Hamilton Vs Rosberg 2014

[johnsonwax]

The Mercs are so far away from the field. One second in Barcelona may only be half a second in Monaco, but this is easily enough for a 1-2.

Monaco is the place where hero laps can happen in quali. Merc is going to want to keep their cars off the walls. Ferrari and RB may be less concerned about that. And whoever lands on pole, even if they're half a second off the pace, is going to stay out front provided they can pit late because it's practically impossible to pass there without ripping off an end plate or worse.

[basti313]

The Mercs are so far away from the field. One second in Barcelona may only be half a second in Monaco, but this is easily enough for a 1-2.

Monaco is the place where hero laps can happen in quali. Merc is going to want to keep their cars off the walls. Ferrari and RB may be less concerned about that. And whoever lands on pole, even if they're half a second off the pace, is going to stay out front provided they can pit late because it's practically impossible to pass there without ripping off an end plate or worse.

Well, this thread is about not keeping the cars off the walls, but Hamilton vs. Rosberg. So I do not think we will see safe laps from these two.

Concerning the pace of the car: I think we will see Merc even more in front. They have the best drivability and they have the best interconnected suspension. These things are crucial round Monaco. And Merc was very good in Monaco for the last years. They really know how to set up their suspension there.

Concerning overtaking: The Merc had a incredible traction last year. This was why it was not possible to overtake Rosberg. In the back field we saw a lot of overtaking. Even if the Mercs should have a bad Q they will be able to take nearly everyone at the chicane or at Ste devote just because of traction and power.
In fact it would be the setup to a very nice Monaco GP (even better than last year) if one of the Mercs has a very bad Q. Well, ok...this would make every race better this season...

[avl0]

I think it's telling that even on tracks where rosberg is very strong (bahrain) or on days where hamilton doesnt get the right setup (barca) that hamilton has still won.

It's natural for performances between two drivers to ebb and flow but rosberg needs to capitalise on places he might have an advantage (monaco could be one, he has always seemed super quick there) because when it rolls around to canada, hungary, silverstone, austin etc hamilton is going to be extremely hard to beat.

[Shakeman]

Praise indeed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 52373.html

“Lewis is unbeatable. It’s very simple to say. Because he’s getting better and better every race, he makes no bloody mistake whatsoever.

“Nico tried every trick today to get him. He was pushing like crazy to save the tyres in the middle section of the race to be ready for the attack at the end. He did a very clever way of driving and he would have got him, but not when the race was finished.”

Lauda, the battle-scarred veteran of three world championship and one of the greatest comebacks in the history of any sport, has seen the likes of Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher race, but added: “You cannot compare past drivers, but I would not know anybody today who could beat Lewis, in the same car. Nobody can beat him, because he’s unbelievable.”

[PlatinumZealot]

The Mercs are so far away from the field. One second in Barcelona may only be half a second in Monaco, but this is easily enough for a 1-2.

Monaco is the place where hero laps can happen in quali. Merc is going to want to keep their cars off the walls. Ferrari and RB may be less concerned about that. And whoever lands on pole, even if they're half a second off the pace, is going to stay out front provided they can pit late because it's practically impossible to pass there without ripping off an end plate or worse.

Well, this thread is about not keeping the cars off the walls, but Hamilton vs. Rosberg. So I do not think we will see safe laps from these two.

Concerning the pace of the car: I think we will see Merc even more in front. They have the best drivability and they have the best interconnected suspension. These things are crucial round Monaco. And Merc was very good in Monaco for the last years. They really know how to set up their suspension there.

Concerning overtaking: The Merc had a incredible traction last year. This was why it was not possible to overtake Rosberg. In the back field we saw a lot of overtaking. Even if the Mercs should have a bad Q they will be able to take nearly everyone at the chicane or at Ste devote just because of traction and power.
In fact it would be the setup to a very nice Monaco GP (even better than last year) if one of the Mercs has a very bad Q. Well, ok...this would make every race better this season...

Strongly disagree with that. IMO it's RedBull>Maclaren>Lotus>Merc>Ferrari>Williams>Force India>TR>Sauber>Marussia

The Merc Suspension has been Notoriously inconsistent from 2010 come right up to now.

[PlatinumZealot]

Skipping back a few pages to Barcelona. I dare say Rosberg had the faster strategy. Just imagine a race where Rosberg was running in clean air, he would have finished at least ten seconds up the Road from Hamilton. It was just glaringly obvious that the hard tyres were the ones to have in the middle stint.

[NathanOlder]

I agree, and that was the reasoning behind me saying Red Bull are not closing the gap to Merc. People bang on about how Ric was held up by Bottas, forgetting thst Nico was held up by Lewis.

[Pierce89]

Monaco is the place where hero laps can happen in quali. Merc is going to want to keep their cars off the walls. Ferrari and RB may be less concerned about that. And whoever lands on pole, even if they're half a second off the pace, is going to stay out front provided they can pit late because it's practically impossible to pass there without ripping off an end plate or worse.

Well, this thread is about not keeping the cars off the walls, but Hamilton vs. Rosberg. So I do not think we will see safe laps from these two.

Concerning the pace of the car: I think we will see Merc even more in front. They have the best drivability and they have the best interconnected suspension. These things are crucial round Monaco. And Merc was very good in Monaco for the last years. They really know how to set up their suspension there.

Concerning overtaking: The Merc had a incredible traction last year. This was why it was not possible to overtake Rosberg. In the back field we saw a lot of overtaking. Even if the Mercs should have a bad Q they will be able to take nearly everyone at the chicane or at Ste devote just because of traction and power.
In fact it would be the setup to a very nice Monaco GP (even better than last year) if one of the Mercs has a very bad Q. Well, ok...this would make every race better this season...

Strongly disagree with that. IMO it's RedBull>Maclaren>Lotus>Merc>Ferrari>Williams>Force India>TR>Sauber>Marussia

The Merc Suspension has been Notoriously inconsistent from 2010 come right up to now.

Other than putting Red Bull on top, do you have any reasoning for this order?

[Pierce89]

Praise indeed.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/moto ... 52373.html

“Lewis is unbeatable. It’s very simple to say. Because he’s getting better and better every race, he makes no bloody mistake whatsoever.

“Nico tried every trick today to get him. He was pushing like crazy to save the tyres in the middle section of the race to be ready for the attack at the end. He did a very clever way of driving and he would have got him, but not when the race was finished.”

Lauda, the battle-scarred veteran of three world championship and one of the greatest comebacks in the history of any sport, has seen the likes of Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher race, but added: “You cannot compare past drivers, but I would not know anybody today who could beat Lewis, in the same car. Nobody can beat him, because he’s unbelievable.”

Of course he would say that about his lead driver. How can he even believe it when Nico has been clearly quicker a couple times lately. "Unbeatable" is fairly ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, over a lap,he's the best, but, in a race, Alonso is easily his equal if not better. Then, of course, he has to make it clear, he won't compare Lewis to any driver he raced against because he has "back in my days" syndrome.

[Pierce89]

Nico didn't get the win he needed, but it was a wash for the drivers. Only the engineers will know who was compromised more.

Monaco is the one race this year that is totally up for grabs. There's no assurance that Merc will take pole or even hit the front row. I don't think it's even worth trying to guess. And if it rains...

Really? Mercedes have one second in hand and it's not only the engine, the whole package is brilliant. And engine power isn't only useful on the straights.

To clever by half, huh? Red Bull is indeed MUCH closer in Monaco. I think Monaco has,.so far, proven Red Bull does indeed have the slightly better chassis. Besides, why do people get upset at the implication that Red Bull has a slightly better chassis than Merc. Quick is quick whether its horsepower,down force, or mechanical grip. So what if Merc's advantage comes from Brixworth more than Brackley its still Merc.

[beelsebob]

To clever by half, huh? Red Bull is indeed MUCH closer in Monaco.

Careful. At all bar 1 race this season RedBull have been within 0.2 seconds of Merc in P1.

[Richard]

As far as I am aware neither Rosberg of Hamilton drive for Red Bull.

[johnsonwax]

On the driver praise. There was a mention on NBC that Alonzo was upset by the Mercedes guys praising him, because he isn't getting praised by his own team, which of course caused the Ferrari guys to praise him (totally spontaneously, of course).

There's been scant praise of Nico from anyone, even leading the drivers championship through the first 4 races of the season. Nico is too polite to say so, but I suspect he's a bit unhappy about that.

If I didn't know better, I'd suspect Mercedes of trying to engineer a new teammate for Lewis.

[Just_a_fan]

Well, Nico has signed with Mercedes for the next 2 years so that engineering a new team mate thing is wrong.

Nico might have been leading the championship until the last race but he knows that his team mate effectively started the season a race later than everyone else. He knows that had Hamilton finished second to him in Australia then his lead would still have been gone after the third race. Rosberg has, so far, only won the race that Hamilton didn't take part in. That has got to play on the mind a little - even racing drivers, who are not known for introspection, must have moments when they think "how do I beat this guy".

Nico's a clever man - he'll know that the answer to that question is simple: do a better job over the course of each weekend. Easy to say, difficult to do.

[NathanOlder]

Nico has just signed a new 2 year deal at Merc. So that puts that that one to bed immediately.
http://www.espn.co.uk/mercedes/motorspo ... MP=OTC-RSS