[Closed] F1 2016 (Bound to contain spoilers!)

Anyone else think that Verstappen's accident will be a huuuuge one?

An epic drive yesterday combining talent and a willingness to put it all on the line. I still think it will end in tears at some point.

Anyone else think that Verstappen's accident will be a huuuuge one?

Thought he had it last year in Monaco when he piled it into Ste. Devout?

If Rosberg does take the title would he be the least popular F1 champ in history?

Schumacher's titles got boring, but most people appreciated his talent, if not the manner he went about things.

If Rosberg does take the title would he be the least popular F1 champ in history?

Nelson Piquet was a difficult person to like.

[quote=dragon ]So Max was the devil the last race and a saint now?

He drove a very clean race this week - especially considering the conditions would have given him a good excuse not to. A distinct contrast to last race which was standard MV fare. I'm not especially a MV fan, but have to admire his drive and can't think of any point where he was at all naughty - Vettel has no grounds to complain at all, every other driver on the grid including him would have driven the corner that way. If anything he gave more room to Perez than he needed to - he could have also legitimately driven him off the track, but because it made no difference to MV's speed he gave him space (in the Vettel pass, I'm not entirely sure if he could have made the corner tighter, but if he did he would have lost a lot of speed).

I'm wondering if that race was MV's coming of age - not particularly because of his pace and ability to use lines others weren't, but because he got a result without having to drive dirty.

I'll be very pleased to see Nico as World Champion. For the Hamilton Fans it will give the blinged one some more incentive next year won't it?

I don't get all the negativity to be honest.

I think Verstappen has injected some well needed life/excitement into a dull mundane sport. Long may his antics continue. ( If only to wind up the other drivers)

Nelson Piquet was a difficult person to like.

He didn't exactly go round making friends with the other drivers

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Nico won't be the least popular. Far from it. He's just not a stand out champ. His drives are consistent and careful. He's not a wheel to wheel nor is he a weather talent.

He's Mr consistent. Even Mika Hakinen can't be seen the same way and he was pretty consistent.

The closest that I can think of is Button.

It'll be interesting to see how Max develops. He's got character but he didn't have maiden season/fighting for the championship

[quote=jimw ]I don't get all the negativity to be honest.

For me at least it's mainly because he's undeserving. Quite clearly not the best driver over the course of the season - he's simply been in the best car. I note that LH hasn't been in the best car this year, because unlike NR's car his hasn't been reliable - that is the only reason NR will win the championship. I suspect a lot of people feel the same.

[quote=hora ]He's Mr consistent. Even Mika Hakinen can't be seen the same way and he was pretty consistent.
The closest that I can think of is Button.

Button would drive rings around NR - he has talents Rosberg simply couldn't dream of. Strangely enough he's also far from being mr consistent - on his day he is simply unbeatable by anybody else even if they're also on top form, but those days don't happen all that often (apart from when he was in a standout car).

This is the thing - I'm a Button fan, but happy to acknowledge that of those WCs currently still driving Alonso and LH are definitely better and Vettel might be, but NR isn't in the same league as any of those.

he's undeserving. Quite clearly not the best driver over the course of the season - he's simply been in the best car.

Why is that any more undeserving than Button in the Brawn, or Mansell in the Williams?

Still don't get it

At least both of those were better than their team-mate.

On that basis, NR will the most clearly undeserving WC ever.

I won't be acknowledging that Nico has won the WC title, but that Lewis has lost it.
It's down to the circumstances imo.
Cars alike, I'd say Nico would be a consistant 5th place driver.

Guessing who's best is pointless - it is what it is, whoever has the most points at the end of the year is champion, end of. Nico's good enough for Mercedes to put him in the car, they wouldn't give ut to a chump.

Whilst I don't entirely disagree I don't think it can really be said that NR would be undeserving. It's like saying Leicester didn't deserve to win the Premier League last season. They suffered remarkably few injuries (mechanical failure equivalent) compared to their rivals, and at times their rivals were all pretty pants too.

He won't be considered one of the greatest if he wins, no, but as is said, "the league table doesn't lie".......

One area Nico has beaten Lewis this year has been the start.

trademark - Member

I won't be acknowledging that Nico has won the WC title, but that Lewis has lost it.
It's down to the circumstances imo.
Cars alike, I'd say Nico would be a consistant 5th place driver.

Well yes, probably true, but the cars aren't alike and part of the game is getting yourself in the best car for the upcoming season.

Did anyone else feel a tinge of sadness for Manor F1 when Nasr came home in 9th.

Maybe they could give him back his own pit crew for the race?

Spanner in the works and spy in the camp are both phrases that spring to mind when you think about this situation. Even Lewis is still perplexed by this decision.

Switching pit crews would be unthinkable in motogp.

At least both of those were better than their team-mate.

On that basis, NR will the most clearly undeserving WC ever.

How about Hill in the Williams? His team-mate made him look a bit second best.

Yep. If Coulthard hadn't had outrageous mechanical luck that year he'd have won. But he didn't.

If Rosberg wins overall the fair play to him, getting the car to the end of the race is part of the game. Mansell could have won overall in '86 but he didn't due mechanical but no one says Prost was undeserving.

Cars alike, I'd say Nico would be a consistant 5th place driver.

So if everyone had a Mercedes what would the actual pecking order look like?

Not sure on that basis Rosberg would even hang on to fifth

I feel sorry for Hamilton, he's had some bad luck this season with mechanicals. But having said that there's been a couple of races (Baku and Singapore) when he just didn't really show up all weekend. That's 50pts right there.

Nico's put the work in against probably one of the era's best drivers in the car that's widely accepted to play to his strengths...To say that he doesn't somehow deserve the win is pretty uncool.

getting the car to the end of the race is part of the game.

Nico's put the work in against probably one of the era's best drivers in the car that's widely accepted to play to his strengths...To say that he doesn't somehow deserve the win is pretty uncool.

Yeah, if he wins it, then he's champion and that's that for me.
Arguments along the lines of "well, it's only because he's in the best car" are pointless IMO- I reckon half the field in many (if not most) previous years could have been champ if they'd been in the right seat.

That said, it seems pretty clear to me that Rosberg isn't quite up there in the top drawer and Hamilton is basically just better. I hope Rosberg hangs on though!

One area Nico has beaten Lewis this year has been the start.

I don't mean Nico is undeserving, just as a fan of F1 I'd rather he won it without needing Lewis' reliability issues, but then that, after-all, is F1 for ya ...

Glad it's gone down to the wire 🙂

It is but the drivers basically have nothing to do with mechanical breakdowns.

That isn't strictly true as different styles could cause the mechanical bits to wear differently.

If Rosberg wins he'll be classed in the same bracket as D. Hill, J. Villeneuve and K. Rosberg. Good enough to win it once but not great. The package of the team, car and luck play so much of a part in F1 that to be great you've really got to win multiple championships, even then it's better if you win with different teams or with a few years in between. Pretty much any driver could luck in on being in the right team when they hit a stellar year but they would still have to beat their teammate, like the last few years. Then it boils down to how they are perceived by their peers and Rosberg just doesn't get talked about in the same way as Hamilton, Alonso, Verstappen, Ricciardo or even Button and Raikkonen!

If Rosberg does win it he'll just be a pub quiz (or Pointless 😉 ) answer, not talked about by fans for the next 20-30 years.

Nico's put the work in against probably one of the era's best drivers in the car that's widely accepted to play to his strengths...To say that he doesn't somehow deserve the win is pretty uncool.

His win will be in the history books but it required the better driver to have failures he did not;he is a decent driver and nothing more than that

Disagree on Hill. He raced against better drivers than today, developed the Williams and arrived in F1 alot later than he should have. He was in his 30's remember.

His competition were cheating too.

Even Nico knows he won because LH had reliability issues and for no other reason
His win will be in the history books but it required the better driver to have failures he did not;he is a decent driver and nothing more than that

I think it extremely unlikely that will be his thought process.

You need an ego to do that job. Just look at LH for confirmation. or any of them TBH

it seems pretty clear to me that Rosberg isn't quite up there in the top drawer and Hamilton is basically just better.

I don't think even Rosberg believes he's better than Hamilton TBH. But beating one of the greats in this car..? Fair play to the fella, that's a hell of a entry on the CV that not many (and better drivers) haven't achieved against Hamilton.

Even Nico knows he won because LH had reliability issues and for no other reason

He beat Hamilton by 8 seconds into third at Singapore when Hamilton was in the lead in the points. That had nothing to do with mechanical or reliability issues, that was Hamilton not being good enough on the day. See also Baku, when Hamilton was a minute down in 5th, again that was nowt to do with mechanical issues.

His win will be in the history books but it required the better driver to have failures he did not;he is a decent driver and nothing more than that

According to the Beeb it looks like Foul Old Ron is about to be put on gardening leave.

Looks like he has been forced to quit!

Bye Ron.

Don't slam the door to hard on the way out.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127123/dennis-steps-down-from-mclaren-role

He deserves ( grudging on my part I'll be honest-found him a bit arrogant) praise for his past achievments, but he obviously hasn't had any success in the past few years and clearly struggled with that concept.

"His wheel to wheel stuff with Hamilton has been quite spectacular"

You sure?

The points will say who deserves the championship,

AGain no one outside Nicos family thinks he is the better of the two drivers[edited due to fair comment above]
There is no way, without LH have reliability issues, he can beat him in a straight championship race

Yes he is highly highly competent but he is not quite brilliant

He beat Hamilton

Nico is not the best driver at Mercedes and had LH car been more reliable [ or his as equally unreliable] he would NOT be the winner

FWIW i am not a massive fan of the tax avoiding narcissist but he is a better driver than Nico

I'm sure that Rosberg hasn't lost that much ability hora, the gap between their abilities isn't that huge.
And look neither car got scratched, so they're both better than me.

He's not known as a wheel to wheel racer. He just turns into a driver. That's not hweel to wheel that's can't be trusted.

Without the 8 car breaks this season how far off Lewis would he be? Funnily Lewis was breaking him then Lewis's car mysteriously started breaking.

I dont really see any point debating this tbh its just true

No it isn't. You're wrong, sorry. 😀

In two races, Rosberg scored 50pts that put him into the lead of the champs that he's not relinquished, so it's as fair to say that he beat Hamilton as often as he benefited from Hamilton's mechanical issues. Rosberg won the first 4 GPs and Hamilton didn't win until the 6th GP. Hamilton was on the back foot right from the get go (it's testement to his talent that we're as close as we are now). Also don't forget that while Hamilton's has had 2 retirements, Nico has had one as well.

It's been close racing, and yes Hamilton will go down in history as a great driver, and Nico probs won't,but he's played a blinder this season.

he beat Hamilton as often as he benefited from Hamilton's mechanical issues.

You can type what you like lewis's lack of reliability is what may win it for Nico rather than him being the faster driver

He wont ever win it without LH having bad luck as he is not the faster of the two of them

People still remember keke as a wdc, but not the fact he only just beat pironi despite pironi having a massive crash and missing the last third of the season. Keke only won a single race too, so in many ways could be called a less deserving wdc than Nico ever would be. The detail of the title will be lost over time, but the winner will always be a world champion.

He beat Hamilton by 8 seconds into third at Singapore when Hamilton was in the lead in the points. That had nothing to do with mechanical or reliability issues, that was Hamilton not being good enough on the day. See also Baku, when Hamilton was a minute down in 5th, again that was nowt to do with mechanical issues.

Nico wins when Lewis doesn't show up then, like at the end of 2015 season! 😉

Has Nico ever caught, passed, and driven away from Lewis?

[url= http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37987396 ]It's official- Ron's out[/url]

Apologies, should have RTFT- didn't know it was old news! 🙂