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[What's Burning?]

^^ I agree, Mercedes have done that in the past. But there's a clear difference between letting team mates race, and not letting teammates race at all.

[spankyham]

^^ I agree, Mercedes have done that in the past. But there's a clear difference between letting team mates race, and not letting teammates race at all.

Always let them race when its good for the team - that's the smart thing to do.

[racechick]

When I say 'may the best man win' I'm using it as a turn if phrase. It will be close between these two and luck may decide it. But I'm pretty certain Mercedes won't intervene to get the 'German ' double. Nico has chosen German as his nationality and I'm sure it will give him impetus in the fight. But Mercedes AMG Petronas ( the f1 team ) are based in Britain, many engineers and mechanics are British. Both toto and Lauda speak highly of Lewis and I see no signs of him being isolated in a German team. Besides that, Nico and Lewis are friends, have been for years. Even if it were a possibility to engineer an advantage for himself by playing the 'German' card, I don't believe Nico would. Some drivers in that situation almost certainly would, but I don't think Nico would. I have huge respect for Nico and how he goes about his business.
I believe Lewis has the edge in race raft and speed, and that is born out by their results in previous categories, but who knows in the fickle world of f1 how things will turn out.

If either of these guys win it will be a huge marketing coup for Mercedes( not just the f1 team) and I believe the marketing gain will be just as great if not greater if it's Lewis that wins.

I think you're fearing things there just is no evidence of. Mercedes have not shown anything that would indicate that. Having said that, if Lewis was clearly in the lead and we were down to the last few races, and Ferrari or Red Bull were in a position to threaten for that title, I'm sure Mercedes would rightfully use team orders to ensure the team gets the best result to secure the title. If that meant telling Nico to hold position then that's what they would quite rightfully do.

I'm not fearing anything at all. That's exactly what I'm saying. Mercedes play fair so do Nico and Lewis.

[Hammer278]

Briton Paddy Lowe is team boss, Niki Lauda is the guy heralded to have turned Lewis' head and bring him to Mercedes, Lewis is the former World Champion.....I believe Mercedes would prefer to be known as the team led by the double World Champion than the team led by the new Finnish/German champion. I don't even get how Nico considered himself German, isn't his dad Finnish?

[racechick]

Nico is dual nationality I believe and he chose to race under the German flag. I also believe, though multilingual, he speaks hardly any Finnish.

[What's Burning?]

Of course he's not Finnish, he doesn't drive a rally car for fun in the off season.

[CookinFlat6]

The whole idea is that the Daimler people are leaving the F1 to the Austrian Toto and Niki and the British Paddy

There is no way they would want to be seen as requesting the German Nico winning over Lewis. Germans can be touchy about things like that. They would absolutely shy away from this all German team where the Italians wouldn't.

So I think that's just straw grasping like those who said the team would implode from having too many top rated engineers

Nico will give Lewis a great run for his money, but looking between the lines of last years results suggests Nicos advantage will decrease

[RyRy]

You've got to remember that the Mercedes car was not far off last year's Bahrain qualifying they were suggesting that the v6 engines were going to be 2-3 seconds of the pace and yet they are only 1 second off...

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

[sagi58]

... who knows in the fickle world of f1 how things will turn out...

And, that's what I'm curious about!! Considering Mercedes have not been in a position,
since I've been watching F1, to win either title, it's been fairly easy for fans to believe
that all is fair in love and war, under their watch.

But, what IF both drivers are in the hunt for the title? With a third being very close?
How long before a "hold your station" team order is given? Especially with this new
last race double points?

[racechick]

If there's an unnecessary risk to the cars for no team gain towards the end of a race, and particularly towards the end of the season, then yes, I expect there will be a hold station call. There was one last year.

But that's not what I mean, I mean Mercedes will not chose a driver they wish to win based on nationality, or based on personal preference, or any other silly whim. They will treat their drivers equally and not favour one with preferable strategies, with talking him up against the other, or any other game of that nature.

[Hammer278]

Let's put it this way, these guys are out there to make a name for themselves in F1. They want to be seen winning, and they will win with whoever delivers the WDC for them, but they also take into account their ROI.

They've invested heavily in Lewis (I'm sure his paycheck trounces Nico's) so the expectations are naturally higher. The business needs it's returns, the employee with the higher pay check has the higher responsibilities...it's the bottom line. Just like how it was when Lewis and Alonso were teammates and Lewis was paid peanuts compared to Alonso and overachieved, they'd now expect him to beat Nico since it's what their investment requires. Favouring Nico will mean Lewis has failed badly on track and that will reflect badly on Lewis than Mercedes since they've essentially wasted their investment, pure and simple.

[CookinFlat6]

Well said RC. Merc are pros, we saw that with MS leaving, Norbet, Paddy arriving etc

Theres not gonna be any 'but lets talk about' anything other than star driver employees paid to win.

Its just the latest in a long line of wishful thinking from certain dtractors;
He trashes tyres, cars, too aggressive, shouldnt have moved to Merc, cant save fuel,

and now, is not German

[sagi58]

Let's put it this way, these guys are out there to make a name for themselves in F1. They want to be seen winning, and they will win with whoever delivers the WDC for them, but they also take into account their ROI.

They've invested heavily in Lewis (I'm sure his paycheck trounces Nico's) so the expectations are naturally higher. The business needs it's returns, the employee with the higher pay check has the higher responsibilities...it's the bottom line. Just like how it was when Lewis and Alonso were teammates and Lewis was paid peanuts compared to Alonso and overachieved, they'd now expect him to beat Nico since it's what their investment requires. Favouring Nico will mean Lewis has failed badly on track and that will reflect badly on Lewis than Mercedes since they've essentially wasted their investment, pure and simple.

Very well argued!!

Just one question:
Does that mean fans expect Hamilton to be given preferential treatment,
considering the higher expectations and how much more there is riding
on him than on Rosberg?

[What's Burning?]

Let's put it this way, these guys are out there to make a name for themselves in F1. They want to be seen winning, and they will win with whoever delivers the WDC for them, but they also take into account their ROI.

They've invested heavily in Lewis (I'm sure his paycheck trounces Nico's) so the expectations are naturally higher. The business needs it's returns, the employee with the higher pay check has the higher responsibilities...it's the bottom line. Just like how it was when Lewis and Alonso were teammates and Lewis was paid peanuts compared to Alonso and overachieved, they'd now expect him to beat Nico since it's what their investment requires. Favouring Nico will mean Lewis has failed badly on track and that will reflect badly on Lewis than Mercedes since they've essentially wasted their investment, pure and simple.

Very well argued!!

Just one question:
Does that mean fans expect Hamilton to be given preferential treatment,
considering the higher expectations and how much more there is riding
on him than on Rosberg?

Would you expect anything less from Ferrari to Alonso?

[sagi58]

Let's put it this way, these guys are out there to make a name for themselves in F1. They want to be seen winning, and they will win with whoever delivers the WDC for them, but they also take into account their ROI.

They've invested heavily in Lewis (I'm sure his paycheck trounces Nico's) so the expectations are naturally higher. The business needs it's returns, the employee with the higher pay check has the higher responsibilities...it's the bottom line. Just like how it was when Lewis and Alonso were teammates and Lewis was paid peanuts compared to Alonso and overachieved, they'd now expect him to beat Nico since it's what their investment requires. Favouring Nico will mean Lewis has failed badly on track and that will reflect badly on Lewis than Mercedes since they've essentially wasted their investment, pure and simple.

Very well argued!!

Just one question:
Does that mean fans expect Hamilton to be given preferential treatment,
considering the higher expectations and how much more there is riding
on him than on Rosberg?

Would you expect anything less from Ferrari to Alonso?

Ab-so-freaking-lute not!! It's been a long time between titles, in spite of his ability!
Unfortunately, the "stars" of the show (mainly the car) haven't been aligned!
The expectations and the disappointment of not achieving them are a sore point!
So, having been there and done that, I felt I could ask that question!