(Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team)
Formula One as we all know is an extremely competitive
sport, however when it comes to who is a drivers closet rival is all they have
to do is look across to the opposite side of their garage to their team mate,
after all they are in equal equipment.
When we look at the 2014 Formula One
season the inter team rivalry between the Mercedes duo of Lewis Hamilton and
Nico Rosberg was one of the most exciting spectacles in recent Formula One
history.
In 2014, the rivalry that hit the headlines was Hamilton and
Rosberg, in 2013, it was the Infiniti Red Bull Racing pair of Sebastian Vettel
and Mark Webber following the infamous Multi 21 incident at the Malaysian Grand
Prix. Speaking to Sky Sports F1 HD as a guest on a special show about team
mates, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner stated that the situation was
extremely tense between the pair.
Horner stated that the situation was became so bad between
the pair that when race debriefs were taking place one driver would take over
his headphones as he would not want to listen to what the other driver was
saying.
Despite the aggravation between the pair, Horner believes
that in years to come, Vettel and Webber will in the end become friends.
In 2007, the rivalry between then rookie driver Lewis
Hamilton and Fernando Alonso who were team mates at McLaren was so intense and
fierce that it caused major problems within the team. The season ended with the
pair equal on points in the championship. Alonso returned to Renault in 2008
however the Spaniard returns to McLaren for 2015.
When discussing Alonso’s return to Woking for 2015, McLaren
Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis stated that the problems at the team were not
all down to Alonso but that Hamilton had to take some responsibility for what
happened between the pair as he was very immature at the time he entered Formula
One.
In 2014, comparisons were made between the rivalry between
Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost when they were team mates at McLaren and the
rivalry between Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
Scuderia Ferrari have signed quadruple world champion
Sebastian Vettel to join Kimi Raikkonen for this season and new Ferrari team
principal Maurizio Arrivabene has stated that he doesn’t want the pair who are
very good friends off the track to be too friendly towards each other on the
track as they will be chief rivals as they will have equal machinery.
Formula One is a team sport and although drivers have to be
selfish sometimes the team ALWAYS has to come first and no driver is bigger
than the team.
This was not evident in 2013, when Sebastian Vettel spoke in
front of the media ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix and famously stated:
‘I was faster, I passed him, I won.’
This coming season it is going to be extremely interesting
to see the dynamic between the new driver line-ups throughout the pit-lane with
all but Lotus, Mercedes, Force India and Williams retaining unchanged line-ups
for this season.
© Ben Johnston 2015
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