Spanish Grand Prix 2016

The facts are....

Rosburg has always been a nervous type. He suffers anxiety and is not really comfortable in his own skin. I thought he’d pretty much outgrown this jitteriness, but he evidently still gets stress induced anxiety that sometimes makes his brain freeze. There’s actually a clinical condition called “stress induced amnesia” most people are familiar with when the run across someone they know, and suddenly can’t remember their name. It’s a kind of panic mode, and it explains how he could have screwed up his start setting, and then the “oh my god” full blown panic you see when he’s trying to race the car, find what’s wrong with the setting, fix it, steer the car look in the mirror all at the same time. It led him to make a really bad decision. I don’t know under whose rules you’re allowed to run someone off. His indecision was obvious, Lewis saw it, went for the gap with a huge overtake advantage and was driven off the track on the right hand side of the track with a right hand turn approaching.

It can be called a blocking move only when you are clear. If you wait too long to block it’s not only stupid error it a flagrant violation of the rule. It’s exactly the thing the rule is there for. You ARE allowed a blocking move, but not if you force contact or force someone out of bounds.  You can’t cut across someone's nose and expect them to disappear for you. Then, even when Nico pushed him off track he avoided the contact. If Nico had not dropped the hatchet it would have been Lewis’s job to get along side or past him by the turn it, but when Lewis’s front left reached Nico’s right rear he had a 17 Kph speed advantage. Lewis is the greatest passer I have ever seen and usually very clean. He collected Nico when the car when out of control with all 4 wheels IN THE GRASS!

Lewis, on the other hand, is as cool as the other side of the pillow. When Nico forced his way around the outside of turn one he was a gentleman and backed out enough to avoid contact. He didn’t press, he wasn’t going all in on turn one.

I’ve always found Nico annoying.  He’s ingratiating and social awkward and tries too hard.

That annoyance is turning to disdain.