MicVelo

Congratulations

Nico Rosberg

2016 Formula One World Champion!!

Well done, well deserved.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Very well deserved, but too bad Hamilton showed his true colors with his display of poor sportsmanship. I'd like to finally see some sanctions from Mercedes and Toto.

03threefiftyz

iTrader: (25)

I seriously do not understand the feeling towards Hamilton for what he did and I am no Lew Ham fan. What did you expect him to do? Secondly, if Nico wanted to go faster he should have pressured him, which he never did. Hamilton is not going to crash him out, when the likelihood with these cars is both would have DNF'd the race and Nico still would have won. Lest we not forget Nico in Barcelona and Austria, when he got petulant and DID try crash out Hamilton. Anyway, I don't dislike Nico, so good for him. There is always a certain amount of luck involved in winning a championship and he had all of it this year.

dcains

iTrader: (15)

Hamilton works for Mercedes, and it's his job to win any race he has the chance to. If he's told to "pick up the pace", that's what he needs to do, rather than risk not winning or putting his teammate in jeopardy. Instead, his reply was, "Right now, I’m losing the World Championship, so I’m not bothered if I’m going to lose the race."

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Poor sportsmanship? Perhaps. But in this era of superstar F1 drivers, gamesmanship has the upper hand. LH was willing to roll the dice to win another title, and he knows there's very little the team will do to him. I can think of other eras when the game was much more hard-edged...think Senna-Prost as teammates or competitors. This kind of crap continues to be a part of F1.

In any case, congrats to Nico Rosberg!

03threefiftyz

iTrader: (25)

With all due respect, no. He has every right to race for the championship. Nico has to take the initiative and push the pace. Hamilton knew he wouldn't risk it and played the game. The constructors championship was already won. Again, I'm no Hamilton fan, but it smacked of the perceived favoritism that has become a bit obvious within Mercedes this year for Rosberg to get his championship. Had the roles been reversed, Nico would have done the same and to think to think otherwise is foolish. Only difference, and I will give credit to Lew Ham here, he would raced for the win and gone for a pass (or at least pushed the pace) had the roles been reversed. At least IMO.

armt350z

iTrader: (6)

Hammy's deliberate slowing of Nico was some of the best gamesmanship and driving you will likely see for quite a while. Its fully his right to drive for the championship so long as he doesn't pull a Verstappen and DNF people.

Note in every DRS zone, Hammy always stayed 1.1 seconds ahead only to slow back outside of those zones in any way to safely put pressure on Nico and have any hope of seizing the championship. Good on him and F Mercedes for trying to take sides and prop a driver up. They already won the constructors cup.

MicVelo

In a sidenote to this discussion, it would be remiss of me to not mention....


Both will be missed from the grid but they both had stellar F1 careers! Vive la difference!!

JMII

I thought Hamilton drove a brilliant race, screw this "team orders" crap, you don't see that nonsense in the IRL. I'm not a Nico fan but he gets my respect for winning the championship.

Going to be a different paddock next year with Massa and Button missing. However watching Verstappen has made things entertaining.

MicVelo

Jury is still out (for me) with Max. There's a fine line between "aggressive" and "reckless" (***** out? ). Oh, don't get me wrong, I think Max is a super driver and IS the future of F1 but sometimes I feel he's gotten close to stepping over that line.

But then again, maybe it's just all of Vettel's whining that has me worn down. Hahahahahaha! And Max is certainly NOT as "wreckful" as Kvyat, whom he replaced at RBR Senior. Laff...

I personally would have liked to have seen Daniel Ricciardo finish high and with at least one vindicating race for the debacle at Monaco. I point that faux pas straight at RBR and Horner. Psh.

GodISmE

The beauty of this sport - any sport in fact - is that even the best ones do not always win, like in this case. Lewis is abviously a better driver but this was not enough and it gave Nico a chance.
Expecting Lewis to pick up a pace and bury all chances to win the champonship before end of the race was silly. It was the right tactic and caling it lack of spotmanship is ridiculous! F..k the politics in this sport. It's killing it!

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

The difference in motorsports is it's a combination of man and machine. For 2016, Hamilton was unfortunate enough to run into mechanical problems at several races. Rosberg did a good job of maximizing his point total when this happened and won the driving title by driving within his limits. But the best drivers contending every year? Not unless you're driving for Mercedes F1.

MicVelo

^^^ Too true.

In pretty much any man/machine sport whether it be auto racing, power boat racing, cycling, etc., there's bound to be some mechanical edge based on the hardware (and software in it of course). In Mercedes F1's case, an $800M budget gives them that edge.

Am I saying that it's all about the car (or bike or toboggan or....)? Nope, not at all! But having that caliber of hardware (and $$$ into the technology) gives them the ability to attract (and pay for) the type of top-of-the-game talent necessary to win both the manufacturer's and driver's championship.

S'far as the comment above about "politics in F1", well, it's not going away anytime soon for sure. Hello, Bernie?

dkmura

iTrader: (64)

Nico Rosberg announces RETIREMENT from F1 on FB:

“Since 25 years in racing, it has been my dream, my ‘one thing’ to become Formula One World Champion. Through the hard work, the pain, the sacrifices, this has been my target and now I’ve made it. I have climbed my mountain, I am on the peak, so this feels right. My strongest emotion right now is deep gratitude to everybody who supported me to make that dream happen.
“This season, I tell you, it was so damn tough. I pushed like crazy in every area after the disappointments of the last two years; they fuelled my motivation to levels I had never experienced before. And of course that had an impact on the ones I love, too -- it was a whole family effort of sacrifice, putting everything behind our target. I cannot find enough words to thank my wife Vivian; she has been incredible. She understood that this year was the big one, our opportunity to do it, and created the space for me to get full recovery between every race, looking after our daughter each night, taking over when things got tough and putting our championship first. When I won the race in Suzuka, from the moment when the destiny of the title was in my own hands, the big pressure started and I began to think about ending my racing career if I became World Champion. On Sunday morning in Abu Dhabi, I knew that it could be my last race and that feeling cleared my head before the start. I wanted to enjoy every part of the experience, knowing it might be the last time… and then the lights went out and I had the most intense 55 laps of my life. I took my decision on Monday evening. After reflecting for a day, the first people I told were Vivian and Georg, followed by Toto. The only thing that makes this decision in any way difficult for me is because I am putting my racing family into a tough situation. But Toto understood. He knew straight away that I was completely convinced and that reassured me. My proudest achievement in racing will always be to have won the world championship with this incredible team of people, the Silver Arrows. Now, I’m just here to enjoy the moment. There is time to savour the next weeks, to reflect on the season and to enjoy every experience that comes my way. After that, I will turn the next corner in my life and see what it has in store for me…”

Going out on top seems like a surprise move for Rosberg, but his statement certainly gives some insight into the pressures of being a top F1 driver.

MicVelo

Wow... hadn't heard this. Thanks, David.

So, let the speculation begin on who will take his 2017 seat at Mercedes!!

Either of the RBR guys? Would love to see Ricciardo in that seat. Verstappen? A distinct possibility. Either of the Ferrari guys? Nahhh, doubt it, both are ripe for retirement and Toto probably wants a younger hard charger. Hmmmm..... this could go on and on.

Then there's me.....

MicVelo

And in a prophetic bit of irony, Nico's pops, Keke ('82 F1 world champeen) said after the final at Abu Dhabi:

"Asked what he thinks his son will do next, the 67-year-old Keke Rosberg joked 'maybe he retires tomorrow.'"

That, after waxing eloquent on what his son will have to do to defend his world title next year. Laff....

dcains

iTrader: (15)

I'll bet Alonso's phone is ringing right now. Ex-McLaren teammates back together again. . .

GodISmE

His misus probably said to him "that's it, F1 or me!" lol
Wehrlein is my bet.

MicVelo

Wehrlein IS already a Junior Mercedes driver so yes, that's possible.

Let's get stupid here.... Vettel at Mercedes? Hahahahaha.... Imagine two multi-year champions on the same team. And you thought the "rivalry" between LewHam and Nico was intense? Where they gonna find helmets to fit either of their big heads? Laff.... (Yeah yeah, so Vet's "contracted" with ScudFerrari for 2017...so what?) Hey, why not at Mercedes? Heck, he's made the rounds of all the top teams but MBZF1....

The thot plickens....

armt350z

iTrader: (6)

Caught me by surprise today when I heard the news. On one hand going out on top is classy as ****. Not many can say they did it. But maybe he realizes that he isn't the fastest and then he has little chance to repeat and that its better to go out on top than stretching out a long decline.

I want Nico Hulkenberg to take the spot, but I think Wehrlein is the probable choice. Merc/toto did pretty much pay manor to train him up.