Mercedes collision “can’t and won’t happen again”

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has vowed his two drivers will not make contact again as they did during today’s Belgian Grand Prix.

Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg collided at Les Combes on lap two which compromised the race of both drivers and left Hamilton point-less.

Wolff said the collision “ultimately cost us a one-two finish today, because we saw that our car had that kind of performance in it”.

“It has been our clear policy to let the drivers race this year but rule number one is: don’t hit each other. To see that kind of contact, so early in the race, is an unacceptable level of risk to be taking out on track.

“It cannot – and will not – happen again.”

Rosberg eventually finished second, pitting three times after locking up and damaging his tyres while racing Sebastian Vettel.

“After the collision, Nico drove the first stint with a significantly damaged front wing, changed it, then had to make an additional stop after flat-spotting his left front tyre to the point where it was dangerous,” Wolff explained. “He then charged back through the field and was impressively close to taking the win in spite of a dramatic race.”

Hamilton ran at the tail of the field with a badly damaged car and urged his team to retire the car to save its engine. They did so six laps from home.

“Lewis was fighting with one hand tied behind his back after the puncture, which damaged the floor and cost him a significant amount of performance,” said Wolff.

“We left him out there in case the Safety Car came out, bunched up the field and allow us to gain some places, but it became clear that he had lost too much performance and was continuing to do so, so we retired the car before the finish.”

2014 Belgian Grand Prix

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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198 comments on “Mercedes collision “can’t and won’t happen again””

  1. Oh yes it can…

    1. Exactly my thought ^^

      I´d rather bet it will than it won´t…

    2. Yes it can happen again, this time Nico had to take the blame, as Lewis is still classed as
      the golden child, but looking back over the last five years he was never blameless, and a
      one point considered to be the most dangerous driver on the track with his gung ho
      attitude to all around lets not forget the facts never lie !!!

      1. @huey45 It’s looking as if Nico is now showing that he’s the dirty player here.
        Link from @wackyracer below: https://twitter.com/JennieGow/status/503582975511248896

        1. Even as a non-native english speaker it’s pretty clear that Nico meant he did the maneuver to prove a point. To prove that he is as hard a racer as Lewis is and that he won’t back down. He surely didn’t mean “I planned to cut your tire and it worked perfectly.”

        2. @daved Toto Wolff has said that that’s what nico said, but that’s also selective reporting. What Nico really said (according to Toto, who can be trusted more than anyone else in this incident) was that he didnt back down to prove the point that he’s in it to win it. Lewis has expected nico to just move aside for him in the past

          1. That sounds like a far more reasonable view on the situation, yeah.

      2. but looking back over the last five years he was never blameless

        But you’d have to be incredibly biased to think that of course. I’m sure even Maldonado was blameless once or twice.

        lets not forget the facts never lie

        What facts?

      3. Agree with you. Hamilton played “chicken” far too often without serious consequence. It was long overdue for this to happen and this time he came worse off.

    3. Totally. Incredible how lucky Rosberg got it this race. Totally ruined Lewis race, managed to finish second hanging up ahead with the front wing damage and recovering after locking up the tyres so badly.

      He knows on paper he’s a bit behind Hamilton, so he needs to exploit every chance and this sort of thing will happen again if he’s not careful enough, or if Hamilton stays a long way ahead.

      1. Behind Hamilton? it’s the funniest thing I have read here today. Nico is simply more mature and a better package. He’ll win the championship because he’s intelligent, regardless of what happened today

        1. More like: “Nico is a dirtier driver, therefore he’ll win the championship”.

          If Lewis had pulled that stunt, you’d be screaming for his head on a platter.

          1. Mark in Florida
            24th August 2014, 19:54

            Hamilton has been way more aggressive with his driving than Nico. And past races have cemented Hamilton’s rep as an overly eager driver shoving people off the track. Maybe Nico is tired of being pushed around by Hamilton, this time he shoved back.

        2. Hamilton pushed lots of people off the track on the way to the top, he should be
          a man and take some of his own medicine, not come on boys you have to pull
          me out of this race, no matter how he worded it for us to hear, and if proven
          I don’t blame nico he is far better racer

        3. BBC: “We just had a meeting about it and he basically said he did it on purpose,” said Hamilton.”He [Rosberg] said he could have avoided it, but he didn’t want to. He basically said, ‘I did it to prove a point’.”
          http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/28921431

          1. I will never believe Ros did it on purpose, even if Nico himself tells me in my face. Ham lies because he’s frustrated and the management fu**ed up by defending him in public

          2. @nuvolari71 so if you don’t believe Nico even if he tells you to your face is there a point arguing with you?

    4. Neither Niki, Toto or Paddy have the mettle to control either of their two drivers. It’s going to be total chaos for the remaining races…..

      1. Niki does, but judging by their comments yesterday, he’s not in a position of authority at all. It’s times like this that I’m sure they all wish that they had kept Brawn.

    5. It’ll happen at the next round.

    6. Lewis has done plenty in the past. He is no doubt very fast. He is also aware that he has managed to get away with plenty of pushing the limits with other drivers. It appears he is getting into the realm of the Andretti winners and whiner’s club.

  2. Won’t happen again? How will you ensure that? Well, unless you sabotage one of the cars.

    1. Ever hear of team orders?

      1. Yeah, but guess whether each of them going to obey them. Especially Rosberg, which is trying to win WDC at all costs.

        1. Rosberg and Lewis are Mercedes employees. Without Mercedes they don’t have a job. Sure, they can go somewhere else, but for now they are employees of the team. I’m with Eddie Jordan– this is a leadership fail. As much as I hate the spirit of team orders, I respect Ferrari for being very clear that the drivers work for the team and not vice versa.

          1. That’s a good point you make about Ferrari, I can’t remember a ferrari driver disobeying orders.

        2. @osvaldas31 Yes, especially that snake Rosberg, always hatching plans to take out his team-mate. Today we saw part 2 of his 5 step plan to take out Hamilton. In Singapore he is going to ram Hamilton into the wall, In Japan he is going to mimic Senna/Prost-1990 and in Abu Dhabi he is going to sneak in between qualifying and the race to hamper with Hamilton’s gearbox. Evil genius!

          Seriously though, I’ll give you the Monaco-mistake as ‘intentional’, but today he made an honest mistake. So don’t tell me he is trying to win this WDC at all costs and Hamilton is not…

      2. Hamilton didnt obey the orders in Hungaary.

        1. The orders was wrong in Hungary as confirmed by Paddy Lowe, Niki Lauda, Toto Wolff and Mercedes president Dieter Zetsche. But I’ll defer to your interpretation of things…

          1. perhaps, but the orders were still given. Hamilton ignored them. It was only after the race that we heard ‘er, that was a mistake’

          2. Not blindly following orders which are clearly foolish is generally considered a good thing.

        2. Hamilton never obeys orders and he gets away with it every time, why blame Rosberg, is it because he is German and a better driver ??

          1. probably. Can’t find any other reason

        3. He didn’t disobey the orders ether. He said if Nico gets in a position to overtake he won’t fight him. Which is basically letting him threw. But little Rosberg wanted Hamilton not to just let him threw but also stop racing all together and hit the brakes like he was in the back of the field getting lapped.

      3. Haha, ‘team orders’. Yes, because everyone obeys those.

        1. @f1bobby Ferrari drivers do

          1. No, just one. The other takes the lead.

    2. He will probably pull their ears lol

  3. On BBC Hamilton is claiming that in team meeting ROS admitted fault and also admitted that he could have lifted but didn’t to prove a point.

    Would certainly make things clearer. After initial wheel contact ROS made no clear effort to lift.

    1. That’s progress after his lack of effort to apologize to the team on the podium and during flash interviews.

    2. Reported that Mercedes confirmed what Lewis said…
      https://twitter.com/JennieGow/status/503582975511248896

      Damn ROS is smooth

      1. Surely that would be a DSQ and possible race ban if confirmed by the FIA?

          1. Why? Deliberate contact is the worst thing a driver can do.

      2. I consider Nico to be the best fluid driver of the two, Lewis is like
        a dodgem driver on a handful of steroids

        1. I can’t tell if you’re being sarcastic or not? Rosberg is a cretin, makes more mistakes than anyone I’ve ever seen before but somehow gets away with everything. He’s coated in teflon.

      3. Wow. This almost makes me wonder about Monaco. It makes me wonder if he learned perhaps a bit too much from Schumi…

        1. No wondering needed, Monaco becomes crystal clear now. This is a smooth, skilled, baby-faced Machiavelli in a crash helmet and firesuit. He knows exactly what he’s doing, which is win a WDC by any and all means. Mercedes have to decide if that’s the behavior they want from their drivers. Ferrari were okay with it from Schumi, but they had a clear one-two policy. In this case, it will be chaos from here on out.

          1. Yup, knives out from here to the end.

          2. @slowhands Oh yes, Rosberg is now going to flip hamilton a la maldonado and guttierez at monza, pull a Senna-Prost in suzuka at Casio Triangle, and then stick a grenade up Hamilton’t exhaust in abu double. Are you mental?

          3. @zjakobs No need to be insulting. By “chaos” I meant within the team and between the two of them personally, not necessarily on track. Rosberg’s actions this year show that he is able to be cold and calculating in the heat of battle. That gives him emotional advantage over Hamilton, who “wears his emotions on his sleeve” and undergoes huge ups and downs in the course of the weekend. They have known each other since youth, Rosberg knows just where to poke Lewis to create maximum anger and frustration. Did you read earlier in the year that he would go out and kick a soccer ball against the side of the building during Lewis’ debriefs with his engineers just to annoy him? Rosberg has been a master of plausible deniability, but he finally came clean in this latest episode.

            Now that he has created a comfortable points buffer, I think he will be content to stay clean on track as long as he can maintain the buffer. If it narrows again, though, watch out. ROS is too slick for the clumsy driving of MAL and GUI and too subtle for explosive ordinance. But a move a la Senna? Absolutely, I wouldn’t put it past him. And unlike Senna, who was up-front about his intentions, ROS would make it look like enough like a “racing incident” that he can spin it to try to appear innocent.

        2. Not from Schumi but from HAMs hero Senna, ironic eh ?

          1. In terms of technique, more Schumi than Senna. Senna made no attempt to hide his intentions– he would take you out and everyone knew that’s what happened. This “behind the back” stuff, especially throwing his car down the escape road at Mirabeau, is right out of Schumi’s playbook.

    3. Wolff says Rosberg’s crash comments were misinterpreted –

      “[Rosberg] didn’t give in. He thought it was for Lewis to leave him space, and that Lewis didn’t leave him space.
      “So they agreed to disagree in a very heated discussion amongst ourselves, but it wasn’t deliberately crashing. That is nonsense.”

      http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115558

      1. By not backing off, what did he expect to happen then?

        1. He wanted Lewis to drive off the racing line to avoid him.

          1. Then I think he made the wrong decision.

          2. wouldn’t the first time a driver thought, after sticking his nose into it, “yield or don’t yield- it’s now up to you”. After Hamilton’s intimidations of the past (physical and psychological) I think Nico just telegraphed “enough is enough”.

          3. @wacamo Yield when he was barely level with Hamilton’s rear tyre? You can’t make up how dim some people are.

          4. (big) If that was his thinking, it worked, didn’t it?

        2. He wanted to show Hamilton that sometimes its Lewis who has to give way (to avoid damage), more or less a lesson learnt from Senna – i.e. I overtake you because you lose more than I do if you block me.

        3. Why could HAM not hold the inside line? Blame is aimed towards ROS for not lifting but both had options that could have resulted in no contact.

      2. Wolff confirms Hamilton’s reporting, not his interpretation. But I’m at a loss to understand how someone saying they didn’t avoid an incident ‘to prove a point’ wasn’t admission of causing a collision.

        Sounds like Mercedes trying to cover up Rosberg’s deliberate foul play. Again.

        1. Not suprised Toto has once again sprung to Rosberg defence. How can you say you did it to prove a point and not have done it deliberately? Please educate me

          1. Exactly. Mercedes will now open up their tins of paint and whitewash over this whole mess up. It’s clear for everyone to see, but as always we’re treated like idiots.

            The incident was rosbergs fault, he was lucky to get away with it. Like Monaco, only Rosberg knows for sure if he hit Hamilton on purpose, but he doesn’t come across in a good light currently. Like others have said, I also fail to understand how someone does something to prove a point, but didn’t do it on purpose. He had two choices and in “making a point” he chose the one which would obviously result in contact.

            The team said he would be punished, but so far my pet jelly fish has shown more backbone than anyone in the Mercedes management.

            “If Lewis has said that it’s going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there’s going to be no consequence, then he’s not aware of what consequences we can implement.”

            He talks the talk, but nothing will ever happen. There are no possible options open to them at all. A team can’t ban their championship leading driver, nor get rid of them totally. I’d bet Rosberg would rather have a WDC than money, so any financial punishment is also pointless.

            He has options, but is to weak to implement them. Meaning he actually has no options.

          2. One and perhaps the only option would have been to let FIA re-investigate the incident following Rosberg’s admission. The worst case scenario: a one race ban or the Spa points lost for NR. Mercedes can take the points loss and Rosberg would be kept in check.

            Instead Wolff tried to rework the semantics of what he said, which is not only treating everyone as idiots, it gives Rosberg licence to do the same, again, no doubt congratulating himself on the cunningness of taking out his competitor in front of everyone’s eyes, admitting the fact, and getting away with it.

          3. @f190 And all this shows Hamilton’s character when he runs from a closed meeting to the press to broadcast what has been said in a circumstance that assume confidentiality.

  4. It’s clear that for Mercedes it was a lot about the timing. Nico had a whole race to beat Lewis but he chose to take high risks early into the race costing Lewis valuable points and costing the team another 1-2.

    On it happening again… man, drivers will try to beat each other out there, sure more caution is expected but nobody can guarantee they will not hit each other.

    1. Lauda said in an interview jus prior to the race that he was worried about the two drivers would behave ‘later in the race’. Sounds to me like later was sooner.

    2. You take the opportunities as they come and usually the sooner the better.

  5. Stephen Higgins
    24th August 2014, 17:47

    Lewis is to blame in my opinion, he didn’t give Rosberg ANYWHERE NEAR enough space. Lewis knew he was there and turned in on him when he should have taken a wider line on the exit of Les Coombes and could have defended easily into Bruxelles.

    End of.

    1. This has got to be your first F1 race.

    2. Do you know what a racing line is?

    3. If you only have your front wing in line with a driver’s back wheel the onus is on you to back out of it. Going into a corner with only the very front of your nose poking up the inside has always been seen as careless with the other driver having the right to take their normal line. You either back off or make sure your car is properly alongside. Rosberg did neither unfortunately. A small error in positioning but very costly and entirely his fault.

      1. Going into a corner with only the very front of your nose poking up the inside has always been seen as careless with the other driver having the right to take their normal line.

        Indeed @matt90. Moreover, this isn’t a case of one team blaming another. Wolff was clearly livid – with one of his own drivers – when he was interviewed by the BBC. Rarely do we hear a senior team official speaking in such terms about one of their own drivers.

        If Wolff et al are unhappy with NR’s actions that’s good enough for me. They run the team.

      2. @matt90 I would just like to point out that they first connected wheel to wheel and then slid of and then clipped the wing, and at about 45° angle of the turn he had half of his car alongside still, so.

        Two drivers wanting to race too harshly, and the stakes are getting higher, this can only get better! I hope the team fails with their instructions to the drivers… Because team orders are the only thing that can ruin this.

        1. and at about 45° angle of the turn he had half of his car alongside still, so

          And he lost that advantage by the time the left turn came up. Where he was at 45 degrees is about as relevant as where he was several turns before.

        2. Also, having watched a replay I saw absolutely no wheel-to-wheel contact.

      3. Hamilton had the right to the racing line but also he knew that Rosberg was there so he had a choice to keep the racing line and risk collision or live some more space and avoid a potential damage to his car and still he would have been ahead of Niko. As usual he choose the first, aggressive option and this time pay dearly for it. I agree that Rosberg should have backed up more but Hamilton’s mistake was that he left it up for the others to care for his race. Niko obviously doesn’t.

    4. I agree Lewis to blame trying to cause a accident to ruin Nico’s chances of a clear win..

    5. The replay I watched showed Rosberg turning into Hamilton…twice!!

      1. And still keeping his foot in it…

    6. Lewisham Milton
      24th August 2014, 19:40

      End of what?

    7. SH suggest you look at the BBC articles picture of the incident. End of .

  6. No Ross Brawn. Doubt anyone will be calling Toto or Paddy or Niki to manage a team.

    Eddie Jordan, “That for me is a boardroom decision, it should never happened, don’t blame the drivers. You can’t just let people go and do what they want to do. The team has suffered here. What they did is stupid. They are allowing the emotions of the driver in the heat of the moment to take over…The team are looking for other people to blame and they have to blame themselves.”

    1. Eddie Jordan is a class act.

      1. …said no one ever.

    2. The thing is, is this approach worse than the usual model of one team dominating, team ordering, with no racing?

      As a racing racing fan, I find it wicked blasphemy to suggest otherwise!

      But even for Mercedes PR, even after such incident and the war that has been escalating? I question if it might be even good for that.

      I can envisage a scenario where this approach that the team has had up to now could be very detrimental for the company’s PR. If the car was a tenth quicker than the rest and as a result of the fighting they would be scoring fifth, sixth and such places on a regular basis, despite being the fastest car.

      But that is not the case, the car is one of the most dominant ever, they are miles ahead of anybody in both championships and are constantly winning, scoring podiums, everybody is loving the best one team WDC battle since… I would not even know (too young)… Since ever? Since Prost v Senna?

      Sure, good talking to both drivers is in order, to try and persuade them to be less reckless, but I don’t see that a change in the general procedures is necessary, or would be a benefit to anyone.

  7. My favorite quote of the day so far, from the Totonator:

    “If Lewis has said that it’s going to be a slap on the wrist, and that there’s going to be no consequence, then he’s not aware of what consequences we can implement.”

    http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115551

    1. With all of that dribble being said,Nothing will be done.

    2. Mercedes huffs and puffs “we lost valuable points”. Hrrmmmph. Does anyone really think Mercedes will NOT win the constructors championship this year? Lauda, even though he appears to favor Lewis, is vehement that there are/will be no team orders. With two aggressive top drivers, I think the Mercedes brain trust is just giving us some good kabuki theatre / corporate speak.

  8. How will they ensure it? Force Rosberg to sit out of one race as punishment?

    1. @gabal

      I was laughing at people suggesting this earlier… But the more the reports keep coming in and the story unfolds… The more I think it’s a distinct possibility!
      They could easily bring in a reserve or young driver, or one from somewhere else on the grid (Hulkenberg, perhaps?) to take over for a race and essentially let Lewis win (barring technical issues)… Whoever they bring in won’t win (unless Hulkenberg etc), but with the WCC being essentially theirs, I don’t think they’ll mind.

      1. I think Di Resta is their reserve driver. They could use him, he has recent racing experience.

        I doubt it would happen though, but maybe it should when one of their drivers gives up a potential 1-2 just to prove his own personal points…

      2. Well, that would put Lowe, Wolff, Lauda and Mercedes below Briatore and Renault.

  9. Trenthamfolk (@)
    24th August 2014, 17:52

    Does Nico work for Flavio Briatore… just a thought…

  10. So Nico did it to prove a point Ham said. Come on then FIA make a stand on a delibrate act. Joke you are, failed Ham big time with your unreal 20 secs on KMag nothing on Ros. The one were it destroyed the race the driver got no penalty haha

    1. If he’s admitted he caused an accident on purpose then I think the FIA should revoke his racing license and have him psychologically assessed to see if he’s safe to be allowed to race.

  11. Rosberg clearly thinks he can do whatever he wants this season, Mercedes and Hamilton will just have to suck it up and – as in Monaco – the team will have to clean up his mess. Getting seriously unpleasant.

  12. Mercedes confirmed thatnwhat Lewis said is true… and now?

    1. *that what

    2. In any other line of work, suspension or dismissal.

      1. Sort of like what would happen to someone who dissobeyed a direct order?

        1. If you mean Hamilton not slowing down to let Rosberg past at Hungary, he ignored an instruction (actually initially a reminder by his engineer to not block Rosberg) that the team later admitted had been the wrong decision made under pressure. Is that what you mean?

  13. Yes, it can and I hope it will. If i was Lewis, I’ll see i take my revenge. It wont happen again only if the cars are not close to each other on the grid and if you decide to sabotage one car, we all know whose car that would be.

    1. Good thing that you aren’t Lewis…

  14. Bet Derek Warwick feels a bit of a mug now …

  15. Mercedes should say to Rosbug, “you’ve cost the team 25 points, we’re going to put the reserve driver in your car for the next two races”. This would make the championship fair, be a deterrent/warning to Rosbug & Hamilton to behave themselves, whilst still allowing the team to accumulate construction points.

    1. The constructors’ title wouldn’t be in doubt even if they put Chanoch Nissany in a seat for the remaining races.

  16. Rossberg could have avoided the collision but didn’t.
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/28921431

    Its disgraceful behaviour and he should be banned for the next race.
    Its clear in the video replay that Rossberg had plenty of options to bide his time and come at Hamilton later, but decided to be malicious and take him out

    1. ahhahaha, banned from racing because he’s racing? funny indeed:)

      1. ahahahaha, yes, crashing into other cars is racing isn’t it. Very funny!

        1. Well if you’re a Hamilton fan you would know! Hamilton’s had more accidents than anyone on the grid!

          1. Apart from Crashtor Maldonado obviously. Funny thing is that these types of collisions happen every year multiple times and now it is suddenly on purpose. Oh come on Alonso did that in this race, Hamilton did that himself in Singapore 2011 and both of those were much more one side at fault incidents than this one.

          2. You are talking exclusively by emotions. Racing is a different thing. It was a small, classic racing accident with enormous EMOTIONAL consequences. The fact is that 2 young men are racing side by side every race and it’s absolutely normal this happens. Get over it

  17. As it’s now been confirmed by Mercedes that Rosberg deliberately caused the collision – surely then this means the FIA should give him a penalty for deliberately causing a collision? (whether Mercedes do or not)… and surely it has to be more severe than causing an avoidable collision.

    My guess a possible race ban, but a DSQL for this race at least.

  18. Rosberg’s admission to causing the collision and damage to Hamilton’s car has very serious implications. How can Hamilton or Mercedes trust him in the car after admitting to taking out Hamilton as payback (??!!!) for some imagined wrong caused to him in Hungary? Even presuming Mercedes attempt to hold the pieces together somehow, are these acceptable working conditions for Hamilton given the likelihood of them sharing the same track space? And surely FIA have to investigate this and impose a race ban on Rosberg as a reality check. It’s a highly dangerous precedent.

    1. You’ve not seen any statement from Nico. You’re quoting Hamilton.

    2. I will never believe Ros has done it o purpose, even if Nico tells me in my face. Lewis lies

  19. So Rosberg’s mistake has cost Mercedes 25 points and more importantly, the publicity of a win. The team is going to take that quite seriously.
    It’s clear that Rosberg didn’t intend to damage Hamilton’s car – in a bump like that, normally the car behind takes the damage; Rosberg was just trying to unsettle Hamilton, which is exactly what he should be doing. But clumsy driving and a bit of meanness messed it up. It was a racing incident, which is why it didn’t even get scrutinised by the stewards. See the reply above from @matt90.
    The thing I find heartbreaking is that Rosberg didn’t lose any points, he still got second place. That’s not much incentive to change.

    1. Seems like I was being much too fair! If Rosberg really intended to collide with Ham… Wow. Implications are huge.

      1. FIA will do nothing about. They can’t prove because he admitted in Merc meeting.

        I don’t like cheaters but that is what will happen.

    2. the publicity of a win

      Let’s be honest, though… They’re getting a tonne more prolonged [bad] publicity for this incident than if “Mercedes won again”.

      Put it this way, it’s a few hours after the race, and unfortunately, not many people are talking about Daniel, but Nico and Lewis are still headline news.

  20. The word Karma springs to mind. I have memories of Lewis being involved in exactly the same tactic in earlier years against opponents claiming racing incident. Most notably against Felipe Massa in Brazil in the dip just before the start finish straight.

    1. What on earth are you on about?

      1. That LH has in the past subtly brushed rear wheels with his front wing causing the other car to develop a puncture. More than once.

        1. You mean at Singapore in 2011 where Hamilton was given a drive through?

          1. And had a frond wheel locked and smocking so you knew he wasn’t deliberately trying to do anything but simply didn’t manage to control and stop the car before he hit him.
            And Massa from all people that always drives with a vindictive attitude after 2008 against Hamilton and hit him a dozen times being used as an example of supposedly being Hamilton’s victim is the biggest irony of all.

  21. The easiest way to resolve the problem would be to sack one of your drivers and bring a new young gun in. Merc will still win the title, and whoever is left will win the WDC.

    Of course it would be boring, and Merc would receive some backlash from the fans… but politically it’s very easy to dissipate the “problem” – the question is do the fans want this “problem” gone!?

    1. Mercedes have let this problem brew since Monaco when they backed Rosberg’s story for his qualification spin (and deliberate backing onto the track). In psychological terms, that reinforced the kind of cynical behaviour we saw today. He thinks he can get away with it and will continue to do so with virtually any action Mercedes take.

      1. At Monaco had Nico not backed up out of the runoff the yellow flags would have been out longer.

        I don’t get why people seem to think that had Nico stayed where he was then the yellows woudl have come in, Thats not how it works. At that corner in Monaco the yellow’s have always remained out until the car has been craned behind the barriers.

        By reversing out of the runoff he cleared the yellow flag zone sooner & allowed cars behind who got there after he had got away to continue there laps.

    2. In any other line of work Rosberg would be sacked. Gross misconduct and endangering life. I hope they get rid of him and bring in some new blood. We don’t need psychos behind the wheel.

      1. And yet you’re happy for Hamilton to continue – despite the fact that he’s had more accidents and collisions than anyone on the grid.

  22. For some odd reason, I feel urged to add my piece to the hundreds of comments that have been and will be posted about this incident. In the interest of full transparency, I must preamble my comment by admitting that I am a great fan of LH’s driving. In my opinion, LH and Fernando Alonso are the two great drivers of current F1, which makes me wonder if we had a race like the 1984 Mercedes 190E Nurburgring race, which one of the two would come ahead. Enough digressing.

    I believe that we should NOT analyze/evaluate the incident today, forgetting the context of what has happened so during the season: after DNF’ing the first race of the season, LH won the next four races, and at least in a couple of them, NR had a faster car than LH. In many instances, LH squeezed NR in many, many instances, just like we have seen Alonso doing with his opponents in many cases this season. If you remember, in the last lap of the Hungarian race, LH squeezed NR on the outside of turn 3, as he would not be denied the podium, in his mind and had to finish ahead of NR.

    I think NR mentally told him: enough of being squeezed by LH. And the result, we saw it today.

    LH can be a ruthless drive if he thinks he needs to be. However, NR through his behavior in Monaco qualifying showed he will cheat, in order to win. The fans booing happened NOT ONLY for what happened in the track today, but a collection of acts and decisions during the whole season.

    1. What about lewis using higher power engine mode than he was suppose to, to keep Rosberg at bay during the closing laps of the Spanish grand prix. Is that cheating. And i am aware that nico did the same in Bahrain. But i am just interested in your opinion on would hamilton cheat to win.

      1. Rosberg did the same in Spain.

        1. Hello john, So what is your opinion do you think Hamilton would cheat too win.

      2. I heard from a good source that NR was using more power on his engine today the first 2 laps!!!!!

        1. G’day mate , yes i am certain Nico has done some questionable things in his career but so has Lewis is my point you can’t call one a cheat with out accusing the other of the same. Svianna gave what i think was very intelligent analysis which is why i was surprised by his/her cheat comment, even considering his/her preamble .

    2. The best analysis I’ve read so far. This comes down to Rosberg’s frustration at being unable to get past Hamilton on track.

    3. As far as I’m concerned Hamilton had it coming! Far too many times he’s pushed Rosberg off the track and even chopped him a couple of times – Bahrain comes to mind on the exit of turn 1. Rosberg even got on the radio after that one.

      Nico did the absolute best thing he could do today – told Hamilton in no uncertain terms that he will be pushed around no longer. Hamilton will think twice before trying to be heavy handed with Nico again.

      However what I find utterly astonishing, although based on the average Hamilton fan’s mental capacity perhaps not, is the outcry over Nico going for a gap. All we ever hear from Hamilton and his deluded fans is how great Hamilton is because he goes for any gap no matter how small just like his idol Senna who declared to the world that if you no longer go for a gap you are no longer a racing driver.

      As far as I can see Rosberg simply took a leaf out of Hamilton and Senna’s book and went for the gap. How many times have we seen Hamilton and Senna do the same thing that resulted in an accident? The answer is – LOADS OF TIMES, but when they did it all we get is applause and praise from you lot no matter who they took out.

      Double standards much?

      1. Not to even mention that Alonso crashed into Vettel this race where his fault was much much clearer and nobody cares at all.

      2. But Rosberg chose the wrong moment to prove a point.
        Rosberg was not being pushed, he was given plenty of room and chose to force a situation that didn’t exist.
        Whatever you may call Hamilton or however spectacular his defense of his position may have been in past races, he has always done it in a fair way by taking a line and sticking to it. Hungary looked spectacular because Rosberg had the faster tyres and was closing in on the action with greater amount of speed, but it was a very fair action, that looked more dramatic than it was.
        There was nothing dramatic here, plenty of room for Rosberg to blend back into the racing line going into the chicane. Rosberg’s car was virtually perpendicular to the direction he was going to turn into which to me shows he had lost the plot if he continues with his argument of proving a point.

    4. The difference is that Hamilton had the right to squeeze Rosberg there in Hungary considering how far Rosberg got by his side before Hamilton close the door etc. Go back and watch the incident. Nico today though had nothing. He just insisted on putting his nose where it’s ridiculous to put it when he already lost the corner. If he wanted to show guts and that is the way he chose to do so, then it simply shows he has poor race-craft instead.

  23. Maarten van Berge Henegouwen (@)
    24th August 2014, 18:34

    It took them 36 laps to find out Lewis had “lost too much performance”, and along the way clocking up miles on the power unit!
    Stupid decision by TeamToto, it was clear that even a safety car would not save Lewis’ day.

    1. I agree, Lewis should take a page out of Button’s book and dictate to the team whats what for his race as he always has a better idea of whats going on. As Lewis explained, he knew he already lost an engine due to the fire and he knew he wasn’t able to overtake so the race was wasted and they should have retired the car to save the PU.

    2. @coldfly They didn’t seem to believe Hamilton, just as the Sky commentators didn’t really, when he kept saying the car was too damaged to make any headway even with an SC. Also, they needed a reason to retire the gearbox, guess they spent an hour looking for some provable issue :-)

      1. +1. I believe that retiring w/o a good reason incurs a penalty for changing the gearbox. That would have penalized Hamilton. I think the team just played out the strategy, knowing the supply of power unit and transmission parts, and made a choice to look for a defensible reason to retire– and hence avoid the penalty.

  24. All the things Lewis has said the past hours really amazes me but some comments here about conspiracies, revenge, etc. amaze me even more. I thought the F1F community was a group of adults who watched a sport and not a group of teenage girls chatting about their favourite Tv show.

    1. @xtwl if I wasn’t already familiar with your posts I’d have to assume you joined up just today!

      I’ve not seen anything but “my superstar is better than your superstar”, “your star smells and is stupid, my star is the best thing ever” on F1F since ~2007 when Lewis Hamilton came into F1 and shook its foundations. This has of course gone in tandem with the growth of a typical and ever younger (re. immature) social media commentary.

      Blogs such as this are just a few moderators away from the youtube class…

      1. Maarten van Berge Henegouwen (@)
        24th August 2014, 20:12

        @psynrg & @xtwl – how to stop the ‘mine is better than yours’ comments and get more fact based replies and meaningful opinions?

      2. @keithcollantine @psynrg & @xtwl — get the site to add functionality of giving comments positive votes(by the F1F readers) that would be able to filter the recommended comments worth reading to the top (negative voting is unnecessary and unproductive). It may, of course, backfire if there aren’t as many of us interested in reading thoughtful replies as I would hope.

        1. @reg Have you got the Eurosport News app on your Smartphone? That place is full of fans of a certain driver and all they do is agree with each other ignoring evey single fact in the article on which they comment. Sensible comments that don’t agree with their idea gets downvoted fairly quick. I once even spotted a comment basically saying Vettel had a good race get downvoted by 20+ people.

          Though it might work here.

  25. I think Nico is becoming much more “hard-nosed” these days. A lot more assertive and single-minded, compared to his previous seasons. The incident today was clumsy, but if it’s true that he did it to prove a point – then he’s developing that streak in his personality that almost all champions have had.

    Alonso, Schumi, Vettel, Hakkinen, Villeneuve, Mansell, Senna, Prost, even Kimi and Button have all had times like these when a bit of ruthelessness counts. Lewis of course has had his own fair share of red-misted attempts.

    It was judged a racing incident today hence no penalty from the stewards, but Toto Wolff is plain daft if he thinks this kind of thing won’t happen again. He hasn’t got it together yet, but Nico is shaping himself up to be a “don’t screw around with me” guy. He’s extended the championship lead and he knows he can win it and he has the psychological upper hand.

    I bet Niki Lauda is peeved that it happened on lap 2 today, but off-camera, he’s going to recognize a tougher Rosberg and be happy about it in the long run. He just needs to manage them, which is not going to be easy!

    1. +10. Spot on and well said!

    2. There was nothing tough about Rosberg’s action unfortunately. Just plain stupid.
      He wasn’t even in a fight for that corner, he didn’t even have his front wheel by Hamilton’s rear wheels. It was just his nose he stuck there and the race stewards are the true cowards, but I can understand why they want to sit on the fence.

      1. Exactly. I get the “i want to appear hard core” attitude but at least do it when you can bang wheels even if it’s frond with back wheels not just putting your nose.
        At first i thought he realized the thing wasn’t going and he just delayed too much in trying to back out of it but now with this ” to prove a point” silly speech i just think he lost his cool and doesn’t know what his doing.

  26. Rosberg isn’t any worse than Hamilton. Hamilton himself was racing aggressively in Hungary and pushed Rosberg of the road, but luckily nothing happend. This time Rosberg put his foot down, showed aggressiveness, and something did happen. But it’s the same thing really. Both of them are racing for the title, and none of them will back down.

    1. Hamilton didn’t push Rosberg off the road, Rosberg ran out of room as he never got along side.

  27. Jack Verduyn (@)
    24th August 2014, 19:25

    I feel this is being blown out of proportion a bit. Yes, Rosberg did cause the collision BUT he did not do it with any malicious intent. The BBC article reads as if it is based off a misinterpretation of a misinterpretation. Hamilton said

    He said he could have avoided it, but he didn’t want to. He basically said “I did it to prove a point”
    To me that reads like Rosberg is admitting he is at fault for the incident and he made a mistake as a result of trying to prove a point about him being a legitimate wheel-to-wheel racer and as a result of trying to prove this point he didn’t back out of a move where he certainly should have. You have to remember when reading this sort of thing that you are reading it third hand from the BBC and two of the parties are both trying to make some sort of story from the controversy the statements would cause

  28. Just like they promised to “obey team orders”. Jawhol Toto …. keep dreaming.

  29. Lewisham Milton
    24th August 2014, 19:48

    Just throw the whole team out for bringing the sport into disrepute. The spoilt toddler, the dirty scheming cheat and all the incompetent management. Then we’ll have some great close races, a deserving and popular champion and no tiresome hype about the title battle and Senna and Prost before every race.

  30. Everyone is focusing their attention on Mercedes and the whiner twins, would anyone like to bet on Red Bull and Riccardo pulling a rabbit out of their hat, there are eight races worth of points to be had. Vettel won two championships in the last race of the season. I for one would like to see Riccardo shut everyone one up by winning this year, he just drives the bloody car with out complaining at the same time beating a four time world champion to boot.

    1. I like Riccardo but i just don’t like Red Bull enough to have ever wished for such a thing. Maybe when he drives another car.

  31. It’s a championship battle, what would they expect? That one or another will give it up and put off the foot from the throttle? No it’s flat out!!

  32. I’ll just leave this nice little video here of Nico runnign Schumacher off the road in the exact same corner a few years ago, despite Schumacher having much more of his car alongside.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRG0j5LFVY

    1. And should I post all the videos of Hamilton running Rosberg off the road or chopping him just this season alone?

      Let alone all of the incidents and ‘accidents’ that Hamilton has had over his career. Rosberg has been in F1 a year longer than Hamilton yet Hamilton has more than twice the number of accidents than Rosberg.

      What a surprise – NOT!

      1. The entirety of your post is irrelevant to the point of the video, which is to show Rosberg taking the exact same line as Hamilton did, even with a car much further along than he was. Which is to show Rosberg has no defense on this one – Not that he would anyway, given that his own Bosses have stated he ‘could have avoided the collision’ but ‘chose not to, to show hes not gong to give in’ – which is to say ‘if Hamilton dosn’t get out of my way when im coming through, where going to collide’

        Frankly, Rosberg needs a stern punishment from the Merc bosses if he thinks he can give away a solid 1-2 and hand a win to their direct competitor just show that hes frustrated that Hamilton wont move over for him just because his front wing is hovering around his rear tires, bizarre point.

        Look at how Lewis passed Vergne around the outside in Hungary, thats how you pass a car on the outside, you place your car in a position where is yourself who dictates the corner radius, if you dont place enough of your car in his way, then the guy on the inside dictates the corner, as Rosberg himself did against Schumacher in the very corner in question. Rosberg knows how to race, hes not stupid, why this is even up for discussion is beyond me.

  33. i think there’s a difference between “deliberately caused the collision” and “push to the very limit and perhaps a little bit more”. both of them are ferocious drivers, what would you expect? rosberg took a risk, he could lose more than he won, it’s racing! maybe a little little little over the limit, but racing anyway….

  34. Racing incident to me… I’m surprised everybody in Mercedes was so public about this incident, and it surely doesn’t look good that Lewis makes a comment blaming Nico and the team confirming all of the details Lewis mentioned.

  35. You have to feel sorry for Lewis. Rosberg ruins his race, the stewards don’t even bother to institute an investigation and his team (Toto especially) is saying it is his fault. . If I were him, I’d seriously start negotiating with other teams for a seat. There is no point having the fastest car if your team is not behind you to win the championship.

  36. Merceded reaping what they sowed when they supported Rosberg at Monaco, IMO. Now they’re stuck. Not that any other team would have done differently, to be fair, but they helped Rosberg’s cheat pay off then. Now I can’t imagine Toto imposing a real deterrent penalty, however tough he talks.

    What can he do? There is no sum of money that matters as much as the wdc – Rosberg doesn’t care about anything but points. 29 now, so he’ll have a big grin on tonight, boos or not.

  37. Since they were all running their cars very low, the puncture and the long distance HAM had to travel was inevitably going to finish off his floor as it did happen. I thought he will just park his car, but the team made him stress the engine even more when he could have saved it. It is just a bad team management, and when you are down such bad decisions just seem to continue coming thick and fast.

  38. Ah ah ah ah….sorry Wolff…can’t stop laughing…ah ah ah…you’re so funny…ahahahah!
    Now, serious, Wolff, it can happen again.

  39. The only way Merc can prevent it from happening again is to ban the driver at fault for a race. You can bet if the driver has to sit on the sidelines for a round they won’t crash into each other again. I think it’s the only way they can regain control of the situation.

  40. Did nobody see that Rosberg actually tried to avoid the contact for a second? He corrected his steering for a second even though there was no sign of snap oversteer. It’s very clear to see from the TV pictures (not so obvious from the onboard but from the regular camera). But you can see the steering from the onboard:


    https://twitter.com/f1followerf1/status/503656303903117312

    I think Nico tried to avoid it, it happened anyways and now he is playing mindgames with Lewis.

    1. That particular moment was actually oversteer. The moment after where he turns the wheel right to complete the corner or as Hamilton fans say “into Lewis” was when Hamilton drove right over his front wing. There was nothing he could’ve done from the picture point on besides slamming on the brakes.

      1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxRG0j5LFVY

        Well he could have taken a leaf out of schumi’s book.

  41. Nico showed a real lack of class again (just like Monaco) in the way he reacted after the race. He should’ve just held his hand up and apologised. He really is like a spoilt child.

    He can’t beat Lewis in a fair fight and he knows it.

  42. All I can say about the Hamilton-Rosberg incident is kudos to both. At least they are racing and yes Nico made a mistake. So what. Same if Ham would have ruined Nico’s race, so what they are racing. All the nonsense that they can’t speak their minds in public and let it all out is making F1 more like a soap opera than a motor sport event. I find it really sad that these drivers are so controlled by these mega corporations that they can’t speak their minds anymore. Remember how Senna got mad at Schumacher and other drivers. Now we are watching 2 robots fighting for the World Championship of “How to keep your mouth shut.” Kudos to Bottas, Ricciardo and the Kimster.

  43. So whats the punishment for Hamilton the next time he disobeys team orders, invited back to wolffs for coffee and Jamie dodgers ??

    1. Hamilton didn’t disobey, he said Rosberg should try and overtake.
      The team didn’t ask Hamilton to slow down to let Rosberg through.

  44. Hang on ! Didn’t Lewis say I left him room in an article printed here ? the pictures from the front in BBC articleshow no room for Nico .! now, he’s saying he didn’t have to , does that mean he actually didn’t leave room now? make up your mind Lewis,

    I don’t believe for a second Nico hit him intentionally, that is just to much risk to his own car,

    regardless, Nico was behind and hitting a driver in front is not on,

    Both these lads getting a bit silly, both Lads disobeying orders, and all the while Red Bull who were so crap at testing are now biting at the heels of what should have been a cakewalk championship.

    bring it on.

    this is great great GREAT , ! (yes i did mean to shout, ) its exciting,

    1. The point when the accident happened, Rosberg had so much space to his left, there was more than enough room.
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9hXvw9yMw8
      http://e2.365dm.com/14/08/660×350/Rosberg-footage_3195070.jpg

  45. This is simple, really. Rosberg made a bad decision compounded by making that decision at a bad time in the race. Either that or he has very poor car control and I don’t really believe that.

    *If* he did do it on purpose, as some are saying that he said, then it was an even worse decision. I think aggressive driving can be useful at times, but in this particular situation it just didn’t make sense.

    He would not have been in the position he was in if he had made a better start. Hamilton and Vettel rocketed by him like he was standing still. Vettel almost hit him he was going so slow off the line.

    Being patient as a driver does not mean not being aggressive. It means being aggressive at the right time. As Mario Andretti said and has been oft repeated only to fall on many deaf ears, to finish first, first you must finish. Rosberg could have easily been the bigger loser in this exchange. The better driver would have patience and not stick their nose in until there is an actual chance to pass.

    Disclaimer: I am not a supporter of Hamilton or Rosberg although I like both drivers.

    I do support several other drivers who had very good drives today and that was pleasing. Ricciardo, Bottas and Raikkonen for example. It’s quite easy to cheer on a driver like Ricciardo who has talent, makes mostly good decisions (nobody is perfect) and drives aggressively at the right times.

  46. Racing incidents happen because the cars are driven by human beings – young, ambitious and hot tempered human beings for the most part. Their desire to win will always lead them to take chances and risks, sometimes they will pay off and sometimes they wont. This is part of what I love about F1 – watching the drivers battling on track. Who wants to watch a group of cars driving round a track in formation, never trying to overtake unless conditions are absolutely optimal? I certainly dont.
    To try to claim that Rosberg engineered the incident with Lewis is absurd – was he pushing, taking a risk? yes of course he was because the championship is up for grabs and there are few races left. Did he deliberately run into Lewis? Highly doubtful as the risk to his own car and chances of winning were as high as causing damage to his team mate. Even if he “wanted to prove a point” as is claimed then it would take superhuman skill to hit Lewis’ car in such a way as to cause the damage it did intentionally while minimising damage to his own car. It was sheer dumb luck that Lewis came off worst in the encounter – it could easily have been Rosberg who sustained damage that forced him to retire.
    What I do have a problem with is Lewis’ reaction to the whole thing. The obvious defeat in his radio communication with the team in the laps following the collision, his repeated requests to be allowed to retire from the race, it all smacks of childishness. If things dont go his way Lewis has a tendency to become extremely negative and to shut down. Also the booing of Rosberg during the podium celebrations was a disgrace! Plenty of other drivers have made mistakes and collided on track, even some great ones and never have I seen such a reaction. It was uncalled for and unsporting.
    I certainly hope this doesnt lead to the team introducing team orders (though I very much fear it will) – that would ruin any enjoyment in watching the rest of the season to be honest. Either let the drivers race or retire them both from the rest of the season but please dont subject the fans to processional driving for the remainder of the year.

    1. With a damaged car and no hope of a safety car in sight and coupled with the fact he already has lost one engine of his allocated 5 engines, he felt the best thing to do was to save the engines what is wrong in that? He is fighting for a championship not driving round in circles to waste the life of a good engine. And then risk having more penalties if he has to use an extra one or suffer a failure in the future.

    2. Hamilton knew immediately after the tire was changed that the car was too damaged to challenge for points, and asked the team if the car should be retired. That was smart thinking. The team took a chance there might be safety car and maybe a lot of retirements, didn’t happen, that’s life. If Rosberg knew he could cause a puncture for Hamilton but not fatally damage his own car, in a split second while racing around Les Combes at 100% commitment, he must be some kind of genius driver. That scenario is preposterous. The most likely outcome was the Alonso – Vettel incident, where Alonso lost his wing integrity and Vettel raced on.

      I also believe that Rosberg did say something along the lines of “I am not backing down any more, if Hamilton chops me he is going to lose car parts”. That’s what Prost told McLaren, and when Senna dive bombed him, he let the accident happen rather than jump out of the way. The Spa situation is not directly comparable in terms of car and road position, but the driver emotion is the same. Hamilton has been ordered to let Rosberg through, disobeyed the order. At several races, Hamilton has chopped off Rosberg. Now the gloves are off. Enjoy it!!!

      Hopefully Mercedes let’s the drivers keep racing, but the value of teams orders is becoming apparent to them.

  47. Wow!!! I love all those HAM fans asking Mercedes or the FIA to ban ROS for 1 race! That must be the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever read! I think that it’s all part of the psychological “war” between the two. Remember Bahrain? Nico being much faster but Lewis stretching the limits of his car’s width to block him whenever he felt threatened? And that incident in Hungary is still very fresh with Lewis pushing Nico right to the very edge of the track! I’m not suggesting that Lewis put a foot wrong or anything! That was hard wheel to wheel racing and it was amazing to watch! But maybe (and this is just a hypothesis) Nico thought this time: “If I keep yielding whenever I come across Lewis then I will never be able to overtake him on track. Maybe I should just stick next to him so that he won’t take the ideal line through the chicane and have a go at Rivage.” Nico expected that Lewis would back off and Lewis never expected that Nico would keep his position next to him inside the corner. And the rest is history. Could have happened as it eventually did or could have been avoided like in Bahrain. Sometimes it’s just a matter of luck and in this case Lewis firstly and Nico afterwards were quite unlucky to crash the way they did. But in reality it was a racing incident that can happen to anyone, anytime. Like it happened with Alonso and Vettel on the last lap of the very same Grand Prix. I didn’t see anyone condemning either for that! That’s the risk you take when you stretch the limits of your defensive or attacking strategy in Formula 1! The Sennas and the Prosts and the Schumachers have suffered from incidents like that many times. Finally a word for what-I believe- was a shamefu and deliberate misinterpretation of Toto Wolf’s first interview with none other than Ted Kravitz right after the race had ended. For those who didn’t watch it Ted was repeatedly asking questions in the style of: “Nico’s mistake cost the team” or “Nico hit Lewis and ended his race” whereas Toto was very careful -as furious as he was- not to blame Nico openly in the heat of the moment. And of course Ted’s conclusion was that Toto openly criticized Nico for what had happened. Dear Ted we know you love Lewis, we also know that, especially after Monaco, you hate Nico’s guts but at least for your sake try not to express an opinion when asking questions. Or have someone else to do it for you in case you can’t control your emotions! To sum it up I agree with what Eddie Jordan said. It was the team’s fault and this dates back to Hungary. Lewis ignored the team orders and robbed them of a victory the same way as Nico put his interest above the team’s interest at Spa yesterday. Nico felt that the team didn’t mind as much to lose a potential victory in Hungary as the all around mood after that was: “If Lewis had let Nico passed, Nico would have won the race for us but on the other hand he’s fighting for a championship so he was justified to ignore team orders and the general interest of the team in order to get more points than Nico.” I guess now they understand that they are not dealing with a Massa or a Barrichelo here. Nico will not back down and will push his chances to the limit in order to win the WC. As will Lewis. That’s the situation any team will face when thay have two equally fast drivers without a clear number 1. So I guess we will see a lot more of them over the next few races.

    1. If you defend aggressive it’s bound to go wrong one day.

      1. paul sainsbury
        25th August 2014, 13:37

        @xtwl

        I guess you have not done any racing? You have to take your line, it is really basic stuff, observed even in pay as you go karting.

        1. Racing requires awareness of where cars are and anticipation of what they will OR could do. Not just blindly following an imaginary line around a circuit. Shame on you for implying you are a racer. Blame should be 50/50 in my opinion. Either one could have avoided the contact and both chose not to.

        2. I’ve done plenty racing and as I said, if you close every gap where an agressive driver like Hamilton himself even would go for, it’s bound to go wrong once or twice with someone who didn’t react that quick to get his nose out of it.

          1. paul sainsbury
            25th August 2014, 20:13

            Mmm…..But you see, there is no way that Hamilton would have tried that move, because it was just patently never on. I was very surprised that a driver at F1 level would do something so incompetent, which is why I suppose people are suspicious. There is no way we can have a situation with the driver ahead needing to be prepared to jump off the racing line to accommodate a foolish overtaking attempt behind him.

            In addition to this, I don’t accept that Hamilton is in racing wheel to wheel, any firmer than the others, in fact I agree with Nigel Roebuck that on the track he tends to be scrupulously fair. All of them do ‘the chop’. Rosberg has done it to Hamilton this season in Canada and elsewhere. The primary difference is that there was no collision from Hamilton and no complaining, either.

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