Nico Rosberg said he had to run off the circuit to avoid colliding with his team mate at the start of the Japanese Grand Prix.
Rosberg, who started from pole position, lost his advantage to Lewis Hamilton at the start when he went wide.
“It was very close throughout the corner,” said Rosberg. “On the exit I had to go off the track to avoid a collision, which cost me speed and pushed me back to fourth place.”
Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff said the close moment between his two drivers was a worrying moment. “That was pretty stressful to watch as they drifted out towards the edge of the track, with Nico forced to run up on the kerb,” he said, “and Lewis complained about some understeer in turn two straight after that.”
Rosberg said he was “fighting for P2 today rather than the win” after losing the initiative at the start.
“I was able to push then and overtake Valtteri [Bottas], which was great. The team did also a great job with the undercut of Sebastian [Vettel], this worked out perfectly with a really hard out-lap on the new tyres.”
“So second place is damage limitation for me, as I had to win here in Japan to close the gap to Lewis.”
magon4 (@magon4)
27th September 2015, 10:50
It was racing, yes.
But Lewis didn’t really leave Nico enough space, in my opinion. I guess that’s how you do it sometimes (classic Senna move).
Medman
27th September 2015, 13:48
Lewis got the better start, Lewis had the preferred line into the corner, and Lewis was more aggressive because of those two things. Nico didn’t get as good of a start off the line and suffered for it as a result. Lewis is never going to “leave Nico space” when he’s got an advantage….not after Spa last year when Nico reportedly admitted to Lewis he chopped his left rear tire on purpose, leading to a flat for Lewis. Lewis has had blood in his eyes for Nico ever since that race, and the qualifying and race results show that. Nico angered Lewis to no end with that maneuver, and he really hasn’t been able to respond to Lewis upping his game since.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
27th September 2015, 14:29
@magon4 sadly, this is more Rosberg complaining about not being up to the task than the actual move. It was tight but fair.
But you can imagine the furstration of watching your race go away seconds after the start. He could’ve left the car there, he’s fighting for a championship after all. He didn’t hesitate in Spa last year and it was a less tighter move.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
27th September 2015, 11:00
Of course he did. Imagine if it would turn out – from his onboard, which I eagerly hope to see courtesy of that excellent 30-minute Canal+ footage regularly released – that he did not put enough steering lock on and drove Nico off the track… Either he did or did not, he did well to try and clear the situation up before it escalates into an investigation at Charlie & Co.
Not that getting into an understeery situation relieves him of any responsibility – if Nico had kept his line and they had touched, it would have been entirely Lewis’ fault. (Preempitively reacting to potential arguments: it would have been different from Spa last year, because this time Nico would have had nowhere else to go, just like Ricciardo in Budapest, when Nico squeezed him.)
Chris (@tophercheese21)
27th September 2015, 11:44
I’ve seen the footage and he did have understeer, as did almost all drivers as it was the start of the race with relatively cold tyres.
It was a hard but fair racing maneuver. If Rosberg had been in Hamilton’s situation I’m sure he’d have done the same.
Medman
27th September 2015, 13:50
Sorry guy….the driver with the preferred racing line has the corner, and in this instance that was Hamilton. Nico should have gotten a better start and gotten to the corner first…..he didn’t. He paid the price.
Fudge Ahmed (@)
27th September 2015, 22:08
Lol @ Atticus.
JayR (@deidunxf1)
27th September 2015, 11:03
I don’t get the complaint though. Lewis was fractionally ahead and on the racing line. Naturally, isn’t the driver who is behind and outside given the decision to back out or brave it out for contact?
Let’s think of it this way, if Nico led the championship today and the exact same scenario played out, wouldn’t he stick it out and in case they touched it would help him more than it would help Lewis.
I just saw this as Lewis knowing he has the upper hand on track and the standings and forcing Nico into a decision. Same as last year in US when he said himself that he could have accelerated faster after his pass on Nico but decided to let the car roll on to compromise Nico’s exit.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
27th September 2015, 11:19
Good point.
John M
27th September 2015, 12:14
The anti-Lewis brigade conveniently leave out the fact that he had the right to the racing line. The onus was on the driver behind to avoid the collision which was Rosberg. I didn’t even think it was a controversial move, that kind of racing was fairly routine a few years ago.
Medman
27th September 2015, 13:52
Why bother with this lot? These are the same folks that thought “multi 21” by Vettel was fair play, and Senna-esque. If it had been Lewis disobeying a team directive to the detriment of his teammate, they would have been spitting blood. Typical.
David-A (@david-a)
28th September 2015, 20:36
Typical what? Hamiton did nothing wrong here. Vettel didn’t do anything wrong in Malaysia. Red Bull were in the wrong, giving team orders in the first place.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th September 2015, 11:06
Yeah that happens. Just like when Nico squeezed Hamilton into Vettel after the start in Hungary and Hamilton had to avoid a collision and lost many places.
Bolide (@mim5)
27th September 2015, 14:45
in Hungary, Vettel squeezed Hamilton into Rosberg. Today on the grid Rosberg thought he was Hamilton pointing his car towards Lewis and at the start he thought he was Vettel when he tried to squeeze Hamilton, eventually he drove like himself and wilted when Hamilton squeezed him. quite weak if you ask me.
If it was Vettel, he would have squeezed Hamilton into submission by turn 1. If it was Ricciardo he would have left everything on the track at turn 2.
Matthew Coyne
27th September 2015, 11:07
It was firm but fair, we see moves like that all the time in F1 and noone bats an eyelid, the only difference this time is it was between the two Mercedes and was the decisive moment in the race, this obviously brings out the emotions of the Rosberg and Hamilton camps on here and results in various biased comments one way or the other.
In my opinion anyone who says that if contact had been made it would be fully Lewis to blame is also incorrect, he had the inside racing line after all and was alongside Rosberg anyway – If contact had been made it would have been simply a racing incident as they would both have been in the wrong in some way.
jale
27th September 2015, 11:08
I will never understand how Vettel managed to stay 2 seconds ahead of him and after the undercut 2 seconds behind him for half the race. And at one point he was almost within DRS range of Rosberg. You would think Rosberg driving a Mercedes would be a lot faster.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
27th September 2015, 11:24
Traffic.
Matthew Coyne
27th September 2015, 11:31
Traffic doesn’t equate to the 18 seconds he finished behind Lewis – After the pitstops it was only 9 seconds.
mystic one (@mysticus)
28th September 2015, 0:32
Traffice can equate to 2-3 sec a lap in right circumstances like packed train rides… which it was, it was same for lewis, he lost a few times 2-3 sec while trying to get by the group of packs… he was like mid 10 secs ahead in one lap and next he was late 8secs… do the math, but it hurt nico/vettel pretty much same although if vettel was quick enough he could have/gain advantage…
JayR (@deidunxf1)
27th September 2015, 11:57
Rosberg still hasn’t mastered the art of lapping. Look back to the Monaco GP after the first pit stops Lewis was 8s ahead the road but when he came in for that fateful pit stop, Lewis was over 20s ahead. Same as today, after second pit stops Lewis was 9s ahead but by the end had stretched that to 19s. It’s one area Nico needs to improve.
harry
27th September 2015, 12:32
It wasn’t just traffic. He lacked pace. As usual.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
27th September 2015, 14:50
It’s his daughter. Each child makes a driver slower by half a second (or whatever the old bike racer’s saying is). But you’d think it would affect Vettel as well.
Damon
27th September 2015, 11:10
I guess Nico forgot Canada last season….
Ed
27th September 2015, 16:17
Exactly!
And Hamilton lost position to Vettel on that occasion for taking avoiding action too.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
27th September 2015, 11:18
Rosberg doesn’t have it. Simple as. You are behind your team mate on the championship by a lot. You are side by side at the start of the race. You simply DO NOT yield. Thats a psychological loss right there and one he won’t recover. You stand your ground and if there is contact then there is contact. But you DO NOT yield.
Rosberg is going down the same road as Webber did at RB with Vettel… he just doesn’t have it.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
27th September 2015, 11:19
Very good point.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
27th September 2015, 11:27
pmccarthy_is_a_legend
Do you have a better solution? Crash and let Vettel win? Rosberg would have one less race to make up his >40 point deficit, and Vettel jumping him would make Mercedes put all their eggs in Hamilton’s basket. Is that a better solution?
Complete nonsense. Rosberg has lost plenty of duels with Hamilton on-track since the start of 2014 and he was supposed to “never recover” from any of them.
Matthew Coyne
27th September 2015, 11:36
Rosberg hasn’t recovered from any of them though? He has looked a beaten man since Australia he can’t even convince himself that he can beat Lewis nevermind convince anyone else he can.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
27th September 2015, 11:52
You don’t seem to have understood my first comment buddy. Let me spell it out for you buddy. Here is what you do:
You. hold. your. ground.
Thats what you do. I am not saying crash on to Lewis. I am saying you simply do not yield. They were side by side, it is a 50/50 situation. Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, it is Lewis turn to back down? Maybe Lewis would have backed down. Who has got more to lose?
Oh ok. So in 2014 Lewis won 11 races to Rosberg’s 4 and wins the WDC. In 2015 Lewis has won 8 to Rosberg’s 3 wins not to mention the 11-2 thrashing in qualifying this year. And bar an absolute disaster Lewis is walking with this year’s WDC. Again. How is that recovering???? In your own words, Rosberg has lost ‘plenty of duels’ with Lewis this year, and judging by today’s evidence this is a trend that will probably continue.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th September 2015, 12:46
Rosberg tried that in Spa 2014. His “plums” are probably still sore from the backlash on that one.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
27th September 2015, 14:16
That was different – Nico also had room to spare there and was off the line. There he simply decided to drive through Lewis. Mind you, Lewis also took a path which would have eventually led to Nico squeezed, so for Nico, if he had more sense, the correct path would have been to linger on the outside and only turn into Lewis when he ran out of room on the outside. That way, he would have gained the upper hand driving standard-wise.
Medman
27th September 2015, 13:57
Rosberg has got more to lose. Mercedes didn’t give Lewis a 150 million dollar extension because they think he’s the second best driver in the team…….
Kingshark (@kingshark)
27th September 2015, 23:03
@pmccarthy_is_a_legend
He did hold his ground, and he got pushed off the circuit and onto the grass. Had he not held his ground, he would have slot in behind Lewis at the apex of turn 2. In fact, that would have been better, since he wouldn’t have lost 2 places to Vettel and Bottas.
Simple, you said that Rosberg would “never recover” from this, yet Rosberg got out-classed at a wheel to wheel battle much worse at Bahrain last year, and still had a very good run in Europe from Monaco until Germany. Also Rosberg won 5 races in 2014.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
27th September 2015, 23:14
@kingshark He did NOT hold his ground. Had he held his ground they would probably have touched because Lewis tried to run him out of the road. And had they touched I think the overall feeling here would have been of more respect for Rosberg for not allowing himself to be bullied.
Yet, Rosberg fail to demonstrate the fight in him. Again. Bar a disaster this WDC is over. In fact as far is Rosberg is concerned, as long as Lewis is in this team, he won’t ever win the title. He is in Webber territory now and there is no coming back from that.
You said Rosberg had a good run last year after Bahrain but Lewis still won the title. The title is the only thing that matters and you can only call it a ‘good run’ if you walk away with the WDC. Everything else is just noise.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
27th September 2015, 23:28
@pmccarthy_is_a_legend
And if they touched, Vettel probably would have won, and Rosberg would have been relegated as a definite #2 driver since Mercedes would see Vettel as a threat. The ONLY way Rosberg could avoid being relegated to #2 driver this year was by backing out of it and avoiding a collision, ironically.
I would beg to differ that there is no “coming back from that”. Webber was actually leading Vettel at the midway stage of 2012 after being absolutely nowhere in 2011 (being destroyed much worse than Rosberg is now). Massa went from #2 driver in 2007 to #1 driver in 2008, at Ferrari of all the places. It will be difficult, but it is not impossible to come back from such territory.
This year is as good as done for Rosberg, he’s not gonna win the WDC. A collision this late in the season with Hamilton would be completely pointless and do nothing but dent his relationship with the team. He needs to focus fully on 2016 now, get a points lead on Lewis early on, and convince the team that he is the better driver that year.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
27th September 2015, 11:53
@kingshark
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
28th September 2015, 16:51
@kingshark
Wow what a load of bs. We are just going to have to agree to disagree. We are talking different things here. You are rambling on about how Webber lead Vettel for a few races , and massa almost winning the wdc. I’m talking about actually winning the wdc, and how you have to beat your team mate in order to be number 1. Rosberg is done. Not this year only, next year and the year after. And for as long as Lewis is in this game. It may be a pipe dream but I would love to see Alonso on that second Mercedes.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
29th September 2015, 1:37
@PMccarthy_is_a_legend
Massa went from being a #2 driver in both 2006 and 2007 to being a #1 driver in 2008, and he really should have won the WDC (only bad luck prevented it).
What Rosberg does this season has no effect on 2016. Next year they will all start on 0 points again.
JayR (@deidunxf1)
27th September 2015, 12:06
@kingshark if anything I think Lewis has shown a bit more mental fortitude this season and last. I’m still amazed at how he came back last season after Spa. The Lewis we all know, we expected to self-destruct after Spa. He bounced back. His maturity has really come through too this season no more so than at Monaco. His podium comments were so not Lewis. Let’s not forget, that Monaco blunder has made this a 48 point lead as opposed to a 65 point lead. Nico has just looked beaten this season.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
27th September 2015, 16:25
All hail the knowledge of the might-be-titleless armchair psychologists!
darry
27th September 2015, 12:36
My God. He’s barely holding onto that position ahead of Vettel. If they come a bit closer, he will be costing Mercedes some.
Medman
27th September 2015, 13:55
If Rosberg wrecks with Hamilton on the opening corner, that will only benefit Ferrari and Vettel. Do you think Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda are going to smile on Rosberg if that happens? Let’s not forget, the drivers first responsibility is to the team, not to his own desires. Nico kept his head and did what he had to do….it would have been beyond foolish to press the issue when he did not have the advantage. Leave that sort of thing to Pastor Maldonado…….
Ryan F
27th September 2015, 14:19
Agree completely.He has mentally lost the war. Its over for him at Mercedes. I agree with Eddie Jordan, he will need to move on and wouldn’t be surprised after next year he goes to Renault or back to Williams.
Yoshisune (@yobo01)
27th September 2015, 14:27
I agree, I think that the start today is exactly why Hamilton is walking away with the championship and Rosberg won’t be a serious contender. Rosberg’s start was slightly worse, as soon as he recognized that he should have gone to the right and cover his position, force Hamilton to back off a little bit. Instead he just stayed on his line and let Hamilton do anything he wanted.
I think that in 2011 Vettel was in a similar position and basically forced Button to lift. That’s very aggressive, maybe too much, but that’s what you do when you fight for championships. After all Hamilton did a similar thing by forcing Rosberg wide today.
Jonny Edwards (@racectrl)
27th September 2015, 15:20
Considering what was at stake i’m really disappointed that Nico didn’t squeeze him more on the inside. He basically give Lewis all the room in the world to carry the speed and conveniently understeer him off the track. Lewis was ALWAYS gona do that so Nico should’ve countered that by starting to squeeze him earlier, just leaving enough room for Lewis to take the inside line. If Lewis understeers into Nico then so be it; It’s better than coming second to your teammate again because you’re a walk over. So frustrating to watch! Nico needs to man up and start driving for himself and stop worrying about Lewis or how the team might react if there is a collision.
Understeer (@abdelilah)
27th September 2015, 11:19
I don’t buy it Rosberg, you were behind so you naturally you had to back off, Lewis gave plenty of space during turn one as he said on Sky, come on, grow up and be a man or stick to a much comfortable driver n° 2 status.
Jure
27th September 2015, 11:21
Absoluteley most ignored story of the day.
Brundle wanted to see another look at it.. And we didnt get it. FOM Blantly ignored Mercedez to bare minimum.
But gloves are off, sparkles should fly. Either Nico now pays him back or its game over for him. Lewis serves him punches and Nico is taking them to politicaly correct.
John M
27th September 2015, 12:17
Yes, if by “ignored story” you mean non-story.
Alpha
27th September 2015, 11:45
Red bull can get its own engine from Honda. haha.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
27th September 2015, 12:15
Of course,, what Nico says is true, but Lewis was fractionally ahead, and was on the racing line at that point. Thus, it would have been his fault if they had collided. Moreover, he could have backed out of it and only lost the lead. However, he chose to duel it out and lost 4 places; which he then had to fight hard to recover from.
This brief battle actually typifies Nico Rosbergs rivalry with his teammate. When it counts, he is simply unable to to make the right decision, for the right moment; and stick with it. Depending on the situation, this may mean backing out, or dueling it out. We saw this in Spa 14 – when he should have backed out, and Bahrain 14 – when he let Lewis hang him out to dry a couple of times. We also saw this in Hungary 15, when he let his car roll unnecessarily into Riccardo; even though he had the corner.
Incidentally, this incident was slightly akin to his Hungary, when he shut the door on Lewis and put him into the gravel. And we remember Lewis moaned about that too.
wert
27th September 2015, 12:42
Incredible that Rosberg spent most of the race within 2 seconds of Vettel.
Atticus (@atticus-2)
27th September 2015, 12:50
It seems this incident brought up another battle between two very popular and venerable views on driving standards.
The old adage – which to me seemed more popular in the old days, at least that’s what I was kind of ‘brought up’ on in the 1990s and early 2000s when I watched F1 as a kid – says that whoever is in front gets to choose his line and the driver behind simply has to accomodate what the driver in front does. Based on this view, Lewis was undoubtedly right to risk going beyond the limit of the grip of his front tyres and slid right up beside the exit kerb – taking Nico right onto it.
But, perhaps since the advent of online racing games, at least that’s what primarily taught me this more liberal approach, there is also the view that states you should always leave at least a car’s width for a car that managed to pull sufficiently (or, in an even more liberal form, to any extent) beside you – live and let live, in other words, or don’t do something to someone you don’t want to be on the receiving end of. This view would have required Lewis to take it cautiously on the inside, knowing that – unlike his opposition – he has space on the track that he can use.
Now, in this post I’m not saying either one is right, but F1 did seem to side with the latter approach in the straight line, when it judged that one should always leave at least a car’s width of space for the other when two cars are travelling on a flat-out part of the track (see the Vettel-Alonso incidents in Monza). The stewards’ philosophy is much less clear in the general approach when it comes to cars battling in the corners.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
27th September 2015, 14:10
I’d say it’s quite clear how the stewards feel who has the rights to the racing line. If a crash happens in a corner then the driver who was coming from behind gets the penalty. Or if it’s someone they like then sometimes it might be called a racing incident.
The only exception I can come up with is Massa ramming into Hulkenberg in Singapore and Hulkenberg getting the penalty.
Actually in and before 90’s the rules were more like what you describe in online racing. It was more of a gentleman’s agreement that you didn’t push each other off and also that you didn’t just “peek a wheel inside” to force the lead car wide. Schumacher put an end to that when he realized he could push other drivers off track and wouldn’t get penalized for it. Since then everybody has been doing it.
paul
27th September 2015, 14:16
You should watch the Singapore incident from another angle. To me it’s quite obviously Hulkenberg’s fault. I think Hulkenberg knows that too.
David BR
27th September 2015, 13:19
Nico Rosberg has done the same on Hamilton on more than one occasion (and taken him out completely at Spa last year). But he lost the lead by having a slightly worse start. In the end, nobody else to blame than himself.
tgu (@thegrapeunwashed)
27th September 2015, 14:09
It was a fair move. Lewis got the better move and was ahead into the second corner. Full marks for Nico for trying to recover from a less than perfect start by going round the outside of Lewis, but Lewis stayed flat out into the second turn and just took the racing line. And that’s the point: Lewis didn’t squeeze Nico off track, he just took the normal line. When Nico saw that he was behind and driving into a closing gap he backed out. Hard but fair racing from both drivers.
Nico was never going to be happy at coming out second in that situation, but he handled himself perfectly – both in the car and out of it.
benny
27th September 2015, 14:17
To Rosberg’s credit, I don’t think he cried on the radio “He pushed me wide, Lewis pushed me wide!”.
Kodongo (@kodongo)
27th September 2015, 16:16
You’re right. Rosberg saves his crying for the post-race press conferences.
Dave (@)
27th September 2015, 14:49
Got to love how a factual description of events is considered moaning now.
David BR
27th September 2015, 16:41
Actually, having read Rosberg’s comments elsewhere now, he did describe the racing as ‘fair’. So hardly moaning. Pity we weren’t able to see it properly anyhow thanks to the rubbish TV coverage.
Dave (@)
27th September 2015, 17:51
That’s kinda my point ;)
DonSmee (@david-beau)
27th September 2015, 15:02
Poppy cock. Check the start of Canada 2014 Rosberg did exactly the same thing, he closed the door and Hamilton had to evade. The difference is Hamiton evaded much better so he only lost one position instead of two.
Force Maikel (@force-maikel)
27th September 2015, 15:16
I’m going to make a populist statement here, something I tend to stray awa from, but Rosberg just doesn’t have the neccesary racecraft to be WC. Sure he’s got good pace, but that alone doens’t win championships.
Had it been Vettel or Verstappen. I doubt they would have moved over as easily as Rosberg did.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
27th September 2015, 16:28
@force-maikel At least you’re not being an armchair psychologist……..:) (those are the truly annoying commenters, for me anyway)
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
27th September 2015, 15:21
I think we are all being unfair of Rosberg here. He simply gave a factual account of what happened; after he was asked the question.
Rosberg has nothing to be ashamed of being beaten by Lewis; albeit regularly by one of the best in the sport. There is no equality in competition, and some competitors are simply better than others. This is no reason why the others should be ashamed of themselves.
I suspect all the criticism come from people who have never engaged in competitive sports at any meaningful level. Otherwise, they would know that beaten by a better person is not embarrassing, or indeed shameful.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
27th September 2015, 16:34
@kbdavies Indeed, but it still hurts to know you are simply not as good as your rival(s).
Ed
27th September 2015, 16:20
Hamilton’s pace was so much better today that he if didn’t get the lead at the start he probably would overtake or undercut Rosberg.
Mercedes always calls the car ahead to stop first, and this was given to Rosberg to help him, and he was 8.9s behind at the end of the last stint. The gap increased to 17s to the flag.
He didn’t got what it takes today. He barely got what it takes to beat Vettel.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th September 2015, 16:39
A bit unfair I think because being in dirty air is simply too handcuffing in these cars. Yes Nico didn’t get quite as good a start and that’s that, no turning back the clock, but had he lead, LH may have not had the pace in dirty air either, that he did in clean. It’s too much about that this year. Undercut maybe, but LH overtake NR anyway, even if he was in his dirty air? We’ve seen earlier this season that’s not a given.
Kgn12
27th September 2015, 16:33
Rosberg has selective memory. If you all may, cast your minds back to the start of the Canadian GP last year look what nico did to Lewis at T2. Oh that’s not good enough, how about his dive bomb move on Bottas at Sochi last year?
The simple truth is, Nico does not have what it takes to be a world champion.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th September 2015, 16:33
I’ll play devils advocate a bit in defense of NR. I think he’s being very diplomatic about being squeezed off, no doubt because he knows he just didn’t quite nail his start so has himself to blame somewhat.
And I can’t entirely disagree with the sentiment of many that he should have just held his ground.
That said, Wolff called it a force off, and talks of under steer from LH…ya from overcooking it a bit and not being entirely in control of one’s car perhaps…not leaving Nico the car-width room required in the rules…but LH with the overall momentum and the sentimental favourite for the WDC getting a pass,,,again perhaps because of the slightly better start too.
I can see the debatability of it at least, and just think more went on there than meets the eye and perhaps behind closed doors Wolff should be thanking NR for avoiding a collision with an under steering LH, still climbing back to make it a 1-2, and for his diplomacy on the stand.
Ed
27th September 2015, 18:51
Rosberg did the same to Hamilton on Canada last year.
Rosberg left the inside clear for him to try that move. And he did that by, again, starting poorly.
Turn one on Suzuka is complicated. There was an incident on the 2012 race that was identical with Kimi and Hamilton. Hamilton coming out of the pits and doing exact the same thing to Kimi who was trying to underut him.
If he is in the inside, then the turn is his. Kimi didn’t said anything about it.
SteveP
28th September 2015, 1:36
Nico should have covered Lewis immediately after the get go. He didn’t move to cover Lewis until Lewis started drawing along side.
Nico did a good job of trying the outside pass, but didn’t quite pull it off. Good effort in my opinion. No point in settling for 2nd, if there is a chance of 1st.
Once Lewis got a sniff of the lead, and being on the preferred inside line, he was never going to give it up.
Erwin
29th September 2015, 0:02
Hamilton clearly pushed Rosberg off the track to left. If Rosberg had stayed on the track, it would have cost Mercedes two cars at that speed. As long as F1 & Mercedes is cool with that, okay, but no whining next time when Rosberg does same thing to Hamilton. You will see two wrecked Mercedes OR Hamilton, the pole sitter “passed” by Rosberg. I think the $50 question in the current race is, at Suzuka, with the first turn a right hander, why is pole sitter forced to line up on the left? I don’t think it’s rocket science pole sitter should have preferred line into the first turn!!!