Grand Prix thread Not606 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Chat and Predictions

I can't think of a driver in the world who would have given away their only hope of a wdc to make the team's figures a bit tidier. In the end they got their 1-2 anyway.

 

Yup. You need a good car, a good driver and a bit of luck to win a WDC. This year Rosberg had a little more luck.

 

He did what he needed to do, sure. I just wish what he needed to do was more than it was. If it was just that Lewis was faster and Nico more consistent it would be OK, but even with a slightly average season from Lewis he still needed reliability to win.

When i look think of "Rosbergs championship season" i don't see a great drive, i see Hamilton's car on fire in Malaysia. I just think that's a shame. I hoped he would at least try to take the fight to Hamilton today.

 

Er, just pointing out that someone mentioned Pironi should've won it. That's all. Maybe I should've quoted his post.

 

People forgetting the two joke of penaltys that Rosberg got at the British and Austrian GP.

 

Sorry , misunderstood you .

 

They both amount to like 3pts.

 

I think that says more about you that Nico.... If it was the other way around and Lewis had a season like that people would be jumping up and down, saying what a brilliant consistent driver he is and how deserved this championship is.

Seriously Nico can't win on this board, he's WDC this season, and I for one think it's more than deserved. Some great drives when things were going his way, and some sensible drives when things weren't.

 

The Hamilton fans would be jumping up and down, as the Rosberg fans are now. I am neither, so i would have the same opinion.

I can't really think of a standout great drive from Nico this season. Either it's winning after Hamilton has an issue (at which point the pace of the Mercedes makes it a given) or coming second.

 

Nico as a driver and as a person just seems very dull to me. That's probably the reason. I'd rather watch an exciting driver win.

 

Mercedes went down in my opinion today. It was all exciting towards the end and they were basically instructing Hamilton to let Rosberg win the championship. They had both titles sown up but yet wanted a boring 1-2 rather than excitement. At this point in the season there's just no need.

Glad at least it was close at the end, even if nothing actually happened in the grand scheme of things.

 

Well... allsaintchris fair in love and racing.

Verstappen spin gave us a little drama but in reality it put him out of position on older tyres and ****ed his chances

Hamilton gave his congratulations outside so..... sky trying to dramatise it constantly here. some very mealy mouth questions that Hamilton batted aside well.

At least he did well there

 

The whole idea of teams dictating terms to drivers during a race seems wrong to me. They are there to create entertaining sport for the fans who pay them their money. Well done to Lewis for ignoring them.

 

Thank you guys for contributing to the forum, we had some awesome moments and debates throughout the season, I guess it's time to settle in for the long sleep until testing. I cannot wait for sure.

 

16:22

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BBC Sport
Well, Rosberg had six fastest laps this season, compared to Hamilton's three.
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Trying to catch Lewis up?

 

Hamilton can't even win a 2 horse race

 

He's currently winning that. 2:1

 

Anyone who wins a WDC is a deserved champion. The right combination of speed, consistency and reliability wins. Sometimes you can only get 2 out of 3, this year Rosberg had all 3 when he needed to.

Prost made a living out of winning WDC's when he wasn't the quickest.


2016 reminds me a lot of 1989. Senna v Prost. Senna was way quicker than Prost in the same car, but a mix on bad luck and unreliability meant Prost ultimately won. The disappointing thing I guess, from this years point of view, is Rosberg didn't try to win the last race. in 89, Prost had to beat Senna in Japan to win the WDC. Initially he held off Senna the entire race, until we all now what happened at the chicane. Point is, Prost wanted to win that race, Rosberg hasn't shown any inclination to win the last 4 races, knowing 2nd would be enough. He was relying on consistency and reliability to see him through. That's the 2 out of 3 requirements needed, but probably the riskiest. One problem and his WDC would be on the other side of the garage.

 

I'd like to start by congratulating Nico, he stood up well to the pressure today, especially considering this was his first and potentially only chance to become WDC. I suspect 2014 spec Nico wouldn't have achieved the same outcome and I offer that progression in his driving as one reason why this outcome is deserved. His performance under pressure today also validated his minimum risk approach to the final races and whilst it wasn't exciting, you can't argue that the ends didn't justify the means.

In the same way, I can't fault Hamilton's behaviour today, he took the only approach he could, on a track that suited such tactics and his victory in the end fully justified the ignoring of his management. Over the last few races his constant comments about the unreliability of his car and the hopelessness of his situation seemed like necessary mind games. With the result confirmed, I was saddened - but not surprised - to hear him repeat them again, when the more appropriate response would have been to keep quiet and respect the machines and team without which he would not have won the two previous titles.

There's no doubt that Malaysia and Hamilton's subsequent reaction and below par performance in Japan were a turning point, in particular in allowing Nico to adopt a cruise and collect approach to the final races, rather than needing an attacking approach that probably would have suited him less. Having said that, statistics show that no driver has lost the WDC following a start such as the one Nico got this year and as such I tend to think that this Championship was lost at the end of last year and beginning of this year when Hamilton appeared to have switched off. In particular, Rosberg got on top of the starting characteristic of the car faster enabling him to gain some early wins and nurse the engines for long periods, which may have helped with his reliability through the year. Also in retrospect the poor and uncharacteristic recovery drive in China, before Hamilton got back to peak form also appears crucial, in the same way that I long expected Rosberg's generosity in Monaco to eventually prove to be.

The debate of "luck" and "deserving" can go on for ever: was Rosberg over penalised for leading the Championship, did he lose 7 points having been taken out in Spain, without Malaysia might Hamilton have been punished in Mexico to keep the championship close, and so on. Opinion on these fine margin calls will always vary and so what I will say is that in the final analysis, 2-1 to Hamilton across the 3 years seems about right to me. Sadly it is pretty much the only unexpected piece of the last 3 years, which it seemed obvious to me would be dominated by Mercedes and Hamilton, right from the end of the first morning of testing way back in '14.


Back to the race, Sebastian deserves a special mention for an excellent drive including coming up with a better strategy than Ferrari appear to have managed all year. I do hope he and Kimi get a better car next year, but sadly that is hope and not expectation.

Finally farewell to Massa and Button, two of the good guys of F1. Anybody who watched Button's grace under such dissapointment today and wasn't moved, needs to check for a heart. The two of them are not the last of a dying breed, but F1 is less of a gentlemen's sport after today.


Apologies for the wall of text, but this will likely be one of my last posts on this forum. I've enjoyed reading a number of the contributors on here, in particular a couple with unconventional, but well reasoned views, who I have considered it a privilege and education to interact with. Likely I will continue to read, but I suspect without being able to post it won't quite be the same.


I hope everyone gets the 2017 and beyond, they wish for. If Danny and Max are up front then I think a good season is guaranteed, if anyone else joins them it could be a classic!