Paddy Lowe has expressed a desire for his drivers to have a drama free weekend at the next race at Singapore and come away with a strong 1-2 finish. But how easy will it be to control Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg when both are desperate to beat the other and with Hamilton being determined to close the points gap.
Of course, Mercedes are once again favourites to win heading to round 14 of the 2014 Formula One World Championship. However, the dominant force of this season has never even made it onto the podium at the night race at Singapore.
The team’s first year at the Marina Bay Street Circuit was disappointing for the Brackley based outfit to say the least; in 2010 Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher qualified seventh and ninth respectively. After a safety car period they had both made up ground and restarted with Nico fifth and Michael eighth. Contact with Kamui Kobayashi meant Schumacher had to make an unscheduled pit stop pushing him further down the order. Later in the race he collided with the other Sauber of Heidfeld forcing him to pit once again. Rosberg finished a reasonable fifth while Schumacher struggled and could only manage 13th.
In 2011 the silver arrows made up the fourth row of the grid with Michael following Nico to seventh and eighth. They each gained a place on the first lap at Hamilton’s expense; however on laps 4 and 5 Lewis fought back and passed the two Germans in the DRS zone on the run down to turn 7. Rosberg held on to seventh for the rest of the race albeit a lap behind Sebastian Vettel, while Schumacher ran into the back of Sergio Perez’s Sauber and ended his race on the side-lines.
The 2012 Singapore Grand Prix looked even worse for the Mercedes drivers as they lined up on the fifth row of the grid, this time with Nico Rosberg behind Michael Schumacher in ninth and tenth. The pair battled each other on the first lap with honours eventually going to Nico. A restart after the safety car bunched up the pack and saw Perez and Jean-Eric Vergne fighting for position, Michael misjudged his braking zone and caused his fourth collision in three years at Marina Bay running into the back of the Frenchman’s Toro Rosso. Meanwhile Rosberg finished fifth – a good result considering his grid position.
2013 got off to a better start with the Mercedes setting the pace in Q1. However it was Sebastian Vettel who took pole position, Rosberg joined him on the front row while Hamilton struggled and could only manage fifth. Contrasting starts saw Nico challenge for the lead on the outside of turn one but inevitably conceded to Sebastian and Lewis falling back two places at the hands of the charging Ferraris. The safety car period gifted Lewis fourth place but it was short lived, after the second safety car the silver arrows languished in seventh and eighth. However, they fought past the Mclarens and Mark Webber’s limping Red Bull to finish with Rosberg in fourth and Hamilton fifth. A more positive team result than previous years.
Having won 11 out of 14 races so far this year, the silver arrows will be keen to add to that list. Will Hamilton’s retirement woes of 2010 and 2012 come back to haunt him? Or maybe we’ll see another controversial on track clash like Spa, we’ll soon find out heading to one of the longest and most challenging races on the calendar.
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