FORMULA 1: HOW WILL ROSBERG RESPOND TO HAMILTON’S RESURGENCE?

Lewis Hamilton is the reigning World Champion and he knows that the true mark of a champion lies in the successful defense of said championship! But 2016 had other ideas. At the end of the 2015 season Rosberg launched a winning campaign. His detractors could have argued that the fact that Lewis had already won the championship meant that he was not as committed to the challenge as he once was.

Fair point. But, the winning campaign continued into 2016 and it appeared as if the Rosberg train had acquired hypercar capabilities and was distancing itself from a befuddled Lewis Hamilton. The whip that Rosberg let fly saw him claiming a yawning gap on the World Champion and sitting comfortably on three dozen-plus extra points!

I am certain that the Hamilton camp was concerned. Thankfully, there were rational explanations for the World Champion’s inadequacy. The reasons ranged from unfortunate circumstances which were team/race oriented to racing incidents. Hamilton’s fan club would insert latent conspiracy in the mix, but I will keep the discourse sane.

I am firmly of the view that the conspiracy reigns at the fore when Hamilton fails to claim P1, but inexplicably disappears when he wins or when mechanical or other gremlins plague Rosberg. I will admit though that the team has made a few eyebrow raising calls but, if you are familiar with the F1 world, teams, as they pursue victory, will err – it is simply an integral part of the multi-faceted chasing-victory equation. You cannot get it right on every occasion.

At a recent GP, when it was abundantly clear to everyone in TV-land and at the track, Lewis Hamilton included, that he (Hamilton) was on an ‘inferior’ tyre to the one which Rosberg wore for the remaining laps, a coup that would rival Turkey’s experience was being planned. When Hamilton recited the world’s query, his engineer assured him that he was on the correct tyre, based on his ambition. His team was accurate. He won! Did the conspiracy theorists rise from the woodwork?

Truth be told, F1 is big business. I will retract. F1 is a gargantuan business! And where seeds for a conspiracy may be sown, too many parameters must fall in place before successful execution may be attained.

HUNGARY GP

Hamilton’s plunder in Hungary saw him leading the championship for the first time in 2016. Hungary saw a confident Hamilton ignoring Rosberg’s pole-sitting dominance. Hamilton leapt from the line like a frightened antelope and left Rosberg scurrying for clarity as Ricciardo exploded like an IED locked on the outside line! Hamilton sidestepped the drama and even though Rosberg kept him honest throughout, he was not fiercely challenged.

Rosberg, I am certain, must be pondering how his ‘hellava’ lead evaporated to the degree where he currently carries a bag marked – DEFICIT – which contains six castrating points! But, all is not lost. Bernie and the boys head to Mercedes’ home and there is some hidden quality assigned to home-court advantage which has a propensity to command the best of one’s abilities.

Will Rosberg drink from motivation’s cup and deliver  at the level that Toto Wolff thinks he is capable. Or will he retreat to defeat’s door and allow Hamilton to wield his psychological advantage and extend his lead.

The championship is precariously poised. Which Rosberg will emerge in Germany? How will he respond to Hamilton’s resurgence? The German GP is this Sunday?

Cecil Munroe Gleaner On-Line Writer