Mercedes: Hamilton and Rosberg, free to compete against each other

The Mercedes team was one of the main contributors to the quality of the spectacle produced during the Bahrain Grand Prix and praised by all Formula 1 observers. Of course, it wasn’t the only source of action during the race at the Sakhir circuit, but the intense battle for victory between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg left a lasting impression.

Wolff will let them fight, « until [they lose] front wings »

Toto Wolff, the executive director of Mercedes, did not hide his satisfaction with the spectacle produced by his two drivers, for our British colleagues at Autosport: « It’s great to see two drivers of this level racing each other fairly, without the risk of collision and always producing a great show. » Especially in the context of contestation of the regulations and criticism of a discipline deemed unspectacular after two less eventful races in Australia and Malaysia: « It couldn’t have been better. It’s an advertisement for F1 at a time when many people speak poorly of it. »

The question that arises now is whether the star team’s policy will be to let its drivers fight on track again. Wolff responds affirmatively, albeit with a hint of fatalism: « Yes, until we lose front wings, then we will sit down again and discuss this strategy. But they are race drivers, so it’s still theoretical… »

The important thing, for him, remains not to harm the image of the firm which stands to win big as it seems poised to capture its first titles since 1955: « I think you need to make the drivers understand where the team comes from and that it’s important not to risk the image of our brand. » And, in this regard, such a spectacle that results in a one-two finish despite a real confrontation is beneficial: « We represent a great brand, so we must know what to do. And they did it in a fantastic and spectacular way. »

On this subject, Paddy Lowe, the technical director of Mercedes, has already stated that he believed “the team orders were not a good thing for F1.”

Hamilton: « We were on the limit »

On the winner’s side of this duel and therefore, this race, Lewis Hamilton, there’s no hiding that while the fight was fair, it was also fierce: “I think that, naturally, in this race, we were on a knife-edge. And when you’re on the knife-edge, the risks increase. Undoubtedly, we were at the limit,” he admitted to Autosport.

However, it was worth the effort: But I wasn’t going to give up. He was at 100%, so I was at 100%. I couldn’t be at 95%. He drove extremely well, he was fair, and I’d like to think I was too. It was close. Close, but fair: But we didn’t ruin each other’s race, and the team placed their trust in us, which was great.

What allowed such a battle in the final laps, among other things, was both the entry of the safety car – following the spectacular accident of Esteban Gutierrez – which closed the gaps but also the fact that the two men were on different tires: « During the race, he was always just behind me, but he was generally at the same pace as me. When the safety car came out, I thought: “Well, he’s on softs, I’m on mediums, it’s over.” It would take a miracle to hold him off because he had 6 tenths of a second advantage with those tires and he had much more grip behind me. »

After the race restart, the battle raged on and both men gave it their all: « He caught up with me on the back straight, was still with me in the last corner and had a 10 or 12 km/h advantage over me with the DRS, I had to accept the fact that he was going to pass. I couldn’t go inside and block him. I had to move a little bit, but then I had to pass him again. I don’t know how I did it all this time, » he concluded.