Why was Rosberg so slow?
This could well be at least part of the explanation for Rosberg's lack of pace in the wet first part of the race.
He said he felt "a complete lack of confidence in the car". He didn't dare go near the limit, he said, otherwise he would have hit the barriers.
He was at a loss to explain what had gone on, but it seems likely this may well have led to a vicious downward spiral of contributing factors.
Not being pushed hard, the tyres would lose heat and pressure. Which would mean he was not able to work the brakes as hard as normal. Which would explain the brake temperature problems he experienced. Which would further take the tyres out of their ideal window. And so on.
Somehow, despite being held to Rosberg's pace behind him, Hamilton managed to keep his tyres and brakes in their window so that the pace was immediately there when Mercedes made the only call they could and ordered Rosberg to let him by.
Rosberg said it was "simple" to accept it, albeit "painful", knowing that the reason it had been made was that otherwise Mercedes were throwing away any chance of winning.
But it says a lot for him that he responded to it with alacrity and equanimity, knowing that he was almost certainly consigning himself to losing a significant chunk of his points advantage to Hamilton, who was right to thank him publicly for being a gentleman afterwards.
If his struggles in the race came at an awkward time for a man in the middle of negotiations over a new conduct, his behaviour in this situation will have gone a long way to counteracting the impact of his performance.
Why was Rosberg so slow?
This could well be at least part of the explanation for Rosberg's lack of pace in the wet first part of the race.
He said he felt "a complete lack of confidence in the car". He didn't dare go near the limit, he said, otherwise he would have hit the barriers.
He was at a loss to explain what had gone on, but it seems likely this may well have led to a vicious downward spiral of contributing factors.
Not being pushed hard, the tyres would lose heat and pressure. Which would mean he was not able to work the brakes as hard as normal. Which would explain the brake temperature problems he experienced. Which would further take the tyres out of their ideal window. And so on.
Somehow, despite being held to Rosberg's pace behind him, Hamilton managed to keep his tyres and brakes in their window so that the pace was immediately there when Mercedes made the only call they could and ordered Rosberg to let him by.
Rosberg said it was "simple" to accept it, albeit "painful", knowing that the reason it had been made was that otherwise Mercedes were throwing away any chance of winning.
But it says a lot for him that he responded to it with alacrity and equanimity, knowing that he was almost certainly consigning himself to losing a significant chunk of his points advantage to Hamilton, who was right to thank him publicly for being a gentleman afterwards.
If his struggles in the race came at an awkward time for a man in the middle of negotiations over a new conduct, his behaviour in this situation will have gone a long way to counteracting the impact of his performance.
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