Mercedes teammates Lewis Hamilton (R) and Nico Rosberg (L) on the podium after the Monaco Formula One Grand Prix.

Reuters/London


The difficult relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg has become a weakness for Formula One champions Mercedes and it could affect future driver decisions, team boss Toto Wolff warned yesterday.
“We struggle sometimes in winning races on Sunday and having always one (driver) upset,” the Mercedes motorsport head told motorsport.com.
“And this spills over into the team. It is something that needs to stop.”
Hamilton and Rosberg have been rivals since their early teens as team mates in karting but the once-warm relationship has been stretched to breaking point at dominant Mercedes.
The Briton and German were barely on speaking terms at times last season and entered another frosty phase this year after Hamilton clinched his second title in a row and third overall in Texas in October.
Rosberg ended the season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday with his third successive win and sixth pole position in a row, a run  that soured Hamilton’s mood and left him questioning the strategy.
“We took the decision of having two evenly matched drivers in order to make the team progress faster and better,” said Wolff of the decision to pair Hamilton, who joined from McLaren in 2013, and Rosberg.
“Going forward, we will consider if it is the best set-up for the team. Personality and character within the team is a crucial ingredient for the team success.
“If we feel that it is not aligned with the general consensus, spirit and philosophy within the team, we might consider that when we take a decision, in terms of the driver line-up going forward.”
Hamilton has three more years while Rosberg is signed to the end of 2016 with a team that this year won 16 of 19 races and enjoyed a record 12 one-two finishes.
While Hamilton has spoken of seeing out his career with Mercedes, Rosberg’s position would be weakened anyway if he finished second again next year.
Wolff indicated the drivers’ behaviour off the track was also important.
“I think it is important to have talented and fast drivers in the car. But we want to work with nice guys,” he said.
“We are having huge unity within the team, but the difficult relationship of the drivers is one of our weaknesses. And that is not good.”
“The biggest weakness is the dynamic of the relationship between the drivers—and sometimes between the drivers and the team.”

Formula E to stage driverless, AI ‘Roboraces’

Real-time computing algorithms will replace humans in an innovative series of driverless races to be staged alongside the regular Formula E season, promotors said yesterday.
The Formula E championship features 10 teams of two drivers on city-centre circuits. Brazilian Nelson Piquet Junior won the inaugural 2014/2015 world championship.
It is seen as a cleaner and greener alternative to Formula One and the news of the Formula E initiative coincides with the Paris-hosted COP21 global climate talks.
Now Formula E and Kinetik, a technology company specialising in electric vehicles and trains, will also stage races between 10 teams of two driverless cars on the same circuits as a warm-up show to the main event.
This new championship called ‘ROBORACE’ will start for the 2016-2017 season. The Artificial Intelligence (AI) guided one-hour races will run over the full championship.  
Denis Sverdlov, the founder of Kinetik and whose brainchild ROBORACE is said he believed it represented the future of motor racing and the motor industry.
“In the future, all of the world’s vehicles will be assisted by AI and powered by electricity, thus improving the environment and road safety,” he said.  
“ROBORACE is a celebration of revolutionary technology and innovation that humanity has achieved.” he explained.
“Robotic technologies and AI can co-exist with us in real life. Anyone who is at the edge of this transformation now has a platform to show the advantages of their driverless solutions and this shall push the development of the technology.”
Cities on the 2015-2016 circuit include Beijing, Paris, Berlin, London and Buenos Aires.
Interesting time indeed.