adhere to journalistic standards, there would be no need for the rule, but you can’t so there is to keep the community toxicity low

      1. Yes, quite true. Personally I would have preferred the original f-word to have been censored.

        1. I agree….

  21. Still advantage ROS, but I would like to see HAM returning to outright wins on merit, starting next round.

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