The “Faux” Hamilton vs Rosberg Blood Feud of 2014

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Read time: 6 mins

“Like Twisted Metal, but with F1 cars.”

I hate journalism sometimes. I know, it’s a hypocritical statement on my end when I’m the one trying to get into it’s twisted little world sometimes, but the reality is, some of the methods being used by sports journalists right now in F1, is very frustrating.

Case in point? The team dynamic at Mercedes right now, is a consistently frustrating thing to read about right now… Why you ask? Keep reading and prepare to be enlightened. And it’s not because of who’s fastest ON the track, it’s more to do with the drama OFF the track.

The inspiration for this blog was a news article posted yesterday by Autosport, in which many reacted angrily to the headline of Hamilton calling Rosberg’s hunger into question.

[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]HAMROS 1[/fusion_imageframe]

Media trick 101: Don’t buy the headline.

I nearly fell for this one myself. Now, I could go into another 500 word rant about why you shouldn’t say these kind of things to the [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Because good lord, people WILL misconstrue it!”]media[/fusion_tooltip], but it got a lot of people talking about these two butting heads, and whether their relationship will deteriorate as the season goes on. [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Any excuse from them to talk more about Hamilton…”]Sky Sports F1[/fusion_tooltip] even got Alain Prost to chip in his two cents.

My point here though, is that you can tell really easily that the media (and even some of the fans) DESPERATELY want this to be a simmering feud, it’s ridiculous. To me though, they’re digging at something, which really isn’t there.

Why? Because it gives gullible fans like us more juicy stories to click onto. Remember, the media’s priority isn’t to be report objectively, it’s to get you to read their damn articles. It’s how they make their money.

And as many an F1 fan knows – Drivers falling out isn’t a new thing. If anything, it’s a consistent part of F1 history, and it gets people talking. The ongoing awkward “Cold War” of driver fallouts in Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber at Red Bull Racing from 2010-2013 is still fresh in the minds of many. Many a person saw this, and thought a similar thing could happen. So many people have asked me if it could happen on my YouTube show “Dre TV”, even psycho-analysing Nico Rosberg on the podium after Hamilton race wins, or in interviews, to try and spin it into some tension.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”” align=”right” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]Sebastian_Vettel_overtaking_Mark_Webber_2013_Malaysia_2[/fusion_imageframe]

Guys…stop. You can’t force something that isn’t there. There is some key differences between this relationship at Mercedes now, and RBR’s that make the circumstances completely different.

First of all, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been close friends for about 15 years now, they raced as team mates even before they were in Formula 1. Vettel joined up with Webber in 2009, and there was probably already some minor animosity there after the Fuji incident when a younger Seb ploughed into him. Remember the famous line: “These young drivers, they keep f***ing it up for everyone!”… You know how the rest worked after they came together.

The more obvious thing to mention here is…There is nothing to suggest there’s any kind of feud here. I’m not going to pretend to be some kind of psychologist, or one of those body language experts who write for glossy female current affair magazines. Nico sounding frustrated over not winning would apply to ANY driver who’s suddenly gained a race winning machine, and isn’t getting there because he has a team mate who is maybe 2% better than he is. Everyone in F1 wants to win, less than 10% truly get a chance of doing so, and now Nico’s had a taste, of course you want to win more.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”” align=”left” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]F1 Grand Prix of Bahrain - Race[/fusion_imageframe]

A downside of this situation is that Mercedes have gone from mid-card team prolonging Michael Schumacher’s career, to dominant team in just a few years, and when you’re fighting over 1st and 2nd, compared to 3rd and 4th, the difference is huge, the pressure is mounted, and as a result, it amplifies any and all incidents on and off track, to the racers, the fans, and the media.

2014 has been the year of the team mate battles, down the road Sebastian Vettel vs Daniel Ricciardo has gotten attention, as well as Kimi vs Alonso, but nowhere near the same degree.

If there was going to be any kind of inkling that there was tension between the two, it would have already happened by now. Cast your mind back to Malaysia 2013. Everyone knows that race for Multi 21, but few remember too that Ross Brawn made Nico Rosberg yield for Lewis Hamilton to make sure both Mercs came home 3rd and 4th, which at the time, was the most points Mercedes would bring home in one sitting (27). Rosberg took one for the team on that one, especially considering Lewis had been too aggressive on the fuel.

[fusion_imageframe lightbox=”no” style=”bottomshadow” bordercolor=”” bordersize=”0px” stylecolor=”” align=”right” animation_type=”fade” animation_direction=”right” animation_speed=”1″]ROS 2[/fusion_imageframe]

Now, that obviously didn’t get anywhere near the same coverage Multi 21 did, but they got over it and moved on really quickly. Now, it wouldn’t even be a factor as Mercedes have changed their methods to employ an equal driver policy, letting their [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”Bahrain and Spain 2014 being prime examples…”]drivers fight[/fusion_tooltip].

Now, obviously, we can’t tell the future and maybe we’ll have a “Turkey 2010″ moment and that’ll change things, but right now, there’s nothing to suggest that there’s some tension or feud between Hamilton and Rosberg, and I don’t think there will be. I think Hamilton and Rosberg have a strong relationship, and have more positive personalities than say, Mark Webber did. (Who’s frustration visibly boiled over on several occasions)

And considering that on half the races so far where they’ve both ran together, they’ve been incredibly close, maybe we let the on-track action do the talking for us… Just a thought. Don’t buy what the media and the [/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][fusion_tooltip title=”All Hamilton Erryday!”]TV Executives[/fusion_tooltip] WANT you to think… let your own eyes and ears (And maybe this blog), do that for you.


Am I wrong? Is there a feud here that I’m missing? What’s your take on the situation? Let me know in the comments, and thanks for reading![/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

About the Author:

Dre Harrison

Somehow can now call himself a Production Coordinator at the Motorsport Network, coming off the back of being part of the awkward Johto Era at WTF1. All off a University Project that went massively out of hand. Weird huh?

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