Disclaimer: TheJudge13 provides a platform for Formula 1 fans to publish their voice on matters relating to Formula 1. The views expressed in Voice of #F1 Fans are those of the contributor and not those held by TJ13.
Nico Rosberg was on the receiving end of a healthy dose of criticism since he lashed out at his team mate after the Chinese Grand Prix. Although the numbers say that his complaints about Lewis Hamilton backing him into Vettel’s Ferrari may have been valid, the German had one problem: It worked. Lewis was a bastard and got away with it.
The last time Nico tried to down and dirty was last year in Spa; the result being he was bent over the nearest piece of furniture and given a darn good rear-end seeing-to by Lauda and Wolff because unlike China 2015, Mercedes failed to make a one-two finish.
And this is the team’s ultimate goal, as the thought of any gods beside them makes Niki and Toto fairly uncomfortable – a not unusual predicament in paddock-land – as portrayed by Ron Dennis and the dastardly duo Horner/Marko of Red Bull fame.
And whilst many people, admittedly some here too, have begun the obituaries for Rosberg’s dignity and race craft, the man himself seemingly shrugged it off and braved the predictable storm of questions on Thursday at the driver press conference.
“I did not offer an opinion, I laid out the facts,” Rosberg insists, and TJ13’s analysis on this week’s podcast appears to support Nico’s claim.
Their confidence shaken, by Ferrari’s upset win in Malaysia, Mercedes staged a mammoth one-hour strategy briefing ahead of the Chinese GP – one of the longest in the history of the relatively new team. Surely that time was enough to discuss what would happen if they switched from their planned option-prime-prime strategy to option-option-prime?
And even if Goliath clubbed David to a bloody pulp, Rosberg insists he would do it all over again. In fact when Sport-Bild’s Ralf Bach needled him during his press round, the Nico took a page out of Vettel’s personal diary – ‘Diplomacy 101’ – and replied: Those questions get on my bloody tits. I’ll give my answer on the track.
It remains to be seen if Rosberg’s new-found aggressiveness will be a match for Lewis’ self-confidence. We might be in for one hell of a race – or then again given the Bahrain International Circuit’s history, a complete anti-climax.
What is cetain is all eyes will be on the Mercedes duo, while the scarlet clad mechanics snicker and work on their tyre-saving setup.
And that’s the difference between a good driver and a not so good driver. Rosberg tries, hamilton does.
IMHO, each and every one of us here WISH we were once as competent as everyone on the grid of any F1 race or practice 🙂 hey, I KNOW I was pretty damned good – at about 7 levels BELOW F1 – and I can prove it LOL 🙂
honestly, Nico has been a solid peddler for awhile now. a solid # 1 for 2/3 to 3/4 of the field and a valued #2 for the rest… while not a Hammi fan, I hugely respect his talents – especially now that he seems to be on top of his game more than ever.
Nico had his chance last year. did not and never will work out for him… but he will have a very solid, proud and financially rewarding career… sometimes, that is all ya get and one needs to embrace it for life happiness !
There was a very memorable line in Sergio Leone’s western, “The good, the bad and the ugly”, which went like this….
“When you have to shoot, shoot, don’t talk!
It’s time Nico does that, 1 win in the last 11 races is just not good enough.
I remember this scene as if I watched yesterday, It’s when Eliah Wallace enjoys his bath and an one-armed old enemy of his walks in and threatens him. Then Wallace shoots him from within his bath, his pistol hanging from his neck. And then he utters this memorable sentence. WHAT A FILM!!!
I have the exctasy of gold as wake me up song every morning!
Nobody does spaghetti westerns like Sergio Leone.
Jeez, I just want to see some proper racing between the MB boys. This line-astern-after-the-first-corner bollocks is getting on my bloody tits!
If they aren’t going to race (like, you know, swap positions on track with, you know, passing manoeuvres and stuff) then I hope they take each other out and the off-track shenanigans really gets out of hand – purely for the entertainment value of seeing five grown men chuck hissy fits on camera.
From the press conference, it sounds like Nico has his grumpy pants on this weekend. Maybe (Puh-leeeeeeeze!!!) he can take pole and stir God’s-Gift® up just a bit. Maybe even lead for a while? Maybe race a little??
Nico was asked if he was angry at lewis’ antics in China
Nico said ‘not angry, another word’, and after searching his airhead in 7 languages for the right word concluded it wasnt anger but something that pissed him off enough to show his mental fragility
Maybe he will remember the word for how he feels the next time he provides all his laundry basket in public
Maybe he can use his 7 languages to find another forbidden higher engine mode to give himself a chance again at this track
Is Nico the Bear in your title?!? FTF, a correction: Nico wasn’t in the driver’s press conference this race. I guess you meant the interviews conducted outside of that.
I think Nico is a good quick driver. And usually his mental strength is very good too. He just didn’t need to do that outburst last time. It was silly.
Then also this past week on Twitter, he responded to some fans’ criticisms, specifically one that asked him why he was crying. He said “Ok, I respect your opinion …”, whoa whoa whoa … why are you respecting someone’s opinion who says you’re being a crybaby?!?!! Screw them, they don’t matter! It just sounded so weird and was horribly cringeworthy. I couldn’t believe he even did that.
I want Nico to up his game, and get aggressive. By aggressive I don’t mean crash into Lewis. ANY driver on the grid can do THAT sort of “aggressive”. If he does that, then he ultimately loses. The only way he can win is if he wins the race, and wins it on pure pace. He has to be quicker than Lewis in the race.
Sadly, I think the only aggressive Nico thinks will work at the moment is the crash ‘n’ bash kind.