Poll Was Hamilton right to not yield to Rosberg?

Was Hamilton right to not yield to Rosberg?

  • Yes

    Votes: 59 90.8%
  • No

    Votes: 6 9.2%

  • Total voters


🦶 Leg end
Staff Member
One of the big talking points from the Hungarian GP.

From Hamilton's point of view, it was absolutely the right decision as he finished ahead of Rosberg and reduced the points deficit.

From Rosberg's point of view, it potentially cost him the race win and an extended lead in the WDC.

From the team's point of view, they possibly lost out on some WCC points, but that is largely irrelevant as unless both cars fail to score another point for the rest of the season, Mercedes have that in the bag.

If Rosberg had the speed and ability to pass Hamilton, then he should have done so.
The team can't seriously expect someone to slow so much to allow their team mate who is somewhere between 1-2 seconds behind to be able to breeze past them, can they?
Especially considering both drivers are in a battle for the title.

This race more than any other reinforced my opinion that Rosberg doesn't have the same ability to make crucial overtakes as some of the other drivers.
Several times in the race he was stuck behind cars he really needed to pass but couldn't.

Granted, Hamilton also failed to overtake Alonso towards the end of the race but there's a big difference between Alonso and Vergne.

How is this going to affect the team for the remaining races?
It could be gloves off now and every man for himself.

The poll is anonymous so don't be concerned about being flamed for the way you vote.
I can't promise the same for any posts though ;)


Champion Elect
It's the old conflict of interests between racing for a team and racing for yourself. You are an employee of the former but your career is dependent on the latter.
Inthis instance I think Hamilton was totally within his rights, and not just because Nico couldn't get close enough. but because he's racing for the title.
Anyway I'm not sure Rosberg would have won anyway, his pace wasn't particularly impressive around the first safety-car period.
He was part of the groupl of cars that included Bottas and Alonso, and the latter only took a few laps to pass his way from seventh to third, including the pass on Vettel.
Rosberg by contrast was unable to pass anyone iat that stage and losing time all the while, so he wasn't displaying race-winning paace.
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Dario Resta

Podium Finisher
Of course he was right to not let Nico past, but I'm not surprised Nico was annoyed, as he'd been told that Lewis would let him go.I also hope the vote and opinions would have been the same if Nico had got the call.......


Valued Member
Erm... yes. I don't think I've seen anything thus far to suggest that Rosberg would have yielded, and a yield would be a massive disadvantage to Hamilton.

Yes, it may have lost them the Grand Prix, but I'm not sure that really matters. They're racing only each other, as Mercedes bosses seem to be the last to have grasped.


Podium Finisher
I can understand Mercedes wanting to ensure they get maximum points as a team, what with all the millions of dollars up for grabs, but now that the Team Championship is pretty much wrapped up, why not let the boys race? And not just race but let them keep data from each other and let them run whatever engine map they want. It's not exactly equal terms as long as drivers are looking over each others shoulders throughout a race.


Rooters Reporter
Typical tabloid misquoting from Autosport. Hamilton actually said (as we heard on air) was: "I'm not slowing down for Nico. If he gets close enough he can pass me." I make him absolutely right on that.

Ted K seemed to go to great lengths to show how Nico lost 10 seconds stuck behind Lewis in those latter laps. Maybe he should have asked the question: "how much time did Nico and Lewis lose behind Vergne?" Nico was incapable of performing the decisive move that Lewis, once Nico was out of the way, pulled on the guy to secure his own place and eventual podium.

One other thing, after the team ****ing up twice in two races we have been treated to the spectacle of brilliant recovery drives from Lewis. I do hope that Mercedes recognise that the mechanical failures issue is what they need to sort out. Had they deprived us of the real racing by trying to enforce their NIFTY team order I for one would start giving more credence to the conspiracy theories that are flying about regarding the "German team with the German driver desirable WDC scenario" ... :D:thinking::bored:


Rooters Reporter
Indeed, I was being sort of kind to them since they appeared to give up "telling" him. Actually, with further hindsight, I think they should have relayed Lewis' exact reply to Nico and told him to try harder.*

Edit: *That's assuming that they didn't do that.
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Podium Finisher
In the past teams like Force India and Sauber have had their drivers frequently on different strategies and the one ahead being told to let the other pass to maximize the team result. Even this season we've seen it at Red Bull, with Vettel being told a few times to let Ricciardo by.
Although Rosberg should have been able to get closer to Hamilton.


Podium Finisher
I don't think Rosbergs' strategy was the optimum either. He got stuck in traffic after his pitstop, which was the main reason why Hamilton came out in front of him after his pitstop, while he (Rosberg) should have been faster, he thus wasn't really faster.


🦶 Leg end
Staff Member

The Artist.....

Champion Elect
Whether it was the right order to make, ultimately, Hamilton is an employee of the team, so should have ceded to the order.

However, this does raise the question about whether orders should be implemented!
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