I think it is partially emotional with Rosberg, I don't think it has anything to do with naivety of getting away with it. His lack of self-control is bang on though, he is overly aggressive at key moments, he has past form - this has an adverse affect on his driving and therefore shows his driving skills as inferior.... which is actually true as a result of his mental weaknesses. Hamilton on the other hand is very capable of having his 'head in the right place' at key moments .... do you remember this 'Lewis, you need to let Nico past ....' Hamilton '.... I am not slowing down for Nico ....' .... that is the clarity of thinking at key moments that makes Hamilton a more complete driver than Rosberg and why Rosberg cannot beat Lewis.

The only reason Rosberg is this far along with points is due to mechanical and other outside influences adversely affecting Hamilton .. on the track there is only ever going to be one winner between Hamilton and Rosberg. The solution for Rosberg is impossible because 'a leopard can't change it's spots' .... even when they were kids racing in karts Rosberg couldn't beat Hamilton when it mattered ... this is also why Mercedes gave Rosberg another contract - imagine if Mercedes (Like Maclaren did before) employed Alonso alongside Hamilton... where the mental faculties are not so fragile ... carnage for the team .... no team wants a Prost-Senna pairing for exactly these reasons.

 

Rosberg has clearly been rattled by the erosion of his 40+ point Championship lead. And while he can get the job done on Saturdays, his racecraft has been shown to be lacking in the face of pressure, although history has shown that even the great drivers can fail under the mental pressure of losing a title. Schumacher and Senna, to name but two. Don't forget that every driver on the grid has been trained to win from their earliest days in karts, and second place is first loser.

Mercedes have had it all their own way again this year, so the drivers' title will go one of two ways. Rosberg's main hope is that Hamilton, having suffered early season unreliability will also have to contend with grid penalties over the next couple of races, and will even then have to nurse the equipment. In traffic, the Mercedes is mortal, as we saw with Rosberg at Hockenheim, and when Hamilton has to take his penalties Rosberg has the chance to open up the points gap again, but whether he can sustain it is another matter. Hamilton's in his head now, and Rosberg also knows that if he is jumped at the start by the Red Bulls he's going to struggle, and risks losing race wins, so he must get pole and open up a lead on the first lap of the next couple of races while Hamilton is penalised to stand even a small chance of winning the title.

Hamilton has done an admirable job over the last few races to look after his power unit - he's used the last of his allocated turbos and MGU-H (the unit which sits between the two elements of the turbo to generate electricity) in order to get to Spa and Monza without taking a penalty, as these, particularly Monza, are the tracks which Mercedes believe they will be better able to overtake, and minimise the grid penalties. I suspect that Lewis Hamilton will enjoy the summer break more than Nico Rosberg.

 

McLaren

(as I have recently learned )

But good couple of posts, imc27 and s2k_nut

 

Refusing to move over is hardly clarity of thinking.

I think Rosberg feels like he's the good brother; the one that does everything right and resents that the more badly behaved, sulky, more demanding sibling gets the attention and success. And then he thinks "well why shouldn't I misbehave too?".

They're pretty much even in reality as the results show, with only tiny differences meaning that one comes out on top. Rosberg would have won the last two races had he got a better start, which could have been said of Hamilton earlier in the year. Hamilton's won 6 out of the last 7 races, but he was nowhere in Baku, whereas Rosberg won 7 races in a row. If you look at pole positions this year it's 6:5 to Hamilton; if you look at fastest laps it's 5:2 to Rosberg.

 

I don't think those stats bear much scrutiny.

Qualifying:
Aus: Hamilton
Bah: Hamilton
Chi: Rosberg - Hamilton engine failure
Rus: Rosberg - Hamilton engine failure
Spain: Hamilton
Monaco: Rosberg - Hamilton engine problems
Canada: Hamilton
Baku: Rosberg
Austria: Hamilton
GB: Hamilton
Hungary: Rosberg - Yellowflag-gate
Germany: Rosberg

I make that 6-2 to Hamilton when everything is equal.

As for fastest laps, it's been well documented that Hamilton has been saving his engine when out in front.

 

I suggest that both those sets of stats are irrelevant as neither qualify for points - only race results do.

 

I had a great time at the weekend, my first ever Grand Prix

Didn't drive over as the clutch is playing up on the S but still enjoyed the experience. We were sat in the last sector just as they come in, my view below.


The GP2 cars are insanely loud compared to the F1 cars!

 

And more exciting to watch.

 

Aus: Hamilton
Bah: Hamilton
Chi: Rosberg - Hamilton engine failure
Rus: Rosberg - Hamilton engine failure
Spain: Hamilton
Monaco: Rosberg - Hamilton engine problems
Canada: Hamilton
Baku: Rosberg - Hamilton crashed his Merc of his own accord.
Austria: Hamilton - Rosberg suspension failure (p3) and gearbox penalty and rear BBW failure in the race
GB: Hamilton - Rosberg engine problems in P2. He had to wait till the race to get his gearbox failure
Hungary: Rosberg - Yellowflag-gate
Germany: Rosberg - Rosberg throttle electronics issue

I thought it was fair to include the technical failures Rosberg doesn't have

Infact, since Spain, Lewis has been 100% mechanical trouble free. Rosberg definitely hasn't.

 

Monaco was after Spain, and Hamilton had problems there, so that's not a fact at all!

None of what you said actually makes any difference to the qualifying score, apart from perhaps Austria.

Even if you discount Austria, it's still 5-2 to Hamilton in qualifying when neither has experienced a technical problem.