Monday 1st September 2014

Motorsport on Monday: 1/9/14

Mercedes machinations and goodbye to a rallying legend

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"Re: Time off for good behaviour" read the subject heading of the email editor Dan sent me a little over a week ago. No Motorsport on Monday for the bank holiday last week just so happened to coincide with one of the most interesting and potentially pivotal races of the F1 season so far. But actually, waiting a week to report on the Hamilton-Rosberg tangle at Spa has given us time to absorb and analyse the fallout from that lap two incident.

And here's the disclaimer: this is my view on it. It is not necessarily right, as it's not totally clear cut. Others may have different opinions, this is just how I saw/read it.

Rosberg went on to take second at Spa

Our survey says...
Fundamentally, for me, Rosberg was in the wrong. Given his position in the championship and his shocker of a start from pole, he must have been feeling the pressure as Hamilton had the opportunity to streak away at the front and potentially claw back some of his championship deficit.

Pretty much the first rule of motorsport is not to take out your teammate. In a world where sponsorship is king, and the brands slapped over the side of your car are used to getting plenty of airtime over a weekend, to shunt both cars down the order from a silly mistake can be costly financially.

But was it a mistake? Answers to this particular survey in the comments please. In the debrief in the immediate aftermath, Rosberg was claimed to have said he hit Hamilton on purpose to prove a point, with Mercedes later backing Hamilton's claims on Twitter saying they were "broadly correct."

I don't think that point was to teach him a lesson - not by trying to force him down the order or out of the race, anyway. Rosberg is cleverer than that.

You know what's coming...

He's raced open wheel formula cars all his life. He knows contact is a no-no. Maybe he meant to give Lewis a little kiss as a gentle reminder that he won't wilt and is not a pushover when it comes to proper racing.

I feel Lewis's move was totally fair. It was his corner, Rosberg had plenty left to do around the outside at Les Combes - not the most common passing place at Spa or even at that corner, anyway - and Hamilton was well within his rights to open the steering slightly and squeeze Nico into submitting. Only Rosberg didn't.

It's these situations that show us how drivers deal with pressure. And after half a season pretty much losing out to Lewis in wheel-to-wheel action (in the actual proper racing battles they've had on track), I think Rosberg wanted to try and assert his authority as championship leader. The rest, as they say...

Fallout
That wasn't the worst part though, as front-wing-to-rear-wheel racing incidents happen pretty often. In fact, there were a few more during the very same race. So why was the Merc transgression so different to the others?

"Totally unacceptable" was the official line

Again, for the reasons above about teammates tangling, that both cars are one and two in the championship, and that it was lap two. But even worse was the aftermath - it wasn't exactly the behaviour of a future world champion from Rosberg.

Hamilton was understandably aggrieved, giving a candid post race interview. He didn't really moan, but dropped a few clever comments putting the ball firmly in Rosberg and the team's court.

Which is why when we first heard Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda describe the incident as "totally unacceptable", it was unsurprising to hear both had been briefed on the party line.

Rosberg backed himself into a corner, publicly and privately. Stuttering and stammering and searching for answers in interviews proved, to me at least, there was an element of blame to be apportioned for what under other circumstances would have been dismissed as a racing incident.

He was angry, which is probably why he said what he did in Mercedes' not-very-private private meeting. To me it smacked of a toddler's defensive stance - the only way it knows how to bat off comments aimed at it is by attacking others.

Hamilton is now 29 points behind Rosberg

Team orders
There are no team orders in F1 this year, according to Mercedes - except when it orders Rosberg to pay a hefty fine to say sorry. That won't bring Lewis's lost points back, however.

You wouldn't have thought a team would need to brief its drivers not to go panel bashing on the first few laps, but it seems crazy that scenario wasn't mentioned and diffused before it ever happened.

Rosberg says he has moved on and has "apologised for his error of judgement." Quite. Hamilton says he can still work with Rosberg - I get the feeling it's only so he can get the satisfaction of beating him to the title after all the adversity with reliability he's faced this year. He's 29 points adrift with seven races to go, which has teed the finale to the championship right up.

I mentioned earlier in the year it had the potential to be a Senna-Prost-esque battle. More so than I first thought. Casio Triangle at Suzuka, anyone?

Farewell to a legend

Bye bye Bjorn
The squabbling in F1 rather pales into insignificance next to news that Swedish rally legend Bjorn Waldegard passed away this week, however.

Winner of the 1979 WRC title, Waldegard drove some of the most revered rally cars ever throughout his career: the Lancia Stratos, Ford Escort RS1800, Porsche 911 S and Toyota Celica were just a few animals he managed to tame and entertain in, usually very sideways.

RIP Bjorn. A great loss to rallying and motorsport in general.

[Pics: LAT]

[Pugsey]

'Bye Bye Bjorn' should have come first - not second, as almost a foot note to a petty spat. Perhaps PHs will devote more space to him later?

R.I.P. and thanks for the memories.