1072 replies to this topic

[Disgrace]

Hamilton was told to let Rosberg through on his contrary tyre strategy. He did not, and both Mercedes finished third and fourth.

 

Hamilton finished ahead, but arguably Rosberg could have finished higher than third had he been released. 

 

Would the team have benefited from Hamilton's cooperation? Should the team have put themselves in that position? Does it even matter for Mercedes given the WCC?

[Kristian]

Hmm as a Rosberg fan I was yelling at him to let him past, but indeed losing a second would have been a bit too much of a penalty - Rosberg should have been closer. 

 

But ignoring the direct orders of your bosses is another matter. 

[spacekid]

For himself? Yes, 100%.

For the team? No. Lewis probably cost Merc a race win there. Merc spend hundreds of millions a year to win races, and probably don't care who does it.

Edited by spacekid, 27 July 2014 - 14:08.

[hollowstar]

Yes Lewis was right. Had the team wanted a better result, they'd have given Hamilton the fastest tyres as well.  They can't keep giving Lewis shitty reliability, shitty pitstops, and shitty strategies, and then expect him to let Nico through. 

Edited by hollowstar, 27 July 2014 - 14:08.

[baddog]

On the face of it no, it is normal for a team to let one car on a different strat through to bring him out in .front of other cars after a stop and generally unacceptable for a driver to refuse that.... HOWEVER in the final analysis it would have resulted in Nico finishing either 1st or 2nd and Lewis 4th which obviously he cant be expected to do. I think Lewis realised his tyres were going to not last before the team did.

[Diablobb81]

For the short term result (i.e. points after the race) certainly.

 

But i'm sure the team will be pissed at him.

 

If you are on different strategies you let your team-mate past.

[TurboF1]

He made the right call, no question. Nico never closed up enough to make it feasible for Lewis to let him through without compromising himself too much. Clearly the right call, theyre racing for the WDC after all.    

[spacekid]

Yes Lewis was right. Had the team wanted a better result, they'd have given Hamilton the fastest tyres as well. They can't keep giving Lewis shitty reliability, shitty pitstops, and shitty strategies, and then expect him to let Nico through.

They've also given him millions of dollars a year and the fastest car on the grid.

[Timstr11]

Looking at where he finieshed justaead of Rosberg? Yes, it was a good call from HAM.

 

The WCC normally takes precedence above the WDC, but the WCC for Mercedes is not under thread. 

 

So it's about the WDC. HAM and ROS are fighing for a position. A very stupid call by the team to ask HAM not to hold up ROS.

Edited by Timstr11, 27 July 2014 - 14:11.

[aray]

yes..he did the right thing..

[chunder27]

Who cares, neother of them won which is the best result overall for the sport.

 

The constant bickering, whining and complaining to Whiting leaves me cold.

 

Just race, bet Lauda thinks its proper pathetic!

[Andrew Hope]

For himself? Yes, 100%.

For the team? No. Lewis probably cost Merc a race win there. Merc spend hundreds of millions a year to win races, and probably don't care who does it.

 

Exactly this I think, though at the same time I didn't see Rosberg get anywhere near close enough to justify the call in the first place.

 

When you start needing one half of your team to bend over backwards and royally inconvenience themselves just to help the other side of the team (who don't appear to be helping themselves by driving fast) it's time to think of some new strategies.

[wj_gibson]

Rosberg would have won the race IMO. And Hamilton didn't even get Alonso in the end. So his justification for staying out didn't really pass muster.

[Kerch]

Nico briefly closed up to around a second, then fell back again. I don't think Nico would have gained much time from going through - if anything he would  have held Hamilton up for a few laps. 

[pokerkid]

Mercedes were way out of line asking Lewis to let his wc rival past, when they were both fighting for the race win.

[baddog]

He made the right call, no question. Nico never closed up enough to make it feasible for Lewis to let him through without compromising himself too much. Clearly the right call, theyre racing for the WDC after all.    

 

While as I said Lewis turned out to be right, Nico was waiting for the pass to be offered as the team told him it would be, not using up his tyres racing Lewis at a .5s gap (he was well under 1 sec at one point). It isnt possible to say what he COULD have done if he hadn't been told Lewis would be moving over.

[ebc]

I think he did the right thing for himself for this race but not for the team. In the long term it will hurt him because Nico has obeyed the team in the past and he will be repaid for that, Lewis is going the right way if he wants the team to back Nico as he cost them a possible win.

[NateF]

It was a daft request from the team - Hamilton and Rosberg strategy whilst different based on positioning it was always going to disadvantage one driver over the other. 

[pokerkid]

Rosberg would have won the race IMO. And Hamilton didn't even get Alonso in the end. So his justification for staying out didn't really pass muster.

 

He beat his title rival. Plenty of muster.

[Dalton007]

Cost Nico the win, but Lewis was right in not allowing him through for his own championship. 

[masa90]

Lewis showed he is not a team player today. Or well, atleast wasnt today.

 

But, he held his position, was ruthless and now closed the battle in wdc (albeit with amazing luck but still )

 

So really bad on team, showing one driver thinks he is above the team and good on Lewis for ^^

[Risil]

It may have cost Mercedes a victory, but Hamilton did ensure he finished ahead of Rosberg. It depends on the team's own priorities I suppose.

[george1981]

Lewis made the right call for himself. Arguably has Nico been let through he probably would have been 2nd, so the team would would have gained 3 more points.

But if Mercedes want to start complaining about team points they need to be able to provide both drivers with a reliable car. Mercedes have lost more points from team errors than they have from the drivers racing each other.

[Farhannn15]

It honestly depends on when the radio message came in, remember that the messages are delayed. If the message was given when Rosberg was withing half a second then yes, but if it was after that Lewis was right to keep the position

[mclara]

Clearly yes considering the slower tires he was on in the end of the race

[wj_gibson]

He beat his title rival. Plenty of muster.

I think the team would prefer a 1-4 to a 3-4.

[DarthWillie]

NO! Sick of double standards. Multi 21 was wrong, here Lewis was wrong.

[SR388]

Absolutely.

 

1. Nico wasn't close enough. 

 

2. They were racing for it. 

[Timstr11]

Rosberg would have won the race IMO. And Hamilton didn't even get Alonso in the end. So his justification for staying out didn't really pass muster.

He may have won due to an error the team made (again) by putting Hamilton on the HARD tyre. He was ahead of Rosberg when they both had to PIT. 

They should have put them on the same strategy. As it turned out, the Hard tyre was too slow.

[TomNokoe]

Of course he made the right decision! The team asking Lewis to lose

[Nonesuch]

Definitely the right call.

 

Hamilton knows far better than Mercedes what is right for the team. After all, he is their star driver!

 

But on a more serious note, we can talk all we want about teams and team-spirit, but at the end of the day, only one story comes to mind: The Farmer and the Viper

Edited by Nonesuch, 27 July 2014 - 14:16.

[Ze Bum]

Hamilton cost Mercedes a race win there. I'm afraid he will pay for that somehow.

[hollowstar]

Rosberg would have won the race IMO. And Hamilton didn't even get Alonso in the end. So his justification for staying out didn't really pass muster.

 

Hello Captain Hindsight 

[redreni]

It was the right decision for his WDC campaign and the wrong decision for the team. Can we have an option for that, because I can't see a way of expressing that with the options given? If I were Paddy Lowe I would want to nip this sort of thing in the bud.

Edited by redreni, 27 July 2014 - 14:17.

[akshay380]

Merc were mad to ask him after screwing him over yday. And its not as if Hamilton blocked Nico. I am sure he said let him get closer.

[Jamiednm]

Rosberg was never close enough for Lewis to let him past. If he was all over his gearbox, then fair enough, but Rosberg couldn't get that close, so no chance. 100% correct from Lewis.

[PoliFanAthic]

I doubt Hamilton had the ability to predict Rosberg's resurgence after the pit stop, or that he wouldn't be able to pass Alonso. It was an instinctive decision and I can live with it seeing how Rosberg wasn't literally on him.

 

But you can always think back on how Ros let Ham through at Malaysia and how that wasn't reciprocated when he was at 0.8 or something behind him today.

[Andrew Hope]

Mercedes were way out of line asking Lewis to let his wc rival past, when they were both fighting for the race win.

 

They're his employer. They wouldn't be out of line if they asked him to sweep up the garage after the race.

[Timstr11]

I think the team would prefer a 1-4 to a 3-4.

Is the WCC under threat? No. Merc's got it in the bag. Pretty much. They can't ignore the title fight their drivers are in.

[mclara]

Hamilton cost Mercedes a race win there. I'm afraid he will pay for that somehow.

 

Mercedes cost themselves the race win by not making sure both drivers qulified on the front row yesterday

[Shambolic]

Yes Lewis was right. Had the team wanted a better result, they'd have given Hamilton the fastest tyres as well.  They can't keep giving Lewis shitty reliability, shitty pitstops, and shitty strategies, and then expect him to let Nico through. 

 

No, they need to focus on only giving Rosberg shitty reliability (failing gearboxes, and this race iffy brakes), shitty pitstops (slower than Hamilton's this time around), shitty strategies (pissing away a huge lead and then dumping him behind Hamilton with one more stop to do), and then Lewis can be crowned the devince saviour too many have turned away from.

 

FFS

[RustyRuss]

I think he did the right thing for himself for this race but not for the team. In the long term it will hurt him because Nico has obeyed the team in the past and he will be repaid for that, Lewis is going the right way if he wants the team to back Nico as he cost them a possible win.

Merc is already backing ROS.

[HoldenRT]

Well he finished infront, so yes.  But Rosberg won't be doing him any favours anytime soon.

[Al.]

For maximising the result of the team, normally no, and he prevented Rosberg a run at the top 2 but Mercedes aren't going to lose the WCC.

But arguably, if he'd found a way round the Ferrari earlier, he would have had a shot at the win himself. Could Dani have found a way round a Mercedes not held up by a Ferrari?

 

For his WDC then it turned out a good.

For the media and this forum result.............!

[wj_gibson]

Rosberg was never close enough for Lewis to let him past. If he was all over his gearbox, then fair enough, but Rosberg couldn't get that close, so no chance. 100% correct from Lewis.

Why should Nico be all over Lewis' gearbox when the team has delivered the instruction?

[Kyo]

They are fighting for the WDC. Nothing more needs to be said.

[w00dy]

For the short term result (i.e. points after the race) certainly.

 

But i'm sure the team will be pissed at him.

 

If you are on different strategies you let your team-mate past.

this.

[tmzxaar]

I don't understand why would Lewis slow down and lose about 1-2 seconds when Rosberg couldn't even get close.

[TurboF1]

Lewis' words. "I'm not slowing down for Nico, if he wants to pass, let him close up and pass me".

 

100% right call!

[ensign14]

Mercedes made the mistake by allowing Rosberg to attack Hamilton at the end.  It meant they got a 3-4.  Had they told Rosberg to hold station, Hamilton could have got past Alonso without worrying what was happening behind him, and they would have got a 2-4.  Maybe even 2-3.

 

Plus Mercedes made the mistake by trying to call Hamilton in too soon on his second stint.  Had Hamilton not made the call to give it another couple of laps, Rosberg would have got past at the end without difficulty.