Why Nico Rosberg Is the Biggest Threat to Lewis Hamilton in His F1 Title Defence

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 23, 2016

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Lewis Hamilton's defence of his Formula One drivers' championship crown didn't get off to the best of starts at the 2016 Australian Grand Prix.

Despite a dominant pole the day before, a poor getaway off the line and contact at Turn 1 with team-mate Nico Rosberg left the Brit down in sixth at the end of the first lap. The red flag and a smart strategy call from Mercedes helped him back to second, and for once Hamilton seemed happy to be runner-up.

He was smiling as he jumped out of his car in parc ferme, said on the podium that he was "really happy to get the result" and even found time to have a "No. 2 cap" joke with Sebastian Vettel.

And this time, Hamilton had good reason to be happy because the outcome for him could have been far worse. He suffered only minor front-wing damage at the first corner, was pulled back into play by the red-flag period, the Toro Rossos didn't hold him up for too long and Mercedes' smart tyre strategy did the rest.

Ferrari helped as well—had they fitted medium tyres to Vettel's car during the stoppage, the German could have won and Hamilton would be 10 points behind the championship leader, rather than seven.

But in the long term, that might have been a good thing. Had Vettel won, Hamilton would be just three points behind his team-mate, not seven—and at this stage it's Rosberg, not Vettel, who looks the greater threat to the Brit securing a third consecutive world title.



After Ferrari's three race wins in 2015, many fans—including those who enjoy a multi-team mix-up at the front of the field—were hoping the Scuderia could build on their success and mount a genuine challenge to Mercedes in 2016.

With the regulations remaining stable over the winter, it was always going to be a tall order. Ferrari were the second-best team in 2015, but the gap to Mercedes was substantial—ESPN reports an average qualifying gap of 0...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Formula 1

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