Photo: Daimler AG
Some say that you can never appreciate the sweet without knowing the sour, and that is pretty much what happened this Formula One weekend in Canada for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team, as themselves and their fans went back and forth between disappointment to ecstasy in the second half of the Montreal race.
Technically, the Canadian Grand Prix should have been a walk in the park for the Anglo-German team, as the massive power advantage of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W05 Hybrid single-seater is massive over pretty much all its competitors.
With that being said, the only two reasons for the race to go wrong were for either an on-track accident to happen with Lewis Hamilton and/or Nico Rosberg or some technical difficulties with either one or both the two F1 W05 Hybrids.
Well, much to everyone's surprise, the unthinkable finally happened - and in a rather spectacular fashion, we might add - as the very same technical difficulties caught up with both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton only one lap apart.
After Nico took pole position on Saturday, setting a time that was less than a tenth of a second faster than his team mate's, the Canadian Grand Prix looked all set for both the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers.
The first half of the race saw the two Silver Arrows dominate the entire field, as expected, pulling away a impressive lead on everyone of their competitors.
Disaster struck in lap 36 and 37, respectively, when the MGU-K drive units failed on both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, essentially rendering them to drive only powered by the internal combustion engines.
With 160 hp less than each of their competitors, both cars began to lose a crazy amount of time on every following lap, and the MGU-K failure led to an increase in the brake use and over-heating, which subsequently led to an almost complete brake failure for Lewis Hamilton's car in lap 46.
He therefore had his second DNF of the season, with the overcooked rear brakes forcing him to take the car into the pits.
As Nico had the same technical problems as his team mate, it seemed like the race was about to finish badly for both cars, but the German almost miraculously managed to keep his position until the final two laps, when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo got by him mostly thanks to the much powerful car.
Nico Rosberg: “That was a big battle all the way through today! I had a tough start but I was able to defend in the first few corners and fight against Lewis. The race went smoothly for a while then both cars suddenly lost the MGU-K system and a lot of power which was really tough. Then I lost some time in the second pit stop which let Lewis jump me and I was struggling to cool the rear brakes down so it was all happening.
Towards the end of the race, I tried to defend against Sergio which was fine but Daniel was too fast on the straights with much more power than I had available and he was able to get past. With so much going on, I had to ask my engineer where I finished at the end as I thought I was probably about fifth or sixth. I was so happy to hear that I was in P2! They are important points for me in the championship, so it was a tough but ultimately good day. Congratulations to Daniel for his first Formula One win.”
In the end, the podium consisted of Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel – in that order, as a terrible crash made Force India's Sergio Perez to retire in a rather spectacular fashion towards the end of the race, along with Felipe Massa.
As Lewis Hamilton didn't score a single point and Nico Rosberg's damage control second position brought him and the team 18 points, the German now leads the Driver's Championship with a gap of 22 points in front of his team mate.
Despite only one car bringing points home, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas is still comfortably in front of everyone else in the Constructor's Championship, with no less than 258 points against Red Bull's 139.
With that being said, the only two reasons for the race to go wrong were for either an on-track accident to happen with Lewis Hamilton and/or Nico Rosberg or some technical difficulties with either one or both the two F1 W05 Hybrids.
Well, much to everyone's surprise, the unthinkable finally happened - and in a rather spectacular fashion, we might add - as the very same technical difficulties caught up with both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton only one lap apart.
After Nico took pole position on Saturday, setting a time that was less than a tenth of a second faster than his team mate's, the Canadian Grand Prix looked all set for both the Mercedes-AMG Petronas drivers.
The first half of the race saw the two Silver Arrows dominate the entire field, as expected, pulling away a impressive lead on everyone of their competitors.
Disaster struck in lap 36 and 37, respectively, when the MGU-K drive units failed on both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, essentially rendering them to drive only powered by the internal combustion engines.
With 160 hp less than each of their competitors, both cars began to lose a crazy amount of time on every following lap, and the MGU-K failure led to an increase in the brake use and over-heating, which subsequently led to an almost complete brake failure for Lewis Hamilton's car in lap 46.
He therefore had his second DNF of the season, with the overcooked rear brakes forcing him to take the car into the pits.
As Nico had the same technical problems as his team mate, it seemed like the race was about to finish badly for both cars, but the German almost miraculously managed to keep his position until the final two laps, when Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo got by him mostly thanks to the much powerful car.
Nico Rosberg: “That was a big battle all the way through today! I had a tough start but I was able to defend in the first few corners and fight against Lewis. The race went smoothly for a while then both cars suddenly lost the MGU-K system and a lot of power which was really tough. Then I lost some time in the second pit stop which let Lewis jump me and I was struggling to cool the rear brakes down so it was all happening.
Towards the end of the race, I tried to defend against Sergio which was fine but Daniel was too fast on the straights with much more power than I had available and he was able to get past. With so much going on, I had to ask my engineer where I finished at the end as I thought I was probably about fifth or sixth. I was so happy to hear that I was in P2! They are important points for me in the championship, so it was a tough but ultimately good day. Congratulations to Daniel for his first Formula One win.”
In the end, the podium consisted of Daniel Ricciardo, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel – in that order, as a terrible crash made Force India's Sergio Perez to retire in a rather spectacular fashion towards the end of the race, along with Felipe Massa.
As Lewis Hamilton didn't score a single point and Nico Rosberg's damage control second position brought him and the team 18 points, the German now leads the Driver's Championship with a gap of 22 points in front of his team mate.
Despite only one car bringing points home, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas is still comfortably in front of everyone else in the Constructor's Championship, with no less than 258 points against Red Bull's 139.
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