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[cheekybru]

How would people rate the Grand Prix out of 10?

For me, it took a little while to get simmering, but it developed into a really enjoyable race. Plenty going on, 7/10?

Hopefully we'll have more close encounters with the Merc drivers.

Yeh i agree, 7 or 7.5, A very pure F1 race of the old era, with 2 drivers battling for lead throughout every sector even if it wasnt wheel to wheel, And overtakes in the field to keep us happy

[cheekybru]

They don't talk each other down.

And, they shouldn't, as teammates!
I was responding to The Second Coming's suggestion
that Hamilton not be such a "nice guy"!

That was me RC, making my point that Lewis has been layering it on a little too thick about Nico. At this point, it's clear to most (me included) that the Championship is between the two. On a personal note, I like Nico, especially when comparing him to all the other team-mates Lewis has had but I just think Lewis should back away a bit from always seeming to take every opportunity to bolster up Nico. No good will come of it. Now I'm not saying Lewis should take to pure acrimony or make it a harsh personal attack, just don't keep saying things like "Nico was faster than me today" and the like, even if it is true at certain moments. I feel Lewis needs to have every edge he can, especially on the days like he had in Bahrain and Spain where there were close moments of that win being in doubt. Lewis is doing the bit on track but there is a psychological element to be played in my view…and we've seen it in most sports with some of the greatest names in those sports: Ali, Michael Jordan and Senna to name a few. You never saw any of them talking up their opponents…they often secured an advantage before even taking to the ring/court/track by either measuring what they said (focusing on their own task at hand) or not saying anything at all. I just don't want to see Lewis stroke Nico's ego and that becomes a psychological boost for Nico, leading to an extra boost in his performance. Lewis is clearly a much better driver but still, give nothing away. They know each other very well and if it's clear to most of us, Lewis can also see too (and hear) that Nico is not taking this losing bit so well. Right now I'm seeing Lewis' body language suggesting sooner or later he's gonna turn to Nico and say "Hey, do you need a hug?" (OK, a little levity but it's to sure up my point.) Again, my point being, Nico is the only person standing between Lewis and the big trophy…don't relinquish any edge/advantage you have. Lewis winning races and Nico coming 2nd will still yield the WCC so it's the driver title that I'm focused on. Selfishly, I want Lewis to win…there, I said it! Plus, there is a part of me that wants to see a little, I dunno, flare/spice to the proceedings. It may not be the Senna/Prost thing but a little dose of it here or there would lend itself well to the season, I think.

Such fun!

As usual a lot of me agrees with you but if you were rosberg, wouldnt you be a bit more gutted thinking "Im driving fantastic and still not beating him when hes struggling" If Lewis keeps saying that hes struggling and winning, what will Rosberg do if hamilton starts demolishing him at Hungary/Canada/Silverstone.

Monaco is huge for Nico now, races after Lewis is heavy favourite, Nico really cant afford to loose again at Monaco, Lewis can afford a second place there (but i think he has his eye on Seb/Schu's season race wins record)

[The Second Coming]

They don't talk each other down.

And, they shouldn't, as teammates!
I was responding to The Second Coming's suggestion
that Hamilton not be such a "nice guy"!

That was me RC, making my point that Lewis has been layering it on a little too thick about Nico. At this point, it's clear to most (me included) that the Championship is between the two. On a personal note, I like Nico, especially when comparing him to all the other team-mates Lewis has had but I just think Lewis should back away a bit from always seeming to take every opportunity to bolster up Nico. No good will come of it. Now I'm not saying Lewis should take to pure acrimony or make it a harsh personal attack, just don't keep saying things like "Nico was faster than me today" and the like, even if it is true at certain moments. I feel Lewis needs to have every edge he can, especially on the days like he had in Bahrain and Spain where there were close moments of that win being in doubt. Lewis is doing the bit on track but there is a psychological element to be played in my view…and we've seen it in most sports with some of the greatest names in those sports: Ali, Michael Jordan and Senna to name a few. You never saw any of them talking up their opponents…they often secured an advantage before even taking to the ring/court/track by either measuring what they said (focusing on their own task at hand) or not saying anything at all. I just don't want to see Lewis stroke Nico's ego and that becomes a psychological boost for Nico, leading to an extra boost in his performance. Lewis is clearly a much better driver but still, give nothing away. They know each other very well and if it's clear to most of us, Lewis can also see too (and hear) that Nico is not taking this losing bit so well. Right now I'm seeing Lewis' body language suggesting sooner or later he's gonna turn to Nico and say "Hey, do you need a hug?" (OK, a little levity but it's to sure up my point.) Again, my point being, Nico is the only person standing between Lewis and the big trophy…don't relinquish any edge/advantage you have. Lewis winning races and Nico coming 2nd will still yield the WCC so it's the driver title that I'm focused on. Selfishly, I want Lewis to win…there, I said it! Plus, there is a part of me that wants to see a little, I dunno, flare/spice to the proceedings. It may not be the Senna/Prost thing but a little dose of it here or there would lend itself well to the season, I think.

Such fun!

As usual a lot of me agrees with you but if you were rosberg, wouldnt you be a bit more gutted thinking "Im driving fantastic and still not beating him when hes struggling" If Lewis keeps saying that hes struggling and winning, what will Rosberg do if hamilton starts demolishing him at Hungary/Canada/Silverstone.

Monaco is huge for Nico now, races after Lewis is heavy favourite, Nico really cant afford to loose again at Monaco, Lewis can afford a second place there (but i think he has his eye on Seb/Schu's season race wins record)

I hear you Cheeky. If I'm Nico (which it's established that I'm not), it would indeed frustrate/gut the heck out of me if I'm on my best game and still losing to my struggling team-mate…especially when I've witnessed what happens when he doesn't struggle (Malaysia and China being good enough examples). So by the time we get to the real circuits that Lewis loves, I may have to reach deep down into the creativity bucket to try something else cause I can now see the WDC adrift with Lewis' name on it. I think one thing has been established…Nico can't beat Lewis with Lewis' setup. It only allows him to flatter...he's gonna have to try something else.

And to your second point, lest we forget, Lewis goes very well round Monaco too. He does have love for it. Some have only looked back to the very recent past (last year) to think Rosberg's chances are very good but Lewis can easily make a statement there and I think, based on having a bad weekend in Spain, I think Lewis may look to make that statement. Only the team is likely to prevent Lewis from winning in the Principality.

[What's Burning?]

Q: (Adrian Rodriguez - Agencia EFE) To Nico and Lewis: you guys seem to get along pretty well right now but the problem is that just one of you can win if it keeps going this way. Do you guys believe that your relationship is going to be the same by the end of the year?
LH: We’ve been racing together for a long time so I don’t see why not.
Q: Does that help, Nico, that you’ve been racing together for a long time?
NR: Definitely yes, because we’ve been through this before. It’s not a first time and even back then we had discussions, debate but always... life goes on, discuss it and life goes on so that helps, yeah.

I think we make a lot about it, but it's nothing new for these guys.

[The Second Coming]

Q: (Adrian Rodriguez - Agencia EFE) To Nico and Lewis: you guys seem to get along pretty well right now but the problem is that just one of you can win if it keeps going this way. Do you guys believe that your relationship is going to be the same by the end of the year?
LH: We’ve been racing together for a long time so I don’t see why not.
Q: Does that help, Nico, that you’ve been racing together for a long time?
NR: Definitely yes, because we’ve been through this before. It’s not a first time and even back then we had discussions, debate but always... life goes on, discuss it and life goes on so that helps, yeah.

I think we make a lot about it, but it's nothing new for these guys.

WB, I'm not sure I'm drinking Nico's Kool-Aid. He's said that before but his body language after qualifying and races consistently tell me otherwise. "Life goes on" comes after the Championship is settled but Nico will never now verbally convince me that this headache called Hamilton isn't a migraine he's not prepared to deal with. I understand if I'm the only one who thinks this way but I don't buy it. It's bound to boil over. The only questions are, will it happen publicly or behind the scenes and how big of a boil up will it be.

Such fun!

[Jabberwocky]

I think Lewis has won the mind game. So it is his championship to lose

Sent using NCC-1701

[cheekybru]

http://www.oddschecker.com/motorsport/f ... ampionship" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

5/1 on plays 1/4 against (Lewis v Rosberg)

bookies know the score

Edit - For the Championship

[sagi58]

...I'm not sure I'm drinking Nico's Kool-Aid. He's said that before but his body language after qualifying and races consistently tell me otherwise. "Life goes on" comes after the Championship is settled but Nico will never now verbally convince me that this headache called Hamilton isn't a migraine he's not prepared to deal with. I understand if I'm the only one who thinks this way but I don't buy it. It's bound to boil over. The only questions are, will it happen publicly or behind the scenes and how big of a boil up will it be.

And, that's where I do agree with you!! The only thing I'd add is that Hamilton is not the only one who will be playing the mind games you're suggesting. I'm sure Rosberg will have a few of his own!

[racechick]

I honestly don't think Lewis is wired like that. I mean in such a way as he plays psychological games. He's not political. He's getting better at answering the press but I don't hear planned psychological attacks to make gain over a partner/ other driver.
What I think he does do is believe that in similar equipment he can beat anyone, and that comes out when he's talking. Little things like. ' I know I'm good at this' , 'I can handle it when that happens' , 'I love the pressure, I'm at my best then."
That's not Lewis playing games, that's Lewis saying it as he sees it. Some people may perceive it as arrogant. I just see it as Lewis answering honestly. He's not good at lying or making stuff up.


With Alonso, Lewis' psychological advantage came not from what he said but from the fact he was a rookie going faster than Alonso.
With Heikki he was just in another league.
With Button he never resorted to psychological games even when Button was manipulating things for all he was worth. He got frustrated ( all the engineers using his data to help Button, Spa wing, ultimately leaving McLaren) But he never retaliated with the same antics.
And I don't believe he's doing it with Rosberg. But he is going faster or winning, even when his car is not dialled in properly. That in itself will be a psychological blow without need of any gamesmanship.

Lewis always deals fairly with team mates. He welcomed Button to the team and bent over backwards to help him settle in, we saw the thanks he got for that. And he never puts Rosberg down, which he could easily do right now if he wanted to. Not his style.

[What's Burning?]

Does it matter? Four wins in a row, I'm thinking that whatever is going on Lewis is happy with the results. Five wins in a row to start a season, Mercedes is happy with the results. Not even the mighty Red Bull did that.

[racechick]

Nope, doesn't matter at all. Lewis is Lewis. And I like him just the way he is.

[spankyham]

Nope, doesn't matter at all. Lewis is Lewis. And I like him just the way he is.

Has he completely replaced JPM?

[racechick]

Nope, doesn't matter at all. Lewis is Lewis. And I like him just the way he is.

Has he completely replaced JPM?

Oh yes. JPM is one of my ex's fondly remembered. Lewis my man of the moment.

[darwin dali]

Nope, doesn't matter at all. Lewis is Lewis. And I like him just the way he is.

Has he completely replaced JPM?

Oh yes. JPM is one of my ex's fondly remembered. Lewis my man of the moment.

No mo' Mr. Chubby?

[What's Burning?]

No F1 comebacks for Mr. Chubby alright when Sutil is considered a fat pig.