Grand Prix thread Not606 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Chat and Predictions

I can understand your disagreement, Ernie. You have made some good points and said some things I agree with; but I hope you will indulge me a little further…

My point is this: any competitor must focus upon what he or she is able to influence – and not things external to this domain. Despite Hamilton's 'bad luck' (and I agree he was unlucky), he may well review 2016 as an opportunity missed because of things within his capacity which he might well have (and should have) done, including adopting the correct mind-set sooner; indeed, things which may have been enough to prevail against the loss of points due to bad luck!

Becoming the Champion of any sport based upon a point-scoring series of events requires a global appreciation of all contributory factors throughout the duration of the contest. Of course – and as an aside and caveat to various historical misdemeanours – I say this with one BIG, and very much idealised, sporting reservation: cheating, distortion and corruption should never play a part in the ultimate result.

However, 'luck' does play a part. Always. And Hamilton had some awful luck during 2016. But Rosberg focussed on what HE needed to do. He did not cheat. He accepted his punishments and focussed upon what HE needed to do. That is really all he could 'do'. This is why he is, in my view, a very worthy Champion.

By comparison, I'd argue Hamilton did not apply himself sufficiently to what HE needed to do. He had some awful luck; he lost a lot of points due to circumstances beyond his control. But this is the point: such things were beyond his control. Yes, of course Rosberg was 'lucky' to experience fewer 'beyond his own control' problems but Hamilton could still have won the World Drivers' Championship if he'd applied himself to aspects within his own domain more effectively and sooner.

As a driver in 'Runner Up' spot I'd be asking myself if there was anything I could have done to improve my chances by applying myself more effectively, and/or sooner. This is not to begrudge whoever exploited my weaknesses and/or bad luck – for whoever does so surely seized the moment as a worthy opportunist. But the question hangs: "could I have applied myself more effectively?".

If the answer is 'no', then one has excelled as far as humanly possible and cannot have regrets. On the other hand, if the answer leaves room for doubt, the question most certainly remains…

[Edited to overcome spell-checker's inaccuracy]

 

Hamilton's not daft... He'll know that ultimately it was some of his own perfomances that cost him the title in the end. You've got to expect bad luck and capitalize when luck is on your side. There were times he didn't do that.

 

Yes. Exactly.

As I've tried to say, there were things Hamilton could have done differently. The most obvious being to put more effort in, in order to offset the only recurring problem he could influence: his starting procedure. After all, he has missed the 2016 WDC by just 5 points.

 

On a lighter note I love this....

 

See you all next year, good luck.

 

Brexit
Corbyn
Trump
Rosberg

 

Given Brexit and Trump... Rosberg WDC is wonderful.

 

Oh No, I was just about to hibernate, here we go again !!

Brexit is better

 

I thought at one point Merc took the blame for the clutch issues? Though that could have just been to try and take the pressure off Lewis and Nico (less so Nico) to help them get it right?

 

If we look back to last season Nico had issues with his starts. I thinks it's fair to say in mist cases it is a combination of the driver understanding/setting the bite point and assessing that against the likely grip from the starting grid. After that it's driver input to manage wheel spin and gear selection.

 

Surely Hammy's brigade are collectively capable of sorting out a lightening starting procedure or at the very least creating a procedure that prevents the loss of 10 or so places, I could have done that in our local Tesco car park on a quiet Sunday morning.

Some of our boy racers down there seem to manage OK