You won’t catch Lewis now, Nico

ERMANY is the last race b e f o r e Fo r mu l a O n e ’s summer break and I guess we’re where we expected to be in terms of who’s leading the championship but perhaps not with regards to the margin.

After his dominance last season, I think we all expected Lewis Hamilton to pull well clear from the outset rather than have to claw back a 43-point deficit to Nico Rosberg in the drivers’ championship.

Of course, that gives Lewis the advantage but he knows he needs to build a buffer as he’s not got as many engine units to play with as Nico. That will play a key part in deciding the championship — something both drivers are aware of — but it’s a huge positive Nico can take into his summer holidays.

Back in winter testing, Mercedes looked bullet proof, seeming to clock lap after lap without a single hitch. But team boss Toto Wolff has been honest to admit that they’re being pushed more than ever before which, in turn, means pushing the development of the car. When you do that, things go wrong so reliability has been an issue for both drivers and it’ll be telling to see who gets the worse of that misfortune when the grid reconvenes at the end of August.

Will Nico benefit from having the break more than Lewis and find a way to halt his momentum? I don’t really think so. This is their third season locking horns as team-mates and if he’s not found the ‘miracle’ to consistently unlock how to be faster than Lewis — and the truth is he isn’t quite despite being bloody quick — he’s not going to suddenly find it now.

Nico’s a very analytical driver and, if anything, the August break might be to his detriment as there’s more time to think about the season so far and mull over how he let such a gargantuan lead slip.

Most people suggest that Nico is the smarter of the two drivers in the sense that he has a better understanding of the car and its nuances but I don’t buy that for a second.

The last race in Hungary was a case in point where Lewis mastered how best to balance his engine with no input from his team following the crackdown on team radio use this season. I was mightily impressed by that and it sent another message to his team-mate as did the post-race press conference.

Much of what was said to the media centred on qualifying and whether Nico, on his pole lap, eased off enough under double yellow flags. My initial view was that, yes, he did — I think Nico claimed there was a dropp of 20kmh by y him. But I was wrongong and I’ve changed my view. He was the one that slowed down the least of all the drivers in that section and it showedowed in his lap time. The reality is thatat as a driver double yellow flags meansans “watch out, you might have to stopp any minute”.

Coming round the corner, he had no idea if there wasas a car on the track or two in fact, or even half a dozen marshals tryingrying to clear debris away.ay. So that was the beefef that Lewis had and he’s quite right, Nico should have adhered to t h aa tt more.