Rosberg thought he would win after Hamilton pitted

2015 British Grand Prix

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Nico Rosberg said he thought Lewis Hamilton had made a mistake by pitting for intermediate tyres late in the British Grand Prix.

Rosberg was catching his team mate quickly at that point in the race. “I felt really comfortable at that time,” he told reporters afterwards. “I was going for it and I was thinking ‘OK, I can get Lewis now as well’, and I was looking forward to the battle.”

“But then he made the right call and came in in that lap. I was pretty sure that it was the wrong decision, I was happy to stay out, I thought ‘this is going to be mine’. But then it rained more on that lap, and then it was finished, so he made the right call.”

Rosberg pitted on the next lap and went on to finish second behind Hamilton.

He had run in fourth place earlier in the race and was struggling to find a way past the two Williams drivers. However he was able to pass them both when it started to rain.

“I was happy that the rain came because otherwise it would have been very difficult to get by,” he said. “It was a pity I couldn’t close up.”

2015 British Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    42 comments on “Rosberg thought he would win after Hamilton pitted”

    1. Well done Nico. Those laps before 2nd pitstop were magnificent!

      1. Yep, so magnificent that he couldn’t reproduce them after the pitstop. LOL

        1. Not sure what you’re trying to say.

          1. What he is trying to say is clear….methinks!

            1. me three thinks the same :) they were all slowing down and at fast rate… rosberg however was in a little better condition due to running behind cars and thus keeping temps/pressure high enough to reduce his slowing pace, hamilton didnt have the luxury of hot air in front of him to keep temps warm enough in cold surface/air… it is weird in dry/hot weathers, it has the opposite effect no drivers wants, but in rain/cold it helps…

              so if you check lap time charts, you will see they were all slowing down, just the rate of slowing down was different, but after interns, i didnt see rosberg getting any closer, in fact he was slower compared to hamilton’s increasing speed!

          2. I think he means it’s possible Nico was only able to catch up with because Lewis was focused on timing the perfect moment at which to pit.

            1. Well, Vettel also chose the perfect moment to pit, but he wasn’t losing any time doing that.

            2. Dave (@davewillisporter)
              5th July 2015, 22:39

              The difference in pace was pretty obvious to me. Up front Lewis was worried about throwing a win by sliding off in the wet. He backed off and lost temps and pressure. That turned his car into an ice skate and he had to pit. Meanwhile Nico was going full bore to get past the Williams and maintained temps and pressures. The difference in pace was just different priorities and Pirelli characteristics. Could have gone either way.

            3. @davewillisporter If that were the case, it was pretty poor judgment from Hamilton. When it rains, you don’t get too slow that you lose the tyre temp. That would put you more in jeopardy.

        2. different tyres. he was great on damp.

    2. If it wasn’t for the rain Rosberg would’ve finished 4th. He should thank his lucky stars that he made the podium. The rain helped him immensely and completely ruined Williams race.

      No rain, the race finishes: 1. Hamilton, 2. Massa, 3. Bottas, 4th Rosberg.

      1. Rather than saying how lucky he got with the rain, I think the better way to put it is how beautifully he drove in those extremely difficult conditions.

      2. Still, the Wiliiams drivers were poor in the rain. Not only Rosberg, but Vettel and Kyvat were much better than them in those conditions.

        1. Another lap, and Bottas would have finished behind Kvyat. Another couple of corners really…

        2. David-A…it’s not so much the drivers being poor in the rain, as much as it is the car not being set up for it….Hamilton was suffering from the same issue, while Nico’s setup might have been a bit better suited for the wet….the way he blasted by both Williams and left them for dead after not being able to pass them pretty much the entire race in the dry suggests that, as does his pace compared to Hamilton in the same conditions. Nico’s car and slick tires was simply handling the wet weather better than the set up the other guys had…that’s not down to the driver getting better performance, that’s the chassis.

          1. Massa hasn’t ever been reknowned for his wet weather prowess (actually having a mare on this track once), yet he destroyed Bottas in those conditions, being 25 or so seconds ahead by thr flag.

      3. If it wasn’t for the rain Rosberg would’ve finished 4th. He should thank his lucky stars that he made the podium. The rain helped him immensely and completely ruined Williams race.

        If Rosberg’s first pit stop was as fast as Hamilton’s, he’d have been second long before the rain came down, and he would probably have won.

        1. Now that is clutching at straws…

        2. If Rosberg had pitted before Hamilton he could have undercut him and won the race.

    3. Rain or no rain he did pass the cars on the track to get to second.
      Wink, wink…car 44 did not manage to do that.

      1. Mainly because he’d already got the job done and was building a nice little gap long before the rain appeared.

        1. Prior to the first pitstops

    4. I think he raced very, very well today. And Mercedes made the right call every time.

      Nico was very close to jump both Williams at the first pit stop aswell. But he did very well to overtake them on track while it was raining.

    5. The rain ruined Williams race and Nico would not have been on the podium.

    6. OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
      5th July 2015, 18:10

      I think that after today’s race I have learned a couple of things:
      – Sometimes, talent (Hamilton) is more than enough to kill hard work (Rosberg).
      – Many times, experience (Mercedes winning every weekend) is more worth than a one-hit wonder (Williams nowadays).
      – Hamilton will be 3, 4, 5 times WDC (keep adding WDCs here) until the engine rules don’t change, because Rosberg is not a steady threat for him, and because no team is a steady threat for Mercedes.

      PS: Where are all the people who used to overflow F1F saying Vettel won “just because of the car”? Because now nobody comments about how Mercedes manages lots of 1-2, more 1-2s than during Red Bull “utter dominance”.

      1. @omarr-pepper Hamilton doesn’t work hard?

        1. OmarR-Pepper - Vettel 40 victories!!! (@)
          5th July 2015, 18:43

          @david-a I guess he does, but I mean, many people (me included) criticized when he skipped Austrian post-test for an “appointment with the doctor” and then he was seen with Pharrel Williams and his new girlfriend in Monaco, while Nico stayed and completed 2 race distances. So I expected the gap between their performances to be closer today, but it wasn’t like that. As always, Lewis created an 8-sec gap and won the race. That’s what I was referring to on my first point.

          1. I recall maybe a season or two ago, Lewis was having to field repeated questions about Nico allegedly “out-working” him…. & as I recall, he was really visibly annoyed by it. He said people have been saying it for quite a while but (I’m paraphrasing here) they have specific programs to go through & boxes to tick on any given race weekend & he gets the exact same amount of work done that Rosberg does… it just takes him less time to do it. Dino Chiesa (their team boss from Meeting days) has said as much as well: Lewis has always been quicker & finds the limit pretty much immediately. Nico has to work up to it, honing his skill with repetition. I remember reading him saying somewhere how when they were kids, Nico would be elated with 2nd place but Lewis would cry, & that he was always the more driven, determined one. The complaints about Hamilton’s work ethic all come from those outside looking in without any real clue. I’ve never heard any such thing from those he’s worked with in the past or currently.
            That said, LH also gets a lot of unflattering comments (this year in particular) for the ease with which he seems to be able to drive fast & win (like it’s reprehensible to have such talent). F1 in general gets bashed because apparently it’s a given that no talent Hamilton is gonna walk the championship (those complaints started during testing, & they’ve not stopped). What I’m wondering is, what would the comments be if he started to take his racing “serious”? He’d probably be blamed for single handedly ruining Formula 1. Poor Lewis… the no talent, double world champ, third most prolific qualifier in F1 history, winningest Brit of all, just can’t seem to do anything right!

            1. +1000. Very well said. All comments about Lewis “natural talent” is so silly. Natural talent still needs to work hard to achieve what it is capable of. I never spent sleepless nights studying and reading in university; yet i did as well as all those who did.

      2. I prefer Merc dominance to RBR dominance because at least Hamilton has some opposition from his teammate. Webber was Vettel’s Barrichello.

      3. How can I say this without being too disrespectful? Learn to interpret what’s happening before your eyes instead of peddling someone else’s faulty reasoning.

        For years people have been giving Hamilton the back handed complement of “naturally talented” or “gifted.” Those comments are insulting because they imply Hamilton doesn’t have to work for his success. He was just born with it!

        There are two famous sayings: “practice makes perfect” and “work smart not hard.” Which is the path to success because they are both at odds with each other.

        The testing drama became an issue when Dion Warwick chimed in. And we all know he’s had an ax to grind with Hamilton for years. Sir Jackie Stewart used to do the same, but he’s back off this year. I guess he realize how foolish he was making himself look.

        Ok, back to the race:

        The reason Hamilton won that race is because he was on attack mode from the moment the lights went out. While Rosberg was playing it safe waiting for the opportunity to land on his lap, Hamilton was pushing to make stuff happen for him. This is what earned Hamilton the moniker of a “Racer.” There is big reward for this approach but you can easily lose everything also. In that first opening laps he looked pretty messy. He nearly destroyed his tires. That’s the difference between Hamilton and Rosberg. Rosberg never puts himself in those situations unless he absolutely has to. And that is why he tends to fall behind Hamilton just a little bit. More times than not, you have to make it happen yourself, and that means taking risks that can lose you everything. Without the rain Rosberg would of finished 4th. He got lucky this time. If Williams weren’t a bunch of softies too afraid to hurt someone’s feelings they would of put Bottas a head of Massa or split the strategy on the call for inters instead of double stacking in the pits. So pathetic!

        1. Yeah, without rain ROS would have finished 4th and Lewis 3rd. What did you want to prove with this?

          1. @msc157, did you watch the race? Hamilton undercut the Williams and was leading the race before the rain fell. He managed to pass Bottas on the opening lap. Attempted to pass Massa at the restart but went off. Once up speed it was nearly impossible to pass the Williams on track. Their cars are always trimmed out for top speed. Meanwhile Rosberg sat in 4th the whole time until mid race when Williams couldn’t handle the damp conditions.

            Where are you getting Hamilton finishing 3rd???

            After the first stint, Rosberg was still 4th because Bottas fought for 3rd.

            Rain fell, Williams pace fell, something happened to Hamiltons tires and Rosberg was suddenly Hamilton’s gearbox. Hamilton pitted(brilliant or lucky call) whatever…irrelevant.

            Because if Rosberg really had the pace he would have responded after pitting for inters, instead he only feel further Behind Hamilton. He was able to whip out Hamilton’s 7 sec lead because something happened to Hamilton’s tires not true pace. What exactly happened to Hamilton’s tire? We don’t know.

            1. Think the temps dropped of – once they go below a certain point you no longer have the grip in order to work them to generate heat, and you’re trapped in low grip situation. Nico managed to keep the initial temperature of his tires up (not sure how, but I’m sure it will be discussed) which enabled him to close at such a significant rate.

          2. How do you work that one out? Lewis passed both Williams at the first pit stop, long before any rain, then proceeded to build a healthy gap. How in your scenario would Massa and Bottas get past Hamilton again?

            1. Sorry, forgot it was actually way before the rain started. Just wanted to say Lewis was no better than Nico today. He got lucky in the first pit stops to pass both Williams. Otherwise my scenario would happen.

            2. @msc157 I don’t see how that is lucky: he put in very quick in and out laps, using the known properties of the tire to undercut them. Williams could have chosen the same lap to pit – it was judgement (although mainly from the pit wall) not luck

          3. @msc157 How did you come to that conclusion?
            Before the rain Hamilton was 1st & Rosberg 4th. How did you come to the conclusion that both Massa and Bottas would magically overtake Hamilton?

            1. lol. I should’ve refreshed the page before posting!

        2. Or because they were around in 2011.

        3. +1

          I guess you too are fed up with the stuff spouted on here!

          As for the LH 3rd and NR 4th – do people really come on here and comment having obviously not watched the race?

          If so – what are you thinking of and why? I am being serious here. Why? If anyone can help me out I would really like to know.

    7. @fluxsource, I think that’s what happened. Once you lose temp on a cool track it’s almost impossible to regain. You think maybe the fact that Rosberg was pushing hard to get past the Williams the whole time while taking in the heat from the Williams cars allowed him to keep his tires up to temp???

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