Has Hamilton fallen out of favour with Mercedes?

[Nitrodaze]

Watching the Mercedes team dynamics in the races that transpired this season, it seemed to me that the chemistry of the team seemed off. A bit manufactured and fake. The all is well over here facade did not hold up a couple of times in recent races. And Mercedes star driver is looking increasingly outside the favour of the team. I am sure this statement would pique your concern or interest . But let us take a look at a few things:-

The first observation is the swapping of the engineers. Has it made the slightest bit of different to a healthy chemistry within the team? The engineers who were on the losing side last year are on the losing side this year. Hamilton who has given up his engineers and has embraced the willingness to go along with the experiment; having faced the number of problems he has faced so far is bound to be thinking he got the bum end of the stick on this one.

The reaction of key members of the Mercedes racing team to the incident at Spielberg, was quite revealing and the paddock would not miss that fact. There was a clear reluctance to apportion any blame to Rosberg for what was clearly a calculated attempt to cause a collision. If anything is clear by the Austrian GP, it is that hostility has taken hold in the internal competition between the Mercedes drivers. At least enough for one Mercedes driver in particular to consider it an option to take the other Mercedes car out if it was in his interest to do so.
http://i1378.photobucket.com/albums/ah108/aokri/Screen%20Shot%202016-07-05%20at%2021.25.11_zpsks6lrlux.png

The team principal was keen to make his feeling known that the situation was unacceptable. Talks of team orders was quickly brought to the fore. Sanitized racing that secured Mercedes one two was highlighted as the preference of the future. We saw the Mercedes team orders in 2015, it was boring and it compromised the driver's ability to take the race to his teammate who he must beat first to be able to beat the rest of the grid. The epicenter of the drivers championship fight of 2016 is in the Mercedes garage. The front runners of the championship fight is firstly between Rosberg and Hamilton. To impose team orders; especially at this stage of the season and the way the points are poised at this stage of the fight, would be tantamount to Mercedes seeking to control the outcome of the driver championship.

It would raise controversy that would be equivalent to their drivers crashing into each other at races. The net gain is zero.

Let us look at the trend so far this year. Rosberg wins when Hamilton is not competing at the front to challenge him. Both Mercedes cars collides when Hamilton competitively challenges Rosberg. If we say Spain was a 50:50 fault of both drivers, the stewards at Austria saw it as a 100% Rosberg fault. But many also say that Hamilton in the past has been quite aggressive in his maneuvers on Rosberg and this is a tit for tat situation.

Whichever way you look at it, Mercedes cannot afford to lose one or both cars to ill conceived maneuvers that result in costly damage and loss of otherwise assured points. Clearly, team orders is not the answer and the drivers are not showing the level of discretion that is in the interest of the team securing the maximum points possible on the race weekend. What is Mercedes' option going forward? At the back of most peoples mind is the question, is Mercedes trying to secure the driver's title for Rosberg? It is clear from the the evidence that Rosberg seem too brittle to do it on his own.

Ok what l mean by that is, Rosberg do not seem to play the percentage game. Finishing second in Spielberg would have ensured that he lost the minimum number of points possible and still be comfortably ahead in the points. Instead, in a red mist moment, he clunks into Hamilton, losing two further places in the process and losing more points than was necessary. Hence it would seem that Rosberg needs help to win the WDC. Hamilton on the other hand would win it against the odds if given a reliable car and a fair whack at it.

[AndyL]

Re the swapping of the engineers, it's not correct to say that those who were on the losing side last year are on the losing side this year. They didn't swap the entire teams, they mixed them up. So of those who were on the losing side last year, some are on the losing side and some are on the winning side this year.

If Mercedes want to prevent this sort of thing then surely team orders are the answer, from their point of view.

If Mercedes are trying to engineer a Rosberg victory, why did they give Hamilton the chance to undercut Rosberg in the second round of pit stops yesterday? Normally, the leading driver (Rosberg) would get to pit first. But they pitted Hamilton first, to even out the fact that they'd also pitted the "wrong" way round, for strategy reasons, in the first pit stops. It looks to me like Mercedes are bending over backwards to be as even-handed as possible in the treatment of their two drivers, as they have always done.

[The Black Knight]

Re the swapping of the engineers, it's not correct to say that those who were on the losing side last year are on the losing side this year. They didn't swap the entire teams, they mixed them up. So of those who were on the losing side last year, some are on the losing side and some are on the winning side this year.

If Mercedes want to prevent this sort of thing then surely team orders are the answer, from their point of view.

If Mercedes are trying to engineer a Rosberg victory, why did they give Hamilton the chance to undercut Rosberg in the second round of pit stops yesterday? Normally, the leading driver (Rosberg) would get to pit first. But they pitted Hamilton first, to even out the fact that they'd also pitted the "wrong" way round, for strategy reasons, in the first pit stops. It looks to me like Mercedes are bending over backwards to be as even-handed as possible in the treatment of their two drivers, as they have always done.

Well, that undercut was never going to work because the tires took so long to fire up. Even I knew this at the time so I'm sure Mercedes did also. While it may have been a nice looking gesture on their part from the outside, it didn't really mean much. To really address this they'd have had to left Rosberg out a couple of laps longer and not brought him in the next lap.

Saying that, I don't think there was anything untoward going on here. They were going for a one stop, which originally appeared to be the correct thing to do. It was just that it turned out that with the way the race unfolded, the two stop was the ultimate strategy. It's racing and shit like that happens sometimes.

[Mia 01]

Lewis in any team, the first and most important people in the World running your team?

[Koz]

Why is Lauda airing dirty laundry??
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2016/07/mercedes-friede-nur-show-hamilton-zertruemmert-zimmer-16070501.html

[truefan72]

Why is Lauda airing dirty laundry??
http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news/2016/07/mercedes-friede-nur-show-hamilton-zertruemmert-zimmer-16070501.html

because he is a mad man
and what he calls a "lie" was more PR speak than anything.
If he considers that a lie, i wonder what he makes of wolff, and lowe when they consistently tried to obfuscate and pr speak their way out of obvious calamities
As to liars, he need on ly look at Hamilton's teammate for a series of blatant lies , because Rosberg is a smart guy and not dumb enough to believe half the stuff he says in regards to incidents.
Where was Lauda when Rosberg with a straight face looked into the camera's and said "he turned into me!"
Now that is a lie, supported by video evidence and logic.
But instead he calls Hamilton a liar for trying to diffuse a tense situation and taking the high road?
go figure

[Bagwan]

Hamilton did turn into him , but as Nico had disappeared from his vision , and was at the edge of the track , he had every right to do so .

[dj_bytedisaster]

Here's an exact Transcript of Lauda's interview. The translations in Englisch speking media are all of questionable veracity:

Situation. “Sport&Talk” in Red Bull owned Servus-TV’s “Hangar 7”. A table for four, on one side Swiss commentator Roger Benoit next to Nicki Lauda, on the opposite side, the Moderator next to Red Bull’s Dr. Marko.

R. Benoit (complaining about lack of spark in F1): This concerns Mercedes, now. The fans, you know, they all have their favourites, Verstappen, Ricciardo or whoever is toiling about out there. Hamilton-Rosberg, (exasperated hand gesture), now Hamilton, of all the things he could do, even starts acting as a conciliator.

Annotation: The German original says: “Jetzt holt der Hamilton auch noch den Weichspüler raus.”, which literally translates to: “And now, of all the things, Hamilton unpacks the fabric softener”

Using or fetching the fabric softener is a common German euphemism for either whitewashing or suddenly abandoning hostilities and switch to a concilliatory approach.

R Benoit: (puts his arm around Lauda, overacting sarcastically): “Rosberg, in reality he’s my friend, and things between us become better and better, and all that. Well, in that case it’s over. It’s like two boxers coming to the ring, arm in arm.”

Lauda interrupts Benoit: “He lied. It’s as simple as that”

Annotation: In German Lauda says: “Der hat gelogen.”

He refers to Lewis by a generic article only which is (in formal German) considered rude, however in southern Germany and Austria, it is quite common to talk like that.

Lauda: “The conciliator act was just so he so he had something to say again. But when those two start driving, he will try anything, and it become worse and worse the longer Rosberg is ahead of him.”

All four guest start talking over each other, until Benoit yells the loudest and asks: “But the whole world says they are friends again.”

Lauda and Marko (in unison): “Hello? It’s all show, pure show!”

R.Benoit: “Well, then I want to know: Why did he destroy his room in Baku?”

Annotation: It should be noted that Benoit used the verb ‘zertrümmern’, which doesn’t mean causing damage. It explicitely means significant or total destruction.

Lauda: “I was there, you know.”

Benoit: “So why?”

Lauda (laughs): “Because he drove into the wall.”

Benoit: “And who pay for the damage?”

Lauda: “He [of course]. You can rely on that. (laughs about Benoits naivete) To me he said, I’m not allowed to come in because he’s going to bash in everything. (shrugs) That’s what he did.”

Benoit wants to launch into an interpretation of the scene, but Lauda interrupts him and pats his arm. “The conciliatory act was just a bullshit story.”

(video ends)

original video (may be geolocked to Austria)

http://www.servustv.com/at/Medien/Mercedes-Friede-nur-Show-Hamilton-zertruemmert-Zimmer

[Zico]

Anyone else think that Lewis is also of the opinion that his team are conspiring against him?

Some of his comments after the race seemed to hint at that... for me anyway.


I think that deep down the Merc top brass would love to have a German/Austrian WDC and I can understand that. I think I'd rather wait to see how this season pans out before saying any more though.

[dj_bytedisaster]

I think that deep down the Merc top brass would love to have a German/Austrian WDC and I can understand that. I think I'd rather wait to see how this season pans out before saying any more though.

Does have nothing to do with that. Nico isn't very popular in Germany, so no PR value. If they wanted to make the most of a German WDC, they would have ditched either Lewis or Nico for Wehrlein, who is very popular, especially among woman folk.

The striking thing is, that Lauda personally got Lewis to Mercedes and was his biggest team-internal champion since day one, up to the point that, being a comercially rated pilot, he personally piloted Lewis's private jet (for instance after China '14). Sometime between Austin '15 and the start of this season there must have been massive fall-out between lewis and Lauda, because this year he's turned into Lewis's most vocal critic.

[Zico]

Does have nothing to do with that. Nico isn't very popular in Germany, so no PR value. If they wanted to make the most of a German WDC, they would have ditched either Lewis or Nico for Wehrlein, who is very popular, especially among woman folk.

The striking thing is, that Lauda personally got Lewis to Mercedes and was his biggest team-internal champion since day one, up to the point that, being a comercially rated pilot, he personally piloted Lewis's private jet (for instance after China '14). Sometime between Austin '15 and the start of this season there must have been massive fall-out between lewis and Lauda, because this year he's turned into Lewis's most vocal critic.

Fair comments, makes a lot of sense to me. I haven't really followed the whole Merc team relationship thing, just had a gut feeling after seeing Lewis's body language recently that things are not rosy in the garden. I found his comments and guardedness quite revealing.

I guess the question is whether this fall out has travelled further into the team. Maybe Totos furious reaction of hiting the table on Sunday was only once he realised Nico had broken his front wing? ;) :D

[Bagwan]

Does have nothing to do with that. Nico isn't very popular in Germany, so no PR value. If they wanted to make the most of a German WDC, they would have ditched either Lewis or Nico for Wehrlein, who is very popular, especially among woman folk.

The striking thing is, that Lauda personally got Lewis to Mercedes and was his biggest team-internal champion since day one, up to the point that, being a comercially rated pilot, he personally piloted Lewis's private jet (for instance after China '14). Sometime between Austin '15 and the start of this season there must have been massive fall-out between lewis and Lauda, because this year he's turned into Lewis's most vocal critic.

Striking also is that he seems not to have the paddock fooled , as Marko joined the chorus , apparently in unison .

[dj_bytedisaster]

Striking also is that he seems not to have the paddock fooled , as Marko joined the chorus , apparently in unison .

It was difficult to project, even with a transcript, but when Benoit sort of asked why all the world says they are friends again, from the tone of Lauda's and Marko's replies you would translate it as something like :

"Dude, are you daft? You should know he only made that up!"

But I wanted to stay true to the original as close as possible. That's why all the English speaking media ended up with widely differing interpretations. Of all the German speaking people, the Austrians are the most difficult to riddle out, because like none other country they project their meaning not by what they say, but HOW they say it. I'm a native German speaker (Prussian dialect) and have lived and worked in Austria for close to a year, but it has taken me six months to comprehend Austrians speaking at normal speeds.

That's why Lauda is often misquoted. I saw the dubbed video on Sky Sports today, and they didn't even get the most basic things right, like who said what.

Just to give an example: The two-syllable response "Ah, ge'", depending on speed and intonation can mean all of these:

- Really? (surprise)
- Oh, Really? (doubt)
- Yeah, sure (disbelief)
- You don't even believe that yourself, do you? (dismissive)

It's worse than Mandarin...

[Nitrodaze]

Does have nothing to do with that. Nico isn't very popular in Germany, so no PR value. If they wanted to make the most of a German WDC, they would have ditched either Lewis or Nico for Wehrlein, who is very popular, especially among woman folk.

The striking thing is, that Lauda personally got Lewis to Mercedes and was his biggest team-internal champion since day one, up to the point that, being a comercially rated pilot, he personally piloted Lewis's private jet (for instance after China '14). Sometime between Austin '15 and the start of this season there must have been massive fall-out between lewis and Lauda, because this year he's turned into Lewis's most vocal critic.

I think it would explain the emerging isolation of Hamilton within the Mercedes camp; if he has lost one of his most influential supporter within the upper echelon of the team. How he managed that is very much of interest. If we go by Spielberg, Toto do not seem to be warm to Hamilton either. And the British lot have been very quiet or neutral in their comments about it so far anyway.

The situation is hard to read very clearly. But one aspect that seem to be emerging more clearly is the support that Rosberg is commanding, is a lot higher this year than for Hamilton. This sort of swing of support would typically occur where a driver, wittingly or unwittingly disrespects his team. Hence the swing of support to Rosberg, may not be anything to do with his German roots. But simply a reaction to something that we are not privy to, that Hamilton may have said or done.

[Bagwan]

This is how I see it .
You have just seen a driver turn in when squeezed out , when his team-mate , multiple times in much the same circumstances , has taken the other option of avoidance .
You have just heard about the "destruction" of a personal room within the Merc motorhome set after a mistake in qualifying in Baku , with a note at the end saying that it gets worse the longer Nico is in front .
That implies that there may have been a few melt-downs .

And , remember , Hamilton again this race , openly questioned his team's decision to put him on different tires , implying again a paranoia about not being favoured .


I think it just accumulative , really .
It's just an act , as they say .

[Mia 01]

Niki Lauda had enough I Think, but I´m not the person to comment further in this thread.

[The Black Knight]

Here's an exact Transcript of Lauda's interview. The translations in Englisch speking media are all of questionable veracity:

Situation. “Sport&Talk” in Red Bull owned Servus-TV’s “Hangar 7”. A table for four, on one side Swiss commentator Roger Benoit next to Nicki Lauda, on the opposite side, the Moderator next to Red Bull’s Dr. Marko.

R. Benoit (complaining about lack of spark in F1): This concerns Mercedes, now. The fans, you know, they all have their favourites, Verstappen, Ricciardo or whoever is toiling about out there. Hamilton-Rosberg, (exasperated hand gesture), now Hamilton, of all the things he could do, even starts acting as a conciliator.

Annotation: The German original says: “Jetzt holt der Hamilton auch noch den Weichspüler raus.”, which literally translates to: “And now, of all the things, Hamilton unpacks the fabric softener”

Using or fetching the fabric softener is a common German euphemism for either whitewashing or suddenly abandoning hostilities and switch to a concilliatory approach.

R Benoit: (puts his arm around Lauda, overacting sarcastically): “Rosberg, in reality he’s my friend, and things between us become better and better, and all that. Well, in that case it’s over. It’s like two boxers coming to the ring, arm in arm.”

Lauda interrupts Benoit: “He lied. It’s as simple as that”

Annotation: In German Lauda says: “Der hat gelogen.”

He refers to Lewis by a generic article only which is (in formal German) considered rude, however in southern Germany and Austria, it is quite common to talk like that.

Lauda: “The conciliator act was just so he so he had something to say again. But when those two start driving, he will try anything, and it become worse and worse the longer Rosberg is ahead of him.”

All four guest start talking over each other, until Benoit yells the loudest and asks: “But the whole world says they are friends again.”

Lauda and Marko (in unison): “Hello? It’s all show, pure show!”

R.Benoit: “Well, then I want to know: Why did he destroy his room in Baku?”

Annotation: It should be noted that Benoit used the verb ‘zertrümmern’, which doesn’t mean causing damage. It explicitely means significant or total destruction.

Lauda: “I was there, you know.”

Benoit: “So why?”

Lauda (laughs): “Because he drove into the wall.”

Benoit: “And who pay for the damage?”

Lauda: “He [of course]. You can rely on that. (laughs about Benoits naivete) To me he said, I’m not allowed to come in because he’s going to bash in everything. (shrugs) That’s what he did.”

Benoit wants to launch into an interpretation of the scene, but Lauda interrupts him and pats his arm. “The conciliatory act was just a bullshit story.”

(video ends)

original video (may be geolocked to Austria)

http://www.servustv.com/at/Medien/Mercedes-Friede-nur-Show-Hamilton-zertruemmert-Zimmer

One has to wonder about Lauda and what he was trying to achieve my making the above comments.

Mercedes is after issuing a statement countering what he said in that interview that Lewis didn't destroy his room and he wasn't lying about his Rosberg relationship. It's the PR spin now but the damage is already done.

Personally, I think Mercedes should fire Lauda on the spot for those comments. He doesn't contribute anything to Mercedes and is turning into more and more of a clown.

[Nitrodaze]

One has to wonder about Lauda and what he was trying to achieve my making the above comments.

Mercedes is after issuing a statement countering what he said in that interview that Lewis didn't destroy his room and he wasn't lying about his Rosberg relationship. It's the PR spin now but the damage is already done.

Personally, I think Mercedes should fire Lauda on the spot for those comments. He doesn't contribute anything to Mercedes and is turning into more and more of a clown.

The Mercedes team management are in a state at the moment. They have lost some credibility at Austria in their handling of the aftermath of the crash. Lauda's TV comments just complicated things further. Then, there is the aimless warning, not to the driver that caused the last two crashes, but to both drivers. There is even the suggestion that both would be suspended if another collision occurs. Kind of, regardless of who causes the collision. How fair is that? :-).
It almost seems like they are not allowed to admonish Rosberg for his unruly driving. As such it appears harder for them to get on top of the problem. They have a clear dilemma of how to control the situation and it seems most likely to end up in a very costly conclusion.

Personally, l am very disappointed that Red bull and Ferrari are not close enough to make Mercedes pay when they have these silly moments. that would have naturally controlled the situation. If Verstapenn's Redbull was within a second of the collision, he would have won that race. And the Mercedes team would have had a better perspective of the situation.

[Big Ben]

PR talk is one thing... this looks more like the behavior of a pathological liar. The way he lies about his magical relationship with Rosberg is fascinating.

I guess Lauda just doesn't like the douche... that's what makes him reveal these things. I understand him.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[dj_bytedisaster]

Mercedes' statement read like:

"Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten."

http://www.spannersready.com/f1-articles/2016/7/5/tit-for-tat-the-gloves-are-off-at-brackley

[Nitrodaze]

Mercedes' statement read like:

"Niemand hat die Absicht, eine Mauer zu errichten."

http://www.spannersready.com/f1-articles/2016/7/5/tit-for-tat-the-gloves-are-off-at-brackley

A psychological wall already is forming in the Mercedes garage. The level of on track hostility which by the way is not racing; has indicated that internal unity is no longer there. There is a clear divide and staff on each side of the garage would take sides based on their impression of what they witness. Mercedes is in a mess at the moment and clearly there are lots of emotion involved. In this sort of circumstances, objectivity begins to take a back seat in proceedings.

It is worrying that they are not showing the level of respect that a three times world champion deserves to Hamilton. I admire the fact that Mercedes treat both of their driver equally. But on acheivement basis, they are not equal. On potential basis they not equal either. Hamilton is miles ahead on both fronts. Hence, it is curious to see how the Mercedes F1 management fails to appreciate these quite stark distinctions in their deliberations of these incidents.

More specifically, why they do not provide Rosberg with the necessary advice he requires to drive this championship more productively rather than leave him to his devices; to crash his way out of the opportunity to win his first WDC. It is just ugly that the team make out Hamilton is somehow also to blame for the occurrence of these collisions.

We have seen masterly display of the act of defensive driving this season when Hamliton defended his way to win at Monaco. We saw Verstapenn do the same to Raikonenn to his first win at Spain. There also was the case of Alonso on Rosberg at Monaco, where the slower Mclaren managed to keep position successfully. Nico needs to demonstrate similar depth of skill to keep Hamilton or anyone behind. Crashing into him when he feels threatened by a pass or have lost the initiative, smacks of frustration that Hamilton has got the better of him again.

The thing is, all of Rosberg's wins this season has been without any form of challenges from any driver behind. In circumstances where he is properly challenged, he has crashed. When faced with stiff defense, he seem to lose his cool as well. We have seen many instances when he tries to pass Hamilton. but Most notable this season, was him trying to pass Verstapenn at Canada this season. He ran of the track and lost the initiative when he needed to be patient and wait for the ideal moment.

There are loads of people rooting for Rosberg to win the title this year. I have to admit, l do too. In my softness, I like to support the underdog. With two years of losing to Hamilton, it is fair to say Rosberg is the underdog. I really just wish he would focus on the racing rather than getting involved in hostilities. He would not be respected for that. But would be respected for beating Hamilton in a straight fight to win the 2016 title.

I am also the sort of fellow who would not stand for partiality of any kind.

[Nitrodaze]

Mercedes are not going to immediately issue team orders. But they would do so, as a last resort where one of their drivers violate the new stiffer rules of engagement. The punishment for violation of the rules include financial sanctions, reduction of access to technical advancements or upgrades etc. While the punishment aspect seem vaguely clear of Mercedes' attempt to clamp down on their wayward drivers, unfortunately they have not been transparent in what the new rules of engagement are.

As such they leave open the possibility that the F1 community may take a different view on their enforcement of the rules, where the application of the rule appear partial to one of their drivers. Both drivers believe they are not inhibited from racing [cleanly l hope]. This is welcomed news to us the fans. But more so, l am relieved that a fatal or injurious incident may be averted by this new rule; whatever it is.

There are many races yet to go. I am sure we shall be presented with an opportunity or two, where some sort of interpretation of the new rules will be required.

[driveace]

Let's see what the British GP brings Possibly Hamilton if unhappy with what has been imposed on him will open up to the press .But Rosberg really needs to understand that just because there have been no fatalities in F1 for a while ,except for the Jules Bianci one ,that "Motor Sport IS Dangerous " and using your vehicle as a weapon is not on !

[Nitrodaze]

The thing about this crashing episodes between Hamilton and Rosberg, kind of highlights where Brawn and Toto et al, appear to have fallen out of sync a few years back. Brawn was willing to apply team orders where he felt a crash was likely and one two finish was certain. Toto et al were prepared for their drivers to fight to the line even when a one two was clearly certain.

In a situation like Austria where the leading car was suffering from brake problems that could become a failure if both drivers were to continue fighting for positions, team orders would be sensible but unfair to the driver with the car capable of overtaking to win the race. But the unfairness only goes as far as both drivers racing cleanly with each other and the possibility of a senseless crash being remote. Also there is the posibility that the ailing car do not make to the end of the race as well. A tricky one this, but it worked itself out on the day didn't it?

[truefan72]

The thing about this crashing episodes between Hamilton and Rosberg, kind of highlights where Brawn and Toto et al, appear to have fallen out of sync a few years back. Brawn was willing to apply team orders where he felt a crash was likely and one two finish was certain. Toto et al were prepared for their drivers to fight to the line even when a one two was clearly certain.

In a situation like Austria where the leading car was suffering from brake problems that could become a failure if both drivers were to continue fighting for positions, team orders would be sensible but unfair to the driver with the car capable of overtaking to win the race. But the unfairness only goes as far as both drivers racing cleanly with each other and the possibility of a senseless crash being remote. Also there is the posibility that the ailing car do not make to the end of the race as well. A tricky one this, but it worked itself out on the day didn't it?

well team orders are not initiated in a vacuum and for the past 2 years the WDC has been a competition between the 2 drivers.
We honestly don't know what Brawn would have done. And i would think that given the circumstances, team orders to hold station would not work in this situation.
Brawn would also be smart enough to know that the WCC is pretty much a wrap and that the notion of a marketing coup with a 1-2 finish is less effective than the 2 cars putting on a "show" and offering the audience, press and all interested with compelling viewing thus ensuring maximum exposure to sponsors anyway.

I felt that at the end of 2015 season those team orders were unnecessary and detrimental to the sport.
Let them compete and let us enjoy the outcome, whatever it may be.

[Nitrodaze]

well team orders are not initiated in a vacuum and for the past 2 years the WDC has been a competition between the 2 drivers.
We honestly don't know what Brawn would have done. And i would think that given the circumstances, team orders to hold station would not work in this situation.
Brawn would also be smart enough to know that the WCC is pretty much a wrap and that the notion of a marketing coup with a 1-2 finish is less effective than the 2 cars putting on a "show" and offering the audience, press and all interested with compelling viewing thus ensuring maximum exposure to sponsors anyway.

I felt that at the end of 2015 season those team orders were unnecessary and detrimental to the sport.
Let them compete and let us enjoy the outcome, whatever it may be.

I agree, 2015 was very boring from that perspective. The way that the driver championship points are poised at the moment, team orders would be unthinkable in certain circumstances, as it may effectively hand the championship to one of their driver's. I think only a financial punishment may ensure that both drivers have the requisite parity to fairly compete with each other for the driver championship this season.