There’s only one man who can stop Lewis Hamilton now: Fernando Alonso Nico Rosberg’s ‘no mas’ moment has thrust upon Mercedes a kind of transfer window frenzy in which we get to […]

Nico Rosberg’s ‘no mas’ moment has thrust upon Mercedes a kind of transfer window frenzy in which we get to play fantasy Formula One. Lewis Hamilton is the first name on the team sheet in this caper, so who’s man enough to fill the other half of the Mercedes garage?

Rosberg’s ‘I’m off’ reflex was effectively the ultimate sanction of Hamilton as a racing driver. Germany’s foremost Monegasque tore out of the Mercedes garage like a survivor of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, counting his fingers and toes and checking his head was still on.

As the champion-in-recess contemplates life as the most famous pappa on the Moncao school run, his former bosses seek a replacement willing to go head-to-head with the ultimate paddock predator.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has identified three types of candidate; one, the fully evolved ubermensch, aka Fernando Alonso or Sebastian Vettel; two, the up-and-comer from the Mercedes junior ranks, Esteban Ocon or Pascal Wehrlein; three, the safe pair of hands, Valtteri Bottas.

Half Grid Been In Touch

You will note the absence from the list of Max Verstappen, who would be brilliant, of course, but since he is yoked to the Red Bull family there is more chance of Leo Messi signing for Real Madrid than the Dutchman shuffling along the A422 from Milton Keynes to Brackley.

All the candidates are contracted to their respective teams, but in Formula One that tends to be the start of a conversation not an end to it. Mercedes director Niki Lauda claimed half the grid have already been in touch, and he pledged to make the fastest seat in F1 an early Christmas gift to one of them.

Let’s hope Alonso is on that list. It is one of the sport’s monumental failings that it can have a driver of his calibre pottering about the periphery, operating cameras at trackside in faux indifference to a set of circumstances that must be driving him mad.

You might think Hamilton would not top his list of preferred team-mates after the toxic 12 months they spent together a decade ago. But at 35 the two-time world champ does not have the luxury of waiting for time’s big wheel to turn his way, and he did fashion a rapprochement with Ron Dennis at McLaren.

Loathe To Lose Him

Wolff has said that the big dog option is his least favourite. And you can see why given the inherent difficulties involved with keeping divas in line. Yet if team principals are serious about transforming the spectacle then there could be no better time to demonstrate that commitment than by re-uniting Hamilton and Alonso, who settled their differences long ago.

The cheapest option would be to negotiate the release of Wehrlein, or preferably Ocon, who came into F1 with a reputation forged in F3 almost as hot as Verstappen’s. Doubtless Force India would be loathe to lose him, but not if a deal could be struck with their engine supplier. Yes, that would be Mercedes.

The safe option is Bottas, who after four years on the grid is properly matured and at 27 still young enough to be considered a prospect. The contract he has at Williams becomes a bargaining chip in the negotiation of terms regarding Mercedes engine provision.

This incredible episode serves only to separate Hamilton and his ilk from the mortals in the paddock. The all-consuming commitment that drove Rosberg into retirement is simply juice to Hamilton, the elemental fuel that keeps the throttle pinned to the floor.

The iron psyche required to go again season after season is one of the great unexplored dimensions of performance in sporting front line warriors yet fundamental to the prospects of any champion. Hamilton might have surrendered temporary ownership of his crown but, you suspect, went up a notch in the estimation of the man holding the baby.