The FI 2016 world champion.....

[oldtom]

That will be Nico Rosberg and many congratulations to him. He has never given up trying to secure a world championship for himself and match the achievement of his father, Keke, in 1982.

While I have no doubt other sports fans will also applaud his achievement, particularly in overcoming Lewis Hamilton who may well be regarded as one of the all-time F1 greats, the BBC chief F1 reporter, Andrew Benson, seeks to discredit and diminish the achievement with this disgraceful piece of biased journalism.

The BBC is really plumbing new depths with their hatred of foreigners. I am appalled at this story which simply attempts to detract from the greatest day in Nico Rosberg's career, rather than afford him a moment's glory in the limelight which he deserves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37813595

Tom

 

[Zlatan]

If you are looking for racism you can always find it. Rosberg's nationality is irrelevant. Lewis has been extremely unlucky, without any one of his 4 dnf,s he,d be champion. Lewis is the better driver. Rosberg the deserved champion this year. That's how it goes. The report says little more.

 

[flecc]

Lewis has been extremely unluck, without any one of his 4 dnf,s he,d be champion.

Luck works both ways. Lewis only won the championship a few years ago by luck. Felipe Massa had long been leading the championship and on the last race was in first place several points ahead nearing the close of the last race.

He did a "splash and dash", to leave him still way ahead, but the idiot pit crew sent him off with the fuel hose still attached. The minutes lost running after him and detaching it cost him slipping several places behind Lewis, who won that world championship by just one point.

The sad outcome is that was Massa's only chance ever for a championship.
.

 

[Zlatan]

Luck works both ways. Lewis only won the championship a few years ago by luck. Felipe Massa had long been leading the championship and on the last race was in first place several points ahead nearing the close of the last race.

He did a "splash and dash", to leave him still way ahead, but the idiot pit crew sent him off with the fuel hose still attached. The minutes lost running after him and detaching it cost him slipping several places behind Lewis, who won that world championship by just one point.

The sad outcome is that was Massa's only chance ever for a championship.
.

Obviously.

 

[tillson]

That will be Nico Rosberg and many congratulations to him. He has never given up trying to secure a world championship for himself and match the achievement of his father, Keke, in 1982.

While I have no doubt other sports fans will also applaud his achievement, particularly in overcoming Lewis Hamilton who may well be regarded as one of the all-time F1 greats, the BBC chief F1 reporter, Andrew Benson, seeks to discredit and diminish the achievement with this disgraceful piece of biased journalism.

The BBC is really plumbing new depths with their hatred of foreigners. I am appalled at this story which simply attempts to detract from the greatest day in Nico Rosberg's career, rather than afford him a moment's glory in the limelight which he deserves.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37813595

Tom

I think the report is balanced. Rosberg is a worthy champion and that comes out in the BBC report.

Yes, if it wasn't for the disproportionate mechanical failures, Hamilton would have been champion. But is that because Rosberg drives with a greater degree of mechanical sympathy? An attribute which is important, just like outright speed.

I think Hamilton has that killer edge that only a few drivers possess. Alonso, Schumacher, Prost, Sena and the like had / have it. I don't think Rosberg has the same edge, but well done and a worthy champion.

 

[Zlatan]

There was a rumour circulating Red Bull would be supporting Rosberg over Hamilton probably in an effort to exploit folks eagerness to find racism. ( Head of Red Bull is Austrian and friends with Rosberg family. ) Red Bull seemed unable to offer viable opposition and had Daily Mail recounted this story I,d be agreeing with Tom, but they didn't. Red Bull would not risk a single point to help other teams. It was a ridiculous claim . I was surprised the theory wasn't mentioned in press though.
Perhaps they realise some elements of society are clamouring to shout racism, bigot,xenophobe,??? Cant imagine why.

 

[Kudoscycles]

For most people Lewis is the better driver,his engine blow up a few races back clearly cost him the world championship.
At first I thought his backing Rosberg into Vettel and Vestapern was fair enough,I am very much of the 'it's not the taking part it's the winning that matters' . But thinking afterwards if he had succeeded in winning by the others passing Rosberg or a crash,it would have been very difficult as team mates for the future and Lewis's public profile would have been wrecked.
If he was to win the world championship he would have had to drive away from Rosberg and trust to luck what happened behind.
Let's hope the regs change over the winter bring some other teams into competition.
KudosDave

 

[Croxden]

For most people Lewis is the better driver,his engine blow up a few races back clearly cost him the world championship.
At first I thought his backing Rosberg into Vettel and Vestapern was fair enough,I am very much of the 'it's not the taking part it's the winning that matters' . But thinking afterwards if he had succeeded in winning by the others passing Rosberg or a crash,it would have been very difficult as team mates for the future and Lewis's public profile would have been wrecked.
If he was to win the world championship he would have had to drive away from Rosberg and trust to luck what happened behind.
Let's hope the regs change over the winter bring some other teams into competition.
KudosDave

Such as the Kudos F1 team?

 

[Deleted member 4366]

I'll be more disgusting than the BBC by saying that there was a rumour going around that the software in Hamilton's car vis a vis the launch control had deliberately been adjusted to prevent him getting a good start. A significant proportion of the money going into F1 comes from Germany. Without a world champion, that money could be compromised. Hamilton was always a good starter in all his previous GPs. It was just this season that he had problems.

 

[Zlatan]

I didn't like saying that d8veh..thought Tom might burst.

 

[tillson]

I'll be more disgusting than the BBC by saying that there was a rumour going around that the software in Hamilton's car vis a vis the launch control had deliberately been adjusted to prevent him getting a good start. A significant proportion of the money going into F1 comes from Germany. Without a world champion, that money could be compromised. Hamilton was always a good starter in all his previous GPs. It was just this season that he had problems.

There is probably some truth in this. The drivers soak up all the limelight, but F1 is a complex business, driver, engineer, strategist, accountants, marketing, PR & politics need to be in harmony so that everything comes together to deliver a competitive car and driver.

Long term, I think Mercedes view Rosberg as a better ambassador for the brand than Hamilton and consequently more likely to secure future success of the team. Hamilton has a tendency to throw a wobble on occasions, whereas Rosberg is more corporate. A safer pair of hands.

 

[Zlatan]

I could easily see Hamilton at Ferrari for all reasons mentioned. He,s a shrewd operator and knew exactly when to leave McLaren. Hamilton could never publicly say its been beyond bad luck...but I think it has been. Hamilton would beat any current driver in equal cars...so surely Merc ,if put under more pressure from others, wont want to lose him...Next season will be interesting.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

Personally, I don't see Rosberg as a worthy champion. It's true that he was very consistent and didn't make many mistakes, but being pragmatic, he won because he had more luck than LH and a better car than anybody else.

Would Massa, Verstapen, Reikenan, Alonso, Vettel or even Button have won the championship if they had swapped cars with Rosberg? In that case, I'm pretty sure that Rosberg would have been a distant "also ran".

 

[Zlatan]

Rosberg announces retirement.
Clever move, we,ll always wonder ?
Hamilton's partner next year ??

 

[the_killjoy]

I feel that Rosberg was like Damon Hill in only wanting to emulate his father. He never seemed to enjoy racing for the sake of it.

The difference as I see it is if the the positions had been reversed in terms of the fight for the championship at Abu Dhabi then Lewis's ego and drive would have been such that he would have felt that he had to win the race and the championship and he would have tried to get past Rosberg no matter what the cost,even at the risk of losing the championship.

 

[Zlatan]

Botas to Merc.. He,s managed by Wolf and drives merc powered car...nobody else really. Others have signed contracts already...( but so what?) Lot of drivers will be phoning Hamilton and Wolf next few days ???

 

[flecc]

Rosberg announces retirement.
Clever move, we,ll always wonder ?

I think it's his nature, just being very sensible and level headed. Given his F1 driver pay ($15.5 millions a year for four years plus promotional income) he's made his near $100 million fortune and is leaving at the top as a young man.

Are we jealous? Yes of course we are!
.

 

[tillson]

He's become a husband and his wife has had a baby during his F1 career. Each event costs 0.5 seconds per lap. He had no choice but to retire. I'm still surprised though.

 

[Deleted member 4366]

As a perennial sceptic, I've got a feeling there's more to it than meets the eye. I can imagine a lot of scenarios that would give him an incentive to resign. let's say that there's some pending change next year that would mean that he's no longer driving an I-win car, so that he ends up some way down the list. That would reinforce the idea that he was a lucky and unworthy winner this year. Let's say that Mercedes want to get a new driver, so they offer him a big cash lump sum to retire. He already has plenty of money and a family. Why take risks? Retiring now, means that any ideas about his worthiness can't be challenged.

I've got a feeling that, regardless of his actual ability, Rosberg feels that he's a bit of a chancer, just like we ourselves feel when we get your moment of glory. His body language never looks right when he wins, especially when he had luck. It could be, simply, that he lacks self-confidence in his ability.

 

[Nealh]

A bank account bursting at the seams a young family and at the pinnacle of his career he has no need to put all that at risk any more.
Doubts will always be there as to whether he is a worthy champion by not defending his title and walking away.
The next team mate will have to have a lot of self beleif and confidence to take on Hammy, don't be surprised to see Seb switch or link up again with Fernando or even the retiring Jensen for a very final swansong.