Photo: Daimler AG
About two weeks from one of the coolest Formula One races in years and Mercedes-AMG Petronas team's second one-two (from a total of three, so far), both Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton appear to be pretty far from damaging their relationship because of team orders.
After four races, both of them have the same shot at the title and are currently leading the Driver's Championship with only four points between them.
Niki Lauda has said on numerous occasions that there won't be any team orders at the Anglo-German team, and these four races seem to make everyone agree with him, but this doesn't mean that the situation doesn't have the potential to escalate.
Toto Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports, is fairly sure that team orders may come into play at some point during the championship.
When asked if wheel-to-wheel racing between Hamilton and Rosberg might happen in the future as well, he answered: “Bahrain was a very unique scenario as our package worked very well. We had quite a significant competitive advantage there, so it was easier to take a decision for the sake of the racing as there was quite a margin to the cars behind. The narrower that gap becomes, the tougher the decision gets.”
However, Wolff isn't all for team orders if the situation allows otherwise: “Our number one rule is that a driver's team mate is not their main competitor: the opposition is. There might be situations in a race where that fact must be taken into consideration because you cannot afford to lose time when a rival team is right on your back.“
Considering the amount of performance that the F1 W05 single-seater appears to deliver compared with Ferrari and Renault-powered cars, the race when a team order will spoil the racing at Mercedes-AMG appears to be pretty far away, but you should never say never.
Niki Lauda has said on numerous occasions that there won't be any team orders at the Anglo-German team, and these four races seem to make everyone agree with him, but this doesn't mean that the situation doesn't have the potential to escalate.
Toto Wolff, the Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsports, is fairly sure that team orders may come into play at some point during the championship.
When asked if wheel-to-wheel racing between Hamilton and Rosberg might happen in the future as well, he answered: “Bahrain was a very unique scenario as our package worked very well. We had quite a significant competitive advantage there, so it was easier to take a decision for the sake of the racing as there was quite a margin to the cars behind. The narrower that gap becomes, the tougher the decision gets.”
However, Wolff isn't all for team orders if the situation allows otherwise: “Our number one rule is that a driver's team mate is not their main competitor: the opposition is. There might be situations in a race where that fact must be taken into consideration because you cannot afford to lose time when a rival team is right on your back.“
Considering the amount of performance that the F1 W05 single-seater appears to deliver compared with Ferrari and Renault-powered cars, the race when a team order will spoil the racing at Mercedes-AMG appears to be pretty far away, but you should never say never.
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