There is a line on Lewis Hamilton’s fastidiously decorated helmet – taken from the American poet and author Maya Angelou – which reads “Still I Rise”.
But for Nico Rosberg and the other Formula One drivers who trail in his wake there should be another message: Mind The Gap. The letters should be large, and placed on the back of the helmet.
Lewis Hamilton’s victory in yesterday’s Grand Prix was hardly surprising. After all, he is the quickest driver and he happens to be driving a Mercedes car which is vastly superior to the other 21 vehicles on the grid. Except Rosberg’s. And he beat his team-mate by the staggering margin of 17.3 seconds.
The vanquished and merely defeated wear different expressions, and Rosberg’s ashen countenance spoke volumes. Even the quietly spoken Hamilton, who is not usually boastful of his gifts, said afterwards: “I learned a few things in practice but it is a different thing learning it from applying it. But today I applied it and that’s why I blew him away. It’s massive. I can’t remember the last time in my career I had a gap like that, particularly with a team-mate driving the same car. That’s definitely a good feeling.”
Rosberg, who won the first race in Australia two weeks ago and was second here, still leads the embryonic drivers’ championship by 18 points. But this was a reminder of the chasm that exists between the two Silver Arrow drivers when Hamilton is at his absolute best. Given the intimacy of the two men (and boys) as rivals, the bleak truth of the matter must be rumbling about somewhere at the back of Rosberg’s highly intelligent mind. This drive by Hamilton, though, was a brutal reminder of the pecking order when all goes well for him.
Jury out on Rosberg
That is not to say that Hamilton
is a shoo-in for the title. Many sagacious racing men put their money on Rosberg at the start of the campaign, for Hamilton can implode and we don’t know yet whether Rosberg is capable of greatness.
This was Hamilton’s 23rd win in Formula One, his first at the Sepang circuit in Kuala Lumpur and the first one-two result for Mercedes since their heyday 60 years ago.
Hamilton led from lights out to chequered flag, his first victory since Hungary last summer, and he has rarely looked as elated as this. “I’m pushing myself more than my team-mate is pushing me . . . I’m giving it everything. There’s nothing else that’s on my mind, there’s nothing else that I’m thinking about. I’m only thinking about the championship,” he said.
“I’m more mature. I’m . . . starting to see the benefits of the mistakes.”
The race itself was largely uneventful but it was marked by the emergence of Red Bull as the likeliest challengers to Mercedes. Sebastian Vettel was third – 25 seconds behind the winner – and the wretchedly unlucky Daniel Ricciardo, who was disqualified in Melbourne after finishing in second place for a fuel-flow violation, put in another fine drive only to retire following a botched pitstop.
Fernando Alonso was fifth in his Ferrari, and at times showed some real pace. The signs are that Ferrari and Red Bull will be competitive by the time the Formula One circus comes to Europe in May.
Guardian Service
