Hamilton Cries Wolff at Toto Claim

Lewis Hamilton has hit back at Toto Wolff’s claim that the world champion’s strained relationship with Nico Rosberg is having a detrimental effect on Mercedes.

Wolff, Hamilton’s employer, described the simmering tension between his two drivers as Mercedes’ “biggest weakness” and also claimed he would consider dropping one of them should their relationship continue to sour.

But in response to Wolff’s comments, Hamilton, who claimed his third world championship in October – his second in succession with Mercedes – said: “It is always blown so much out of proportion. We have had 16 one-two finishes so our relationship is not really causing any problems.

“I think we have both done a great job. It is not like he has been distracted and not finished high up, or vice versa, so I think ultimately it is easy for people to take things for granted. We have not caused any problems and the energy within the team is as high as it is ever going to be and that is because we do what we do how we do it.

“We are never going to be best friends but somehow we make it work. There are moments of tension but that is the same in any kind of sport I would imagine.”

Hamilton’s relationship with Rosberg appears at an all-time low following two years in which they have contested the drivers’ championship. Hamilton, who saw off Rosberg’s title challenge with three races to spare, was accused of “extremely aggressive driving” by his team-mate after the pair banged wheels in Austin. Rosberg then threw a cap at Hamilton before the podium celebrations.

Hamilton has subsequently said his team have “felt the need to be extra warm” to Rosberg, winner of the next three races, following that fallout, a statement the German described as an “excuse” for the Briton’s failure to win the following race in Mexico.

In an interview with Motorsport.com, Wolff said: “Going forward, we will consider if it is the best setup for the team. Personality and character within the team is a crucial ingredient for the team’s success.

“If we feel that it is not aligned with the general consensus, spirit and philosophy within the team, we might consider that when we take a decision in terms of the driver lineup going forward.”

Hamilton, who has said he wants to end his career with Mercedes, signed a new three-year deal in May. Rosberg’s current contract expires at the end of 2016 but the German has no desire to leave.

Regarding next season, Hamilton, who was speaking to the BBC, added: “You never know what is going to happen but I am going to be working hard, working on my fitness, and I have every plan to come back strong.”

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Rosberg Wins Austrian Grand Prix

Nico Rosberg extended his championship lead over Lewis Hamilton to beyond a race victory for the first time this season after winning a tense, closely-fought Austrian GP.

Although a pair of mistakes in qualifying had left Hamilton a seemingly costly six places behind his Mercedes team-mate on the grid, a stunning start to the race saw the Briton gain four places by the second corner and then end the opening lap right behind Rosberg in fourth as Williams' front-row starters Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas led the opening stint.

However, in a compelling 71-lap race around the Red Bull Ring in which the day's critical moves largely occurred around the two pitstop phases, Hamilton's two stops proved a combined total of 1.9 seconds slower than Rosberg.

At the first round, Rosberg managed to jump both Williams' while Hamilton only managed to get one FW36 thanks to an opportunistic move on polesitter Massa at Turn Two after Williams, seemingly focusing on ensuring the optimum strategy for their two cars, stayed out several laps longer.

The middle phase of the race saw Rosberg, Bottas and Hamilton run in increasingly close company at the front, especially after the title leader made a mistake under braking for Turn Two and ran wide over the asphalt run-off area.

Attempting to undercut the lead Williams at the second stops, Mercedes then pitted Hamilton first but a four-second service meant that the Briton lost further ground to Rosberg, whose own stop a lap later was a second quicker. The one solace for Hamilton was that an impressively quick time on his first flying lap on fresh tyres at least allowed him to leapfrog Bottas for second place.

But that was where the 29-year-old would stay until the chequered flag, despite a late attack on the lead Mercedes, who locked up at Turn Three on the final lap, with Rosberg's third victory of the season meaning he opens up his largest points advantage so far - 29 points - ahead of Hamilton's home British GP in two weeks time.

Williams will head to their own home event in particularly high spirits after claiming their first podium in two years with Bottas in third and fourth place with Massa, even if the Grove outfit did look capable of winning until the final stops.

Yet the bigger picture for revitalised former champions is that their 27-point haul from Austria represents their highest since the current points format was introduced in 2010 and, crucially, lifts them ahead of McLaren and just two points behind fourth-placed Force India in the Constructors' Championship.

Although leading the opening stint, Massa slipped to fourth after a particularly slow opening stop and then lost further ground to Bottas behind the long-running Force India of Sergio Perez, the man who earlier in the week the Brazilian admitted he would "think twice" about passing the Mexican again after their spectacular collision in Canada.

While the pair didn't go wheel-to-wheel on this occasion, Massa's delay did allow his former team-mate Fernando Alonso to close up on him, the Spaniard making light of Ferrari's continued troubles to finish just a second behind the Williams in a quietly impressive fifth place.

After a 30-lap opening stint, Perez came home a fine sixth ahead of McLaren's Kevin Magnussen, but it proved to be a largely forgettable home race for World Champions Red Bull who experienced arguably their least competitive race in recent memory.

While Daniel Ricciardo, the race winner in Montreal just a fortnight ago, only salvaged eighth place via a last-lap move on the second Force India of Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastian Vettel's season had already taken another turn for the worse with his third retirement of the year.

After qualifying only 12th, the World Champion did initially make good ground off the start but fell a lap down when his RB10 started crawling round the lap when it lost drive, only to suddenly power up again.

By then, however, Vettel's chances of a points-paying result were effectively over and after a later collision with Esteban Gutierrez's Sauber prompted a nose change, Red Bull chose to cut their losses and retire the car.

Another past title winner, Kimi Raikkonen, experienced another low-key day and came home five places behind Ferrari team-mate Alonso in tenth place, as Jenson Button missed out on points.

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Rosberg Wins China Grand Prix

Jubilant Nico Rosberg has become the 103rd different driver to win a Grand Prix after Mercedes successfully pulled off an astonishing - and vindicated - bluff to win in China ahead of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.

Confounding the widespread belief that the team would be unable to match their qualifying pace in race trim in a car considered to be a tyre eater, Mercedes out-thought and out-paced their McLaren counterparts on an entirely-unexpected two-stop strategy to claim a victory that catapults Rosberg into the ranks of title contenders.

Yet such a sober summary doesn't begin to tell the tale of Shanghai and a slow-burner of a race that turned into a red-hot classic in the closing stages when Button and Hamilton - the new championship leader - successfully hunted down Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber to claim their place on the podium.

As three-stop strategies met two-stops on track, bedlam broke out around the Shanghai International Circuit in dramatic fashion, with the two McLarens cutting a swathe through the field while Kimi Raikkonen suddenly plunged from second to twelfth in a matter of two laps, and five minutes, as his Pirelli tyres turned off and left him a sitting duck along the long backstraight.

Quite whether Rosberg would have suffered a similiar fate to both Raikkonen and Vettel - both of whom adopted a similar two-stop strategy - had Button's charge not been halted by a slack pit-stop and been able to harrass the Mercedes to the line will be forever debated and never answered, but the German appeared nerveless from start to finish as he claimed his maiden victory.

"We didn't think they were going to two-stop," admitted McLaren Team Principal Martin Whitmarsh. "I don't think many guessed they were going to two stop."

"Jenson was very unlucky with the last stop and the wheel nut problem. Without that he would have got out into clear air and he would have been much closer. Would he have been able to catch and hunt him down? Actually I don't think he would because there was no real drop off with the tyres on Nico's car."

Quite so. No matter McLaren's capacity for shooting themselves in the foot, Rosberg looked in complete control throughout. Michael Schumacher's challenge flickered for a while but the former World Champion appeared no match for his younger compatriot even before he was forced into the grand prix's only retirement after his Mercedes pit-crew failed to reattach his front-right tyre.

It was a race that defied almost every pre-race prediction. As Rosberg dominated in a manner that Schumacher even in his pomp would have been proud of, the expected threat from the two Saubers failed to materalise with the slow-starting Kamui Kobayashi out of the reckoning almost by the end of the first lap, while Lotus' strategy unravelled in spectacular style as Raikkonen's tyres fell off the now-infamous metaphorical cliff.

What had been a fascinating game of chess for the opening three-quarters of the race turned into something akin to wacky races with only Rosberg in a position of any security. Even as the Mercedes crossed the line, twenty seconds ahead of Button, the drama still continued as Webber, belatedly reaping the benefits of a three-stop strategy, eventually found a way past the World Champion. Evidently unimpressed, Vettel's response was to brand his straight-line pace "ridiculous" on his car-to-pits radio.

Behind the squabbling Red Bulls, Romain Grosjean brought a crumb of comfort to the Lotus team by securing sixth place, while Williams maintained their recent revival as Bruno Senna led home Pastor Maldonado. On any other day, the South American's feistiness would have been a major talking point. This Sunday, amid the breathtaking drama, it was a mere footnote.

Hamilton's appearance in the post-race press conference almost said it all. Grim-faced after finishing third in Melbourne, the same result brought a beaming smile in Shanghai. He enjoyed it. Barring Raikkonen, they probably all did.

Source: Sky Sports

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Shanghai Maiden Rosberg

Mercedes’ innovative front wing helped Nico Rosberg to the first pole position of his Formula One career on Saturday afternoon in Shanghai, when a mighty lap of 1m 35.121s left him well clear of Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren and Michael Schumacher’s sister car, with respective laps of 1m 35.626s and 1m 35.691s. But Hamilton’s five-place grid penalty makes it the first all-Mercedes front row since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

Q3 was an odd session, as a falling ambient temperature - down from 25 degrees Celsius in Q1 to 22 - left many struggling to generate decent tyre temperatures and all but Hamilton essaying only a single run.

In the end Kamui Kobayashi was fourth after a great lap of 1m 35.784s for Sauber, with Kimi Raikkonen fifth for Lotus on 1m 35.898s ahead of McLaren’s Jenson Button on 1m 36.191s, Red Bull’s Mark Webber on 1m 36.290s, Sauber’s Sergio Perez on 1m 36.524s, Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso on 1m 36.622s and Lotus’s Romain Grosjean failing to register a time.

The top 10 will line up in the order Rosberg, Schumacher; Kobayashi, Raikkonen; Button, Webber; Hamilton, Perez; Alonso, Grosjean, once Hamilton’s penalty is applied.

The major surprise of Q2 was Sebastian Vettel’s failure to make it through. Twice the world champion pared mere hundredths off his times, with 1m 36.047s and 1m 36.034s. Then, as a late run put team mate Webber fastest with 1m 35.700s, Grosjean’s similarly late run of 1m 35.903s pushed the German out. His final response was 1m 36.031s and insufficient to get him through.

Felipe Massa likewise came up short for Ferrari with 1m 36.255s, though that was only three tenths off Alonso’s time, then came the Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna on 1m 36.283s and 1m 36.289s, Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg on 1m 36.317s and 1m 36.745s for Force India, and Daniel Ricciardo for Toro Rosso on 1m 36.956s.

Q1 had seen Perez go fastest with 1m 36.198s as the previous pacesetters had opted to save a set of soft tyres, and the first to be weeded out was Jean-Eric Vergne who took his Toro Rosso round in 1m 37.714s, which was some way behind team mate Daniel Ricciardo, who was 17th on 1m 36.933s.

Heikki Kovalainen aced Vitaly Petrov at Caterham, 1m 38.463s to 1m 38.677s, while Timo Glock lapped his Marussia in 1m 39.282s to head team mate Charles Pic on 1m 39.717s. Pedro de la Rosa was on top at HRT, with 1m 40.411s to Narain Karthikeyan’s 1m 41.000s.

Maldonado and Kovalainen were to be investigated afterwards as one was thought to have impeded the other, as were De la Rosa and Senna.