Nico Rosberg's Recovery Drive in 2014 Russian GP Should Not Hide First-Lap Error
Lewis Hamilton, first. Nico Rosberg, second.
It's a result that you could have forecast long before the inaugural Russian Grand Prix and certainly after Saturday's qualifying session, which ended with the former qualifying in pole position ahead of his Mercedes teammate by exactly two-tenths of a second, according to the official Formula One website.
But the result, in this season of twists and turns, only tells half the story.
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With his victory at the Sochi Autodrom, Hamilton has equaled his career-best record of four consecutive wins—an achievement only first established at May's Spanish Grand Prix—and has embarked upon a run of blistering form at exactly the right time for his title prospects.
Over the course of those last four races since his retirement from the Belgian Grand Prix in August, the 2008 world champion has transformed a 29-point deficit to Rosberg in the drivers' standings into a 17-point advantage ahead of the final three races.
Such a sudden, drastic swing in momentum, as Hamilton has rediscovered that formidable aura that characterised his first two seasons in F1, has left Rosberg—not helped by his second retirement of the campaign in last month's Singapore Grand Prix—almost indefensible.
The sheer ferocity of Hamilton's form has thrown Rosberg's season-long game plan—applying pressure and dismantling his teammate piece by piece—out the window, leaving the German with no option but to abide by the British driver's rules, and his more direct tactics, as time runs out.
And in a straight fight, of course, Rosberg simply has no answer to Hamilton.
This has now been evident in three of the four grands prix which Hamilton has won, with the German conceding the lead of the Italian Grand Prix to his teammate by locking up and running wide at Monza's first chicane just as a battle for the race victory was beginning to simmer.
At Suzuka a week ago, meanwhile, Hamilton passed the No. 6 car once again for the victory after Rosberg made little effort to defend against an overtaking manoeuvre into the sweeping first turn.
Yet the most concerning error of all came in the Russian Grand Prix, where Rosberg's hopes of ending his teammate's winning streak ended before they had started as the German outbraked himself into Turn 2, the first braking zone of the Sochi circuit, locking up so heavily that he suffered a flat spot, forcing him to pit for a new set of tyres at the end of the opening lap.
Rosberg, to his credit, accepted the blame for his error on the day that Mercedes secured the constructors' title, telling Sky Sports' Pete Gill:
"It was just a mistake on my side. I just braked too late and that’s it. It was very unnecessary because it was my corner and I should have been in the lead after that. So obviously very disappointed with that.
It was definitely do-able and I just messed up. It was very simple, no explanation. I just braked too late and too hard.
One half of me is extremely disappointed because I messed up, the other half is happy for the team because everyone in the team deserved it so much, the Constructors' Championship is the most important title of the season and so I can smile a bit.
"
The chief reason why Mercedes have broken Red Bull's run of four straight constructors' crowns is of course the revolutionary W05 car, which enjoys such a significant advantage over the rest of the field that the team can claim a positive result—be it a podium finish or, indeed, a win—from the most precarious of positions.
Hamilton has highlighted this most notably in Austria, Germany and Hungary—where he recovered from poor qualifying results to finish within the top three on race day—and it was left to Rosberg to perform a similar trick in Russia, with the German—after emerging from the pits in 20th position—making a set of medium tyres last 52 of the race's 53 laps, setting his fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap of the grand prix, as per the official F1 website.
Although Rosberg gained plaudits for retaining a high level of performance in his rubber for the majority of the grand prix, the overriding feeling could only ever be one of regret over what occurred at Turn 2 on the first lap.
Yet it is arguably too obvious and simplistic to describe such a bizarre incident as one which highlighted how the pressures of an intense title battle is affecting Rosberg's judgment.
Ever since he punctured his teammate's rear tyre after a misjudged overtaking manoeuvre at the Les Combes corner on the second lap of the Belgian Grand Prix—the German has seemingly been on a mission to complete a "Hollywood move," a brave pass which would prove to the wider world his credentials as a potential world champion.
The British driver's claim, as per Crash.net, in the aftermath of the Spa-Francorchamps race that Rosberg admitted to hitting him "to prove a point" implied that the 29-year-old carries some insecurities and feels compelled to beat Hamilton at his own game, which perhaps explains why Rosberg fought for the lead in Russia as though his life depended on it.
With his car clearly ahead of Hamilton's in the braking zone and positioned on the inside of the tight right-hander, however, Rosberg needn't have been so aggressive, as Hamilton's chances of regaining the position without exceeding the track limits would have been minimal.
Yet that apparent desperation to be viewed as the hero of the piece, coupled with his inexperience in championship scraps relative to his teammate, proved to be self-defeating, with the German leaving Hamilton to take an unchallenged win on an afternoon that could, had Rosberg stayed on his tail and applied sustainable pressure, have been very different.
For someone who seemingly always had the long game in mind during the 2014 Formula One season, Rosberg was incredibly short-sighted in the Russian Grand Prix.
And he broke one of the key commandments of motorsports: You cannot win the race at the first corner, but you can most certainly lose it.
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