The decider: Who will be Mercedes’ Yas man?

Hamilton-Rosberg rivalry comes to a head at Abu Dhabi as winner takes all

KARACHI: The moment Lewis Hamilton overtook German teammate Nico Rosberg through a tight hairpin at the US Grand Prix, pundits and fans alike felt the Brit’s grip tighten around the 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship trophy. 

Rosberg’s post-race body language suggested he was a defeated man as he lost more points to his fellow Mercedes driver, who would surely secure the title if he won the next grand prix in Brazil.

A week later in Sao Paulo though, Rosberg topped the time sheets of every practice and qualifying session in the penultimate race of the season. On Sunday, not even badly-blistered front tyres on his Mercedes could stop him from taking his fifth win of the season; suddenly, it was game on.

Try as he may, Hamilton was unable to force his way through and had to settle for second. The points gap closed once again and now the season finale in Abu Dhabi this weekend will prove to be the title decider as well.

Although the Yas Marina circuit is far from the most rewarding track on the calendar for the fans or the drivers, it is likely to see plenty of wheel-to-wheel action this time around; especially at the front.

The superior machinery at the disposal of the two Silver Arrow pilots means the rest of the field has struggled to keep pace with them this season. Luckily for the fans though, the only place they need to look is at the front. At breakneck speeds of 320 km/h, neither driver has given an inch, nor expected one from his title rival.

Such is the dominance of the duo that one can’t help but draw comparisons to the championship duels of yore between teammates. The one that immediately springs to mind is the late great Brazilian Ayrton Senna’s fight with McLaren-Honda teammate Alain Prost, the Frenchman known till today as the professor.

Their legendary rivalry during the 1988 and 1989 seasons produced some of the most hair-raising moments in the sport’s history. Senna became world champion in 1988, hence cementing his place as the icon of a nation, by a hair’s breadth.

Those who witnessed the tantalising battle between arguably the two greatest drivers the sport has ever seen, predicted it was only a matter of time before the two made contact on the race track; an astute observation.

“This is fantastic. They meet. This is what we were fearing,” Murray Walker, the voice of Formula One at the time, screamed into his BBC microphone when Prost turned into Senna’s McLaren during the penultimate race of the 1989 season at Japan’s Suzuka circuit.

Like Hamilton in Texas, Senna hit the brakes almost impossibly late to try and overtake his teammate. Unlike Rosberg at the Circuit of the Americas, the professor was unwilling to budge and slammed the door shut in Senna’s face.

The inevitable crash left hundreds of thousands of Japanese fans stunned, both their beloved Honda-powered cars tangled and lying stationary in full view of the crowd at the chicane just before the main grandstand. However, they roared in unison when the Brazilian rejoined the circuit and won thanks to some assistance from the marshals.

The crowd’s joy, and Senna’s, was short-lived. The sport’s governing body, Federation Internationale de l'automobile (FIA) decided trackside help was illegal and Senna was disqualified. Prost was declared world champion; his McLaren teammate, left gutted.

So gutted, in fact, that he purposely rammed Alain Prost off the racetrack a year later, again in Japan, when the two were vying for the 1990 Formula 1 World Championship, albeit in different teams as the Frenchman had joined Ferrari. This time, Prost was out and Senna was the crowned champion.

Teammates have fought for the title since, but never since Prost and Senna with the same ferocity shown by Hamilton and Rosberg. In the event that Rosberg wins the race in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton needs to finish at least second to retain his points and win his second title. Anything less will see Rosberg emulate his chain-smoking father Keke Rosberg and become the Formula One world champion.

The 2014 Belgian Grand Prix showed the two Mercedes drivers are not afraid of trading bodywork with disastrous consequences for their team. On the other hand, Formula One is a different ball game in the modern era with stewards and a more corporately-responsible FIA keeping a close eye on every turn of the wheel. Any on-track encounter will be closely investigated.

However, when the championship is at stake, history suggests that regulations, logic and fear of punishment, or even life, are tossed out of the window. With Hamilton’s Senna-esque flamboyancy and Rosberg’s Prost-like guile, a clash of the titans is on the cards.

Come Sunday, one of these two will be crowned champion and while they may take to the wheel with the same team logo emblazoned on their overalls, there will be surely no love loss when the rubber burns in the desert heat.

 

 

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