As Toto Wolff, Mercedes
team boss, explained: “It was the other way around on the Sunday in
Barcelona. Nico had felt aggrieved by what had happened in the race and I
guess this is really normal.”
In the press conference after yesterday’s race, both played down the
controversy over engine settings. But Hamilton also revealed that to his
mind Rosberg had employed a similar tactic in Bahrain. What precisely is the
truth?
The whole affair has prompted Mercedes to issue a clampdown. Neither driver
will be given the freedom to independently adjust their engine settings.
“It’s never going to happen again,” said Wolff. “I think they are probably
exploring how far you can step above the line and what the consequences are.
But isn’t that normal?”
Six races into the season and the rivalry which will define teh campaign has
gathered plenty of baggage. Both drivers will carry it with them for the
remaining 13 races.
Hamilton is like a yoyo
Emotionally speaking, Lewis Hamilton is a remarkable individual. He moves from
one extreme to the other within the space of half an hour.
Immediately after yesterday’s race, when we saw him speaking to television
crews and in the main press conference, his mood was bordering on
depression. The answers were monosyllabic and he stared into space with
barely a hint of a smile. He looked like a man in despair. This, we thought,
was how Hamilton would return to his Monaco apartment on Sunday evening.
However, like the yoyo that he can be, by the time he spoke to the British
press only half an hour or so later, Hamilton’s mood had dramatically
transformed. While he could not but help put in thinly-veiled references to
what he views as Rosberg’s transgression in qualifying, he was noticeably
bouncier.
The 29-year-old spoke of “what doesn’t break you makes you stronger”, and
showed signs of moving on. Asked directly for the first time if he thought
Rosberg cheated on Saturday he said: “Look man, the weekend’s done and
dusted. We’ve got a one-two for the team. Let’s just focus on moving
forward. I plan to be stronger in the next race.”
Most of us left that small media session absolutely astonished. How could he
go from total despair to being so buoyant in such a short space of time?
That is the enigma of Lewis Hamilton. It is the reason why, to be brutally
honest, he is the only man who can beat himself this year. Do not be
surprised if, in the next few races, he rapidly puts Rosberg in his place.
Mercedes are reliant on Nicole to comfort Lewis
I am sure Nicole Scherzinger, Lewis Hamilton’s girlfriend, is a multi-talented
woman. But right now what Hamilton and Mercedes need from her is a bit of
TLC. After all the strains and stresses of an inharmonious weekend, the
prospect of the short journey back to his Monaco apartment to spend some
time with Nicole seemed about the only thing that could bring Hamilton out
of his hump.
Niki Lauda, Mercedes F1 chairman, said as much. “Give him time and he will
sleep tonight – hopefully he will make a good party with Nicole.”
Rosberg, on the other hand, seems in much greater control of his own mind and
personal wellbeing. Granted, this weekend went exactly the way he wanted. He
has finally broken Hamilton’s momentum.
Opinion is still divided on whether he intentionally brought out yellow flags
on Saturday – Johnny Herbert, the former driver and Sky F1 pundit, is
convinced, while others are not so sure – but Rosberg did not allow that
swarm around him to affect his race. The German drove as well as he can have
been expected to.
Dreams can come true
The minnow story in Formula One seems to have gone dormant for a while. The
days of the small teams, scrapping at the back of the grid, finding
themselves in the points every so often seemed to have disappeared.
But, after five years of toil and trauma, Marussia finally had their moment in
the sun. Frenchman Jules Bianchi drove a superb race to finish ninth, in a
story which brought smiles and hugs across the paddock.
There was a wonderful moment on Sunday night when French and Russian press
corps swarmed on the modest Marussia motorhome. First, the Russian anthem
was belted out at full volume. And then, as Bianchi walked in and took his
seat at the table, there was a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise.
Graeme Lowdon, the team’s sporting director, was patently delighted, but still
cautious of using up the team’s precious pennies.
“Unfortunately we seem to have done this in one of the more expensive places
to go out, and we have the smallest budget in Formula One,” he joked. “Maybe
a half for everyone? I’m pretty sure me and John [Booth] will buy everyone a
pint.”
Stay away Sherlock
Formula One, as we are always reminded, is a show. And this show is important.
But on occasion this has led the sport’s promoters into making some
imprudent decisions. None more so than the decision to have Benedict
Cumberbatch, aka Sherlock, conduct the podium interviews for the second time
this year.
In some senses, his humble, enthusiastic approach is refreshing to see, but he
is emphatically not a journalist. It is a big job, with a lot of eyes on
you, but the fans do not want to see some actor stumble through the
questions, preventing us from hearing what we really want the drivers to
talk about. It was utterly ludicrous.
It was obvious he would avoid the thorny subject of Lewis and Nico’s
relationship, but it could have been handled gently without causing too much
of a stir. In short, this little experiment should be chucked on a landfill
site. Bring back the professionals Mr Ecclestone, please.
