Hamilton-Rosberg Rivalry Heats Up For Summer

Currently, nobody can argue against the fact that Lewis Hamilton is in his unstoppable, unbelievable, untouchable form. After winning 6 of of the last 7 races and being the first driver to win four races in a calendar month – July, the triple world champion has overturned what was once a 43 point deficit to lead by 19 points over his title rival Rosberg as the sport goes into it’s summer break.

There was never a doubt of Hamilton’s driving ability and there certainly never will be, for his natural ability has been one of many things that have aided his incredible success no end. It cannot be easy to watch your teammate win the first four races of the season whilst being held back by multiple engine failures during qualifying. Getting caught up in first lap contact and therefore damage as a result would only have made it worse. When the Mercedes pair collided in a first-lap crash which saw them both out of the race and out of favour with the simply seething bosses branding it as “stupid”, Hamilton admitted his “heart sunk.” And so too, at the time, did his title chances.

Since this ultimate low for Lewis, he has been on an exponential upward curve, but for crashing in Baku qualifying. He has won from in front and behind his rivals to make clear that he has the racing instincts. As his form grows, so does his confidence and maturity. It seems that he used to just win races, now he controls them as he decides the pace which suits him. It also appears that the poor race starts, which haunted the earlier races of the season are a thing of the past. If he was at rock bottom in Spain, he is flying high as he leaves Germany, thanks to his private jet but more importantly, mentally, he is on top.

On the contrasting other side of the Mercedes garage, his title rival and Monaco neighbour; Nico, is rather down in the dumps after what he described as a “crap” race. It must be said though that it was a collection of low-quality performances that must have built up to this mood of despair. In Monaco, he was left behind by the leaders as though he had offended them, lacking pace in the circuit he knows best. Then in three of the last four races, the German was called to the stewards for illegal radio transmissions and not giving drivers space in battle, with one case ending in him crashing into Hamilton, his teammate and dropping like a disgruntled rock to 4th. In Hungary too, Rosberg was under investigation for getting pole whilst under double yellow flags, which Hamilton personally pointed out to him meant that he needed to slow down and prepare to stop. This is all likely to be playing on the mind of Rosberg as it would to anyone.

As touched upon briefly, Hamilton has been playing off this misfortune and catalogue of errors from. Rosberg to perfection. After the race in Hungary, it was clear to all that Nico’s sarcastic pat on the back more than epitomises the frosty relationship the pair have as Lewis smiled knowing he was doing just what he had to do to dominate him rival mentally off the track as well as on it. It was very much interesting watching the contrast of Hamilton joking around with the Red Bull drivers in the press conference one week later.

Many were shocked when they heard the roar of delight reverberate around the Hockenheimring on the first lap when the crowd saw that Hamilton was leading and Rosberg had been overtaken by the Red Bull drivers of Ricciardo and Verstappen. There were reasons for this response. Firstly, despite having a German passport and Mother, Nico’s Father in Finnish and the title contender has lived in Monaco all of his life. When he described Monaco as his home grand prix earlier on in the season, these thing build up in the minds of the fans. causing them to find it hard to relate to and therefore like Rosberg. This could explain why last year the German grand prix was cancelled due to lack of interest. This year though, to seemed as though there were more fans from Britain and certainly The Netherlands, who had their men at the front after both making good starts. The fact though, that Hamilton beat Rosberg on his own turf and the Germans weren’t fussed about it won’t have helped Rosberg’s confidence.

Maybe one of the reasons for Rosberg’s seeming lack of self-belief if that every time the Mercedes drivers have battled on track, Hamilton has come out on top or they have crashed. Hamilton seems to be less affected by these collisions too whereas Rosberg goes into his shell and becomes cautious. The result of this is that Hamilton tends to win at the next opportunity after they battle. This only boosts mental strength of Lewis whilst Rosberg clearly has a dent to this confidence.

Many believe that this remarkable fight-back. just goes to show how strong the Brit; Hamilton, is mentally. But he still feels like he is “chasing” even if he leads the championship and has momentum in his direction. The reason for this being that he is already running on him last engine due to the early failures that he suffered. This means that it is more than likely that the reigning world champion will incur a grid penalty later in the season. The result: Lewis will be fighting through the field whilst Rosberg has the chance to walk away with it. This produces an entertaining prospect for the viewers as one of the greatest drivers has yet more challenges thrown him way. It is a good thing then, that the man from Stevenage is not complacent after his fantastic return of late, yet again showing Hamilton’s ever-wiser demeanour that we are becoming more accustomed to.

If we have learned anything from the past two years, it is that one should never question Lewis Hamilton, when he is on song, has the car alive and has confidence like he has done of late, he is, as Toto Wolff said, “unbeatable.” Let us not forget though, Nico Rosberg is a fine driver. The four straight wins at the beginning of the season was not luck. He needs to get his head back in the game over the summer, if he manages this, he has just as much of a chance to become champion as the form man who he calls his teammate. One thing is for sure, drama is on the cards, which is a mouthwatering prospect, especially as Red Bull close in to add more spice.

This post was originally published on my Medium Site on 3rd August 2016