Mercedes “compromised” Rosberg to help Hamilton

2015 Spanish Grand Prix lap charts

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Mercedes revealed they deliberately delayed Nico Rosberg’s final pit stop to reduce the chance of him and Lewis Hamilton crossing paths late in the race.

Spanish Grand Prix lap chart

The positions of each driver on every lap. Use the controls below to show/hide different drivers:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2015drivercolours.csv

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
Nico Rosberg 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Lewis Hamilton 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 5 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Sebastian Vettel 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3
Valtteri Bottas 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 4
Carlos Sainz Jnr 5 7 7 8 8 9 10 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 14 13 13 14 13 12 12 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 9 9 8 8 13 13 13 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 10 10 10 9
Max Verstappen 6 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 10 14 13 12 12 12 11 10 10 9 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 15 15 14 14 14 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 11 11 11 11
Kimi Raikkonen 7 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 2 1 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Daniil Kvyat 8 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 16 16 15 15 15 14 14 13 12 11 11 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 12 11 10 10 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10
Felipe Massa 9 8 8 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 7 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 5 5 5 5 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6
Daniel Ricciardo 10 10 11 11 10 10 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 13 11 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
Romain Grosjean 11 9 9 9 11 11 11 10 10 10 10 10 10 8 8 6 11 11 11 9 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 11 11 9 9 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
Pastor Maldonado 12 11 10 10 9 8 8 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 12 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 14 13 13 12 12 12 14 17 16
Fernando Alonso 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 9 8 7 7 7 7 7 7 14 14 14 14 16
Jenson Button 14 17 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 20 19 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 18 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 17 17 17 17 17 17 16 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16
Felipe Nasr 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 13 15 17 17 17 16 16 16 15 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 11 11 15 15 15 15 14 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Marcus Ericsson 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 14 13 13 11 9 8 8 10 16 15 15 15 15 15 15 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 12 10 10 9 9 8 8 10 15 15 15 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14
Nico Hulkenberg 17 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 18 20 17 16 16 16 15 15 15 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 14 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 15 14 14 13 13 13 12 12 12 12 12 12 13 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Sergio Perez 18 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 14 12 10 9 9 8 10 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 14 16 17 16 16 16 16 16 16 15 15 14 14 14 14 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13 13
Will Stevens 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 18 18 18 19 19 18 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17 17
Roberto Merhi 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 20 20 20 20 19 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 20 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 19 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18 18

Spanish Grand Prix race chart

While Rosberg led the Spanish Grand Prix as he pleased using a conventional two-stop strategy, Hamilton dropped behind the Ferrari of Sebastian Vettel at the start and had to switch to a three-stopper to get ahead.

Rosberg made his final pit stop on lap 45. Shortly before that Mercedes had asked him on the radio to stay out for an extra two laps. The reason for that is clear to see in the graph below – had Rosberg pitted on his scheduled lap, he would have rejoined the track directly in front of Hamilton, who at the time was trying to pull away from Vettel.

“As Lewis was building the gap he needed ahead of Sebastian in his third stint, we actually compromised Nico a little bit by leaving him out longer than optimum before his second stop,” explained Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff.

“This made sure the two cars didn’t trip over each other on track, while running different strategies, and gave Lewis the clear air he needed to build the gap to secure P2.”

Could Hamilton have held off Rosberg by staying out on his hard tyres and not making a third pit stop? This would have involved running 34 laps – more than half the race distance – on a single set of hard tyres. The longest any other driver covered was 28 laps, which both the Toro Rosso drivers did, and their lap times were still reasonable at the end of their stints.

Of course this would only have paid off for Hamilton had Rosberg been unable to pass him while enjoying the advantage of tyres which would have been 14 laps fresher. As DRS made overtaking quite easy between drivers on different strategies, it’s not hard to see why Hamilton might have thought that wasn’t worth a gamble.

The gaps between each driver on every lap. Use the controls below to show/hide different drivers:

https://www.racefans.net/charts/2015drivercolours.csv

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66
Nico Rosberg 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.285 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.642 2.713 2.977 2.244 1.802 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lewis Hamilton 2.384 2.837 3.424 3.7 4.284 5.254 6.01 6.964 7.989 7.921 8.043 8.406 11.853 31.471 26.764 10.592 6.619 7.102 6.892 6.958 7.453 7.592 7.785 7.467 7.634 8.096 7.363 8.215 9.102 10.264 11.235 15.327 33.415 31.019 28.835 27.434 25.851 25.208 25.361 25.218 24.626 24.416 23.036 22.295 16.779 0 0 0 0 0 1.761 20.648 19.94 18.917 18.142 17.276 16.307 15.061 13.639 13.05 12.873 13.357 14.184 14.939 16 17.551
Sebastian Vettel 1.174 1.682 2.244 2.732 3.149 4.328 4.753 5.517 6.676 7.095 7.295 7.678 7.769 11.25 24.669 9.084 5.499 5.881 6.156 6.332 6.654 6.763 6.847 6.451 6.312 6.706 6.111 7.216 8.067 8.795 9.583 10.303 10.526 10.586 11.361 12.166 12.816 13.696 15.032 20.147 38.158 38.121 37.565 37.179 32.867 18.642 20.134 21.714 22.746 23.286 22.715 24.38 27.345 29.787 32.086 34.703 37.085 38.581 40.095 40.884 41.195 42.131 42.97 44.082 45.241 45.342
Valtteri Bottas 3.446 4.208 5.161 5.991 6.996 8.446 9.619 10.846 12.213 13.005 13.682 14.545 15.225 15.718 15.897 18.763 15.23 15.123 15.743 16.356 16.598 17.071 17.383 17.147 17.135 17.64 17.036 17.731 18.709 19.267 19.687 20.462 20.827 21.128 21.615 23.056 23.692 24.829 27.493 29.213 30.936 36.08 53.496 52.208 46.97 31.207 32.343 33.355 34.035 34.223 33.034 34.127 36.321 38.138 40.261 42.845 44.909 46.812 48.614 50.479 51.799 53.641 55.421 57.162 58.474 59.217
Carlos Sainz Jnr 5.826 8.818 12.398 15.459 19.004 23.309 27.062 29.849 32.972 35.493 37.919 40.518 43.002 47.999 65.096 51.739 50.533 54.246 56.921 59.889 62.297 64.456 66.429 68.183 69.886 71.857 73.106 75.958 78.631 80.995 83.169 85.594 87.225 89.062 90.234 93.444 95.197 96.729 98.292 100.099 101.959 107.075 127.046 127.884 125.89 111.369 113.243 115.587 117.352 118.923 118.968 121.238 124.82 128.189 131.672 136.52 138.871 140.818 142.605 143.961 146.948 148.117 149.857 151.761 154.667
Max Verstappen 5.179 7.458 10.107 13.654 15.985 18.715 21.552 25.059 27.864 30.28 32.945 35.123 41.66 64.17 62.63 49.613 48.291 50.777 53.175 55.662 58.121 60.988 64.509 66.665 68.673 70.882 72.405 74.638 76.765 79.305 81.13 83.253 85.19 86.845 88.301 90.532 96.269 116.179 118.566 120.2 121.831 124.055 125.266 125.936 122.205 107.382 109.695 111.906 113.38 116.373 116.949 119.876 123.736 126.799 129.601 131.987 134.663 137.1 139.331 141.329 146.714 150.021 152.105 154.457 157.246
Kimi Raikkonen 4.292 5.732 6.935 8.127 9.303 10.913 12.257 13.571 14.922 15.599 16.149 16.752 17.529 18.003 14.767 0 1.047 20.676 21.727 23.144 24.247 25.23 26.103 26.317 26.944 27.779 27.786 28.92 29.956 30.492 31.077 32.006 33.098 34.111 35.004 35.867 36.253 37.096 38.714 40.59 45.449 62.532 61.649 59.992 54.368 39.647 39.554 39.828 39.84 39.765 38.863 39.094 40.518 41.627 42.968 44.292 45.779 47.393 49.297 51.127 52.448 54.268 56.08 57.912 59.233 60.002
Daniil Kvyat 8.673 12.741 16.26 19.496 22.87 26.66 29.815 32.715 36.251 39.293 45.325 65.838 66.662 67.437 66.193 52.708 51.039 52.694 54.707 56.479 58.84 61.581 62.814 64.179 65.739 67.461 68.42 70.48 73.031 74.968 76.647 78.901 80.761 82.391 83.794 85.658 87.361 92.997 113.99 114.278 116.576 117.467 120.043 120.575 117.009 102.78 105.443 108.016 109.468 110.537 112.49 114.9 117.988 122.745 125.731 128.53 131.732 134.447 137 139.317 141.593 144.661 149.227 151.349 156.152
Felipe Massa 6.305 9.264 10.814 12.05 13.699 15.037 16.55 17.888 19.576 20.578 21.46 22.462 23.25 27.487 42.521 26.903 23.486 24.13 24.672 25.63 26.624 27.567 28.265 28.501 29.141 29.861 29.767 30.807 32.461 33.447 34.288 38.86 57.173 55.976 55.108 54.911 54.162 54.183 54.851 55.175 55.379 56.186 56.886 56.691 53.523 39.382 46.39 66.036 65.881 65.509 63.607 64.217 65.848 67.23 68.635 70.428 71.74 72.586 73.141 73.628 74.236 76.067 77.773 79.56 80.352 81.314
Daniel Ricciardo 7.37 10.977 14.299 16.993 19.625 21.934 24.08 26.377 29.096 30.908 33.939 35.802 40.343 59.659 57.258 42.693 40.636 42.154 44.736 46.25 48.066 49.609 50.77 51.588 52.756 54.419 55.121 57.103 59.116 60.666 61.943 63.399 64.437 65.341 66.148 67.666 68.771 70.467 72.259 74.254 75.862 80.987 102.975 102.929 99.196 84.658 86.58 88.828 92.325 95.053 94.882 96.491 98.784 100.725 102.501 104.043 108.28 109.622 111.095 112.18 113.328 115.059 116.688 118.056 119.297
Romain Grosjean 6.782 9.693 12.935 17.723 20.534 23.767 25.899 28.187 30.861 32.565 35.349 37.709 39.668 40.871 42.374 47.256 44.646 46.035 47.658 50.016 51.538 53.125 54.257 55.182 56.613 58.543 59.531 61.399 63.494 65.308 66.952 68.849 70.227 71.175 72.276 74.102 75.444 77.168 79.334 85.199 117.253 118.101 118.349 118.434 115.7 100.926 102.971 105.364 107.531 109.132 110.528 113.351 116.756 120.01 123.196 127.797 130.813 133.352 135.889 138.252 140.264 142.987 144.883 146.606 148.956
Pastor Maldonado 7.741 10.341 13.623 15.942 17.454 19.506 22.224 23.786 26.1 27.776 29.185 30.765 32.333 37.856 60.153 77.281 75.062 76.505 78.384 80.087 82.311 84.33 86.15 87.689 90.104 93.892 94.806 96.792 99.007 104.077 105.656 107.148 108.042 109.131 109.914 111.352 112.372 113.953 115.845 118.71 120.702 122.877 128.314 149.187 152.978
Fernando Alonso 8.366 12.063 15.559 18.669 21.727 25.289 28.493 31.434 34.559 37.217 39.902 42.588 44.964 47.135 46.082 33.16 32.26 35.05 37.82 40.67 47.049 69.165 70.99 73.167 75.528 82.754
Jenson Button 10.536 15.607 19.862 23.233 26.852 30.824 34.557 38.033 41.573 44.444 50.567 73.489 76.382 78.587 78.156 65.491 65.391 68.439 71.817 75.115 78.532 81.682 84.289 86.854 89.538 94.962 100.636 121.969 123.048 123.868 124.783 127.308 128.113 129.337 129.929 130.946 131.796 133.378 134.797 136.615 138.081 139.686 140.685 144.969 161.508 145.951 147.279 148.801 149.606 150.379 149.532 151.074 153.347 155.746 158.554 162.478 164.659 166.788 168.689 170.256 171.837 173.996 175.747 177.952 180.386
Felipe Nasr 9.207 13.38 17.08 20.251 23.635 27.612 30.928 33.798 37.241 40.414 43.447 49.55 69.999 70.901 68.848 54.898 53.654 55.933 58.464 61.223 63.515 65.843 68.142 70.047 71.877 74.139 75.278 77.827 80.184 82.814 85.146 87.895 90.093 93.645 95.501 97.617 99.688 102.331 108.775 130.621 130.937 132.027 132.582 132.811 129.263 114.991 117.397 120.387 123.038 124.143 125.951 128.982 133.662 137.268 140.673 143.856 147.561 150.289 153.175 155.609 157.751 160.379 163.258 166.377 169.406
Marcus Ericsson 9.581 13.882 17.688 20.84 24.325 28.246 31.514 34.684 38.012 41.174 44.094 46.959 48.889 51.009 50.123 37.175 36.589 43.57 66.166 67.035 68.568 70.59 72.45 74.351 76.586 79.601 80.049 82.179 84.356 86.542 88.9 90.764 94.205 95.652 96.959 99.117 101.005 103.11 105.616 107.334 109.034 110.957 112.523 115.858 119.025 124.812 127.076 129.628 132.88 134.362 134.583 136.732 140.138 143.736 146.932 149.876 153.021 155.811 158.615 161.578 164.298 167.444 172.071 175.262 178.987
Nico Hulkenberg 10.879 15.026 19.037 22.307 25.554 29.491 32.932 36.432 39.662 45.588 67.222 68.492 69.535 70.261 68.189 54.185 52.736 55.269 57.69 61.993 64.867 67.165 69.486 71.844 74.442 80.646 100.727 101.991 103.546 104.783 106.271 107.933 108.923 109.842 110.696 112.565 113.564 115.131 117.968 119.375 121.4 123.626 126.154 127.535 124.859 112.769 116.264 119.641 125.917 145.145 143.757 145.056 147.442 150.21 152.428 154.524 156.544 157.985 159.837 162.196 165.144 169.143 172.53 175.825 179.588
Sergio Perez 10.108 14.439 18.301 21.444 24.905 28.819 32.174 35.44 38.906 41.858 44.768 47.645 49.895 52.059 50.809 37.963 37.685 41.27 47.772 68.251 70.101 72.139 74.146 75.855 78.373 81.131 82.719 85.745 88.258 91.198 95.222 98.29 100.612 104.837 107.13 112.642 132.181 132.233 133.006 134.37 134.809 135.826 136.271 136.725 133.345 119.428 122.223 126.694 128.691 131.996 132.433 134.915 138.423 141.807 145.109 148.71 152.023 154.933 158.027 160.922 163.62 166.927 171.123 174.578 178.334
Will Stevens 12.349 18.053 23.769 28.934 34.287 39.627 44.756 50.163 55.629 60.543 65.441 71.126 76.084 81.194 82.922 76.219 101.146 105.194 110.452 114.965 121.494 126.328 131.037 134.951 139.399 143.993 147.465 154.423 160.037 164.958 169.789 179.626 205.373 210.426 214.07 217.907 221.574 227.593 231.663 235.626 241.398 247.273 250.856 254.218 254.583 243.259 253.317 278.387 281.247 283.976 285.688 290.754 296.589 301.649 306.717 315.282 324.019 328.914 333.581 338.091 342.471 348.646 354.229
Roberto Merhi 11.942 17.315 23.026 28.352 33.415 38.629 43.954 49.36 54.815 60.071 67.167 73.345 79.614 85.061 87.668 78.909 84.848 110.858 116.032 122.1 127.818 132.888 137.565 142.048 147.686 153.882 158.238 165.517 173.556 183.971 209.907 214.87 221.565 227.511 232.063 237.323 243.489 248.286 253.411 258.367 264.141 269.705 274.203 278.774 279.382 272.021 279.933 287.539 297.406 322.98 324.915 331.144 338.547 345.117 350.962 356.547 362.858 367.757 373.002 378.937 383.748 388.503

2015 Spanish Grand Prix

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41 comments on “Mercedes “compromised” Rosberg to help Hamilton”

  1. Profile Photo

    Trenthamfolk (@)
    10th May 2015, 18:04

    Seems completely immaterial to me. The team was set for a 1:2 and given Rosberg’s penchant for crashing to Hamilton this will have been the most sensible tactic, surely…

    1. Profile Photo

      Nick (@nick101)
      10th May 2015, 22:52

      Yes, cause Rosberg has crashed into Hamilton how many times? Oh, that’s right, once.

      1. grat
        11th May 2015, 2:16

        Yes, but since Hamilton hasn’t crashed into Rosberg, that means 100% of the crashes between Hamilton and Rosberg have been Rosberg’s fault. :)

        1. Profile Photo

          Robbie (@robbie)
          11th May 2015, 15:40

          And how about we get back into reality land in which NR never intentionally hit LH…just intentionally was stubborn and was not going to give an inch due to things that had happened leading up to that race…him just stubbornly trying to show he was no pushover…you know…the type of behavior that often gleans WDC’s applause for their take-no-prisoners type attitude. It didn’t quite go like it should have, but to say that Nico has a penchant for this is utterly ridiculous.

  2. Edgar
    10th May 2015, 18:11

    Mercedes is so much faster on the hard tyres that they didn’t even need to do that. Following Rosberg would be enough for Hamilton to build a gap big enough.

    Of course Rosberg, being this guy who isn’t ashamed of saying that he enjoys when his teammate have bad luck, could suddenly get slower and deliberately held Hamilton…..but Mercedes was thinking ahead of this. Good thinking by the team today.

    1. James Coulee
      10th May 2015, 20:19

      That’s an ugly hypothetical accusation, considering it was Hamilton who recently -and deliberately- did that to Rosberg and not the other way around.

      1. Edgar
        10th May 2015, 22:28

        Exactly. Payback is a bitch.

    2. Profile Photo

      Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      10th May 2015, 22:41

      That’s a childish comment perhaps better served on planet f1.

      1. Edgar
        10th May 2015, 22:56

        Mine or his?

        1. gogo
          11th May 2015, 8:37

          Of course yours

          1. Edgar
            12th May 2015, 19:03

            You don’t know nothing.

  3. Profile Photo

    Nin13 (@nin13)
    10th May 2015, 18:15

    Good call. Hope Ferrari does not become an issue if they are not quick enough. We could have seen a good Hamilton Rosberg battle. Not in Monaco but Montreal maybe.

    1. Profile Photo

      scuderia_fan85 (@scuderia_fan85)
      10th May 2015, 20:41

      We will see a good Lewis-Nico-Sebastian-Kimi battle in Monaco and Montreal.

  4. Profile Photo

    Kingshark (@kingshark)
    10th May 2015, 18:15

    This was Rosberg’s most convincing victory over Hamilton since those races in late 2013 (Monza, Singapore, India & Abu Dhabi)

    He beat Lewis a few times in 2014 (Monaco, Austria, Brazil) but they were not convincing like this one was.

    1. Profile Photo

      lightsout (@lightsout)
      10th May 2015, 18:27

      Don’t really agree, as we never saw the two drivers compete. Hamilton spent half the race behind Vettel, so Rosberg was just able to cover him easily at that point.

      1. n
        10th May 2015, 18:41

        +1

        Plus, same old story of botched pit stops for Lewis which hampered his race. But for that first pit stop error, Hamilton would have came out infront of Vettel and wouldn’t have been forced onto a 3 stopper. Maybe then we’d have seen an actual race between the 2 Mercs, on the same strategy.

    2. vin
      10th May 2015, 18:32

      @kingshark
      I don’t think you remember Monza and Abu Dhabi clearly. In Monza he missed in qualification due to impeding by Sutil so, obviously he was on backfoot. In Abu Dhabi, he was racing with cracked chassis.

    3. Edgar
      10th May 2015, 18:42

      Brazil’s win was way more convincing.
      Not taking anything from Rosberg. It’s not his fault Hamilton’s start was so bad.

      1. Profile Photo

        Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
        10th May 2015, 20:15

        None of his wins were as convincing as this one, really. Appart from Monaco 2013, all the races he won last year were either a consequence of mechanical problems or Lewis’ mistakes (as in Brazil).

        That we never saw the drivers compete doesn’t mean Rosberg was faster than Lewis all weekend, @lightsout

        1. Profile Photo

          Scepter (@scepter)
          10th May 2015, 22:57

          Im not convinced until he passes him for position on track.

    4. Profile Photo

      Ed Marques (@edmarques)
      10th May 2015, 22:20

      Don’t agree, Lewis made a bad start and never had a chance of doing something against Rosberg. When he was in free air he was really quick, so it might have been a great battle between the two. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case.

      1. Edgar
        10th May 2015, 23:04

        Exactly. Hamilton lost more than half of the race behind Vettel. What could he do after he finally got through?

        Starting from pole, after last year, means nothing to say he was faster for the race.

        1. gogo
          11th May 2015, 8:40

          Yeah, the point is he spent the half of race behind Vettel, unlike Rosberg who had a good start. Even in Spain if you cannot overtake a car 1 sec slower, what can you expect?

          1. Edgar
            12th May 2015, 19:06

            To leapfrog the other car just like he did to Vettel, of course.

            Looks like you didn’t watch the Chinese GP where Hamilton had an enourmous pace advantage at the end of the stints. Like Rosberg himself did sometimes last year.

            Think Mcfly, think!

          2. gogo
            14th May 2015, 1:45

            The problem for Hamilton is the fact that he was racing a car much slower than himself. If he wanted to win, he was racing the wrong guy whole weekend.

    5. build
      11th May 2015, 8:10

      This is all about the contract negotiations ! The team made a mistake with the bite point to stuff up Lewis start then added a fumbled stop to ensure they got the result required to gain an advantage in the negotiations. If you don’t believe me wait until Monaco if the contract isn’t signed they’ll do it again ;-)
      [removes tongue from cheek]

      1. Profile Photo

        sonia luff (@sonia54)
        13th May 2015, 17:19

        If you watched the race on Sky Martin Brundle stated that Hammy reported to his engineers that he was happy with his start set up. If you didn’t watch it i suggest you do before making an excuse as to why the boywonder fluffed his start.

  5. Profile Photo

    Hairs (@hairs)
    10th May 2015, 18:37

    I wonder if that comment from the team was a direct response to Hamilton’s reprehensible comment after the race to the BBC “The team made it very difficult for me today.”

    Foot in mouth disease strikes again?

    1. n
      10th May 2015, 18:43

      No, Hamiltons refereing to pit stop errors, the team is refereing to the late stop after Hamilton was already on a 3 stopper because of said errors.

    2. Newbee
      10th May 2015, 20:54

      He might have been referring to the not so stellar pit stops. I don’t see how that is reprehensible.

    3. Profile Photo

      Ed Marques (@edmarques)
      10th May 2015, 22:23

      He is part right. First of all, he made a bad start that compromised his race. But, and on that he is right, the team made even more difficult for him with the horrible first stop when they tried the undercut.
      If the undercut worked, he would have a chance of catching Rosberg.

      1. Profile Photo

        Nick (@nick101)
        10th May 2015, 22:55

        Let’s get one thing very straight – Hamilton made it very difficult for himself today. HIS bad start was the issue.

        1. build
          11th May 2015, 8:21

          Nico dies and goes to heaven. God says “Nico, you are a great driver come sit here on my left.
          Fernando dies and god says “Fernando, you are one of my greatest creations come sit on my right. Nico looks daggers at Fred, Fred smiles smugly.
          Then Lewis dies and saunters through the pearly gates and god jumps up saying “Sorry I’ve got your seat”.

          1. Chris Phillips
            11th May 2015, 21:14

            +1

  6. sumedh
    10th May 2015, 20:15

    Turn off all drivers and compare Jenson and Sebastian. Jenson’s first two stints (till lap 30) are horrible. But after that, he is almost as fast as Sebastian. Both lost about 40 seconds to Rosberg after lap 30 itself.
    May be, the Mclaren isn’t as bad..

    1. rm
      10th May 2015, 20:54

      That’s not a useful comparison, as they were on completely different strategies. Vettel was on a two-stopper with the last stint on the hard tyre, while Button was on a three stopper with the last stint on the mediums. Being ‘almost as fast’ in that scenario is not encouraging for McLaren.

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      Key (@key75)
      10th May 2015, 23:47

      Ferrari can’t really work the hard orange tires in normal track conditions!
      Mediums it’s fine, softs even better, but that hard ones it just take ages to light them up!

      If you would look at Vettel’s last stint, he sets his best time almost in the middle of the stint, so it took almost 10 laps to get them warm enough! It’s really one of the worst things about Ferrari’s car this year.

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      evered7 (@evered7)
      11th May 2015, 6:23

      I think it is pointless to discuss McLaren and Ferrari in the same sentence these days. McLaren should manage to finish in the same lap first before thinking of the gap to the red cars or the leaders.

  7. erix
    11th May 2015, 3:38

    This is what I called “team order without hesitation”, have they recruited another Ross Brawn?

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    Robbie (@robbie)
    11th May 2015, 16:02

    So Merc learned a lesson and chose to avoid the scenario that had Nico complaining a few races back that LH’s pace was sending him backwards into SV’s sights. Too bad that is a reality this year. A person ahead can truly dictate the pace. Pole has rarely been more important at tracks other than Monaco.

  9. Tony Swales
    12th May 2015, 7:53

    If Hamilton did not get the botched pitstop he probably would have got ahead of Vettel. Is it likely that he would have one with that 3 stop strategy?

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