Tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are running high.
After the Chinese Grand Prix, Rosberg, who finished behind his
team-mate, accused Hamilton for being selfish and making his race
difficult. Hamilton, who won the event, controlled his pace during the
race, and was driving too slowly – according to Rosberg. This opened a
chance for Ferrari’s Sebastien Vettel to catch and try to pass Rosberg.
Hamilton’s reply was a chilling one; he told it was not his job to look
after Nico’s race. Harsh but true. Nico must raise his game.
Rosberg’s
frustration is understandable. Hamilton has taken three poles and two
wins in the first three races. The edge Nico had over Hamilton in
qualifying in last year seems to have vanished. In addition, he has been
unable to beat Hamilton in a race this year. Rosberg’s compatriot
Sebastien Vettel won the race in Malaysia and is mixing up the title
fight. If Ferrari poses a serious threat to Mercedes this year, Mercedes
may have to re-think their driver politics: Nico may have to play a
supporting role for Lewis. So far, this is not the case.
Nico
needs to regain his confidence. Losing the title last year must have
been a hard hit – especially since he was leading the championship for
so long. In Hamliton’s case, the title boosted his confidence which
seems to be unbreakable at the moment. Nico made crucial errors in races
last year – one notable was his error in Austin, which allowed Hamilton
to pass him in the race. First step for Nico in his comeback is to
regain his edge in qualifying. This will be difficult, since it seems
Hamilton has improved in qualifying – as he vowed before the start of
this season. If everything comes together, Nico is able to beat Lewis,
as he showed in Brazilian GP last year. The problem in Nico’s case seems
to be Lewis’s confidence: after the Chinese GP he told he had some
extra speed in case he had needed it. This may or may not be true, but
it is clear Hamilton is playing mind games with Nico – in order to win
again, he must ignore all that kind of comments.
Nico will have
his chance soon – the next GP will be driven in Bahrain next weekend.
Last year the Mercedes drivers offered a thrilling battle for the win
and it was the race that really launched the duel between Hamilton and
Rosberg for the title. Nico is undoubtedly keen for a payback after
finishing second last year.
However, Bahrain might not be a two
horse race: the temperatures will be higher than in China and Ferrari
has an edge in terms of consuming tires, as it demonstrated in Malaysian
GP. In raw speed Mercedes is ahead, but if Ferrari can exploit the tire
advantage by making one pit stop less in the race, we might see another
Ferrari-win. That would mix up the situation and offer more interesting
championship for the fans.