Leading into the final lap of a punishing 71 lap race of the Austrian GP, holding off the attentions of his World Champion teammate, the pressure was well and truly on the leader as he closed in on the victory.
But, he knew he had to concede the place and did so as he accelerated out of the final turn, allowing Michael Schumacher to cross the line in front and cement his position at the top of the driver's championship. Rubens Barrichello may have been the convincing 'winner' of the 2002 Austrian GP, but it was Michael Schumacher who stood at the top of the podium and grimaced as he heard the boos from a raucous crowd.
Team orders had just been issued by Ferrari to massage Schumacher into the lead and into the win, and the public didn't like it. Barrichello didn't like it either, but the team had a much more obvious policy of having one driver in a leading role. 14 years later, the topic of team orders has arisen again as Mercedes struggle to stop their drivers descending into open war, with no such roles handed out to Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
Up until this point, Mercedes have been much lauded for their willingness to let their two drivers race each other, often exclusively, for victories. In their two and a half seasons together, Hamilton and Rosberg have been pretty well behaved and have usually avoided contact in their battles, usually due to Rosberg being willing to yield when Hamilton uses his trademark aggression. It's made Rosberg seem a pushover on occasion and, after the very public condemnation of his tap of Hamilton at Spa 2014, the momentum has always been with Lewis as he wrapped up two consecutive titles. 2016 has been different, though.
'Rosberg 2.0' has emerged, and he's not willing to allow himself to be bullied. Barcelona's disaster was testimony to that and, as a once-off, everyone at the team moved on pretty quickly. Hamilton's aggressive start in Montreal threatened to rock the boat, but the murmurs of indignation from Rosberg were quickly swept under the carpet. But Austria has now shown that Rosberg, tired of Hamilton's past aggressive manoeuvres such as at Suzuka and Austin 2015, is no longer willing to avoid a collision if Hamilton puts him into the position of having one.
Having spoken with Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa on Thursday, it's interesting to note that neither driver saw much issue with Rosberg's defence in Austria. Massa said that he thought Rosberg had only been a little naughty, saying: "This is what everyone does when someone tries to pass you on the outside. Everybody waits a bit before turning. Maybe he waited just a little bit too much."
Speaking about Hamilton turning into the corner and into Rosberg's side, before Rosberg had started to turn in, Massa said: "If you don’t turn into a corner, and the guy crashes into you because you didn’t turn, you shouldn’t turn into the corner. What Nico did wasn’t so wrong, he was fighting for the position." Ricciardo also said that he felt that Rosberg had only been a little bit boisterous in his defence. Whatever their opinion, the stewards decided Rosberg was at fault and was given a ten second time penalty.
The last lap move has caused much consternation at Mercedes, and has provided the team with a chance to show off their expertise at crisis management. The team issued a statement on Thursday, announcing new 'rules of engagement' for their drivers when battling, and said that 'deterrents' had been issued to ensure the drivers toe the line. When asked about whether the deterrents are scary, Hamilton smiled and said "I guess I should say yes."
Based on his, and Rosberg's, chirpiness at their respective Thursday debriefs, they both know that Mercedes are essentially toothless when it comes to getting them to cool their jets. A fine is meaningless to the multi-millionaires, and benching one of the drivers would fly in the face of what the team are trying to achieve by getting their drivers to behave. While Merc's continued performance advantage is noticeable, they aren't quite in such a comfortable position that they can afford to throw away points to the pursuing Ferraris and Red Bulls. Hamilton is under contract for next year, Rosberg isn't yet.
Lewis Hamilton (left) and Nico Rosberg (right) with Executive Director Toto Wolff. Image: David Davies / PA Wire/Press Association Images
He said on Thursday the fact that he isn't yet confirmed at the team will not play a part in how he approaches battling Lewis, and stated that he is willing to follow team orders if they are issued: "In general I do not like team orders, but they are part of the game and they have always been part of the game. I do respect all instructions from the team, as I have shown this year in Monaco. They are being done because they make sense, and I know that the team treats both of us drivers in a fair way. Team instructions are part of our sport, and sometimes they are even necessary."
Lewis Hamilton also indicated willingness to listen to team orders and, if the team do decide to start implementing them, it's likely to be of the type that call off battle after the final stops or in the closing laps, rather than favouring one driver over the other. This appears to be a neat and tidy solution but Spain showed that collisions don't need to happen at the end of a race. There's a lot of racing to go this year and, should another crash happen, just what do Mercedes do? Rosberg has raised his aggression levels to match Hamilton's and this is leading to another boiling point. When, and not if, it leads to another compromised race for either driver, what does team boss Toto Wolff do? Speaking on Thursday, he issued a clear threat to his men:
"It's clear for both drivers that we go through a tough time when we lose points when the cars collide. And that was acknowledged. If you have a yellow card, will it change your way of tackling it or not? Because you know what happens with a second yellow…"
"In a couple of years we might look back and say Rosberg-Hamilton was one of the best battles. I am aware of that, and I don’t want to over-manage it. We want them to be race drivers, they are the stars of the show. We don’t want to belittle them in public - which is why I am reluctant to share in public the possible sanctions for them. We don’t want to have them go around like puppies. But equally let us not have three shunts in five races. Let’s get that ratio in a place that is acceptable for the team; three in five is not a good one.
"If it was mission impossible, that would mean we didn’t see any clean racing out there. But there is clean racing out there. The great racing is hard racing, trying to pass and outsmart the competitor without contact. I believe, especially considering the skill set of those two, that clean racing is possible and achievable.”
Unless one of the two drivers has a clear advantage over the other, this will happen again. Could the British GP this weekend be the venue? Hamilton's home race will buoy him, and his initial pace in opening practice has seen him just edge Rosberg by 0.033 seconds. Running the Medium tyre, Mercedes almost have a second advantage over Ferrari who ran the Soft tyre, so it appears this is set to be another HAM/ROS duel on the open sweeps of Silverstone. Should the pair meet again at the apex of a corner while fighting for the lead, will either of them be willing to yield?
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