Hamilton and Ecclestone against team orders

47 comments on “Hamilton and Ecclestone against team orders”

1. 

   Philip (@philipgb)
   6th July 2016, 0:09

   I sense a change in the relationship between Lauda and Hamilton. Lauda pushed to bring Hamilton to Mercedes, when he won in Hungary 2013 Lauda praised it as the best drive he’d ever seen in his life. But lately he doesn’t seem to be quite as much in Hamiltons camp. In Spain he leaped to the conclusion it was Hamiltons fault and didn’t shy away from telling the press before any analysis or discussion had been held, and again now sharing with the world a fairly embarrassing story about Hamilton. I’m not defending Hamiltons behaviour if he did trash a hotel room over a qualifying mistake, but you wouldn’t expect one of your bosses to hang you out to dry like that.
   1. 

      Tata
      6th July 2016, 0:59

      See my post below, a bit long though:)
      It is indeed quite shocking to hear such from someone who is a higher up in one’s firm. No person’s dirty laundry should be hung out to dry like this in public. Never.
      Every one has his or her own way of dealing with frustrations. Formula1 and motor racing have seen drivers who have resorted to fist fights to vent their anger.
      Contrary to whatever image Lauda wants painted of Hamilton, I find Mr. Hamilton’s handling of internal issues at the team very professional. He comes out to the fans and to the media and speaks professionally about whatever goes on internally and then goes in to vent his frustrations. According to Lauda himself, Hamilton even granted him the courtesy or respect of dealing with his own personal failure in his own privacy by not letting Lauda into the room when he wanted.
      If that is not to be commended or respected, I don’t know.
      The man has continued to heap praises on Mercedes but what does he get in return?
      1. 

         krxx
         9th July 2016, 0:16

         Championship dominating cars, buckloads of money, indispensable support throughout his career, both in f1 and pré-years.
   2. 

      mfreire
      6th July 2016, 2:21

      Lauda is a political animal. He has almost certainly said the same thing about other drives in F1 that he said about Hamilton’s drive in Hungary 2013. No one should listen to anything Lauda says about today’s F1.
   3. 

      N
      6th July 2016, 10:27

      He also said post-race that Hamilton hit Rosberg as Hamilton was trying to re-enter the track after being punted off. Which A/ wasn’t true, they didn’t make any contact, and B/ where else was Hamilton suppose to go since Rosberg tried to block Hamilton from getting back on track. (for me, a worse offence than the crash itself)
      1. 

         krxx
         9th July 2016, 0:27

         That, is a lie.
   4. 

      lockup (@)
      6th July 2016, 11:40

      I have the impression @philipgb that there’s pressure from Stuttgart to support the German driver, as the underdog. Spain and the wildly exaggerated room-trashing story are bad signs I agree, and talking about a lie, but Lauda isn’t the coolest head around and he’s been around F1 for so long he probably doesn’t think ‘lying’ carries any blame. Toto blithely saying deliberately crashing into your teammate won’t affect contract talks is a pretty barefaced lie after all.

      I hope the public words from Toto and Niki – always talking as though the problem is both drivers – are just PR. I think they might be. I’m watching the Wehrlein-to-Force-India story, and wondering about Hulk.
   5. 

      Mick Harrold (@mickharrold)
      6th July 2016, 12:01

      I would usually agree with you that dirty laundry shouldn’t be aired in public. But there are exceptions to the rule. This may be one of them. Consider some facts. Hamilton is not driving this year as well as he was last year. Yeah, stuff has happened this year, but it always does and not just for him. There are plenty of hard luck stories up and down the grid. But on the whole, Hamilton hasn’t driven that well this year. His performances this year have rarely if even been exceptional. IMO he’s a clear 30% below his performance at the start of last year. That is why Rosberg is in front right now.
      The second thing I take note of is that Hamilton is playing it super cool in the media. “Nothing fazes me man”. I was taken in by how calm he seemed this year. But if he is smashing hotel rooms, then it is just a front.
      Lauda spent considerable time in his own head beating his demons while he was a driver. Pushing and prodding his brain to deliver better results. As a result, I am sure he knows better than most what drives a racer.
      I think Lauda (and possibly Merc) have decided that Hamilton is telling lies to himself. Calm on the surface, smashing hotel rooms behind the scenes. And under delivering on his ability on the track. Effectively he is creating a persona of calm, but it is hurting his performance. The more emotional Hamilton of the past was a better driver. If you lie to yourself and everyone around you, then you don’t need to face your demons. It’s only when you are faced with them that you deal with them.
      I think Lauda has Hamilton’s best interests (or at least Mercs since him winning is what they want) at heart here. If the problem is the calm outside persona, then smash it. The only way to do that is in the media unfortunately. You can do it behind the scenes, but that won’t work, because Hamilton is presenting calm to the media. You need to break that and if you do, you will probably get a better driver. What people won’t see is that Niki will go and see Hamilton behind the scenes to smooth the situation as well. He will work at from both ends I am sure. Smash him and build him up at the same time. People hate Marko for doing it to the RB drivers, but you can’t argue that it doesn’t delivers results.
      1. 

         David BR
         6th July 2016, 18:05

         Or you can read Lauda’s comments as proof that Mercedes are subtly undermining Hamilton this year to ensure a Rosberg win. I didn’t give any credence to the idea at first, but there’s something not right about how they’re treating the various situations that have arisen, the lack of condemnation over Rosberg’s latest incident, which was much more clearly his fault (and probably intentional) than his Spa collision. Mercedes were happy for Hamilton to win them two titles and train up Rosberg. Now one of their managers is on video throwing him under the bus? Really unpleasant.
      2. 

         Philip (@philipgb)
         6th July 2016, 18:39

         It’s an interesting theory, maybe Lauda has good intentions. But speaking from personal experience, if I were affected emotionally by something and say trashed my room or apartment and one of my friends knew I’d done it. I don’t think it would help for him to share it say on Facebook. I’d feel embarrassed and betrayed. And that’s before the onslaught of questions about it from people I didn’t want to discuss it with came rolling it.

         It’s going to be the only thing discussed in the press conference, how will that help getting a drivers head in the correct space ready for the race?
2. 

   Strontium (@strontium)
   6th July 2016, 0:22

   Whether Perez was allowed to be told or not, he crashed out due to not knowing, which was directly a result of these radio rules. If nothing else, confusion, and not enough time to communicate the issue between the race director and Perez, was a big enough problem to cause it, so clearly something needs to be changed.

   I was very quick to blame Rosberg for the accident, but that article added another perspective I had not considered before. It would be interesting to see the telemetry comparing how he was able to brake and accelerate through turns one and two, on the penultimate and final laps.
   1. 

      Alex W
      6th July 2016, 8:28

      If he didnt know, its a direct result of poor design, he has a display for @#$! Sake.
3. 

   Tata
   6th July 2016, 0:37

   There is a serious management problem at Mercedes.
   It is interesting that Toto is calling for team orders now after what has now clearly become serious management failures at Mercedes and most importantly in the year that Nico has a very good chance of winning the championship. I wonder who will be at the receiving end of such orders.

   I think this is the weekend Lewis decided not to renew his contract with Mercedes at the end of 2017. I think there is too much bad blood in that team. Toto was doing alright until he and whoever else involved appear to have decided to reward Nico’s long sojourn at Mercedes with at least 1 championship which is fast becoming the 2016 drivers’ championship. The uncalled-for and unwarranted switch of personnel from one driver to the other before the beginning of the season and the subsequent mechanical glitches which have plagued Hamilton’s power units out of the 8 Mercedes Benz Pus have continues to cast a shadow over whatever happens going forward.
   The incident at Baku where his car was handicapped as a result of unreported changes straight out of the garage and which he obviously could not understand probably weighed heavily on Hamilton’s mind after the race, considering that his championship contending team mate cruised to victory in the same race, only for the team to berate him publicly for not fixing an unreported problem they created in the garage and which by the way solved itself in the later stages of the race when he had no more chance of fighting for a win.
   Nikki Lauda’s public airing of Hamilton’s reaction in his room after the race is definitely unethical and scandalous to say the least especially coming from a higher up in his own team. Such intensely personal way of dealing with frustrations are never a good thing to break to the public specifically not after a race in Austria where Mercedes appear to have done almost everything they could to engineer a race win for Nico. Some have said of the race that Nico was so fast his eventual position in front was well earned but they fail to mention that Nico’s strategy after the initial strategy switch was a 2 stopper while Hamilton’s was a one stopper so he was driving to a delta and managing his tyres for most of the race. This is further confirmed by Mercedes call to him in the later stages of the race to “Hammer time” and close the gap only for them to pull him in yet again.
   Hamilton in my opinion should move on from Mercedes. The place is no longer conducive. Lauda’s interview with Sky where he insinuates Hamilton is a liar(he does not live with Nico and Hamilton to know whether they talked or not) and an angry destroyer of property is a very low blow.
   Mercedes are a great team with great persons working there who make great cars. But I think their future successes or not after 2017, has Hamilton out of the picture. The man quite rightly should try his luck elsewhere or better still take a sabbatical, forget the money, while he still has his pride intact.
   1. 

      Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
      6th July 2016, 0:44

      Lots of tin-foil hattery in there Tata.
      1. 

         ColdFly F1 (@)
         6th July 2016, 7:16

         Back on planet earth Mercedes’ marketing people have a field day, and F1 fans get a great season.
   2. 

      W-K (@w-k)
      6th July 2016, 1:01

      If Hamilton does see the situation in the way you describe, and I agree it is a feasible view, then I think Hamilton should say goodbye at the end of this season, or at least threaten to if Rosberg’s stay is extended, and ask Ferrari if he could fill Kimi’s seat. It would appear that Ferrari might be running out of options finding an experienced replacement driver.
      Breaking contracts is not that uncommon.
      1. 

         Tata
         6th July 2016, 1:50

         As much as I see Nico as a dubious driver whose outrageous excesses on-track are definitely dangerous, I think both men are a winning pair and in my opinion the most powerful combo currently at any team hence Horner’s ploy, after the Austrian clash, that Mercedes ditch one of them.
         Nico is a very good driver but not on the level of Lewis, Seb and Fernando. He delivers. Therefore I think Mercedes not re-signing Nico would be a huge error. And I find it weird that a sizable proportion of people seem to think otherwise.
         Lewis’ problem at Mercedes is not Nico. It is the attempt by Toto to make two drivers who have never been equal in talent and skill equal, starting with the data sharing which he instituted when he took over. Fact is Lewis has beaten Nico every year since they raced together all the way from karting, so trying to engineer a championship for Nico while having a champion driver who is never content fighting for second is creating the enormous friction and heat within the team.
         This is one of the areas where Ferrari and Redbull (at times) are brilliant. They know the capabilities of each driver they hire and they approach them as such. One example; Redbull in Austria were not seen engineering a jump for Ricciardo in front of Vesterppen but Mercedes somehow manged to get Nico in front from sixth while the pole sitter and front running driver (Hamilton) was working according to the delta and tyre management plan he agreed on with the team on the knowledge that irrespective of what their plans with Nico was, the guy was finishing behind him. When they realised their supposed mistake, instead of calling in the one driver who was where he ought not to be based on the plans initially agreed upon, they compounded the issue by curiously switching the one stopper with great tyre management skills and definitely more tyre life into a two stopper like his team mate.
   3. 

      Martin
      6th July 2016, 11:32

      “Toto was doing alright until he and whoever else involved appear to have decided to reward Nico’s long sojourn at Mercedes with at least 1 championship which is fast becoming the 2016 drivers’ championship.”

      *sigh* You really think that is what is going on?

      “The uncalled-for and unwarranted switch of personnel from one driver to the other before the beginning of the season”

      It wasn’t unwarranted. Mercedes gave a perfectly reasonable explanation in that they wanted to head off the development of two camps within the team. It also allowed the mechanics to form new working relationships with people they had previously not worked so closely with and that is one of the ways people grow and improve in their jobs. Also you could look at it from the point of view of giving more of the team a chance to be on the winning side of the garage for a change, given at the start of the year nothing pointed to anything other than another double world championship and that, with Hamilton having beaten Rosberg 3 seasons in a row there was no real reason to believe 2016 would be any different.

      “the subsequent mechanical glitches which have plagued Hamilton’s power units out of the 8 Mercedes Benz”

      It’s bad luck. I’m pretty sure Merc care less about which of their 2 drivers wins the championship than how good their engines look (which in the case of Hamilton’s allocation is not very good).

      “The incident at Baku where his car was handicapped as a result of unreported changes straight out of the garage and which he obviously could not understand probably weighed heavily on Hamilton’s mind after the race”

      Or he could have easily not given it a second thought, we’ve seen Hamilton get knocked back a hell of a lot during the last couple of seasons and he always seems to bounce back pretty well.

      “only for the team to berate him publicly for not fixing an unreported problem they created in the garage”

      Links? I never saw them berate LH. They said it was basically impossible for him to work out what was wrong from within the car given how little information they have access to and the fact he was trying to drive at the same time.

      “Nikki Lauda’s public airing of Hamilton’s reaction in his room after the race is definitely unethical and scandalous”

      Unethical maybe but scandalous? Really. I take it you don’t normally read much of what Lauda says? He is always saying stuff like this. To be honest I think more than anything the story shows how much drive and passion Hamilton still has for F1, which might be a good thing in a season where a lot of people are questioning whether he actually cares anymore.

      “after a race in Austria where Mercedes appear to have done almost everything they could to engineer a race win for Nico”

      They tried to engineer a 1-2 for themselves, nothing more. You could argue maybe that, after giving Nico the much better strategy for most of the race and then compromising Lewis’s, it would have been fair to give Hamilton a few laps on fresh tyres before Rosbergs second stop, but do you really think Rosberg would have just sat out circulating the track on old tyres until the point where he last track position?

      “This is further confirmed by Mercedes call to him in the later stages of the race to “Hammer time” and close the gap only for them to pull him in yet again.”

      He said Hammertime precisely because Hamilton was pitting. Its fairly standard between Ham/Bono on the radio
      1. 

         krxx
         9th July 2016, 0:54

         +2
4. 

   StefMeister (@stefmeister)
   6th July 2016, 0:52

   I definitely think the radio rules require a rethink as while what we had 2-3 years ago was too far in one direction I really feel that when we have now has swung way too far in the opposite direction.

   I’ve no problem at all with all the coaching relating to racing lines, braking points, gearing etc… been banned (All of which has been banned since the start of 2015) but I honestly feel that the extra restrictions for this year have gone too far & simply haven’t added anything extra to the show or done anything to promote driver skill more than what we had last year.
   1. 

      Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
      6th July 2016, 8:26

      @stefmeister My thoughts exactly. Let the drivers be the drivers and the engineers be the engineers.
5. 

   Ben
   6th July 2016, 1:17

   I think it’s very telling that those comments were said before the race weekend. Laudas initial reaction to the incident trying not to be too harsh on Nico is the exact opposite of how he was in Spain and Spa 14, which is also quite telling. so to is the fact this is the first time the Stewards have found either driver 100% to blame, yet the team haven’t yet said anything regarding an extra punishment for Nico. Everything being said is directed at both drivers and Toto has almost defended Rosberg saying it won’t impact contract talks. So in Spa which many disagree on the team out Rosberg in the press, make him take the blame, fine him and do whatever else. But in Austria where 90%+ agree it was Rosbergs fault and he’s actually punished by the stewards there is no talk of an additional punishment from the team… I’d say Hamilton is looking much more likely to be driving a McLaren or Ferrari next year.
6. 

   mfreire
   6th July 2016, 2:22

   Lauda only ever says things that are in his best interest- true or not.
   1. 

      mfreire
      6th July 2016, 2:23

      *his own best interest
   2. 

      F1fan
      7th July 2016, 3:08

      Very true always. Why do u think they labeled him the Rat a long time ago.
7. 

   Woody (@woodyd91)
   6th July 2016, 3:33

   First of all, as I’ve said elsewhere. If the actions of Hamilton are true to Lauda’s comments then that is completely unacceptable behaviour. Showing emotion for a mistake is perfectly fine, but what being reported isn’t and I would hope that Hamilton has both paid for the damage and issued the team with an apology. For me personally and for a lot of people around the world Hamilton has been source inspiration for what he has achieved and it would stain his reputation if he did indeed feel this was an acceptable way to react. Having said that I will reserve full judgment until Hamilton, if he is allowed too has commented on the reports this weekend, No doubt it will be all Sky talks about.

   However I imagine that both Hamilton and the top brass at Mercedes will be quiet rightly very annoyed at Lauda for his comments. I personally don’t normally take too much notice of what Lauda says as he often says only what is in his political interest at any given time, but for the life of me I cant understand his logic or reasoning for doing such a thing? I would imagine Mercedes will of told Hamilton not to discuss in the press thus muting his side of the story. This can really only lead to one thing, a break down in trust and if a driver cant trust his team then the relationship is pretty much over.

   For the sake of my love of F1 I refuse to buy into the Mercedes want Rosberg as champion in 2016 theory. However when Niki comes out with comments like this, which can only serve to fracture relationships with Hamilton and the team you have to wonder what his political motives were in doing so. It’s been quiet clear for a while in interviews with Niki that his relationship with Hamilton isn’t what is was in 2014 and he has shown to be in so called “Camp Nico” than “Camp Lewis”. His post race interview was telling enough when it took him all his time to even slightly suggest it was Nico’s fault, which as a former driver he should have known instantly who was the blame, given his position in the team and his racing knowledge. Interesting to thing think about though, since Lauda has moved from one side of the garage to another there has been a lot more contact between the 2 drivers on track, result of a Lauda pre-race fire up speech? Who knows, but I’m not seeing what benefits Nikki is brining to the team at this point.

   In my eyes Lauda has just taken a major dive, that betrayal of trust is something that should never happen between a driver and a “team boss”. It’s shown a side to Nikki that I’m really not keen on as the motives behind doing what he did has to be purely political against one of his own. Which is my eyes is something you simply don’t do. Sharing private matters to the press and then publicly calling your star driver a “liar”. Completely unacceptable behaviour.

   Mercedes will do 1 of a few of things,
   1. Excuse Nikki and attempt to brush it under the carpet in the media.
   2. Ask Nikki to publicly apologise to Hamilton & the team for his remarks
   3. Ask him to step aside in his role and find a new role elsewhere.

   I have a feeling it will be No.1 but personally either 2 or 3 would be a better response to his actions.

   Just my thoughts.
   1. 

      RP (@slotopen)
      6th July 2016, 3:55

      Excellent analysis. It’s not tin hattery to see Lauda has something against Hamilton. Sometimes managers have favorites, conflicts, whatever.

      I also agree Lauda needs to go. Stabbing Hamilton in the back, for what purpose? I can’t see how it could help the team. Bundle wrote that Mercedes problems were due to 1 person [Roseberg]. I think there might be two, and the second one isn’t Hamilton.
8. 

   Tristan
   6th July 2016, 4:39

   That’s pretty big news for Hamilton to “destroy everything” in his room. Speaks to despite his demeanour the last couple years and all these talks of being in the best place and “at peace” with who he’s become are nothing but reactions to being on a high from winning the championships.

   He always said he would leave pretty early to focus on other interests, I wonder if that time shouldn’t be now, in the next year or so. There could be a pretty huge implosion upon a return to uncompetitiveness otherwise.
   1. 

      Woody (@woodyd91)
      6th July 2016, 4:47

      A quote from an article on The Telegraph, which is exactly why I dont read to much into the words Lauda says.

      “However, one team well-placed team insider played down the incident in Azerbaijan. “I think he chucked a few things around post-qualifying having made the mistake in frustration at having done so,” the source said. “But it was all fine when on Saturday evening when I was in there so ‘smashed up’ is rather extreme.””
      1. 

         Deej92 (@deej92)
         6th July 2016, 9:54

         It is no surprise whatsoever if Lauda has exaggerated this. Does he have some sort of agenda? Very unprofessional from a team ‘boss’.
      2. 

         lockup (@)
         6th July 2016, 11:23

         Ah, @woodyd91, a crucial difference.

         It sounds like Lauda was doing a low-level interview and couldn’t resist spicing it up, now it’s snowballed.
         1. 

            Woody (@woodyd91)
            6th July 2016, 11:54

            @lockup See that’s what I dont buy, I credit Lauda with enough intelligence to know exactly what is saying and the impact it would have. Mainly by the language that is used.
            1. 

               lockup (@)
               6th July 2016, 13:20

               Yes @woodyd91, it’s odd. Niki is a risk-taker I suppose and a loose cannon generally. I have an idea he likes Lewis being extreme and is inclined to play that up, but it’s hard to tell. We read the words and can’t see the smile. He isn’t condemning it, though, that’s everyone else. Maybe he thinks it’s just very F1!
9. 

   rantingmrp (@rantingmrp)
   6th July 2016, 4:52

   It’s a high-pressure environment – breaking a few things is no big deal. I’m sure he can afford to pay for the damage. Disgraceful for Lauda to go yapping about it to the media though.
10. 

    Neel Jani (@neelv27)
    6th July 2016, 9:16

    With comments like that, Lauda is harming the team’s image more than the drivers. These things are internal and not for public consumption.

    Maybe he requires team orders more than the drivers. :)
11. 

    Deej92 (@deej92)
    6th July 2016, 10:12

    Airing one of your own driver’s dirty laundry like this is nothing short of disgraceful and from a supposed ‘boss’. And we should take his comments regarding the trashed room with a pinch of salt to say the very least. He seems to have something against Hamilton.

    It would do the team no harm for Wolff and Lowe to kindly ask Lauda to move on to pastures new. What does he actually do anyway?
    1. 

       Craig Wilde (@wildfire15)
       6th July 2016, 10:41

       These days he’s more or less a mascot.
       1. 

          Deej92 (@deej92)
          6th July 2016, 15:51

          Seems that way. Mercedes would miss him like a hole in the head.
12. 

    petebaldwin (@)
    6th July 2016, 10:50

    I’m not letting that go.

    “People don’t want to see the team interfering. It’s not good for the sport (or) for the fans.” – Bernie

    Since when has he ever cared about either of those things!? Go away Bernard, no-one believes a word you say.
13. 

    Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
    6th July 2016, 12:37

    I think that Lauda has blown this all out of proportion. I’m sure that Hamilton might have thrown a few items in disgust at his bad driving in Baku, but I would doubt that he smashed his whole room up. 5 years ago I would have believed this, but Hamilton’s attitude has changed for the better since joining Mercedes.
    1. 

       Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
       6th July 2016, 12:39

       And I don’t really know why he is making these comments. Surely as one of his team’s drivers, he would try to talk about Hamilton in a positive way.
       1. 

          Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
          6th July 2016, 13:06

          And now apparently he didn’t make these comments. In other news, my head is about to explode.
       2. 

          colin grayson (@lebesset)
          6th July 2016, 13:25

          if it were just the huge handicap that hamilton is suffering due to car faults [ he is already on his last power unit without penalty ] I would ignore the enemy action theorists
          but the actions of the stewards smell to me , feels like instructions if they want to keep their nice little jolly ; reprimand for not rounding a bollard when running wide to no advantage , obviously the safest thing to do , reversing a cars length in the pits when the boards as to where to stop were badly placed ? both were stupid reprimands to me to me
          barcelona …rosberg not penalised when it was clear than hamilton was alongside on the straight [ the rules state that the front wing has to be alongside the rear wheel to be alongside to be sufficiently along side , which hamilton was ; penalty for causing a collision in austria ….10 secs so rosberg didn’t lose any points although he did get a reprimand , big deal
          both the FIA and bernie want a closer contest …looks like it is easy to manipulate by nobbling hamilton , probably mercedes would like a german champion as well ; frankly rosberg isn’t worthy ….as his record shows he is no racer
14. 

    tomnryan
    6th July 2016, 14:12

    Jean-Marie – Prost
    Max – Schumacher
    Bernie – Hamilton
    Some things never change.
    1. 

       PeterG
       6th July 2016, 14:50

       Of all the current drivers Bernie is actually said to be closest to Vettel.
15. 

    sebsronnie (@sebsronnie)
    6th July 2016, 16:06

    Thanks @KeithCollantine for the birthday wishes. Much appreciated…
16. 

    Darren
    6th July 2016, 23:13

    Those that talk about Merc as a great co- I still see a company heavily fined for corruption throughout the management levels- bribery, lies, price fixing and general dishonesty in their determination to grab a section of emerging markets and fix prices in various markets. So not really a shining example of a great company!!!!!

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