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When that happens, you have a true rivalry.
When you have true rivalry, you have genuinely
captivating sport. Think Muhammad Ali versus
Joe Frazier in boxing, cricket’s England versus
Australia Ashes, or any number of high-level
local derbies in football.
All the great rivalries tend to be binary –
two giant teams or personalities (usually with
contrasting styles and/or characters) pitting
their respective wits against one another with
more relish and grit than they might conjure up
when faced with an alternative, more ‘ordinary’
,
opponent. Formula 1 has its own long list.
Although technological competition has
always defined grand prix racing (and all
other motorsport) in a very particular way, it
remains alluring for its human drama as much as
anything else. But beca use F1 is simultaneously
Spa collision was
moment rivalry
boiled over
FERRARO/LAT
SEASON
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PREVIEW
ll the greatest
sporting contests do not
achieve such elevated status
without some kind of grudge
match – a chance for two
titans to go toe-to-toe
more than once.
an individual and a team sport, these sorts
of pure, binary rivalries tend to be rare.
They usually require a period of sustained
domination by one team, so that its two drivers
can go head-to-head (think Alain Prost and
Ayrton Senna at McLaren, 1988-89), or a
sustained period of competition between two
teams with stable line-ups, so that a dual
dynamic can emerge (recall Michael Schumacher
versus Damon Hill in the Benetton/Williams
battles of the mid-’90s, or the Ferrari/McLaren
duels that raged on and off-track before the turn
of the decade). Now, thanks to the Mercedes
squad’s competitive advantage under F1’s current
V6 hybrid turbo engine regulations, Lewis
Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have the potential
to become the latest great rivalry in F1.
Last season, Mercedes (laudably) allowed its
two drivers to race hard for the title, knowing
the constructors’ championship ‘battle’ was –
to all intents and purposes – a one-horse
race. The prospect of a long-awaited second
world drivers’ title for one (Hamilton), or a
breakthrough maiden success for the other
(Rosberg), created a fascinating dynamic
between two top athletes – one with a history
of success but doubts about his legacy, the
other with intense hunger but a point to prove
to the world about his ultimate potential.
The dynamic of established champion and
hungry pretender is important in creating a great
rivalry. Prost and Senna had it when Senna joined
McLaren in 1988, and their rivalry is arguably the
greatest in F1 history. The fact that this dynamic
remains unchanged between the Mercedes drivers
this year, owing to Rosberg failing to deny
Hamilton that second title, only adds emphasis
to their personal battle. Hamilton now has the
chance to add his name to a rare pantheon of
great drivers who have won at least three world
championships – only nine have managed the
feat since 1950 – while Rosberg remains the
precocious hopeful, determined to bounce back
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When Lewis upped the pressure
last year he was able to push
Rosberg into making mistakes
from bitter defeat, spoil Hamilton’s party and
finally emulate the greatest achievement of his
father Keke, world champion in 1982.
The difference between Hamilton and
Rosberg in 2014, though massive in terms
of points accrued (owing to the ludicrous
double-scoring system for the season finale
that is, thankfully, dropped for this year), was
actually much smaller on performance than many
expected before the season began. Hamilton came
into the campaign with a reputation for winning
by simply being faster than everyone else out
there, while Rosberg was viewed as the cerebral,
workaholic who would use his technical nous
and intelligence to gain the edge.
As it turned out, Rosberg was surprisingly
the quicker of the two more often than not on
Saturdays, when F1 is about pure speed. The