How would Lewis break Pascal? Nico trained under Schu.

I see a one race seat for Pascal until Max is free.

Makes you wonder what pressures Damon Hill was under, young children, the thought of Senna in his mind etc.

Wow, no one saw that coming. NR was ok if a bit dull but this decision shows where his priorities lie.
For me I have never liked Hamilton. He is a good driver but lacks sportsmanship. I hope Mercedes choose a driver worthy of a great car. Toto loves his 1-2 victories so I think hey will pick an experienced driver. Maybe Button for a season or Alonso. Who knows?

might be a good time to get out, the new cars may end up being 5 sec a lap faster, been there done that this is getting more dangerous!

If he’s taken a look at himself and his family and decided he doesn’t want to put in again what it took this year, then deciding to go out as WC and go and do something else seems like a pretty good decision to me. Good for him.

I can’t see Button in Merc #2 next year, sadly although I’d love it to happen.

He’s clearly happy with his decision to retire, his performances and motivation have been tailing off since the Summer. Plus, he’s under contract at McLaren until the end of 2018 (presumably in case Alonso walks). I’d dearly love to be proved wrong.

I do have doubts about Wehrlein’s readiness to step up to the top team, he was ragged at times in the Manor and needs at least another year in a lower order car.

That leaves Ocon. He’s under contract at Force India, but as an engine supplier to that team, Merc could strike a deal to recall him.

He’ll look a bit stupid if they pick up on this hand the trophy to the guy who came second.

Which “they” and with what authority?

Total left field thought:

Susie Wolff to come out of retirement 💡

Difficult getting in the car!

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/little-wolff-way-first-baby-9098092

Fair play to him (though I suspect there might have been a bit of “I’m world champion now….so Lewis is the number 2 in the team”……”Err….Not so fast Nic me old chum”)
Also,when your boss says

This year, clearly, Malaysia cost Lewis the championship. It’s clear

Aka ‘well done and everything Nico…..but notsomuchreally’
Alonso for the vacant seat.

I wonder if Perez might get asked. …I reckon he would give LH a proper run for his money.

He couldn’t give Button a run at Mclaren, so maybe not.

It’s Wehrlein. Utterly nailed on. No question.

Unless Hulkenberg changes his mmind.

There will be a lot drivers asking their lawyers to find those get out clauses in their contracts! Alonso looks like the bookies favourite outside the those already contracted to merc

Pascal Wehrlein – 2/1
Fernando Alonso – 3/1
Valtteri Bottas – 4/1
Esteban Ocon – 7/1
Nico Rosberg – 10/1
Sebastian Vettel -14/1
Nico Hulkenberg – 16/1
Max Verstappen – 20/1
Carlos Sainz Jnr – 25/1
Jenson Button – 33/1
Daniel Ricciardo – 33/1
Paul Di Resta – 50/1

EDIT: Horse has bolted

I’m sorry but Magnussen? He has done nothing at all. Beaten totally by Palmer in qualifying.

I meant attitude rather than speed. Lewis won’t mentally dominate a lot of the younger guys in F1; some he could but the majority of the young drivers won’t be cowed even if they’re beaten. BTW, Palmer has 1 point to Magnussen’s 7 with the former having 5 retirements and the latter 4. In qualifying, Magnussen was ahead in 11 races and Palmer in 10. Nobody would say that Palmer has had a great year nor would they say Magnussen has either but it’s hardly like Palmer smashed Magnussen in qualifying or races.

Also even Palmer seems to admit that without Magnussen signing for Haas, he’d be out of the race seat at Renault.

How long before Rubens Barrichello pops up 🙂

Just come back from Xmas shopping and genuinely gobsmacked by this news!!! 😯

Big Girls Blouse!

If accurately reported, not the most gracious comments from Lewis though they are probably valid.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/rosberg-s-retirement-no-surprise-says-hamilton-856219/

Has Button written all over it.

Why on earth would Merc want to put Button in the car? He has never been good enough for a top drive as his career has shown. The only possible reason is if they want a ‘safe pair of hands’ to be the number 2 driver.

Don’t be ridiculous, Button has clearly shown his worth, if not up to the level of the very best.

But he wants to stop F1 so he won’t be signing up for Merc.

Hamilton is the match of anyone so Merc will just want to ensure that they have a team mate to push him but to ensure team harmony. A bit like Nico, come to think of it (but maybe without the history)

Rather than throwing names around, has anyone identified a reason why they wouldn’t use Pascal Wehrlein?

Premise A: They have the guy who can win the DWC so they need someone who can help them win the Manufaacturers. Preferably without fighting too much with LH

Let’s start discounting the drivers so we have a smaller pool of names to play with.

NOT
Rosberg – Retired
Button – Retired
Barrichello – Retired
Alonso – See Premise A
Vettel – See Premise A

I would like it to be Max but that isn’t going to happen either

Yeah as I said way back earlier today, I’d love it to be Verstappen too – I think he has the skill to challenge Hamilton much more than Rosberg ever did and to see two very determined racers who won’t give an inch fighting toe to toe in the same car would be a delicious thought for next season.

But of course the risks far outweigh the potential rewards as neither one of them would rarely give an inch on the track and they would spend more time in the walls& gravel traps than racing 🙂

The problem is, will PW be good enough to secure the constructors? (which let’s be honest is the one Merc are interested in). I’m not so sure with a resurgent Red Bull team with two exciting young drivers.

That’s the dilemma they face.

If the car is as dominant as it was this year they can pick whoever they like and the constructors title is in the bag.

I’d like to see Carlos Sainz in there. Great driver, comes across as a really sound bloke, definitely deserves a shot at the big time which is unlikely to happen at Red Bull with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen sitting in the big seats 🙂

😆

https://mobile.twitter.com/Max33Verstappen/status/804720896367849476

Buy out Bottas? Nasr and his money to Williams. Bernie gets his Brazilian.

(stolen from Twitter but a credible scenario I reckon)

Pasta Maldonado is free?

what a laugh they’re having 😆

https://mobile.twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/804724300230049792

Actually, what engines are Red Bull running next year?

Aston Martin.

You do wonder if Lewis has put his foot down and asked for more assurances at the expense of Rosberg and hence orchestrating an ruse of Rosberg retiring ( didnt Rosberg sign a 2year deal a little while ago?)
Could he be back in 2018 after the cars have had the shakedown and everyone is more comfortable with the new rules.

How about Alonso to Merc and Button back at Mclaren? Maybe Massa having the shortest retirements ever! If Werhlein doesn’t get it he should be asking questions.

@nemesis & @bruneep 😀 excellent and that’s the legit feed !

You do wonder if Lewis has put his foot down and asked for more assurances

Only tinfoil hat people do. Sensible folk think it’s purely down to Rosberg.

Going back a few pages:

I’m not totally convinced by McLaren being that much behind – they’ve been so crippled by the engine performance that they’ve been running lower downforce and on occasions it’s been clear that the chassis is actually very good.

Not really on two counts. The rear suspension of the car looked to be a problem. The drivers frequently spoke of getting the tyres to work in the temperature range, and getting the mechanical grip from the rear to desired levels proved difficult. This resulted in much higher levels of down force being used than anticipated to get the rear to work.

Mclaren did not run a low down force set up.

This in turn required more than anticipated adjustments to the front to offset increased under steer. If the back of the car wasn’t right, it would also show up at the front of the car. People think that the “pace of development” in view of the numerous front wing changes made from race to race shows how aggressive and progressive McLaren was…but sometimes the opposite is true.

Once again both drivers complained about under steer issues, and the numerous wings were trying to compensate for this.

While Honda’s engine wasn’t ripping up trees, they cannot solely be to blame for a slow car, as the chassis was also a problem, hence high down force and higher drag.

If you remember in 2014 they had the “butterfly” suspension blockers on the car, that suspension was going to be carried over to the 2015 car.

I suspect PP stopped that from happening, but the rest of the suspension was set, and putting a new suspension design on the car would result in a totally new car built from the ground up, which can’t really be done during the season, hence it is critically important to have the chassis sorted right from the start as everything else, good or bad stems from it.

MClaren only resorted to a “conventional” rear suspension for 2016, but it may take a while for them to optimize it. Hopefully for 2017.

I’m glad Rosberg has retired. JB back to Mercedes would be good, or take a punt on someone from GP2/formula renault 3.5?

Has anyone else just experienced a complete change of mind about the character of Nico Rosberg?

Very much so. Weird too, I have spent the last few years thinking he’s a complete ****. Good on him.

Has anyone else just experienced a complete change of mind about the character of Nico Rosberg?

Absolutely not, always thought he was a very solid guy doing his best, talented and professional. You could see the pressure taking it’s toll in his driving sometimes especially last season.

Think more of him as a man. Less of him as a sportsman. Probably the best way round.

Think more of him as a man. Less of him as a sportsman. Probably the best way round

+1
Takes some conviction to do what he’s done but it does taint his sporting achievements IMHO

Has anyone else just experienced a complete change of mind about the character of Nico Rosberg?

Not me. I think he’s welched out on the real challenge – defending his championship. If he’d done that and [ever] beaten the competition in a straight fight I might have changed my mind.

His asking Lewis to move over in Abu Dhabi pissed me off. Barcelona showed he couldn’t cope with pressure.

That said, as a parent of two young boys, if i made all the money i would ever need by the time i was 31, I’d probably quit.

Seeing as Hamilton’s Captain slow tactics are still fresh in the mind of the management we could well see the direction of his infractions in the form of who takes the 2nd drive. Either reinforce Hamilton’s number 1 status or make him equal status with another driver. I’ve no doubt the rumours of Hamilton’s threat of leaving are true so how could they cover it in the future. Two of your most recent WDC retiring would be a PR disaster

Has anyone else just experienced a complete change of mind about the character of Nico Rosberg?

These, basically:

Think more of him as a man. Less of him as a sportsman. Probably the best way round.

I think he’s welched out on the real challenge – defending his championship.

Throws a huge spanner in the driver market though! Depending on how Merc play it we could end up with 2 top drivers in the team, if the field is more competitive then it’ll create fireworks. If they go safe for a no.2 or rookie then it could create a Lewis superteam or relegate him to a lacklustre season depending on the car.

Still think it’ll be a Merc/RedBull year though with Merc excelling on the power circuits and RedBull dominating the handling ones. But then it all depends upon Pirelli getting the tyres right for once, if they end up with tyres that can’t be pushed consistently again then all these new rules and regs will be for nothing.