It was not an ideal result for Mercedes in the Canadian Grand Prix, although both cars managed to make it to the race distance. Nico Rosberg was on the losing end of the garage, watching his teammate win his second consecutive race and his World Drivers’ Championship lead diminishing to only nine points.
Sunday was setup to be a Mercedes 1-2 finish, with the team having locked out the front row of the grid the day before. Things went well for Sebastian Vettel, as his Ferrari almost instantaneously took the lead of the Grand Prix due to a brilliant start. This left the Mercedes duo in a battle for the first corner; a battle which Rosberg would lose. The German was forced off of the track when they pair made contact and needed to cut the first corner. Although Hamilton maintained second position, Rosberg rejoined the track in P9, leaving him with a large gap to his teammate.
Hamilton claims to have suffered “massive understeer” in the first corner. Nico Rosberg says that it was a difficult move on his teammate, but that it had worked in previous rounds of the championship:
“Lewis had a bad start, mine was decent and Sebastian got a super start. So, I was alongside Lewis and tried around the outside. I had to try the move or accept I’d be behind him. In Barcelona it worked but this time it didn’t. It was a hard maneuver from him but that’s racing and I need to do a better job next time. I lost a lot of places going down the escape road and that cost me a shot at the race.”
Of course, Rosberg’s pain didn’t end there. After the first round of pit stops, he would need to pit again after a slow rear puncture was detected by the team. He spent the remainder of the race combatting brake temperature warnings and a fuel shortage. With a chance of earning fourth position, he attempted an overtake in the final corner of his penultimate lap. He lost the car under braking and lost the battle with Max Verstappen. He managed to continue the final lap of the race to get fifth position, ahead of Kimi Räikkönen.
Although he is still leading the World Drivers’ Championship battle, Rosberg is now only nine points ahead of his teammate, as they head to Asia for the European Grand Prix. First lap incidents between the Mercedes teammates are new, as the team failed to finish in Spain. Once again, the team discussed the Canada issue during their post-race debrief. The Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, Toto Wolff, hinted at some frustration towards the drivers, saying, “It was a hard move and clearly you don’t want or expect to come out of Turn 2 with cars in 2nd and 9th positions when you start from the front row; but to be honest, these discussions after each race give me a feeling a little bit of deja vu.”
Weekend Summary: 2016 Canadian Grand Prix
2016 Canadian Grand Prix Predictions
Wolff: “We won’t change our approach”
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