Why Is Lewis Hamilton Trolling His Mercedes Team-Mate, Nico Rosberg?
Formula One drivers have been using mind games for as long as the sport has existed, attempting to gain an edge over their competitors.
Stirling Moss, who made his debut in 1951—the second year of the championship—once wrote in an ESPN F1 column that, to gain a psychological advantage, he would pretend he enjoyed racing in the rain and, "The other thing I used to do was give each driver that I overtook a wave or thumbs up, to show that I was enjoying myself while they weren't."
In the ongoing battle at Mercedes between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, the psychological warfare is a bit more subtle.
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Despite Hamilton's claims in an interview with the German edition of Playboy (h/t grandprix.com) that, "Some people like to play mind games, but I don't need that," the Brit made a serious effort after the Mexican Grand Prix to get under Rosberg's skin.
Arriving in Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Hamilton had won six of the eight races since Rosberg's last victory—four months earlier in Austria. With his first-place finish the previous week in the United States, Hamilton had secured his third world championship title, but, when Rosberg won in Mexico, Hamilton still felt the need to take a few shots at him.
In the post-race press conference, while supposedly congratulating Rosberg on his win, Hamilton said, "Nico drove really well today, no mistakes, no gust of wind," referencing the German's mistake in Austin, which he blamed on the wind.
After each race, the teams also put out a press release with a short statement from their drivers. Here, Hamilton took another swipe at his team-mate, saying, "I was pushing so hard, giving absolutely everything that I had, and I think I had more pace than Nico."
And finally, in an open media session, per Sky Sports' Pete Gill, Hamilton said, "I know the team has felt the need to be extra warm," towards Rosberg.
Asked to elaborate, he said, "You should ask Toto [Wolff] and Niki [Lauda]. Put those questions to them about how they feel about it. What they have to do behind the scenes to keep him happy."
If he wasn't already, that last bit will surely have angered Rosberg. And that is the point. Hamilton knows his team-mate will probably be his closest rival for the championship again next season, so if he can throw Rosberg off-balance now, it may benefit him later.
Hamilton's many critics will likely point out that his comments in Mexico make him sound immature, but trash talking is part of all sports. It's just that it usually happens on the playing field, where spectators cannot hear it.
But in F1, aside from a hand gesture or two, drivers are unable to communicate with each other during the race. Therefore, any verbal sparring inevitably occurs off the track—sometimes through the media.
Hamilton is an intelligent man. He knows that by making comments in public about the team coddling Rosberg, he will force his team-mate to respond (or at least repeatedly listen to questions about it).
The fact that Hamilton waited until Rosberg finally won a race (and after he had already clinched the championship) to unload on him does give him a whiff of pettiness. But it also demonstrates how much Hamilton values his psychological edge over Rosberg—something he seemed to lose in the middle of last season.
Moss, who raced for Mercedes in 1955, would recognise the tactic. In his book Cars at Speed, former New York Times correspondent Robert Daley quoted Moss as saying:
"I love motor racing. I love everything about it. I love the competition. I love the bull-throwing that goes with it. For instance, Masten Gregory comes up to me and says: "I notice you're going flat out through such and such corner." And I say: "You may be going flat out, Masten." Now he doesn't know whether I'm going flat out or not, and I'm not going to tell him.
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Ruthlessness is a trait shared by many of the great F1 drivers, including Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. Hamilton has already demonstrated that he is cold-blooded on the track, and his comments about Rosberg are just an off-track extension of his relentless drive to win.
Of course, Rosberg may just brush away Hamilton's attempts to rattle him. Rosberg literally grew up in the F1 paddock and is as savvy about its politics as anyone. He will also know that if Hamilton was truly quicker in Mexico, he would have been the one standing on the top step of the podium.
Either way, Hamilton's comments will do nothing to endear him to his team-mate, and they will likely further the damage that last year's title battle did to their friendship. But at this point, neither man seems concerned about that relationship—they just want to win.
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