2016 Formula 1 Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

Robin.
Hamilton doesn't necessarily agree that the better man won nor that he was given an equal car. It's kinda disappointing for him to say these things even if he's hurting.
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While I agree with you, I'd say if you won nearly half the seasons races set a personal record in pole positions and still lost the entire thing at the end of it, you might think similarly. As a Hamilton fan I say this to anyone who still thinks he lost it purely at Malaysia, tally up his poles where he had bad starts and could have won. And when I say tally I mean points lost, compared to Malaysia and you'll see there is plenty of blame to go to him and mechanical. Either could have decided his fate for a fourth WDC.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
While I agree with you, I'd say if you won nearly half the seasons races set a personal record in pole positions and still lost the entire thing at the end of it, you might think similarly. As a Hamilton fan I say this to anyone who still thinks he lost it purely at Malaysia, tally up his poles where he had bad starts and could have won. And when I say tally I mean points lost, compared to Malaysia and you'll see there is plenty of blame to go to him and mechanical. Either could have decided his fate for a fourth WDC.
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China 07 comes to mind;(
Neither then nor now the best driver won the WDC but i think that's a common occurrence. Does it even matter? The good thing is that in 2017 we will not see a beaten down Rosberg go up against 4x champion, we will see a WDC Rosberg and hopefully that will give him some more confidence and we will see better driving and better battles between these two. I wouldn't have wanted another walkover in 017
 
Dhalism
China 07 comes to mind;(
Neither then nor now the best driver won the WDC but i think that's a common occurrence. Does it even matter? The good thing is that in 2017 we will not see a beaten down Rosberg go up against 4x champion, we will see a WDC Rosberg and hopefully that will give him some more confidence and we will see better driving and better battles between these two. I wouldn't have wanted another walkover in 017
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I say it matters in the face of when history on this is argued. In the grand scheme...not really. But anyone arguing Hamilton was let down and that is why Rosberg won, is either not remembering the history of he season, perpetuating popular myth (same thing I guess), or someone who truly believes Malaysia was the main cause.

The point is had he finished second in Japan today would be different, had he finished first at Monza today would be different. His bad starts at a few races were his undoing. Yes the other sides argument has a point, but I feel his own self-inflicted issues are far more controllable than the freak mechanical error.
 
Nessy
Self inflicted and mechanical failures/issues, are both things that shouldn't be ignored really, when it comes to the history of it all. In my opinion, they're equal in terms of blame.

Fact is, Nico won the WDC this year. Everything else, is just 'what ifs' I suppose.
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Exactly, they're equal but one can be placed on the driver and the other can't which is why I said what I did further up. "There is enough blame to go around for why Lewis didn't win this year"
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
"There is enough blame to go around for why Lewis didn't win this year"
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There is plenty of blame that Lewis will have to face in the mirror. Let's look at it:
  1. Australia- botched start, cost him the race win (7 points lost, 14 point swing)
  2. Bahrain- botched start, put him in a position with Bottas to take damage (7 points lost*)
  3. Barcelona- driver error, why do you put yourself in that position on lap 1 (potential 7 point loss, if won over ROS)
  4. Monza- botched start, cost him the race win (7 points lost, 14 point swing)
  5. Suzuka- botched start, needs to get off snapchat--- potentially cost him race win (3 points lost**)

Notes: I give him a pass a Singapore, *=assuming should have finished first, **=assuming should have finished second

See something in common? How about 4 botched starts that he presumably lost points to. That's 24 points total and the WDC deficit nearly 5 times over. These presumptions doesn't account for failures that are out of his hands. Simply put... roll the car off the grid better. You'd figure after 2 botched starts in the first 2 races, he'd practice that a little more. When you consistently get off the grid worse than your opponents, you need to step up your game.
 
Jubby
There is plenty of blame that Lewis will have to face in the mirror. Let's look at it:
  1. Australia- botched start, cost him the race win (7 points lost, 14 point swing)
  2. Bahrain- botched start, put him in a position with Bottas to take damage (7 points lost*)
  3. Barcelona- driver error, why do you put yourself in that position on lap 1 (potential 7 point loss, if won over ROS)
  4. Monza- botched start, cost him the race win (7 points lost, 14 point swing)
  5. Suzuka- botched start, needs to get off snapchat--- potentially cost him race win (3 points lost**)

Notes: I give him a pass a Singapore, *=assuming should have finished first, **=assuming should have finished second

See something in common? How about 4 botched starts that he presumably lost points to. That's 24 points total and the WDC deficit nearly 5 times over. These presumptions doesn't account for failures that are out of his hands. Simply put... roll the car off the grid better. You'd figure after 2 botched starts in the first 2 races, he'd practice that a little more. When you consistently get off the grid worse than your opponents, you need to step up your game.
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Not sure if you read my earlier posts, or just that one. But you just echoed what I've been saying. Trust me I blame Lewis more than I blame Malaysia. And if the deficit was more than 5 points in the end maybe an argument purely on that one race can be made.
 
In fairness though. It's all very well apportioning the blame solely on Lewis' errors, but to do so without apportioning blame on mechanical issues is somewhat unwise.

Both determined the outcome of the championship. Let's not forget that.
 
Congratulations to Nico!

That race went exactly like I hoped it would between him and Lewis, and with Lewis giving no quarter it made it even more entertaining. I understand that it's a team sport but was anyone really expecting Lewis to play along with Nico in any form or fashion, knowing he had a mathematical possibility of being a 4-time champ? I surely wasn't.

Nico finally has that edge and the willingness to pull a few tricks from his sleeve (Monaco and RB Ring, anyone?), and if he can continue down this path – which now that he has a title I expect him to – it will make everything all the more interesting moving forward.
 
Well done to Nico.

For me reliability is something you have to factor in. Lewis has let himself down with awfully bad starts and crashing in Baku qauli, rubbish in Singapore. Rosberg has been consistent.

Rosberg has shown his weakness in the wet at Monaco and Brazil, very slow but he did save his race with a good catch in Brazil.
 
Those last laps where properly exciting stuff. Hamilton really threw every trick he could at Rosberg. Props to Rosberg for not cracking under pressure, which is what I assume is what Hamilton was hoping for - either by Rosberg trying a desperate overtaking maneuver or doing a mistake that would let Vettel and verstappen past. That last phase of the race showed that Rosberg has the mental strength of a champion. He didn't let Hamilton's mind game get to him, and instead stuck to his game plan.

Bring on 2017, it'll be interesting to see how the balance between the two will be now that Rosberg comes into the season as the reigning champion.
 
[Nor]MclarenF1
Those last laps where properly exciting stuff. Hamilton really threw every trick he could at Rosberg. Props to Rosberg for not cracking under pressure, which is what I assume is what Hamilton was hoping for - either by Rosberg trying a desperate overtaking maneuver or doing a mistake that would let Vettel and verstappen past. That last phase of the race showed that Rosberg has the mental strength of a champion. He didn't let Hamilton's mind game get to him, and instead stuck to his game plan.

Bring on 2017, it'll be interesting to see how the balance between the two will be now that Rosberg comes into the season as the reigning champion.
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I imagine the same way it did for Nico this season even though Lewis was the reigning champion. A feeling that "yeah the other guy won the war, but I was winning battles to the very end"
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Really?
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That I'd take it over the WDC? I'm sure if the differences were explained in detail I'd consider the options a bit more fairly, but from the perspective of "I get to keep an F1 car that I could (presumably) drive anytime I wanted?," yes, absolutely. :lol:
 
Terronium-12
That I'd take it over the WDC? I'm sure if the differences were explained in detail I'd consider the options a bit more fairly, but from the perspective of "I get to keep an F1 car that I could (presumably) drive anytime I wanted?," yes, absolutely. :lol:
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No I meant the car. I didn't know he got to keep it


I don't care about wdc either, I think another champion racer put it best. "it's just an empty cup" -Hudson Hornet circa 2006
 
Hard to judge this. I don't think what Hamilton did was pretty, but to be a champion you need some sort of ruthlessness and I don't think he did anything beyond hard but fair.

The way I see it Hamilton lost any chance of having his "strategy" pay off when Vettel got to 3rd. Maybe I am imagining things (and I probably am because nobody else in this thread mentioned this), but ... I think Vettel played Nico's game, putting on only a measured pressure and saving him from any "Max Attack".

Maybe it is because Seb is german, maybe it is because he likes being the sole 4xWDC and didn't particularly desire Lewis to achieve his status, I don't know ... but it was apparent to me that Vettel was very joyful after the race and , re-watching the final laps again ... I think he acted as Nico's bodyguard.

So, Lewis played a bit of a game, Seb played his own game too and Nico amazingly didn't do a single mistake with all that going on around him. For this he must be given credit. Didn't crack under pressure.

So, congrats Nico Rosberg.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
No I meant the car. I didn't know he got to keep it


I don't care about wdc either, I think another champion racer put it best. "it's just an empty cup" -Hudson Hornet circa 2006
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Oh, yeah. They said it a couple of times throughout the weekend, and it finally registered the eleventeenth time that Leigh said it during F1 Extra.

Even better, it's the same chassis from Brazil that was fixed and took him to 9th today.
 
JockeP22
Nico's average finishing position this season: 3.1

Lewis: 3.8
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Averages aren't ever a great statistical form of measure. Median would give a better conclusion result wise, since outliers that are out of users hands do occur...like say a mechanical failure resulting in DNF.
 
Hun200kmh
I don't think what Hamilton did was pretty, but to be a champion you need some sort of ruthlessness and I don't think he did anything beyond hard but fair.
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Except that he said that he wouldn't do it:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127247/hamilton-rules-out-backing-rosberg-up

I also found his comment about how he thought the team should "just let them race" to be pretty galling, since that wasn't racing. If I were on the Mercedes pit wall, I would have told him that if he didn't pick up his pace, he wouldn't have a contract for 2017.
 
prisonermonkeys
Except that he said that he wouldn't do it:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127247/hamilton-rules-out-backing-rosberg-up
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127247/hamilton-rules-out-backing-rosberg-up

Of course saying that he would do it would be incredibly stupid. You don't give the enemy your battle plans for a damned good reason.

If I were on the Mercedes pit wall, I would have told him that if he didn't pick up his pace, he wouldn't have a contract for 2017.
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I have a feeling if you were on the Mercedes pit wall Hamilton would be scrubbing toilets around the track instead of racing.:lol:
 
Yes Nico!!!! 3 years of staying up all night watching has finally paid off, so happy for him and his crew.

Didn't think much of Lewis before last night but wow, no respect. He might be the faster driver but he has absolutely no respect for Nico or his team.

The amount of pressure on Nico last night was insane, amazing job to keep cool and get it done.
 
TiZzla
Didn't think much of Lewis before last night but wow, no respect. He might be the faster driver but he has absolutely no respect for Nico or his team.
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As things stand Nico's his main rival next year. Why would he fall over himself to show respect?

Come to think of it... the last "respectful" champion was probably Jenson Button, although not to his team-mate at times. The last one before that was... erm... er... let me see... erm...
 
Terronium-12
This didn't register with me beforehand, but holy 🤬 Massa gets to keep his FW38?! That's awesome.

I'd honestly take that over the WDC right now. :lol:
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Apparently it's the one from Brazil so I don't know how drivable it will be!
 

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