At a time when the whole world is struggling to come to
terms with the fact that Roger Federer lost to Marin Cilic in straight sets at
the US Open semifinal, I don’t know what is more distressing - the advertisement
of that ludicrous Akshay Kumar show Dare 2 Dance or the fact that my channel is
still airing a show called ‘Motorsports & Petronas’ that shows Mercedes
teammates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton chatting around having gala time and playing
like kids with remote-controlled racecars.
Agreed that the show was shot before the Belgian Grand Prix with an aim to target the lighter side of Formula 1, but it’s just downright disturbing to see two drivers faking out a friendship. Let’s not get things wrong, they were good friends in the past. But the key word to note in that previous sentence is ‘were’. The same is no longer true now and as a preacher since times immemorial of the certitude that F1 is not a team sport, I would like to take this opportunity to shout out loud and say “Ha! Told Ya So!”
Agreed that the show was shot before the Belgian Grand Prix with an aim to target the lighter side of Formula 1, but it’s just downright disturbing to see two drivers faking out a friendship. Let’s not get things wrong, they were good friends in the past. But the key word to note in that previous sentence is ‘were’. The same is no longer true now and as a preacher since times immemorial of the certitude that F1 is not a team sport, I would like to take this opportunity to shout out loud and say “Ha! Told Ya So!”
The timeline, if one was to draft such a thing, of the
rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg clearly can be depicted with a downward
slope graph on an x-y axis with the horizontal line representing “time” and the
vertical line representing “trust”. And as an ardent Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen
fan I should be jubilant to see such a graph for a rival team. But
unfortunately am not. Maybe it’s because I have developed a slight liking for
Mercedes (Not because of their car; but because they finally broke Sebastian
Vettel’s championship winning streak and halted Red Bull’s ridiculously boring
dominance).
It all started at the Bahrain Grand Prix when a riveting duel saw Rosberg, though being on pole position, squander the summit to an over-aggressive and "out-of-line" Hamilton who piloted his Mercedes home with sheer brilliance and notch up his second win of the season.
Next up was Monaco where defending champion Rosberg brought Hamilton's 4-race winning streak to an end. Nothing wrong in that I suppose. Of course that is only if one is willing to naively overlook the Qualification botch where the German "conveniently" went off a corner in Q3 with less than 10 seconds left to force a yellow flag and disallow Hamilton's (who was faster till that point) time.
The Canadian Grand Prix saw both drivers, who despite being sternly warned by team officials, push each other to such an extent that Hamilton was forced to retire due to overheating brakes and Rosberg eventually ended up frittering the lead to Daniel Ricciardo as his Mercedes "ran out" of power.
The Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton defied team orders and did not let Rosberg pass ahead, forced Mercedes to come out and announce that they’ll let both drivers loose for them to carry on with their ‘impending’ battle. Good job! Only the move came a Grand Prix too late guys.
The Belgian Grand Prix, where ‘point-proving’ Rosberg
felt that sabotaging Hamilton was probably the best way to be taken seriously
as a driver, forced the silver arrows to condemn the Monaco-born German driver and in an unprecedented move declare that a punishment was in order.
And finally the Italian Grand Prix, where Rosberg expediently overshot the same chicane twice (once in practice and once during the race) in order for Hamilton to snatch victory, made the team say it out loud that both drivers were in fact ‘like enemies’. Throw in an evil laugh there and we have a melodrama folks!
And finally the Italian Grand Prix, where Rosberg expediently overshot the same chicane twice (once in practice and once during the race) in order for Hamilton to snatch victory, made the team say it out loud that both drivers were in fact ‘like enemies’. Throw in an evil laugh there and we have a melodrama folks!
Clearly this rivalry has now reached all together a whole
different level, which is something that no one in the fraternity anticipated at
the start. In a sport where, conventionally speaking, drivers in a team should
be trusting each other blindly, the Mercedes duo are now in a position where
they’ll have to double check their backs even in an 1-2 situation. I guess it
was just a matter of time when deliberately driving into teammates at speeds in
excess of 300 kilometers an hour for revenge would strategically be part of the
package.
To top it all off, Mercedes team chief Toto Wolff
recently went on record to state that it would have been next to impossible to
execute the events of Monza deliberately suggesting that the claims of a
conspiracy theory being in place to recompense Rosberg for Spa were completely
baseless.
All right! Fair enough. But riddle me this, will you? Considering that there is no technical or mechanical reason behind it, how does one explain a driver as experienced as Rosberg overshooting a chicane not once but twice in a race that was as crucial (in terms of points) as Monza at a time when a ‘retribution’ was in order?
All right! Fair enough. But riddle me this, will you? Considering that there is no technical or mechanical reason behind it, how does one explain a driver as experienced as Rosberg overshooting a chicane not once but twice in a race that was as crucial (in terms of points) as Monza at a time when a ‘retribution’ was in order?
The answer from Wolff – “It’s bizarre!”
Well, it could indeed be a coincidence and maybe I’m just
being too paranoid in imagining things. But let’s face it the sport is indeed
more interesting this way (wink wink). Also, the reason why I’m not in any mood
to sideline these events as “coincidence” is because it’s happened one too many
times now and the timings of those events impeccably suggest a devious master plan
in implementation.
Formula 1 has indeed witnessed its share of intra-team
battles like Aryton Senna v Alain Prost, Fernando Alonso v Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian
Vettel v Mark Webber in the past. But what makes this one so different and peevish
at the same time is the ‘denial’ from all parties. Whether its Facebook posts
that suggest all is well in the camp or Instagram pictures that show a friendly
‘photo-bomb’, every eventuality is marked with a tinge of suspicion and is
followed by something that negates everything.
Hamilton’s emotional Facebook/Twitter picture in the aftermath of Monaco showing Rosberg and
him during their go-karting days was swiftly followed by Hungary where unlike
go-karting team orders and radio messages created havoc. The Mercedes tweet
rendering an ‘all-is-hunki-dory’ image with a Hamilton photo-bomb preceded
Canada where ironically Rosberg portrayed an ‘I won’t be intimidated’ image for
himself. And of course Mercedes’ detailed explanation that everything was under
‘control’ happened just before Italy.
Needless to say the person who seems to be most affected
by all the happenings is Nico Rosberg. Not only does he have the ‘rich boy’
image going against him, he also has to compete against an aura as radiant as
Lewis Hamilton’s. Truly it’s the fans that make or break an F1 driver and
everyone knows who everyone supports because without doubt if compared Hamilton
is the more talented among the two.
And if one was to read the signs as given by Rosberg, one would have no doubts in deciphering that even Rosberg knows who the better driver is. If you don’t believe me just shoot back to May and relive the Monaco Grand Prix qualification fiasco. Ahem! Another coincidence, right!? Of course!
And if one was to read the signs as given by Rosberg, one would have no doubts in deciphering that even Rosberg knows who the better driver is. If you don’t believe me just shoot back to May and relive the Monaco Grand Prix qualification fiasco. Ahem! Another coincidence, right!? Of course!
All in all keeping aside all the controversies and the dissensions,
the thing that is keeping Mercedes so neurotically calm and composed in this
whole affair is that they’re facing no major threats, as of yet, to the
constructors’ championship. They can afford the “egocentric” luxury to have the
drivers have a go at it as long as the team points keep coming in.
It would have been interesting to see whether such attitude would have been in place had Hungary, Belgium and Italy been the first three races of the season or if all three races would have witnessed both drivers retiring without scoring points.
It would have been interesting to see whether such attitude would have been in place had Hungary, Belgium and Italy been the first three races of the season or if all three races would have witnessed both drivers retiring without scoring points.
However, that coincidence would have been too much to ask
for a F1 enthusiast!
No comments:
Post a Comment