Niki Lauda has denied Lewis Hamilton lied about his relationship with Nico Rosberg or damaged a room in rage during the recent race weekend in Azerbaijan.
A statement released by Mercedes said “Following his appearance on a television discussion show on Servus TV recorded prior to last weekend’s Austrian GP, Niki Lauda would like to set the record straight and state the following.”
“Lewis Hamilton did not in any way damage a hotel room or his private driver room at the circuit during the race weekend in Baku and Lewis Hamilton did not lie about his relationship with team mate Nico Rosberg.”
“Niki regrets any misunderstanding caused by comments that have been blown wildly out of proportion compared with the casual context in which they were made.”
Following his interview with the Red Bull-owned television station, which was aired following the Austrian Grand Prix, stories circulated claiming Lauda had said Hamilton had damaged his driver room in anger following his poor performance during qualifying at the European Grand Prix.
Lauda was also quoted disputing Hamilton’s claim that his relationship with Rosberg was “really good”.
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Wil-Liam (@wil-liam)
6th July 2016, 13:02
Wow pure PR bull
caci99
6th July 2016, 13:04
Was he on tape while doing the statement, or what!?
bosyber (@bosyber)
6th July 2016, 14:17
Yep, he was; it could still be that the editing was done to put several things out of context to make it appear worse than what he wanted to say, but the words were said by him (I saw it both in German, and the in the Sky English translation). Misunderstanding by who? Well, I guess Lauda is back to being as clearly the joker as I’ve seen him as in the 10 years or so he’s been on RTL Germany.
BasCB (@bascb)
7th July 2016, 7:28
any links to the original @bosyber?
BasCB (@bascb)
7th July 2016, 7:46
Guess I found it – http://www.servustv.com/at/Medien/Mercedes-Friede-nur-Show-Hamilton-zertruemmert-Zimmer You really have to wonder why Niki is there at the table.
Off course it’s the guy next to niki who brings up the smashed up room not Niki himself. When you listen carefully Lauda mentions “er war dabei sein Zimmer zu Zetrümmern” so the thing about the room seems to be not that Hamilton DID that but that he told Niki to leave as he felt angry enough to smash up his room.
favomodo (@favomodo)
7th July 2016, 8:01
Thanks, this certainly clears things up. So nothing really happened other than Hamilton was very mad at himself (understandable) and Niki didn’t say anything to imply anything else. I guess we can move on now…
bosyber (@bosyber)
7th July 2016, 8:23
Indeed @bascb, It seems partlty Niki trying to say ‘no there’s a real rivalry here, and Hamilton does care, has character and wants to do everything to win’ as a sort of defense against F1/Mercedes being too sterile.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
6th July 2016, 13:05
I’m so confused. Lewis must be too.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
6th July 2016, 13:05
This was a terrible oversight from Niki. Of *course* Red Bull were going to carefully engineer an issue in the team by putting out the video, he should never have said what he said to begin with.
He’s been throwing hand grenades into the situation for ages and his position as a non-exec board members means he’s not invincible – being opinionated is one thing, but he’s now gone down the road of actively destabilising his drivers with his knee-jerk responses to a leading question from the media…
lockup (@)
6th July 2016, 13:24
+1
Rafael (@rafael-o)
6th July 2016, 13:31
Whether he was misinterpreted or not doesn’t matter now — clearly he said something along those lines (and put himself in that position).
Keeping count, this is strike 2 already. Strike 1 was telling Helmut Marko last year that Mercedes were willing to supply Red Bull with power units for 2016; thankfully that boneheaded idea/move was scuppered by a more rational mind (Toto Wolff).
Mercedes needs to get rid of this guy.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
6th July 2016, 14:50
Mercedes was willing to supply Red bull engines, but first thing Mateschitz did was to go to Ferrari and check if he could get their engines instead. After they denied them their (new) engine they went back to Mercedes who by then rightly were done with RB.
MarkM
6th July 2016, 17:43
(@patrickl) and you were there to witness this? so many people know so many things that make not so much sense. your text is not facts but hearsay.
Patrickl (@patrickl)
9th July 2016, 11:45
Statements from Toto Wolff, Laude, Helmut Marko, Horner and Ecclestone make this clear. No hearsay involved, they all said these things. Unfortunately people only read the headlines and forget what actually happened. Like you just demonstrated.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
6th July 2016, 13:06
Haha! Don’t make it a joke now! No point in fire-fighting :)
Philip (@philipgb)
6th July 2016, 13:24
So libel then? Because the story that Hamilton lied about the relationship and trashed a room wasn’t published as though Niki had been misunderstood as suggesting those things, the story was a direct quote of the words Niki said, though translated into English I’m assuming as it was from Austrian TV.
Philip (@philipgb)
6th July 2016, 13:29
Translation of the video:
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24181/10427589/video-watch-niki-lauda-on-lewis-hamilton-and-nico-rosberg
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
6th July 2016, 17:44
After watching the video, I now know why he said all those things. They were in a bar.
NO MORE ALCOHOL FOR NIKI BEFORE INTERVIEWS!!!
Tata
6th July 2016, 14:23
I do find his statements on the whole issue pretty awful. To insinuate that Hamilton lied about his relationship with Nico, which let me jokingly believe he did was all in a bid to present a good PR image for the Mercedes company, is slanderous.
I think he may have gone too far. Hamilton is an F1 figure whom people love to hate for whatever reason that suits them while news outlets use him to make money so while speaking, Nikki should have known that whatever he said would likely be twisted.
Lewis Hamilton is just a formula 1 driver who happens to have signed a contract to race with Mercedes. He has been very respectful of the company paying homage and bearing in mind how far his partnership with the brand has been and it is fully expected that his team return the favour. Most importantly, as it is very easy to get drawn into the cycle of Hamilton bashing, the one place where such should not occur is where he works.
Mercedes may have the cars that deliver championships but there is something that is worth much more than 10 championships or prize money and that is honor, dignity and pride. And once you have been branded a liar in such a public manner, it is hard to shake off or gain trust afterwards.
Mercedes might try to do damage limitation but that bird has long flown.
MarkM
6th July 2016, 17:46
QUOTE @Tata:Hamilton is an F1 figure whom people love to hate for whatever reason that suits them while news outlets use him to make money so while speaking
Hamilton is not of the exception, how many hated Vettel in year 4 of his championship? People tend to hate the one always winning and media will do anything to have people read their jibberish. Its the way this wheel rolls really.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
6th July 2016, 13:27
Well on his way to becoming as irritating as Jackie Stewart!
On second thoughts, scratch that, Lauda may be at the start of a journey which may end with him being as irritating as Jackie Stewart. A very very long way to go for that to happen.
Markp
6th July 2016, 13:52
Most 3 time plus champions then? Most of these champions split opinions. Piquet, Hamilton, Stewart, Senna, Vettel, Schumacher (not normally with comments but other actions). Could include Alonso but he is not a triple plus champion.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
6th July 2016, 17:48
Herbert would love what you just said about Alonso.
CableGuy
6th July 2016, 18:14
Oh my goodness me, I am glad I’m not the only one! What exactly does he do at grand prix apart from tell everyone that it was much harder in his day, can’t stand the man.
Wesley (@)
6th July 2016, 22:00
Exactly. Thank you for your contribution to F1 Niki, you were a badass. Now retire and take Jackie Stewart with you.
grumpy
7th July 2016, 2:12
Stewart is an ass, don’t like the man and never did. And now I get fed up listening to how much harder it was in his day and what dumb things some of today’s drivers do… how disrespectful is this man to today’s drivers …. I accept there were no driver aids and the sport was far more dangerous during his era but that does not mean that the new generation of F1 cars that are faster and more technical are that much easier to drive.
When Stewart won his first two WDC’s (1969 & 1971) there were just 11 races in the season compared with the current 21.
Please don’t get me wrong, lot’s of talent and 3 WDC’s which is an incredible achievement but in my opinion he was not in the same league as the late and great Jim Clark.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
7th July 2016, 14:00
As Martin Brundle said when he drove the Mercedes last year…yer granny can drive it lol
Yoseph
6th July 2016, 13:48
Unexpected comments from Nikki, even if Hamilton lied about his relationship with Nico, airing that in public only has damaging impact to the team, indicating Nikki values self-rightuosness more than what’s good for the team…
This only shows despite the damage limitation PR, the comments are true..
N
6th July 2016, 13:53
It doesn’t bother me that they’re true. it bothers me that Lauda felt the need to make them public
Yoseph
7th July 2016, 10:41
Exactly.
Frieda (@friedatwo)
7th July 2016, 11:34
I’m with you there!
jayteeniftb
6th July 2016, 14:05
Wisdom clearly does not come with numbers. Mr Lauda, there is a reason F1 is private and PR prone. Hopefully this was the lesson you take forward.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
6th July 2016, 14:26
And would the sport continue to remain enjoyable if all the drivers and teams starts following the PR scripts by the book? Controversy is as integral as innovation for F1.
Mick Harrold (@mickharrold)
6th July 2016, 14:06
So after saying it on TC, we are to believe that he was misquoted? Sound’s more like he was smacked down by Merc for making the comments. If Niki had believed he was wrongly represented, he would have made the statement himself. Instead, Merc made the statement on his behalf. Which only leads me to believe it is true that Lewis trashed the room. Niki has never been backwards in coming forwards and if he had been misquoted (the TV proves otherwise), he would have come out firing. But instead, Merc issues a statement.
I can understand why Merc forced Niki to agree to the statement. In the short term it fixes things. However, it doesn’t fix the long term problem that Merc are going to face. They think they can just ask their drivers not to race and it will actually happen. Hamilton is on a long contract and Niko is soon to sign as well. Once on long contracts, what is the incentive to follow the Merc directives?
Everyone can see that Nico went long in that corner to push Hamilton off track. History shows he came of second best., but it might have been different if Hamilton had yielded or the crash had caused a Hamilton wing failure instead. Did Nico cause the accident. Yes. Should he have done it? Maybe, probably. In any case, this does show that Merc has lost control of their drivers. Pulling Niki into line will only add to their problems, not ease them in the long run. The gloves are off and they need to start trying to control it.
Philip (@philipgb)
6th July 2016, 14:21
To be fair the only team that really keeps it’s staff in check that they are part of a bigger operation is Ferrari. They were happy to cast Alonso back into the wild rather than have anyone who believed they were bigger than the team disrupt them. But look where they are.
Red Bull danced with the friction of Vettel and Webber, Mercedes are tip toeing around Hamilton and Rosberg. But walking that fine line between chaos and order is where peak performance seems to be found. None of the teams playing it safe do that well, people need a bit of fire in their belly.
Pinak Ghosh (@pinakghosh)
6th July 2016, 14:33
@philipgb fair point
krxx
8th July 2016, 12:42
Alonso was the one who left Ferrari not vice versa and when exactly did Alonso think about himself as being bigger than the team?
The ‘most successful’ period a ‘single constructor’ has ever seen in the history of the sport, is ’99-’04: 11 titles out of the available 12. Ferrari, with the same ‘playing-it-safe-mentality’ as they have today. Plenty of fire in their bellies too.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
7th July 2016, 14:03
I agree with you Mick Harrold
ColdFly F1 (@)
6th July 2016, 14:50
And after we all come off our high horses, please check the video and tran(slation)script.
http://www.spannersready.com/f1-articles/2016/7/5/transcript-nikki-lauda-claims-hamilton-lied-about-feud-with-rosberg
It’s a typical Lauda comment.
You may like him or not. But one of the reasons I try to pick up a bit of RTL over an F1 weekend is to hear Lauda. He is maybe the only uncensored guy in the know out there. I have learned more (and earlier) from him (sometimes ‘between the lines’) about what’s going on than from most of the Sky/other presenters.
krxx
8th July 2016, 12:14
+1
petebaldwin (@)
6th July 2016, 15:09
Why does it matter in the slightest if it’s true or not? It’s staggeringly irrelevant IMO.
There are so many talking points after that GP, why talk about this instead!?
John H (@john-h)
6th July 2016, 16:00
I agree.
I don’t understand why Merc make any statement at all anyway, it just prolongs the thing… maybe that’s the intention! Who knows in these swampmonster times.
bull mello (@bullmello)
6th July 2016, 18:48
Not to mention the fact that the emperor supremo of F1 says infinitely more outrageous things on a nearly daily basis.
Deej92 (@deej92)
6th July 2016, 15:17
But you said it Niki. Complete PR codswallop.
Steve Clark
6th July 2016, 15:28
The quote is out there and I think we have to put ourselves in an employee position (Lewis) and ask ourselves how we would feel and act when our boss (Niki) starts airing personnel issues in public. While I appreciate Niki as a straight shooter when asked a question he ends up making Merc look bad when he’s saying one thing, Toto another. I ran a company for 20 years and I’m quite sure I would have a major employee rights issue on my hands if I was to air things in public between other employees. Shameful behaviour by management.
ram
6th July 2016, 16:33
Finally someone gets it! If my employer did that to me there would be serious problems.
What is actually trying to do? Get rid of Hamilton?
CarlD
6th July 2016, 15:46
By now, Lewis knows he is not in the good graces of Lauda and probably neither in Toto’s. Irrespective of how
his relationship with Nico develops, he will be increasingly at odds with the teams management.
Then, what will become of his driving? He will probably attribute any shortcomings of his car on sabotage, which
it might very well be.
Mercedes admitted there was nothing Lewis could have done in Baku to fix the incorrect map that had been installed in his ECU. Why? Was it to pave Nico’s road to the WDC? Hamilton can legitimately think so.
Mercedes a German carmaker wants a german pilot to be WDC. This is understandable. Considering this might be the last year in which they dominate the field, they want to hand the trophy to Nico.
Next year, McLaren may be on a par with Mercedes as the Japanese are catching up. Maybe RB will have a better engine. Ferrari might have made considerable progress. So next year being an unknown, if they want to favor Nico, it is now or never.
Maybe Lewis’ image as a pop star with all his tattoos and jet-setting doesn’t sit well with the image MB wants to project. Nico, being un-tattoed, serious, projecting the image of a family man will certainly be more to the liking of the Marketing Department of Corporate MB. ” Drive a Mercedes and be a Champion.” “See what Nico Rosberg can do with a Mercedes!”
At this point, even the Queen is not too enthralled at the idea of bestowing the “Sir” to Lewis. I guess if Button were as deserving as Hamilton, he would already have been knighted.
Then, who can blame MB for thinking and acting the way they do?
Blazz
6th July 2016, 16:00
so many oxymorons in your comment I lost your fundamental point.
krxx
8th July 2016, 13:04
I honestly stopped reading at “.., they want to hand the trophy to Nico.”.
Rui
6th July 2016, 16:22
You shure have alot opinions! Maybe you write for one of them paparazzi rags!
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
7th July 2016, 0:20
@CarlD With all due respect sir, your write up is total garbage.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
7th July 2016, 14:06
It’s been quoted in some magazines and papers that some of Mercs sponsors aren’t happy with some of the stuff Hammy does.
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
7th July 2016, 14:14
@sonia54 Hmm… interesting.
Would you possibly be able to post links to any such magazines and papers? It would make interesting reading.
Thank you.
Ed Marques (@edmarques)
6th July 2016, 16:13
Mercedes have to controll Lauda too apparently.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
6th July 2016, 16:47
Seriusly? Hamilton was not mad after Baku quali?
And Nico and Lewis relationship is “good”?
Good is by definiton crashing in to eachother at slight opportunity?
Lauda might not have lied… But any time they claim their relationship is good, I call Lie!
Maybe statement is about denying driver room damage?
Or just straight up PR coverup.
DaveW (@dmw)
6th July 2016, 18:49
Seriously, this controversy is mystifying. Who cares if he punched a couple walls in his trailer after messing up in qualifying? Who cares if he and Nico are not sharing ice cream sundaes after the races? People carry on far worse when their kids lose a little league baseball game. People lose friendships over awkward FB posts, much less having a guy try to ram you off the road at 150mph. I would have actually expected him to put a hole in a wall, given what a really embarrassingly terrible session he had. I would have done it for him. Generally, given the pressure these guys face, the adrenaline pumping through their veins after a session, I’m surprised you don’t see them losing their cool more often. I can do without NASCAR-style pit lane fisticuffs, though.
Frasier (@frasier)
6th July 2016, 19:04
Well said.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
6th July 2016, 21:02
@dmw Exactly! What is this controversy behind two title contenders fighting on and off track. Feeling bad after a loss, fighting hard on track.
:D Lauda is just being Lauda and said more than he should have… now PR machine is reprimanding him…
grumpy
7th July 2016, 1:49
Unfortunately Mr Lauda once again failed to engage brain before opening mouth and has had his ass kicked my Mercedes, that said I do wonder how much of the stories about Hamilton and Rosberg are blown out of all proportion and are nothing more the media hype aimed at generating sales.
Michael (@freelittlebirds)
7th July 2016, 13:45
@dmw the MOST SENSIBLE POST in a F1 forum – COTY – Comment of the Year!!!
Melvin (@)
6th July 2016, 16:50
internet taking things out of context, create a big non story complete with fully formed opinions without anyone actually checking the source you say? I am shocked!
Philip (@philipgb)
6th July 2016, 18:32
The thing is once you do check the sources it would very much seem Lauda did make the comments that were reported and are now being denied.
No he isn’t saying Lewis Hamilton is a flat out dishonest liar when you look at Laudas quotes in context. But what he is doing is undermining the PR work Hamilton did in not fuelling the medias constant probing on the relationship the two drivers have. He’s also airing Hamiltons dirty laundry. I said in another thread I’m not defending trashing a room, but Hamilton kept a lid on it, got behind closed doors and then did what he felt he needed to do emotionally to vent his frustration from a poor performance in qualifying. Lauda has now decided to let the world know he did it.
Come the next press conference the only things any one will be asking Hamilton will be about his and Rosbergs relationship, did he trash the room and how he feels about Lauda sharing that with the world rather than questions about the sport and the race ahead. It’s unprofessional and disrespectful of Lauda on a personal level even.
krxx
8th July 2016, 13:11
I said in another thread I’m not defending trashing a room, but Hamilton kept a lid on it, got behind closed doors and then did what he felt he needed to do emotionally to vent his frustration from a poor performance in qualifying. – so you áre defending trashing a room.
David BR
6th July 2016, 17:57
This is a lot more serious than it first sounds. Everyone is reading this as just Lauda being incautious. But when he says “But when those two start driving, he will try everything, and it becomes worse and worse the longer Rosberg is ahead of him,” that betrays a very clear bias against Hamilton from Lauda (at least) and some real enjoyment that Rosberg is ahead.
And Wolff thinks Hamilton and Rosberg colliding makes Mercedes look like clowns? Seriously, after this interview with a team manager?
Hamilton should be looking at his options with this amateurism taking over Mercedes.
lockup (@)
6th July 2016, 18:51
he will try everything, and it becomes worse and worse the longer Rosberg is ahead of him
Niki may not see this as a negative. I’d even guess he’d expect this from his principal WDC contender.
Robbie (@robbie)
6th July 2016, 22:02
Imagine what it would have been like coming from LH if NR had won the race having come from 6th and undercut the pole sitter.
CarlD
6th July 2016, 18:12
I would not be surprised if the new MB lineup for 2017 were to consist of Nico and Pascal. The package would
be financially much lighter for the team.
Maybe this year is articulated around encouraging Lewis to move out as, If he feels rebuffed enough, Hamilton may opt out of MB and rejoin his old team or even Williams if push comes to shove.
I believe that before retiring from MB, Lewis will want to get as close as possible to Prost’s tally of victories.
Let’s wait and see how it pans out.
Eoin (@eoin16)
6th July 2016, 20:59
I would be very surprised considering Hamilton has a contract until 2018! Also, he cannot simply “opt out” as you said. If there is an opt out option in his contract, Hamilton would only be able to trigger it if Mercedes were not meeting predetermined championship goals (finishing lower than 3rd in the constructors championship for example). With Mercedes still that class of the field, that would mean Hamilton could maybe buy himself out of his contract, however, there would most likely be a no compete clause which would force him into a sabbatical for a year.
So the only option for Mercedes to change their line up is to remove Rosberg and promote Pascal. Hamilton is pretty much untouchable for the time being.
Kenny
6th July 2016, 18:14
According to the Sky Sports translation, Lauda says that Lewis told him that he was going to trash the room, that Lauda couldn’t come in because of that. Did I read somewhere else that Lauda specifically stated that he saw the room afterwards and that there was a lot of damage? If not, then there’s a big difference between Lewis saying that he’s going to trash the room: if there’s no evidence that he did it, he may have just been mouthing off.
Adi Fischer
6th July 2016, 18:18
http://www.servustv.com/at/Medien/Mercedes-Friede-nur-Show-Hamilton-zertruemmert-Zimmer
So, here is the part of the TV show where Niki Lauda tells that Hamilton lied and that he destroyed the room. There is no way of misinterpreting his statements. Mister Lauda are you lying now or did you lie in the show?
Frasier (@frasier)
6th July 2016, 19:06
That’s what I thought when I heard the translation
RP (@slotopen)
6th July 2016, 19:37
Trashing a room covers many things. Maybe he punched holes in the walls and smashed furniture. Or maybe he just flipped over his suitcase and knocked everything off the table. Who cares .
Stabbing an employee, a team member, cin the back is another matter entirely.
bull mello (@bullmello)
6th July 2016, 18:30
From the outside view out here in F1 fandom Niki Lauda has long been a loose cannon when it comes to serious matters. Sometimes he makes sense, many other times a large grain of salt is required to swallow his off the wall comments that fly in the face of reason. Kind of like that crazy uncle we all know.
His life story of achievement and survival is astonishing. They should make a movie or two or three. ;-)
But, all that does not give him free license to say anything he wants without repercussion. He does say some pretty outrageous stuff from time to time. If he was just someone’s crazy uncle nobody would pay him any mind.
On the inside of the Mercedes racing team this is just one more sign of serious team management problems. Even though technically they are on top of the F1 world, one wonders how long Mercedes corporate management will put up with the out of control driver conflicts, the team’s non-executive chairman’s controversial missive declarations and overall team management inability to solve these issues. One already wonders if an order came from upstairs to have the team issue this non-denial denial.
A famous US football credo is “winning isn’t everything it’s the only thing”. Does Mercedes upper management subscribe to that? We shall see.
lockup (@)
6th July 2016, 19:10
Quite likely IMO @bullmello it’s Zetsche and the Daimler Board who are keeping Rosberg in situ and creating Toto’s problem of defending the indefensible. All they have to do is put Hulk in, after all, but afaics Zetsche has made Rosberg a hero in Stuttgart.
At the team level Toto is the one in charge, while Niki creates the soundbites. For example Lauda shook hands on an engine deal that he simply didn’t have the authority to make. He’s crossed a line this time, but he’s more of a mascot than part of the real management I think.
bull mello (@bullmello)
7th July 2016, 5:40
@lockup – Would love to see Hulk in a Merc, but have my doubts it will ever happen. Like you say, they seem to be stuck on Rosberg.
Niki has been interesting at times in this job, but now he sounds like a Bernie clone with less importance and no power.
Hans (@hanswes)
6th July 2016, 20:22
So what if Lewis trashed the room? Finally some passion in F1, too bad he kept it private :) As long as he picks up the bill like a grown-up I see this as the (perhaps somewhat fanatic) response to his own mistake. It’d be worse if he’d just shrugged it off.
It’s also absurd that people expect these drivers to pretend they like their main competitor for the title. It just doesn’t work that way. They hate each others guts right now. That’s fine. A decade or two from now we will see them both in a documentary about their fierce rivalry and they will both reminisce on how it made it all even more worthwhile.
Traverse (@hellotraverse)
6th July 2016, 21:20
+1 COTD
Mike Dee (@mike-dee)
6th July 2016, 20:29
I wonder whether Lauda is vying for Ecclestone’s job. He is far from making as little sense as Ecclestone but give him 18 more years and he might get there.
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
6th July 2016, 20:42
Now I personally am far from a Hamilton fan these days (unlike years ago), but people forget about the well known story about Alonso ripping a door off its hinges in the McLaren motor home in Hungary 2007 after quali. Bad tempers all round for these prima donna’s – they’re as bad as one another. Hamilton just comes across as the most arrogant, aloof, self-important driver out there hence my dislike of him…plus his “poor me” attitude is exhausting to tolerate.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
6th July 2016, 23:53
sounds like you need to get some prescription glasses.
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
7th July 2016, 7:53
Lolz
krxx
8th July 2016, 21:33
+1
Tristan
6th July 2016, 20:45
Well… Bloody… Good.
Is all I’ve got to say. Good on Lauda for setting the record straight here, but stuff him for even saying it in the first place.
Eoin (@eoin16)
6th July 2016, 21:11
How on earth has he “put the record straight”???
This denial is complete nonsense and clearly a lie given that Lauda made the comments on TV. Mercedes should have come out and said that Lauda is no longer a member of the F1 team because he has completely destroyed the trust of the driver with the team.
CarlD
6th July 2016, 21:27
with friends like Niki, who needs ennemies?
josh
6th July 2016, 20:54
I can see if Lauda was telling a story about Vettel or someone on a rival team but why is he dragging Hamiltons name through the mud? Hello Fuher Lauda, your on the same side. His love for Rosberg is so obvious it’s annoying. Niki is a little rat.
roodda (@roodda)
6th July 2016, 21:48
I wonder if people would be saying “so what” if Rosberg trashed the room, and not Hamilton. It’d be all “he can’t handle the pressure so lost his rag and this is why he’s not a world champion”
lockup (@)
6th July 2016, 21:58
This is a bit of a nonsense idea @roodda. If Rosberg trashed his room he wouldn’t even BE Rosberg he’d be a different kind of person wouldn’t he, and we’d ALREADY think differently about him.
But he is Nico Rosberg, acts like Nico Rosberg, and that’s why people think however they do about him.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
6th July 2016, 23:54
Nico Rosberg plays the part, he’s a team player, thats about as much as most know about Nico Rosberg. You have to read between his li(n)es to figure out the rest.
mog
7th July 2016, 14:52
+1
John H (@john-h)
6th July 2016, 23:56
How about if Nico is actually leaving to go to Ferrari next year? Maybe he’s had enough of being beaten by Hamilton and Lauda et al. are siding with him and not Hamilton to make sure Nico stays?
It may sound like madness, but there’s no where for Hamilton to go (teammates with Alonso or Vettel… unlikely!), and I’m not sure Rosberg can take 4 seasons of beatings. Fine, if he wins he DWC this year he can head to Ferrari as world champion.
…and those 2017 contract talks do seem to be taking an awful long time.
Chaz (@chaz)
7th July 2016, 0:25
When will this guy be permanently retired from any and all aspects of motor sports? There’s way to men old codgers in F1 and the FIA etc… all stuck in the past!
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
7th July 2016, 0:33
This is copy of a comment I posted in F1Fanatic a couple weeks ago:
“20th June 2016, 13:55
@matt Even to non Hamilton fans, the recurring technical and mechanical problems Hamilton continues to experience this season, in addition to the comments and utterances from Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda – and others – that typically follow such occurrences must begin to appear truly bizarre and unreal.
I have said it before, and I will say it again, though in the past I have been called names and even had my posts removed because of this…..
Mercedes desperately want Rosberg to win a WDC, and this year may be their last chance, seeing as how the other teams are closing in on their performance advantage. How they are going about this I don’t know, but like I said, this year has been a very strange year for one side of the Mercedes garage. And before anyone shouts “what about Monaco and Montreal?”, lets not be so naive as to think Rosberg would win every single race of the season.
Finally, lets be honest with ourselves. It would really be great for branding to boast of a German driver winning the world championship in a German car with a German team.”
Perhaps such posts are not so far fetched conspiracy theories after all.
matt
7th July 2016, 9:51
in monaco lewis had the issue in quali which gave nico the upper hand.
merc didnt think nico would struggle like that in monaco,so they thought qualifying ahead would see nico finish ahead.
and in canada nico fell back too many places for merc to help him win that race.
lewis had a great start in austria,but if nico qualifies on pole or second in silverstone,i bet lewis has another poor start.
although after merc clearly tried to stitch lewis up in austria,perhaps there wont be any funny business this weekend.
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
7th July 2016, 10:25
@matt Agreed. Can’t wait to see how this weekend plays out.
As I said above, ‘Perhaps such posts are not so far fetched conspiracy theories after all’.
krxx
8th July 2016, 21:53
But then again, they very well might be just that!
F1fan
7th July 2016, 3:14
Oh! look Mommy the Rat is being a Rat. Love Lauda tho he is still a Legend of F1 but he likes the antics. Who do you think Prost learned from.
Jorge Olivier
7th July 2016, 5:36
No, he didn’t deny it. Mercedes did it “in his behalf”. Pure PR BS.