2016 Formula 1 Japanese Grand PrixFormula 1 

Nessy
Well yes, you could look at it like that. And yes, it was his own doing. Best car on the grid it may be, but that doesn't mean that it's not prone to failure, which I imagine could actually affect confidence. When confidence is affected, it's easy to make mistakes.. I really do think he did a sterling job of a recovery and he fought to the end.

Nico's drive was brilliant. A very masterful drive indeed, but not quite worthy of DOTD (IMHO).
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You're still saying that the best driver on the grid was the only one that made a huge mistake that cost him several places. Rosberg did absolutely nothing wrong, neither did several other drivers. How is that not worthy of DOTD, but someone who made a mistake is?
 
Samus
You're still saying that the best driver on the grid was the only one that made a huge mistake that cost him several places.
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Yes. Because that's my opinion. I am allowed to have one of those you know...
 
I still don't know what Verstappen did to get it. Its like Monza where some did worse jobs than others. Rosberg would have won it if he'd been on screen more.
 
I thought Verstappen was the fastest driver or maybe Vettel all things being equal. Those Mercedes are so quick still. I sure hope red bull doesnt fire Verstappen if he gets a bit off form at some point, it seems like so many young ones are in f1 for 1 season or even less and never come back. Too bad about Magnussen as thats looking bad.
 
How fun was it at the end to watch Hamilton try to get close to Verstappen and even when he was close and used DRS he couldn't make the pass? Seeing Red Bull see that competitive really put a smile on my face. I'm glad it's not too easy for Mercedes. Maybe next year we'll finally get a two or three way challenge for the championships

I'd love to see Magnussen drive with his dad in the Corvette C7R GTLM. That would be really cool to see before his dad retires.
 
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I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but it's really hard to see this title as anything other than Hamilton throwing away race after race due to having poor starts, mixed with some bad luck. With all due respect to Nico, who's non abrasive personality makes him easy to love and hard to hate, cruising to victories in an unbeatable car while your teammate who would beat you at his best, is clearly not at his best, does not all of a sudden make him impressive.

I'm trying to be as neutral and inoffensive as I can here, as I'm no fan of either, but Rosberg just hasn't impressed me much at all this year. Sure even Schumacher and Prost cruised to titles, but the highlight of their careers weren't their dominant title runs with poor or toothless opposition. There was no doubt of their ability. This year I just can't help but get mad at Hamilton and Mercedes for the various ways he's been toothless in his title defense, as we know based on the last 2 years what he's capable of. That really robbed us of the more intense title fight we've had in the other 2 years of Mercedes dominance.
 
spyrrari
This is what Lewis said:

"There is no protest from myself. Just heard the team had but I told them it is not what we do. We are champions, we move on. End of!"

Great comment,nothing dirty happened,move on... :cheers: to Lewis!

I whas surprised he tried it there,and not do it on the straight with DRS after the chicane...he was closer to Max then all laps before...mistake by Lewis,Well defended by Max.

Great race 👍




Spy.
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Now the RBR I think had better corner exit on the straight and Max was using his ERS to defend like Lewis against Vettel before. So to me it was always going to be a lost cause on the straight, despite having a bit more power.

Peter.
I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but it's really hard to see this title as anything other than Hamilton throwing away race after race due to having poor starts, mixed with some bad luck. With all due respect to Nico, who's non abrasive personality makes him easy to love and hard to hate, cruising to victories in an unbeatable car while your teammate who would beat you at his best, is clearly not at his best, does not all of a sudden make him impressive.

I'm trying to be as neutral and inoffensive as I can here, as I'm no fan of either, but Rosberg just hasn't impressed me much at all this year. Sure even Schumacher and Prost cruised to titles, but the highlight of their careers weren't their dominant title runs with poor or toothless opposition. There was no doubt of their ability. This year I just can't help but get mad at Hamilton and Mercedes for the various ways he's been toothless in his title defense, as we know based on the last 2 years what he's capable of. That really robbed us of the more intense title fight we've had in the other 2 years of Mercedes dominance.
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I don't know it's quite impressive to actually stop acting like Schumi when the heat is on and you feel wrecking your opponent would be the best result for the weekend than losing outright. Which Nico did before the Summer break, Lewis having a few more clutch problems than Nico is I guess his fault but not to the extent where one could say it's deliberate.

And then over night switching to, "hey I'm going to do what the other guy did for the past 3 years to me...but better", then actually execute on it. He's done that since the summer break. Sure I wont give him Spa because it's quite simple, his team mate had several penalties and started from essentially last on the grid and Rosberg started first. However, every race after that was fair game, Malaysia is the only blip but 3 out 5 races so far since the return have favored Rosberg.
 
Peter.
I'm going to get a lot of hate for this but it's really hard to see this title as anything other than Hamilton throwing away race after race due to having poor starts, mixed with some bad luck.
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If Lewis can't perform, he isn't good enough to win the title. I think Hamilton is a better racer overall than Nico but that doesn't mean he deserves the title over him. His start yesterday is further proof that he's prone to making these daft mistakes whereas Nico is not. His driving style is very average and not very distinctive, but he's doing everything asked of him so far this season. Arguably any title in any sport that doesn't go to the 'best competitor' is them throwing it away but that's a boring way of looking at it.

I didn't look at Leicester's title win as the other teams throwing it away, as an example. Nico has done what he needs to win a title so far and because of that he's in a good position to get his rewards. That's how sport works after all, it's the luck element and the ability for people to raise/lower their game that make it worth watching.
 
The championship is now Nico's to lose - it would be a brave man who would bet against him now...

Incidentally, did anyone else catch DC's strange brainfart during qualifying? Instead of saying 'Ricciardo' he said 'Raikkonberg'... weird.
 
Touring Mars
The championship is now Nico's to lose - it would be a brave man who would bet against him now...
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I wouldn't be so quick to call it. Sure, he only needs to finish second in the next four races to be champion, but if he wins the next races and Hamilton finishes second, Brazil is the earliest race he can be champion. He's definitely got the momentum, but I don't think he can be comfortable with at least one more win.
 
There are four races still to go. Even though Nico Rosberg doesn't need to maximise and win every race from hereon in, one DNF can change everything; if Rosberg retired from one race, it's a fair bet that Hamilton will win it.

He's leading the championship but everything is still to play for. In old money he's about 14 points ahead with 40 still to go.
 
Liquid
if Rosberg retired from one race, it's a fair bet that Hamilton will win it.
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If Rosberg were to retire from the next race and Hamilton won it, Rosberg would still have an eight-point advantage. It would be a pretty big dent in his title hopes, but he would still have a pretty healthy shot at it.
 
prisonermonkeys
I wouldn't be so quick to call it. Sure, he only needs to finish second in the next four races to be champion, but if he wins the next races and Hamilton finishes second, Brazil is the earliest race he can be champion. He's definitely got the momentum, but I don't think he can be comfortable with at least one more win.
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Still, it's his to lose though. There's no way back for Hamilton just by winning races. He has to hope something goes wrong with the other car... Once you get to that point, it's as done as it gets until the points confirm it.
 
Tired Tyres
He has to hope something goes wrong with the other car.
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Does he? Sure, he needs results to go his way, but he's not at the point where he needs Rosberg to retire to get back into the title fight. If he beats Rosberg into the first corner, he can force Rosberg wide and shuffle him down the order. Rosberg will no doubt be wise to it and yield early to save second, but as soon as he finishes outside the top two, Hamilton is back in the fight.
 
Which I'm very sure Rosberg is aware. If he does anything except settle for 2nd place in each race Hamilton doesn't blow the start - then he'd be very badly advised.
 
Tired Tyres
If he does anything except settle for 2nd place in each race Hamilton doesn't blow the start
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Oh, I imagine that he'd make a play for the lead of the race. Hamilton hasn't blown him out of the water on the occasions when they both get it right, and at a circuit like Mexico City, he'd get a second go at it because the straight is quite long.
 
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Liquid
There are four races still to go. Even though Nico Rosberg doesn't need to maximise and win every race from hereon in, one DNF can change everything; if Rosberg retired from one race, it's a fair bet that Hamilton will win it.

He's leading the championship but everything is still to play for. In old money he's about 14 points ahead with 40 still to go.
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I'm sure Mercedes have learned not to fiddle around with their engines too much after the Hamilton failure. It would take another engine failure to give Lewis another shot and given his luck it's more likely to happen to him. The Mercedes is still so good that Rosberg can be in last facing the wrong way after turn 1 and still finish on the podium, so not even another appearance from Sebastionaldo could blow this wide open.
 
Nessy
Is exactly the kind of thing I would have said a month or so ago. However, it's now quite evident it would take something close to a miracle, for Lewis to take the championship lead from Nico.

Not impossible but very very unlikely.
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And as he has come to believe the man upstairs has no miracles to give him this time around.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
I don't know it's quite impressive to actually stop acting like Schumi when the heat is on and you feel wrecking your opponent would be the best result for the weekend than losing outright. Which Nico did before the Summer break, Lewis having a few more clutch problems than Nico is I guess his fault but not to the extent where one could say it's deliberate.

And then over night switching to, "hey I'm going to do what the other guy did for the past 3 years to me...but better", then actually execute on it. He's done that since the summer break. Sure I wont give him Spa because it's quite simple, his team mate had several penalties and started from essentially last on the grid and Rosberg started first. However, every race after that was fair game, Malaysia is the only blip but 3 out 5 races so far since the return have favored Rosberg.
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I've noticed that the less Hamilton is antagonised the worse he performs. Whenever Rosberg and Hamilton have collided on track it has always resulted in Hamilton having strong performances in the next few races. He won five in a row after Belgium 2014, six from seven after Spain this year - after the summer break Rosberg was speaking a lot more positively about Hamilton, which I think is a deliberate strategy.
 
Anything can still happen, 2007 will always be proof of that if ever you needed it. Rosberg is quite obviously massively favourite but as I say, anything can (and sometimes does) happen. Two retirements for Rosberg and two wins for Hamilton, for example, and Hamilton has the big advantage.
 

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