Mercedes AMG Petronas

Nico Rosberg may have won the opening two races of the 2016 Formula One season, establishing an early 17-point lead in the drivers' standings, but Lewis Hamilton was reluctant to reach for any panic buttons in the immediate aftermath of the Bahrain Grand Prix.

For the second race in succession, he had been condemned to damage-limitation mode at the very first corner after another poor start left him unable to capitalise on pole position and vulnerable to those behind, and a collision with Williams' Valtteri Bottas ultimately forced him to settle for third.

But although his Mercedes team-mate had extended his career-best winning streak to five races, growing in confidence all the while, Hamilton—at the beginning of what, with 21 grands prix, will be the longest campaign in the history of F1—remained remarkably relaxed as he left the Sakhir circuit.

Per Sky Sports' James Galloway, he insisted:

I actually feel really chilled, to be honest. Jeez, it is what it is, it's not a big issue.

There's a long, long way to go. 17 points down? I've had a lot of worse.

Qualifying was great—the last two qualifyings have been good—I think I had the set-up right for the race, but unfortunately I was unable to exploit that. It is what it is. 

Congratulations to Nico—an easy day for him for sure—I live to fight another day.

His insinuation that Rosberg had claimed an "easy" win in Bahrain was a little unfair—after all, can a grand prix victory ever be regarded as that simple?—but Hamilton's assessment of his own race, his own predicament, offered another insight into his growth in maturity in recent times.

Where he would once be horrified by the thought of conceding pole—never mind being assaulted by another car on the opening lap—he now accepts such incidents occasionally happen over the course of an eight-month season and recognises the importance of playing the long game.

That sense of perspective—no doubt aided by his recent success, culminating in his third world championship in 2015—means no deficit is ever insurmountable, after Hamilton won the 2014 title by a comfortable 67 points having trailed his team-mate by 29 at one stage.

And while Rosberg had enjoyed a strong start to 2016, it was seemingly a matter of time until Hamilton—who believes he should always be 0.3 seconds faster than the German, as "an important figure at Mercedes" told the Guardian's Paul Weaver—wrested back the momentum and embarked upon a winning run of his own.

The fightback—the retaliation—was expected to begin this weekend at the Shanghai International Circuit, where Hamilton, with five pole positions and four victories, stands as the most successful driver in the 12-year history of the Chinese Grand Prix.

The gearbox of @LewisHamilton's #F1 W07 Hybrid sustained damage in Bahrain which required a physical inspection for full assessment... (1/2)

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 14, 2016

Having done so, the decision has been taken to change the gearbox rather than carry any risk moving forwards... (2/2)

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 14, 2016

Yet, at the place he has claimed some of the most impressive and important triumphs of his career, his unfortunate start to the new season is set to continue.

Hamilton's chances of claiming his first win since last October's United States GP were immediately blunted before the on-track action even began, with Mercedes' official Twitter account confirming Hamilton would incur a five-place grid penalty due to a gearbox change.

Despite a troubled start to his weekend, Hamilton—as in Bahrain—remained determined to look on the bright side, telling Motorsport.com's Adam Cooper how he views a challenge as "an opportunity to rise" and claiming he was "really excited" about giving Rosberg "a good run for his money" despite the German's latest "easy weekend."

That excitement, however, was extinguished just minutes into the first segment of qualifying, when Hamilton reported "an issue with [his] power unit" over pit-to-car radio, per the FOM television feed.

Even the 20-minute delay in proceedings due to Pascal Wehrlein's crash on the pit straight didn't afford Mercedes enough time to resolve the problem, which the team's official website later confirmed was an MGU-H glitch.

And on a day Rosberg claimed his first pole of 2016—setting himself up beautifully for the race by ensuring he will start the race on the soft tyres while his nearest competitors will use the fragile super-softs—Hamilton's misfortune on Sundays bled into Saturday, leaving him at the very rear of the grid without a lap to his name.

LH "But these things are sent to try us. No-one wants it easy – at least I know I don’t" #F1 pic.twitter.com/UoEgY7oEMy

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 16, 2016

After qualifying, Mercedes' Toto Wolff, who arrived at the team at the same time as Hamilton at the beginning of 2013, paid tribute to his driver's handling of his current difficulties, explaining how he returned to the garage to shake "everybody's hand" and give "a little clap of support" following his early elimination, per Cooper.

He added that Hamilton is still "in a great place," claiming his personal development over the last three years has been nothing short of "mind blowing."

Hamilton may still be really chilled. He may, as he told the same source, see "no real need to be too stressed about" his bad luck just yet. He may remain convinced it will all come good in the end.

LH "I’ll give it everything I’ve got to try to get back up as far as I can. It’s never over until it’s over…" #F1 pic.twitter.com/MzIofhfZ1R

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 16, 2016

But as Nico continues to have it easy, it is becoming increasingly evident that if Lewis is to win a fourth title in 2016, he will have to do it the hard way.

The Hamilton Way.

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Come Saturday evening at the Australian Grand Prix, on a day Lewis Hamilton eased to his 50th career pole position despite a rule change intended to put an end to Mercedes' run of front-row lockouts, the final nails were being pounded into the coffin of Formula One's new, elimination-style qualifying format.

Or so we thought, anyway.

As you would expect of a regulation change confirmed less than a month until the start of a new season, the overhaul of qualifying—which gained the "unanimous" approval of the F1 Commission, per the FIA's official website—had failed spectacularly. 

And for once, those within the paddock—notorious for their conflicting priorities and regular acts of selfishness—were in complete unison.

Toto Wolff, the man who has led Mercedes to two consecutive drivers' and constructors' world championships, was too embarrassed to celebrate his team's 37th pole in 39 attempts, simply referring to the hour-long session as "rubbish," per Sky Sports' Matthew Morlidge.

His opposite number at Red Bull, Christian Horner, told the same source F1 "should apologise" for the farce and "address it immediately," while Sebastian Vettel declared it was "definitely the wrong way to go," claiming "plenty of engineers" had "predicted what would happen" and suggesting the sport had ignored the warning signs.

ELIMINATED (Q3):

8 RIC
7 SAI
6 MAS
5 VES
4 RAI
3 VET#AusGP #F1IsBack #Quali pic.twitter.com/d3SgAI8oP4

— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2016

A range of flaws of the elimination-style structure had been exposed at Albert Park, from the indigestible chaos of Q1 to the empty track at the supposed crescendo of qualifying, which gave Vettel—the most intense driver on the grid, remember—the time to change into his jeans and change trainers before qualifying had officially concluded.

Perhaps the most depressing—and certainly the most disturbing—side-effect of the new format, though, was it had taken the emphasis away from a driver's skill.

Rather than marvelling at the sight of Hamilton waltzing with his Mercedes W07 on those "sexy laps"—as he told Sky Sports' William Esler—or Vettel jostling his Ferrari SF16-H to third, watching the countdown clock became the aim of the game in a session in which the slowest drivers were eliminated at 90-second intervals. 

These artists' work—not only the Hamiltons and Vettels, but the Nico Rosbergs and Kimi Raikkonens, the Fernando Alonsos and Jenson Buttons, the Daniel Ricciardos and Max Verstappens—was almost overlooked, and the pleasure of the perfect lap was reduced to an afterthought.

At a time F1 is making a conscious effort to return drivers to the superhero status enjoyed by previous generations, the elimination-style format was immediately deemed unfit for purpose.

But despite the criticism of the new system, the F1 Commission's failure to ensure a return to the previous, knockout format meant it remained in place for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix, where the problems of Albert Park reappeared.

Again it failed to produce a truly major shock. Again the early stages of the session were breathless and difficult to follow.

Again drivers were eliminated as they sat helplessly in the garage, restricted by their fuel loads and tyre allocations. Again those in the midst of flying laps were prevented from finishing them after running out of time.

And again the serious on-track action was completed long before the chequered flag waved.

WATCH NOW: Hamilton's flying lap to claim pole - the FASTEST EVER at Bahrain >> https://t.co/zo7FLCPZbS #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/biccWFH0Hx

— Formula 1 (@F1) April 2, 2016

But, at the very least, the session offered a reminder that the drivers very much remain heroes as Hamilton's 51st pole proved to be one of his most dramatic yet.

Following a race of mixed feelings in Australia, where his pace advantage was undone by a substandard start, Hamilton had looked less convincing than Rosberg in all three practice sessions, as well as Q1, at Sakhir.

Despite outpacing his team-mate in Q2, his chances of winning the pole seemed all but over after the first runs of Q3, when Hamilton ran wide at the final corner—a common error at the Bahrain track—lost momentum on the run to the line and found himself in fourth.

Under pressure...
Dug deep...
Fought back...
Nailed it...@LewisHamilton #F1 #BahrainGP #Quali pic.twitter.com/0xG481qTgL

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 2, 2016

Rather than allowing that unforced error to define his session, however, the three-time world champion remained calm and composed. He made sure his second attempt was the one that really counted, transforming a deficit of 0.730 seconds into an advantage of 0.077 seconds, per the FOM television feed.

Per the official F1 Twitter account, Hamilton's pole time of one minute, 29.493 was the quickest-ever lap in the Bahrain circuit's 12-year history—faster than even the cars powered by the much-romanticised V8 and V10 engines of years gone by—validating Mercedes' commitment to the V6 turbo technology.

And the raw, relentless nature of Hamilton's now-or-never lap was deeply refreshing in a qualifying session borne of artificiality and dominated by numbers.

RECORD BREAKER!!! @LewisHamilton SMASHES #BahrainGP pole with a new @BAH_Int_Circuit lap record!!! INCREDIBLE!!! #F1 pic.twitter.com/jEk77tYL69

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) April 2, 2016

As reported by Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble prior to qualifying, the teams will meet with FIA president Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone ahead of the race to determine the future of Saturday sessions, with "extra tyres for Q3" and a single-lap shootout to be discussed before the prospect of reverting to the 2006-15 format is even considered.

Yet, in a sense, it doesn't matter which option they choose or, indeed, how many gimmicks the rulemakers introduce.

Because, ultimately, as Hamilton proved in such spectacular fashion in Bahrain, the very best will always rise to the top.

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Mercedes have won 33 of 39 races since the start of Formula One's hybrid V6 engine era in 2014, so it is difficult to find many faults with the team. If you wanted to point one out, though, it would almost certainly be their starts—especially since about the midway point of the 2015 season.

Either Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg have qualified on pole for 37 of those 39 grands prix, but several times at least one of them has suffered a poor start: both drivers last year at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the Hungaroring in Hungary, Rosberg at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps and Suzuka in Japan, Hamilton at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, Italy's Monza and at the first race this year at Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia. 

As Ferrari continues to close the gap to the Silver Arrows, it is something the team will need to correct, lest it cost them a chance for a third straight championship season.

"We've conducted that analysis and there is not one single factor you could name and say is the reason why our starts did not go so well," Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff told Autosport's Ian Parkes last August.

"We've seen many various reasons, plus circumstances, why the starts went wrong, and there is no clear pattern. It's just the starts weren't great."

Having qualified on pole at nearly every race, there is nowhere for the Mercs to go but down, but F1 Fanatic's first lap statistics from last year are not flattering for Hamilton or Rosberg.

Driver	Average Per Race	Total
Felipe Massa	1.79	34
Pastor Maldonado	0.94	15
Nico Rosberg	0.68	13
Daniel Ricciardo	0.68	13
Lewis Hamilton	0.53	10
Max Verstappen	0.53	10

In 2015, though, the Mercedes cars were so dominant that even losing those places at the starts did not really affect their sprint to the titles. The team won the constructors' championship by 275 points, clinching the title with four races to spare. Likewise, Hamilton finished 103 points ahead of his nearest non-Mercedes challenger, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

This year could be a different story.

It is too early to say for certain, after just one race, but it appears Ferrari have significantly reduced their performance deficit to the Mercs. If that is the case, Hamilton and Rosberg will no longer be able to count on the superiority of their cars over a race distance to make up for their laggard starts.

After the Australian Grand Prix, where both Ferraris jumped the Mercs at the start and Hamilton dropped as low as sixth place after starting on pole, Wolff was at a loss to explain his team's problems at the start.

"Our practice starts weren't very good," he said, per Crash.net's Ollie Barstow. "To be honest I don't know what happened at the start, we need to analyse what it could have been and we are looking to fix it."

Meanwhile, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner was not surprised by the quickness of the Ferraris off the line, according to the same article. "They were aided by a fantastic start, we saw that in pre-season, their starts have been really strong," he said.

That should worry Mercedes, with overtaking between cars of similar speeds so difficult at many circuits. Rosberg and Hamilton were fortunate in Australia with a red flag and Ferrari's subsequently poor tyre strategy, but they will not be able to count on such luck at every grand prix.

Rather than focusing on why he was so slow when the lights went out, Hamilton seemed to pin some of the blame for his tumble down the order on his team-mate. "The actual start wasn't shocking, wasn't the worst, it was just at Turn 1 when Nico ran me off, I lost most ground then," Hamilton said, per ESPN F1's Nate Saunders. "I'm just grateful I was able to recover."

Rosberg was ahead going into the first corner, though, and his use of the entire race track was reminiscent of Hamilton's manoeuvres in Japan and the United States last season, when he brushed away Rosberg's complaints.

"The inside line is the inside line so it was my corner," Hamilton said after the Japanese Grand Prix last year, according to Autosport's Ian Parkes and Glenn Freeman.

And in the U.S., he said, "If I'm in front, then I have a right to the track there," per Autosport's Lawrence Barretto and Mitchell Adam.

But intrateam bickering aside, Mercedes would be wise to uncover the problems with their starts and fix them, or the qualifying advantage that helped propel them to back-to-back titles will be rendered moot.

With the team-radio crackdown limiting the amount of information teams can provide to their drivers before and during the races, though, the solutions might be more complicated than a simple software or mechanical adjustment.

Hamilton actually foresaw these problems last year, when the new regulations were implemented. "I expect more unpredictable starts," he said at the time, per the Telegraph's Daniel Johnson. "I imagine it is going to get worse."

Of course, for those of us just hoping for a competitive championship battle, Mercedes' troubled starts could be an answered prayer. For Hamilton and Rosberg, though, might they mark the beginning of the end of two years of dominance?

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Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton has avoided punishment after being investigated by New Zealand police for appearing to film himself with his mobile phone while riding a motorbike.

According to Natalie Evans in the Mirror, Hamilton posted two videos on Snapchat that appeared to show him filming while riding a Harley Davidson in Auckland on New Zealand's North Island. 

While it has been illegal in New Zealand since 2009 to use a mobile phone while operating a vehicle, a police spokesman said they lacked the evidence to establish whether Hamilton, 31, had committed an offence, per Press Association (via Sky Sports):

"Auckland City Police will be taking no further action in relation to recent media publicity about Lewis Hamilton and his motorcycle journey in Auckland. The video footage available does not provide us with sufficient enough evidence that an offence has occurred."

The videos can be seen below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qLncRh5PUM

When questioned on the matter at a pre-race press conference in Melbourne, Australia, Hamilton had little to say, barely responding to all lines of questioning about whether he has a "responsibility to set an example to others not to do that," per the Guardian's Paul Weaver: "I don’t have much of an answer for you, unfortunately," he replied. 

When pushed on the matter, Hamilton said: "Again I don’t have much of an answer for you."

Hamilton had been visiting Auckland ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

He sent out a farewell photograph of the city upon his departure:

Thank you for having me Auckland even though it was way too short, I'll be back tho!  pic.twitter.com/0tGbOgHJvi

— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) March 15, 2016

The Englishman will be going for his third consecutive world title—fourth in total—in 2016 after heading the standings last season by 59 points to his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg.

Per Paul Weaver in the Guardian, last month's pre-season testing in Barcelona suggested that the Mercedes should still be the fastest car on the grid, but Ferrari look to be closing the gap from 2015.

Rosberg will likely be his closest rival again and Hamilton will undoubtedly be eager to make gains as early as possible over the German, and he will be targeting victory in Melbourne this weekend.

Hamilton recently told BBC Sport's Andrew Benson that he is "energised and excited" for the new season and is committed to continuing to prove his detractors wrong.

It will surely be a relief that he has escaped punishment for his Auckland antics as it could have been a major distraction for the start of the season had the investigation gone any further.

It is not the first time that Hamilton has been involved in driving controversy. In November he hit a stationary vehicle his £1.6 million super car in Monaco after "heavy partying" while celebrating his title win left him tired, per BBC Sport.

He was also fined £300 back in 2010—while at McLaren—for showboating for fans in his Mercedes-Benz AMG C63 road car outside Melbourne's Albert Park circuit ahead of the Australian Grand Prix, per Tom Cary in the Telegraph. 

World champions Mercedes released the first images of the new W07 car on Sunday, which will be driven by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg in the 2016 Formula One season.

The team revealed the new design on their Twitter feed on Sunday: 

Ladies & Gentlemen! Introducing… the @MercedesBenz #F1 W07 Hybrid Silver Arrow! #WeAreW07 pic.twitter.com/5M8reac5YT

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 21, 2016

Mercedes will be hoping the W07 can replicate the results of recent seasons, in which the team have dominated the sport. They were the constructors' champions last season, while Hamilton clinched the drivers’ title—his second in succession—with Rosberg finishing in second.

The car will get its first public outing on Monday, with pre-season testing set to get underway in Barcelona.

Improving on last season’s W06, which won a staggering 16 of the 19 races on the calendar, is going to be a very difficult ask for the team. However, the technical chief Paddy Lowe thinks the new edition has made Mercedes an even more formidable proposition, per Luke Smith of NBC Sports:

After a highly successful season all round in 2015, our priority has been to identify the areas in which we were weakest and to try to improve on those.

Our objective is excellence in all areas and, while we had some fantastic results last year, there are many areas in which we can still be much better. That’s the kind of culture we try to instil throughout the whole organisation—one of constantly striving to reach something better.

Rosberg, who finished the 2015 season with three wins in a row, has already had a chance to drive the vehicle, posting the following on-board clip on his Twitter feed earlier this week:

was a great feeling out there today. driving our new silver arrow for the first time. come with me onboard #WeAreW07https://t.co/oYFQV6dcTR

— Nico Rosberg (@NicoRosberg) February 19, 2016

The most striking feature of the W07 compared to the 2015 model is the larger airbox. Aside from that, there are minimal differences to the W06, with only slight refinements made to the front of the vehicle and the bodywork toward the rear.

According to Laurence Edmonson of ESPN.co.uk, the car already totted up 98.2 kilometres at the filming day earlier in the week.

It’s no great surprise to see Mercedes haven’t deviated too much from such a successful design. Hamilton and Rosberg have both been the men to beat in recent seasons, and given the chasm between them and the rest of the teams has been so large, it would have been unexpected had the designers gone for any drastic alterations.

Constant evolution is key to staying ahead, though, which is something Lowe touched upon. Given the reliability and pace of their cars in the last two campaigns, it’d be a massive surprise to see anything but encouraging signs from the W07 when it takes to the Barcelona circuit this week.

It was soon after Lewis Hamilton's victory in the Belgian Grand Prix on August 23 last year when Mercedes' 2016 season began.

His sixth victory of 2015 at Spa-Francorchamps saw Hamilton extend his points lead over team-mate Nico Rosberg to 28 points and establish a 67-point advantage over third-placed Sebastian Vettel, instantly stifling the excitement surrounding the Ferrari driver's victory at the previous round in Hungary.

With just eight races remaining, the title was almost theirs, the fat lady was beginning to clear her throat and their work for the year was, to all intents and purposes, complete.

So a fortnight later, at the Italian Grand Prix, Mercedes spent all of their remaining engine-development tokens on a "tactical" upgrade, per the official Formula One website—introducing an initial incarnation of their 2016-specification power unit and a new Petronas fuel.

At Monza—F1's self-styled Temple of Speed, where engines are tested more rigorously than any other—here was an opportunity for Mercedes to identify and resolve any teething troubles with their new powertrain.

But none appeared.

"It looked quite frightening," wept Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, per ESPN F1's Laurence Edmondson, after Hamilton finished the first free-practice session—the very first on-track appearance for this engine—more than 1.5 seconds quicker than Vettel.

And then something strange happened.

Without a serious mechanical failure in the 11 grands prix until that point, Mercedes suffered two retirements in two races.

Mercedes asumió fracaso de Nico Rosberg en Monza.
El equipo se disculpó con el piloto alemán. http://t.co/8ROdeKvobP pic.twitter.com/4MyOZ73GvQ

— La Guía del MOTOR (@guiamotor) September 9, 2015

Rosberg's DNF at Monza was, admittedly, circumstantial after a leak in the cooling system, per the team's official Twitter account, forced him to revert to a much older engine, which finally burst into flames in the closing stages. But Hamilton's retirement in Singapore, where Vettel won comfortably on a day Mercedes produced their worst performance in two years, felt far more serious.

What on earth had they done? Had they made the grave error of tampering with a winning formula? Were they, as with Lewis' late pit stop in Monaco, guilty of being a little too clever for their own good? 

Could their willingness to push boundaries and fast-track new parts ultimately cost one of their drivers the world championship? Or offer Vettel a way back into the title fight?

Those concerns, however, were soon proven unfounded as Mercedes won each of the final six races, ensuring they not only claimed the constructors' and drivers' championships in style with multiple rounds to spare but could enter 2016 with a near-perfect foundation to defend them.

Their ability to see further than tomorrow—to not only implement a long-term approach but to remain faithful to it, no matter what the initial evidence may suggest—has been the defining quality of Mercedes' astronomical success over the last two seasons.

And while there is a real appetite for Ferrari to provide a stern challenge in 2016, it is fanciful to think a team with just 15 wins in the last seven years—and who, as Sergio Marchionne recently told Autosport's Lawrence Barretto, delayed the development of their new car—can fight evenly with an outfit who have won 32 of the last 38 grands prix.

But that does not mean to say that Ferrari, even if they remain some distance behind Mercedes, cannot influence the two-time world champions.

As team boss Toto Wolff told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble at last year's Brazilian GP, where Hamilton and Rosberg evaluated a new suspension design and an S-duct in practice, Ferrari's close proximity to Mercedes in 2015 had encouraged the team to contemplate an innovative design with their 2016 chassis to maintain their status as F1's leading team.

Considering that last year's W06 car was almost identical to 2014's W05, a bolder approach—despite Wolff's claim that "you can get it pretty wrong if you go for an evolution of a car that performs pretty well already"—may be less than ideal for Mercedes, who according to BBC Sport's Andrew Benson had the best chassis in 2015.

A look at how the 2014 Mercedes W05 and the 2015 Mercedes W06 compare http://t.co/wJov5cX037 #skyf1 pic.twitter.com/tJ5ql4LrNU

— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) January 30, 2015

But while it is likely that any changes to the car will work, their rivals can still cling to the hope that Mercedes, in their efforts to remain at the front of the grid, may somehow have been spooked down the wrong development path.

As well as altering their approach to car design, Mercedes should also be forced to change their treatment of their drivers in 2016 having taken much pride in allowing Hamilton and Rosberg to race freely since the beginning of 2014.

Following the final three races of 2015, when Rosberg claimed the most impressive victories of his career at a time Hamilton, fresh from claiming his third world championship, suffered a noticeable drop in form, the current state of play between the Mercedes drivers is difficult to assess.

Can Lewis—having admitted he has no clear goal in mind for the remainder of his career after matching Ayrton Senna's title tally, per BBC Sport's Benson—be trusted to perform with the intensity, motivation and focus required to win three in a row? 

And as good as Nico looked in those so-called non-championship races in Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi, will he be capable of maintaining that form when the pressures associated with a title battle return?

As noted at the beginning of 2016, should Mercedes persist with their policy of equality, they will risk handing a major advantage to Vettel, who—with a clear No. 2 driver in Kimi Raikkonen—will be in an ideal position to exploit any tension between Hamilton and Rosberg.

Wollf's comments, per Autosport's Ian Parkes, that Rosberg will be forced to wait for a new contract suggests the team are slowly yet surely shaping the German into a nice, little, obedient No. 2 driver to guard against the Ferrari threat, and careful management will be required to ensure it doesn't have a detrimental effect on inter-team relations.

Much like the last two seasons, the only way Mercedes will be beaten in 2016 is if they somehow manage to beat themselves through a combination of poor decision making, scruffy driving and misfortune.

The advantage of being so dominant is that Mercedes can always focus on the next step, the next level, the next season, and for a team of such diligence, meticulousness and preparation only the very best is good enough.

A third successive drivers' and constructors' title triumph, 15-plus grand prix victories and a podium appearance at each and every race should be the targets.

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At the end of another long, hard race at the end of another long, hard Formula One season, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg sat side by side for the final time in 2015.

With their overalls still damp with Abu Dhabi podium rosewater, the Mercedes drivers—along with third-placed Kimi Raikkonen—sat in the televised post-race press conference, where they were asked a particularly revealing question: Just who would enter the winter break feeling the happiest?

Would it be Rosberg, who ended a largely unconvincing season on a high by claiming six consecutive pole positions and three straight victories? Or would it be Hamilton, the newly crowned three-time world champion who dominated much of the campaign but suffered a notable drop in performance when the title was wrapped up with three rounds to spare?

As the winner of the grand prix, Rosberg was the first to respond and offered his thoughts before James Allen, the master of ceremonies, had even reached the end of his question.

"I'm feeling very happy!" Nico chirped, allowing himself a chuckle as he did so, before the attention turned to Lewis.

As Allen put the same question to Hamilton, detailing his 2015 achievements, Rosberg briefly turned to look at his team-mate, which seemed to trigger a reaction from the three-time world champion.

Previously slumped back in the unfamiliar surroundings of the runner-up seat, Hamilton suddenly leaned forward, sat upright and began to tug at the chest of his fireproof top in an almost boastful manner as he started his own reply.

"I think being world champion sounds a lot better than winning the race, so that's good," he declared with a nod and grin, putting Rosberg's accomplishments firmly into perspective.

Having claimed two titles and 21 victories in relatively comfortable fashion since the beginning of 2014, Hamilton is in no doubt of his superiority over Rosberg, who has just 11 wins to show for Mercedes' dominance over that period, as a racing driver.

As an "important figure at Mercedes" recently told the Guardian's Paul Weaver, Hamilton, who has had three full seasons to closely assess the German's strengths and weaknesses, feels he should be 0.3 seconds faster than Rosberg every single time he rolls out of the pit lane.

Once his sparring partner in karting and a semi-serious threat to him at the summit of F1, Rosberg, in the eyes of Hamilton, per Andrew Benson of BBC Sport, is now a whining nuisance who will occasionally get in his way and try a dirty trick or two but ultimately prove unable to beat him over the course of a season.

Rosberg's failure to match him on a regular basis has left the three-time world champion on the lookout for a new challenge, and it will be fascinating to observe how Hamilton handles his team-mate should Ferrari, as expected, close the gap to Mercedes in 2016.

With Raikkonen as his designated wingman, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel will be in a prime position to capitalise upon any bickering between the Mercedes drivers in the same way Raikkonen himself did when Hamilton and Fernando Alonso fought between themselves at McLaren in 2007.

Hamilton has always prided himself on his hard but fair approach both on and off track, telling Autosport's Ian Parkes—as you would expect—that he would never disregard his team's instructions to win a race. But circumstances may force him to take the law into his own hands and finish Rosberg off once and for all, condemning the German to a life as Mercedes' No. 2 driver.

His antics in the final three races of 2015, when he repeatedly pleaded with the pit wall to do something, anything, to help him pass Rosberg—even ignoring the team's request to pit during the Mexican Grand Prix—suggested Hamilton is increasingly comfortable experimenting with the dark arts.

And while it would sacrifice short-term pain for long-term gain, a Multi-21-style deed—public enough to destroy Rosberg's confidence, brazen enough to undermine his status within the team—would afford Hamilton the breathing space required to fend off Vettel in an exclusive, head-to-head battle.

That, of course, is on the assumption that Rosberg will be capable of sustaining the form he showed in late 2015, when each of those poles and victories were even more impressive than the last.

Although Mercedes remain faithful to their policy of equality for now at least, they appear to be taking tentative steps toward moulding Rosberg into an unofficial No. 2 driver after executive director Toto Wolff told Parkes the team will make him wait for a new contract, despite Hamilton's signing of a three-year extension in May 2015.

Such a comment was disrespectful in the context of Rosberg's five years of service to Mercedes, and most unfair ahead of what could be the defining season of his career. Yet rather than concerning himself with earning another contract with half an eye on 2017 and beyond, Rosberg should view this year as his very last chance to win the title.

His recent revival was built upon his ability to combine a short-term, race-by-race outlook with a newfound aggression, particularly off the start line, which made Hamilton think twice before trying his luck at Turn 1.

Should he maintain that approach, Ferrari's intrusion in the title battle—even if, as in 2015, he occasionally loses points to Vettel and Raikkonen—can only be a positive for Rosberg, allowing him to become the underdog as the 2016 campaign lives up to its billing as a Lewis-versus-Seb extravaganza.

As noted at the end of 2015, Rosberg should take inspiration from his former Williams team-mate Mark Webber—another driver deemed to lack the substance of a world champion—who also lost the title to his team-mate at a season finale in Abu Dhabi and, like the German, spent much of the following year healing from that near miss.

Following a strong end to 2011, however, the Australian recovered to win races and challenge for the title until the closing months of 2012, a season cherished for the battle between Alonso and Vettel.

But even if Rosberg does emulate Webber in his own season of new beginnings in 2016, there is an inescapable feeling that Hamilton has already moved on.

Shortly after sealing his third championship at last year's United States GP, where he equalled Ayrton Senna's title tally just weeks after surpassing his boyhood idol's race-victory record, Hamilton admitted he had no defined target for the rest of his career but promised to carry "the baton" as far as he could, per Benson.

No longer burdened by his own expectations, Hamilton—as long as he remains focused and proves his mediocre end to 2015 was nothing more than a title winner taking his foot off the gas—has the freedom to continue racking up the grand prix victories and titles, cementing his legacy by taking on and beating drivers of Vettel's stature.

Rosberg, as ever, will be lurking in the background, waiting for mistakes and hoping for opportunities. But the cold, hard truth is that Hamilton now has bigger fish to fry.

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Where does Nico Rosberg rank among the best drivers on the current Formula One grid?

If we are to presume that Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso make up the Holy Trinity, and the likes of Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas, Jenson Button and Romain Grosjean are all scattered somewhere behind them, where exactly does Rosberg fit in?

The problem is that, in the eyes of many, he doesn't.

Only Hamilton and Vettel have won more races than him since the beginning of 2012, yet there remains a lingering suspicion that Rosberg—a 41-time podium finisher and the winner of the last three Monaco grands prix—is little more than a good driver who happens to be behind the wheel of an outstanding car.

It is a perception he, after two consecutive championship defeats to Mercedes team-mate Hamilton, must change in 2016.

The upcoming season will mark a decade since Rosberg arrived in F1 as a 20-year-old and made an instant impression, scoring points on his debut and matching experienced Williams team-mate Mark Webber, whom he should now try to emulate.

Having missed out to his team-mate at a final-race title decider—sound familiar?—in 2010, Webber was scarred by failure and unable to replicate his form for much of the following season. 

But after ending that year on a high, washing away those bad memories, Webber regained his confidence and, despite eventually fading away, challenged for the championship for much of 2012.

If Rosberg, a more naturally consistent driver than the Australian, experiences a similar resurgence—putting into practice the lessons of the last two seasons—and becomes a more complete performer, 2016 could finally be his year. And perhaps then he will be given the credit and recognition he's been searching for. 

Here are three things he must do to beat Hamilton in 2016:

Forget about the title battle

We like to think of our Formula One drivers as all-action, risk-taking superheroes who will do everything in their power to succeed, but there is more than enough room for the calculating, thinking driver.

The worry for the more cerebral performers, though, is that they can sometimes become overly defensive when a title is on the line, which is a trap Rosberg fell into in 2015.

The most notable example came in July's Hungarian Grand Prix, where Hamilton was out of podium contention in the midst of "one of the worst races I've ever had," as he told Autosport's Ben Anderson and Ian Parkes, while Rosberg was on course to take the championship lead with second place.

Rather than adopting an aggressive strategy to hunt down race leader Vettel, Rosberg decided to mirror his team-mate's tyre choice, condemning himself to a final stint defending from third-placed Ricciardo when he should have been challenging for victory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfD6jhbAKdg

The puncture he received when Ricciardo forced his way through in the closing laps—which dropped Rosberg to eighth, allowing Hamilton to extend his points advantage—was of his own making, the sign of a driver unable to run his own race and with little confidence in his own abilities.

Now compare that conflicted, numerically driven mess to the driver who won the final three grands prix of the season in commanding fashion.

Competing without the pressures associated without a championship battle for the first time in two years, Rosberg listened to his inner racing driver and expressed himself, driving like a man determined to win rather than someone desperate merely to contain his rival.

Maintaining that race-by-race approach will be difficult when the points tallies reset to zero and all those stresses and strains of the bigger picture return, but it could hold the key to Rosberg's 2016 challenge.

Make Hamilton fight for victory

While the absence of championship-related pressure played a role in Rosberg's resurgence in the closing weeks of 2015, there was also a notable shift in his handling of his team-mate.

Having failed to capitalise upon pole positions in Japan, Russia and the United States—as well as gifting the win and the title to Hamilton with an unforced error at the Circuit of the Americas—the German decided enough was enough and would no longer surrender the lead as meekly as he once did.

After being muscled aside by his team-mate at Turn 1 at Suzuka—where Lewis deliberately eased his pace at the end of the formation lap, causing havoc with Nico's tyre, engine and clutch temperatures—Rosberg responded in subsequent races by slowing his own car, bunching up the field and nullifying Hamilton's plot.

And, particularly in Mexico and Brazil, there was a newfound steeliness to his driving off the start line.

As reported by Motor Sport Magazine's Mark Hughes following the Mexican GP, there was a "feeling within the team before the start" that there would be "no way (Rosberg) would be coming out of Turn 1 in second place."

There was a sense that he would sooner send both Mercedes cars into the barriers—regardless of the consequences—than lose the lead to his team-mate, which surely had an effect on Hamilton's side of the garage.

After all, if you were racing against someone you knew would be prepared to punt you out of the race, would you try your luck around the outside of the first corner? As a result, Hamilton was evidently less aggressive and opportunistic than in the preceding grands prix.

We may never find out if Rosberg really would be brazen enough to take out his team-mate against the backdrop of a championship battle, especially now his future is on the line (team boss Toto Wolff has claimed Mercedes will not rush to offer the German a contract beyond 2016, per Autosport's Ian Parkes).

But if he can at least maintain the impression that he would be prepared to go to those extremes, making Hamilton think twice before slinging his car down the inside, he could have a significant psychological advantage.

Stop whining

Whenever the Mercedes drivers have come to blows since the beginning of 2014, it always seems to be Rosberg looking for reassurances, calling for crisis talks and demanding clear-the-air discussions.

Following the Duel in the Desert at the 2014 Bahrain GP, where the German was left unimpressed by one of his team-mate's defensive manoeuvres, Rosberg told Sky Sports' Pete Gill how the drivers "sat down and went through everything," only for Hamilton to deny a meeting had taken place.

Everything was "cool" and tranquil on Planet Lewis, while Nico was portrayed as precious and insecure. And he failed to learn his lesson in 2015, making a number of strange post-race comments.

Having spent his Chinese GP complaining about Hamilton's slow pace, Rosberg—convinced that his team-mate had intentionally backed him into the path of third-placed Vettel—told Sky Sports' Gill and Mike Wise how his race was "unnecessarily compromised," overshadowing Mercedes' latest one-two finish. 

After the United States GP, Rosberg—frustrated after losing the win with a late error—told the FIA press conference that Hamilton's first-lap pass was "extremely aggressive" and "not good," before telling Autosport's Lawrence Barretto and Mitchell Adam how his team-mate was "trying to drive me off the track."

Wolff went on to tell BBC Sport's Andrew Benson that the sparring between his drivers is "completely normal," and Hamilton now openly pokes fun at his team-mate's needy behaviour, reinforcing his belief that their upbringings are somehow linked to their determination to succeed.

"You've seen he complains about a lot of things. But you kind of let it go over your head because that's just the way he is," the three-time world champion told Benson in a separate BBC Sport article.

"It's kind of the different background we come from, I guess."

The frequent, public and often bizarre nature of Rosberg's complaints only play into Hamilton's hands, and the time has come for him to do his talking on the track.

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'Tis the season to be jolly, and for Lewis Hamilton, Christmas 2015 will be a particularly cheerful occasion.

As the most successful year of his Formula One career draws to a close, Hamilton, now with 43 grand prix victories and three world championships to his name, is at peace with the knowledge his life's work—matching the records of his boyhood idol Ayrton Senna—is done.

With those three trophies shining brightly on his mantelpiece, the driver who has spent nine seasons chasing the sun could probably retire tomorrow content that, just weeks away from his 31st birthday, he has achieved everything he ever wanted.

There are few people on the planet with such levels of fulfillment at such a young age, but Hamilton, with the might of the Mercedes machine fully behind him, is not ready to slow down just yet.

After sealing his third title—his second in succession—at the United States Grand Prix, Hamilton told BBC Sport's Andrew Benson that while he had no clear goal in mind for the remainder of his career, he felt compelled to take "the baton" from Senna to "carry it as far as I can and see where I can build it."

No longer carrying the weight of his own expectations, there is a possibility that a freer Hamilton could become an even more formidable performer in 2016 and beyond.

Here are three wishes Hamilton may be making over the festive period to ensure the success keeps on coming:

Another dominant, reliable Mercedes

Since the introduction of the V6 turbo regulations at the beginning of 2014, Mercedes have won 32 of a possible 36 races, with Hamilton claiming 21 victories to the 11 taken by team-mate Nico Rosberg.

After the team suffered a number of reliability problems across 2014 and Hamilton encountered several braking issues, particularly in qualifying, Mercedes fine-tuned their machine to produce the W06, which he hailed as "the best car I have ever driven" before the opening race of 2015, per Sky Sports F1's Mike Wise.

That showed in the results as Hamilton took 11 pole positions—clinching the FIA Pole Trophy as early as August—and 10 wins to seal his third title with three races to spare.

With such impressive numbers, there must be a temptation for Mercedes to persist with their if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it strategy for 2016. 

But the performances of their rivals, including a resurgent Ferrari, may force the Silver Arrows to take more risks with the W07.

After the team evaluated new parts in practice for November's Brazilian GP—including a new suspension design and the "S-duct" concept—team boss Toto Wolff told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble how Mercedes were considering an "innovative" approach to their 2016 chassis in an effort to maintain their advantage.

Mercedes' decision to introduce an initial sample of their 2016-specification power unit as early as September's Italian GP, which sacrificed their flawless reliability record for long-term gain, was evidence that the German manufacturer remain the ones to beat in the engine department.

But if, as non-executive chairman Niki Lauda told Autosprint (h/t James Allen on F1), Ferrari can match Mercedes in terms of power output, the 2016 title may be won and lost on the aerodynamic battlefield.

Hamilton had better hope his team aren't spooked down the wrong development path and their gamble, whatever that may be, pays off.

Failures at Ferrari

Most athletes will tell you that to be the best, they have to beat the best—that success means so much more when they take on the most skilful, accomplished performers in their chosen sport and win.

But they will also tell you that the record books only recall the names of champions and not those who finished second, third and fourth, regardless of how talented the opposition were.

So the notion that Hamilton needs a great rivalry with Sebastian Vettel to somehow validate his success over recent seasons is flawed. But there is another, more significant reason why he should wish to avoid combat with the four-time world champion.

Having finished ahead of Rosberg in the drivers' standings in each of the last three seasons, Hamilton now knows what to expect from the other side of the Mercedes garage: Rosberg will outpace him on occasion and sometimes unsettle him with Monaco 2014-style tricks.

But once the initial frustration evaporates, Hamilton knows he is more than capable of beating Rosberg in an exclusive fight over the course of a given season.

If Vettel were to join the title battle, however, his challenge would become so much more complicated.

With a clear No. 2 in Kimi Raikkonen, and therefore as Ferrari's sole focus, Vettel would be in a prime position to capitalise upon any silliness between the Mercedes drivers, enhancing the chances of Hamilton being distracted, potentially imploding and becoming his own worst enemy once more.

After claiming three victories in 2015, Vettel and Ferrari have found their voices again, with team principal Maurizio Arrivabene telling Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble that the Prancing Horse "must be in front" of Mercedes in 2016.

As Mercedes' dominance continues, there is a widespread hunger for Ferrari—who, as reported by BBC Sport's Andrew Benson, were suspected of using the Haas team's wind-tunnel time to improve their own car—to produce a fight at the front.

But while a Lewis-Seb battle has the potential to be the mother of all rivalries, Hamilton will be hoping Ferrari—never too far away from a crisis of some description—hit trouble.

A top-10 single

There seems to be a fanciful belief among sports enthusiasts that athletes dedicate every waking moment to improving their performance, pursuing perfection and thinking endlessly about the next event.

After all, if leading athletes are paid such vast sums of money—according to Sky Sports, the three-year contract Hamilton signed to remain with Mercedes is "thought to be worth in the region of £100 million in total"—surely the least they can do is focus all their energies on the upcoming race, right?

The reality, though, is different, and while others may indulge in activities such as fishing or golf to keep themselves fresh, Hamilton finds relief in the sanctuary of the music studio.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spZlGJhVo48

As he recently told CBS News' Charlie Rose, Hamilton has been playing the guitar since the age of 13, and what was initially a hobby is fast becoming quite a serious project, with the British driver offering snippets of two of his own songs.

"In here, I can be me. I can be vulnerable. I can show a side of me that people don't get to see," he told the same source, suggesting his work in the studio—and the escapism it represents—may even aid his on-track work, keeping him sane through the madness of a grand prix weekend.

There will, of course, be those who scoff and dismiss his hobby as more evidence that his ego is out of control. But Hamilton isn't the only F1 personality to experiment with music in modern times.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BVn5EvRveM

Indeed, DJ Squire himself raced for Toro Rosso under the name of Jaime Alguersuari between 2009 and 2011, while Jacques Villeneuve—the 1997 world champion no less—released an album in 2007.

As sounds continue to leak out of Hamilton Studios, it's surely a matter of time before the three-time world champion makes a formal release and attacks the charts with all the commitment, if not the subtlety and success, he attacks the racetrack.

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It may sound crazy, but twice in the past three weeks, Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff has dropped hints that the team is not exactly thrilled with its driver lineup—or at least the way the drivers relate to each other.

First, he told Motorsport.com's Jonathan Noble that if the strained relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg begins negatively affecting the team, Mercedes might consider making a change.

Next, when asked by Autosport's Ian Parkes about Rosberg's contract, which expires at the end of 2016, Wolff said, "...it's early days to discuss that. I want to see how the season pans out.

"There are areas we want to develop altogether as a team, and let's see how that goes."

Not exactly a vote of confidence for a driver who has won 11 races over the last two years while helping Mercedes claim two constructors' championships.

If Mercedes do decide to make a change at the end of the 2016 season, let's assume that they will keep Hamilton, who just won his second drivers' title for the team, has a new contract through 2018 and is in the midst of proving himself as not only one of the best drivers of his generation, but one of the best of all time. He's not going anywhere.

CONFIRMED: 3 more years for @LewisHamilton! “@MercedesBenz is my home” #3MoreYears pic.twitter.com/PAmAWudo2v

— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) May 20, 2015

Despite Mercedes' frequent reminders that they do not have No. 1 and No. 2 drivers, Rosberg has become the Rubens Barrichello to Hamilton's Michael Schumacher (somewhat ironic, since Rosberg beat Schumacher in each of the three years they were paired together at Mercedes). If one of the current drivers is going to take the hit for the personal problems between Hamilton and Rosberg, it's going to be Rosberg.

Well-connected Formula One journalist Joe Saward had an interesting take on Wolff's comments, replying to a comment on his blog with, "I think that they are laying the groundwork for Max Verstappen to join…"

No one can predict the future of the F1 driver market—particularly a year away—but Mercedes already tried to sign Verstappen once, before Red Bull scooped him up with the promise of an immediate race seat. The Dutch teenager's impressive performances for Toro Rosso this year will have done nothing to dampen the appetite for his services at Mercedes headquarters in Brackley.

If Rosberg doesn't have his contract renewed beyond next year, his options don't look particularly appealing at the moment.

Ferrari is clearly the second-best team at the moment, but they already have a No. 1 driver in Sebastian Vettel, although there could be an opening at the Italian team if 2016 proves to be Kimi Raikkonen's last year in F1.

However, it is unlikely Rosberg would be at the top of the Scuderia's wish list, even if he did want to sign there. Younger drivers (Rosberg will be 31 by the end of next season) like Daniel Ricciardo, Valtteri Bottas and, yes, young Verstappen are probably more appealing.

Continuing down the constructors' standings, Williams also might have a seat (or two) available at the end of 2016. Rosberg did drive for the Grove-based team for the first four years of his F1 career, but would they have the budget for him now?

According to Business Book GP's numbers, published by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo Deportivo (h/t Crash.net), the salaries of both 2015 Williams drivers—Bottas and Felipe Massa—combined for less than half of Rosberg's 14.8 million paycheck. Maybe Rosberg would be willing to take a big pay cut.

Meanwhile, Red Bull would offer an attractive seat as soon as they get a decent engine (and the heavily revised regulations for 2017 should give them a chance to get their house in order), but they are firmly committed to developing and promoting their own drivers.

From there, we drop squarely into the midfield, with Renault/Lotus, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso (perhaps to be joined by Manor and their new Mercedes power units). Who knows what seats will become available among these teams over the next year, but it would certainly be a precipitous drop for Rosberg from a championship-winning car to any of these teams.

Finally, there are two enigmas: McLaren and Haas.

McLaren already have a backlog of drivers waiting for either Fernando Alonso or Jenson Button to step aside (or receive a gentle shove), so they are unlikely to look outside the team should a vacancy arise.

Likewise, Haas will continue to have access to Ferrari's driver pipeline as long as their technical partnership remains in place, and Romain Grosjean did not join the team for a one-year cameo (unless Ferrari comes calling).

Rosberg's best option is clearly to stay at Mercedes, rediscovering the positive working relationship he had with Hamilton prior to their championship fight last year. If that is not possible and Mercedes do give Rosberg his walking papers, well, let's just say it could be a busy offseason for his agent.

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