What do you think should (will) be Rosberg's tactics in the next four races?

Well Rosberg has said his chances of winning the WDC is a long shot... He also said he will just go out there and have some fun and see if he can wins some races. What do you think will be his tactics? Will he roll over for Hamilton next race? If he does it's all over. Or will he battle until it's mathematically over? Will Mercedes ask him to roll over or let them fight to the end? Who will be more cautious, Rosberg or Hamilton, seeing that Vettel is still in with a chance to upset both of them? I personally would like to see them battle to the end. What are your thoughts?

 

Kimi special: crash and dash.

 

He just has to try and win, that's all he can do. Hope for buckets of luck for the next four races

 

hahaha Dont think Mercedes would be too happy about that since Vettel is still in with a chance to snatch the title away from both of them...lol

 

He'll talk a lot, then disappoint everyone with what actually happens on the track, as usual.

 

Even if winning seems out of reach he will have to be giving it his all to make sure Vettel doesn't relegate him to third. So I don't think he will give up entirely. At the same time if he has a go at Hamilton and takes them both out nobody will ever forgive him, especially if it cost Hamilton the title.

 

I genuinely think this is what he has to do.

With 4 races to go, even winning every race isn't enough unless Hamilton rarely finishes. And he can't rely on others or unreliability. In reality, this year is over, but he needs to rough Hamilton up ahead of next season.

Unless Mercedes go get Fernando, Rosberg's seat is safe for another year. But he hasn't got the ability to beat Hamilton in a fair fight. Conclusion is he needs to make it an unfair fight, starting now to get it into Hamilton's mind over the winter. If Hamilton starts doubting both himself and whether Rosberg will play things safe every time, he might have a chance.

Worst case scenario is he loses his seat, and doesn't add another second place finish to the record books. Nobody will care about that, including Rosberg.

 

Getting a contract at another team

 

Would've been nice if they were battling at the beginning, or for any fleeting moment during this season. Rosberg will just phone it in until the end of the season. Reminds me of Webber in 2011 and 2013, his team mate's dominating and he's struggling just to finish second. In the last two seasons he's had 16 second places and just eight wins, he's very much a number 2 and that's probably where he'll qualify and finish in the majority of the remaining sessions. I think he'll probably win a race though, on a weekend where Hamilton either isn't on it or breaks down.

 

The thing is if Hamilton wins next race thats the end of it right? Well maybe we might still see some fireworks..lol

 

I'm not really sure how that changes anything for Rosberg. He's been so lacklustre all season and seemed to give up the fight long ago. I can't imagine the title becoming mathematically out of reach really changing anything for him. I don't think he's even thinking about regrouping for next season, he just turns up, gets in the car, does however many laps he's told to and hopes the crowd like him. He wouldn't want to do anything too risky in case he gets booed again.

 

He has a mathematical chance and yet nothing to lose, so he could drive more freely and really fly.

Or, with his championship realistically finished, he could have his mind on holidays with his young family, and just do a competent job for the team, thus cementing his seat for next season when he'll have another go.

The first option would be good to see. My money is on the latter.

 

Maybe the mistake he made this season was to concentrate his setup for the race instead of pole, thinking that maybe he could still get pole results like last year, but have a faster race car. But I guess he didn't count on Hamilton raising his game to another level, so from the time he started getting beaten for pole he just didn't know how to cope with that. I think Rosberg is a bit robotic, he drives according to books and numbers and when certain situations confront him outside of that he doesn't know how to adapt. On the other hand Hamilton drives around situations... like when his setup isn't quite right he adapts...when he goes for an overtake and he doesn't get his man he tries different lines and tries to overtake in other areas. I don't think that is something you learn in a book, it's a natural talent. And that's what is missing from Rosberg's repertoire. I could be wrong but it looks that way to me.

 

I would have agreed with that up till recently, the last 2 weekends would seem to say the opposite.

In relation to what Rosberg has to do......what can he do? He is rarely fast enough and when he is he us often outraced. I still believe there is some serious disharmony behind the scenes and ever since Spa last year there has been very little (if any) competition between the pair. All is not right at that team.

 

I disagree, I honestly don't think Mercedes have let them both fight fair. When ever there is a 50/50 the Mercedes bosses always come out on Lewis's side. Right now Rosberg looks like a number 2 driver, right down to his car being built by the work experience boys.

I think Lewis is a better driver, but I also think he's being helped by the Mercedes management team that picked him as their driver, rather than the guy they inherited with the team.

 

Just watching the Bahrain GP re-run, Nico's engineer has come on saying "Fuel saving whilst you are behind Lewis".
Verdict: Number 2.

 

Rosberg gave up the fight at Malaysia in 2013 when he obeyed the team telling him to slow down because Hamilton refused to and the team were scared they'd run out of fuel. Merceedes have remembered it like Nico asked, unfortunately for Nico they haven't remembered it in quite the way he meant. "he's happy being number 2"

 

Merc won't let Lewis not win the WDC no matter what. After that might be interesting but I doubt it. My guess is after Lewis has won WDC Merc should do every thing they can to ensure Rosberg maintains second. Mind you I doubt Lewis will be particularly helpful as he is all about stats and his career points are important to him.

 

I don't think Nico would want to be handed wins, like any driver he wants to earn it. However, as a driver it's amazing how your perception of that situation changes depending on which end of it you sit.

I firmly believe that Lewis is the better driver by far, but I do believe he is afforded an advantage when/if needed. I commented in another thread the reaction (facial expression) by both Lauda and ToTo when Nico polled it. Like I said all is not what it seems behind the scenes.

 

I was on the verge of making exactly this point. Just two races into Hamilton's Mercedes career and Brawn pinned his colours quite emphatically to Hamilton's mast; you're not allowed to challenge this guy, even for a podium, no matter how much faster you are and regardless of whether there might be a better result for the team up the road.

In the same race Vettel was in the same situation and disobeyed his team, and he was slated for it, but it was the right thing to do. Rosberg wouldn't have been popular with Brawn if he'd simply passed Hamilton, but Brawn isn't there any more and it would've sent a strong message to Hamilton that they're equals, and perhaps more importantly it would've sent a message to Nico himself that they're equals. Button never took any **** from Hamilton, and despite not being on the same pace he was able to beat him from time to time. The amount of issues Hamilton had last year Button might have beaten him to the world championship as team mate, but Rosberg's never looked like being able to find a way around Hamilton, despite having more pace than Button.