The Mercedes duo’s moment of truth

August 24, 2016 11:43 pm | Updated 11:43 pm IST

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 24: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates his win on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 24, 2016 in Budapest, Hungary.  (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

BUDAPEST, HUNGARY - JULY 24: Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain and Mercedes GP celebrates his win on the podium during the Formula One Grand Prix of Hungary at Hungaroring on July 24, 2016 in Budapest, Hungary. (Photo by Charles Coates/Getty Images)

After winning the Canadian Grand Prix for the fifth time in his career early this year, Lewis Hamilton dedicated his win to Muhammad Ali. “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,” he said on the team radio, quoting the boxing legend.

Hamilton has spoken about Ali’s influence on him, and how their shared ethnicity strikes a chord with him.

And, like a top boxer, Hamilton has shown he can take a few punches but still fight back as he overturned a 43-point deficit after the first five races to a 19-point lead in the driver’s standings after 12 rounds.

As the Formula One caravan resumes its journey after the summer break, in Belgium this weekend, Hamilton will carry momentum, having won four races in July.

His Mercedes teammate, Nico Rosberg, started the season strongly, winning the first four races as Hamilton struggled with reliability issues and poor starts.

But things changed after the Spanish Grand Prix where the duo collided on the opening lap.

Since then, Rosberg’s form has dipped, and he will quickly need to regain the touch he had shown in the opening rounds if he is to have any chance of putting up a fight for the championship.

The summer break could not have come at a better time for the German who had a few poor races. In Austria, he crashed into Hamilton, and in Germany, he was given a penalty for pushing Max Verstappen off the track.

The fact that Rosberg has extended his contract with Mercedes for the next two years should help him get his focus back on track.

Since the introduction of the current set of rules in 2014, Mercedes has enjoyed a clear pace advantage over the rest of the field, and it is imperative that Rosberg makes use of this opportunity to go all the way after finishing second for the last two years.

With Red Bull slowly catching up, and the new technical rules to be introduced in 2017, this could be Rosberg’s best opportunity to enter the record books, with dad Keke, as only the second father-son duo to win a World championship.

While Red Bull, which has struggled since the 2014 season due to an under-powered Renault engine, has managed to move up to second place in the constructors’ championship, Ferrari’s fortunes have nosedived after the team had made bold predictions of fighting for the title at the start of the year.

The Italian outfit is in a state of flux after its technical director James Allison left last month. Widely regarded as one of the best in the business, Allison’s absence could have serious consequences when the new rules take effect next year.

Over the last few races, Sebastian Vettel has had to override strategy calls from the pit lane often — an area in which his team has been found wanting so far this season. It remains to be seen how long his patience will hold.

While the German is contracted with Ferrari till the end of next year and is reportedly on the verge of signing an extension, one more bad year could see him turn his back like Fernando Alonso had.

With nine races to go, the upcoming weekend at the iconic Spa Francorchamps, the scene of the Mercedes duo’s infamous collision two years ago, could set the platform for Rosberg to get up and fight back, or for Hamilton to land the knockout punch.

Championship standings:

Drivers: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 217 points, 2. Nico Rosberg (Mercedes) 198, 3. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull) 133, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari) 122, 5. Sebastian Vettel (Ferrari)120, 6. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 115.

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