2014 Hungarian Grand Prix - Hungaroring

[Regle]

He didn't ask the team to tell Hamilton to move. The team themselves told Rosberg that Hamilton would let him through. So it's not surprising that Rosberg was asking why Hamilton wasn't letting him past.

This is from Rosberg's postrace interview on Sky.

He asked twice over the radio" whys he not letting me pass" as if he felt entitled to having Lewis move over instead of giving it a hard push, closing to less than a second and at least trying to get past. If he has pushed hard and got past Lewis he could well have won the race.

Well if I were in Rosberg's shoes and the team told me "Ok, Nico, Hamilton will move over" but then no such thing happenned - I would start asking that question as well. That's what Nico said in the postrace interview - "he did not want Lewis to move, the team said he would" (trying to quote him from memory).

You could actually read a bias towards Lewis into that.
“Don't bother trying, Nico, he'll let you pass”. Of course he won't, so it's no harm to ask Lewis “Let Nico pass for the championship”. Nico will back off for a few laps and lose his chance.

I'm not saying that's how it went down, but without further information, one could read everything into that.

[henra]

Alonso, I have no words but that was mighty drive

Alonso:
I have to fully agree. Incredible. He was the only one of the top three that suffered from the SC (I initially got that wrong - thanks guys for the correction) and still managed to end up on the Podium. That guy is just delivering miracles.

Ricciardo.
Still a very good Job from Ricciardo but he was also the biggest gainer of the SC lottery (together with Hamilton). This guy has a lot of luck but in an Alonso style he is always there when it counts and when confusion throws off some other guys. Lots of race craft.

Hamilton.
Very good drive but also quite a bit supported by luck and technical gremlins + luke warm strategy over in the Rosberg camp. Vettel spun off exactly in the right Moment. That was crucial for the final outcome of his day.
On the other Hand I found it absolutely OK from him to not let Rosberg pass since the latter was less than a second quicker. I would not consider that blocking.
Still, Merc will have a hard time in future to move one of the two drivers to an alternative strategy that requires cooperation of the other driver. From a Team perspective a real disaster.
Mechanical robustness remains the achilles heel of the W05. Brake ducts closed a smidgeon too much and off drops the pace into mediocrity.

Rosberg.
First massive bad luck with the SC. Then too careful at times. Too scared to cook the Brakes when he needed to attack. All these laps behind Vergne. Then pitted at a time when he ended up in traffic after the stop. That was when he finally lost the race. At the end mighty quick but that was too late. This car nursing might have saved him in some races where Hamilton DNF'ed but it cost him today.

Vettel.
Beginning of the race looked really good for a 2014 Vettel race. On target for a podium. Quicker than Alonso, charging Bottas for 2nd place. And then came the bad luck with the SC.
Which derailed him completely. Nothing worked any more. He seemed to have lost the plot again. Mistakes + questionable strategy + bad luck +...+...+... and it ended as a typical 2014 Vettel race.

[iotar__]

By asking Lewis to let Nico through. Nico was on a 13 laps used tyres, was struggling to overtake Lewis and how on earth he would have overtaken Fernando? It would have simply cost Lewis the podium. Worse, what if Lewis would have let him through and then there was a safety car event? Again gone. Very stupid of Merc management. Commentators were right when they remembered Ross Brawn to have been on the pit wall.

Not true - tyres, struggling, overtaken Fernando etc. Why? Already explained but again: Rosberg overall lost a lot of time in traffic, after second and especially third stop. Third stop when he pitted after he wasted considerable amount of time behind Hamilton. Free air matters in Hungary, ask Alo&Ricc. It would have taken just a couple of seconds (from memory) to be in front of Williams and the other car, I don't remember exactly. Free air instead of overtaking = a lot of time.

The other side: I'm speculating but judging by how Hamilton in a faster, tuned for race car couldn't touch very slow Alonso and helped Ricciardo by getting overtaken with DRS (slight mistake) he wasted time keeping Rosberg behind. I can be wrong here but Rosberg's side is obvious. If Brawn was at Merc there would be no fight at all, ultra boring championship and Rosberg getting Barrichello BRAWN GP treatment with bad strategy calls and set up/equipment problems. Only Brembo brakes allowed etc.

[Waywardism]

If Hamilton had let Rosberg pass, Rosberg probably would have won with Hamilton, say, 3rd or 4th.
Now they got P3 and P4. What team on earth wouldn't have preferred option 1 over option 2?

No team, but when Toto was asked the question after the race he said "yes but they're also fighting each other for the championship".

It's understandable that Lewis didn't let him pass, but so is the team's decision to ask Lewis to do that. No bias there.
We've seen this with Red Bull plenty of times, WCC comes first. The more points, the better. WDC comes second, and a driver preventing the team from winning will not be the team's darling. Of course Nico wouldn't have let Lewis pass either.

Yes I agree, but this season is exceptional in that they are so dominant the WCC isn't in question, the only fight being played out is the WDC. Toto seems to understand this and I can't see the team looking disfavourably on Hamilton in this instance.

[langwadt]

Any driver fighting for tge championship with a half a brain would never let rosberg past!! The last time i checked mercedes has almist twice the points ad redbull - they arent exactly in a points drought now sre they? It's a no brainer hamilton did the smart choice. Are people really discussing this?

I just saw an interview with Niki on german tv and he didn't make much if it, he understood that Ham didn't let Ros past when
he was that far behind, had they been side by side it would have been different. He didn't quite say that he thought the call from the pit was wrong but almost

[SectorOne]

Alonso now commenting on the Mediums saying he was happy Hamilton had those because they are less grippy.

[Pierce89]

If Hamilton had let Rosberg pass, Rosberg probably would have won with Hamilton, say, 3rd or 4th.
Now they got P3 and P4. What team on earth wouldn't have preferred option 1 over option 2?

Rosberg was slower. That's why he didn't pass. He could barely hold onto DRS range.

You can't hang behind another f1 car if you're slower. I was under the impression that anyone on this forum would understand that. DRS has never been strong enough at Hungary to do much of anything.

[cirrusflyer]

Great race! Loved it. It had just about everything.
I was mighty impressed with alonso; he dragged that dog by the scruff, how did he keep those softs for so long?

Well I think that Kimi also drove really good from where he started the race ( after the Q debacle, which was not his to blame).

[Phil]

Honestly, I'd be amazed if you can give a reasonable explanation of how Merc were biased towards Nico today.

By asking Lewis to let Nico through. Nico was on a 13 laps used tyres, was struggling to overtake Lewis and how on earth he would have overtaken Fernando? It would have simply cost Lewis the podium. Worse, what if Lewis would have let him through and then there was a safety car event? Again gone. Very stupid of Merc management. Commentators were right when they remembered Ross Brawn to have been on the pit wall.

It made total sense from Mercedes' POV. They expected Hamilton to pass Alonso and win the race while giving Rosberg the chance to come in second.

It ultimately didn't pan out that way of course and Lewis' decision to ignore team orders saved him, but it still hurt the team as Rosberg would at least have come in second had Lewis let him go by. Maybe even first depending on how much time Lewis cost him.

My only gripe with the strategy/ists today is that effectively after the first pitstop and safety car, both Mercedes drivers were equal, seperated by 1.5 seconds and by one car (Vettel). Rosberg pitted early after not being able to pass Vergne, which then put him in traffic and effectively behind Hamilton. Hamilton opted to stay out longer (radio call) which i guess opened the opportunity for a two stop opposed to a planned 3 stop, which Nico was on. At the point when Rosberg got stuck behind Hamilton, they could have technically pit him to softs, then Nico and have both on an agressive 3 stop (IOOO ROS vs IOMO for HAM).

Leaving Hamilton out on those mediums, i thought, would always leave him vulnerable.

[beelsebob]

If Hamilton had let Rosberg pass, Rosberg probably would have won with Hamilton, say, 3rd or 4th.
Now they got P3 and P4. What team on earth wouldn't have preferred option 1 over option 2?

Rosberg was slower. That's why he didn't pass. He could barely hold onto DRS range.

You can't hang behind another f1 car if you're slower. I was under the impression that anyone on this forum would understand that. DRS has never been strong enough at Hungary to do much of anything.

DRS certainly can't be strong enough if you're not close enough to use it

[Pierce89]

For me, easily best race of the year.

[thomin]

My only gripe with the strategy/ists today is that effectively after the first pitstop and safety car, both Mercedes drivers were equal, seperated by 1.5 seconds and by one car (Vettel). Rosberg pitted early after not being able to pass Vergne, which then put him in traffic and effectively behind Hamilton. Hamilton opted to stay out longer (radio call) which i guess opened the opportunity for a two stop opposed to a planned 3 stop, which Nico was on. At the point when Rosberg got stuck behind
Hamilton, they could have technically pit him to softs, then Nico and have both on an agressive 3 stop (IOOO ROS vs IOMO for HAM).

Leaving Hamilton out on those mediums, i thought, would always leave him vulnerable.

In general, the Mercedes strategists were probably not up to their A game here. Though splitting the strategies is not the worst thing to do.

[ismail1991]

I think if HAM put softs inside of mediums, he would definitely win the race. They have the best car, they should have used it, but they choose a strategy which is good for Force Indıa

[f1ssk]

Well, agree to the fact that if Hamilton had let Rosberg through ... Rosberg would have ended P1.
But from the point of Hamilton... it shouldnt have ended up at that stage (in hindsight) , if the team had put the softs on instead of the medium tire... Rosberg would have never caught up to the back of him and Hamilton could have had a real shot at P1.( assuming that the Mercs are as good or better than the ferrari on the softs, which is true.)

Hence, Hamiltons disappointment at third and a BIG let down from Merc on strategy... and them trying to salvage Rosberg winning the GP (intentionally or not / conspiracy here ) by asking Hamilton to let Rosberg through is again a bad call.

I think Hamilton NOT letting Rosberg though is fair decision based on this train of though.

[matt_b]

For me, easily best race of the year.

and the first wet race of the year, isn't spa famous for rain...