Rosberg was better than Hamilton – Raikkonen

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Kimi Raikkonen offers his opinion on the championship outcome.

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@Glennb has a novel take on the controversy over Hamilton’s tactics:

Yes his tactics were right for him at the place and time. There was a drivers’ championship on the line and he had very few options available to him to win it. He did not break any rules nor did he cause any accidents. He drove slowly yet cleanly. He is in this business to win.

Having said that, I believe he should have followed the direction of the boss when told to get on with it (more than once). He doesn’t own the car nor the team. He is paid to drive the company car and follow the directions of the owners, or their representatives. He was wrong to continue with the tactic at this point. I would have boxed him.
@Glennb

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208 comments on “Rosberg was better than Hamilton – Raikkonen”

  1. Jackie Stewart really does hate Lewis Hamilton a lot doesn’t he!

    1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
      30th November 2016, 0:29

      Any chance he can get, he’ll take a jab at him.

    2. There seems to be a lot of resentment especially when Lewis is winning and doing the whole ‘lifestyle’ thing. There are a lot of folks gloating at the moment which does not come over well.

      1. I don’t think there’s a monopoly on poor form.

        1. LOL, well said @mike, that’s very true.

    3. I would take Jackie’s view and opinions over basically anyone in f1 today. He does speak truth about being an employee and having to listen to orders

      1. @jamiejay995 – That is the way I’ve felt for many, many years, until lately. Beyond curmudgeonly…

        1. @bullmello, Bah Humbug ! :-)

          1. @hohum – No, haven’t seen any around here… ;-) lol

      2. @jamiejay995, That’s why Jackie organised a drivers boycott, because he was an employee and never questioned an order !?

        1. @hohum Indeed! I’ll forgive the old fella forgetting a thing or two from oh so long ago, but that’s it. He’s just coming across as a sour old man now.

    4. Dear Sir Jackie Stewart,
      Please do not erase all the positive memories I have of you as a 3WDC, commentator, F1 racing safety advocate, team partner, and all the other goodwill items that could be listed here, by making any more “little ballerina” remarks. That is all.
      Thanks,
      Potential Former Fan since the 1960s.

      1. @bullmello and Grumpy (more than JB). One thing we have to agree on, is that Jim Clark is a legend, and the old school f1 driver isn’t racing anymore, F1 is a different sport…

    5. “Sir” Jackie Stewart is and always has been an arrogant, self opinionated ass …. and every time he opens his mouth I dislike him more and more. All we ever hear from him is his criticism and intense dislike of Hamilton and how much “harder it was in my day”. Well he may have won 3 WDC’s but he was not half the driver Jim Clark was.

      He struts around the paddock like a peacock in his tartan cap and trousers and has the audacity to run down other people for their lifestyles .. he has retired, it’s about time he buggered off to the golf course.

      Like him or loathe him, Hamilton has done more for the image of F1 than Stewart ever did.

      1. I’ve got a pretty comprehensive listing of Stewart’s anti-Hamilton rants, and there are many.
        https://www.racefans.net/2016/09/21/f1-fanatic-round-up-2109-4/#comment-3277611

        1. Without evening opening that yet, I’m sure everyone noted that JS on Sky after the race said LH needed to remember to be grateful for what he has, and that he will win more WDCs in his career.

          1. @robbie Is JS going deaf/blind as well as senile?

            How many times do we hear or read of Lewis thanking life, the universe, his team, his family, his friends, God, damn well everything? That he feels blessed and grateful etc.

      2. @Grumpy Your last sentence…I’m not so sure. The work Sir Jackie Stewart has done not only as a racer and Champion and ambassador to the sport, and his picking up of the cause for safety after seeing too many friends die in the sport, is awfully big stuff in the history of F1 when so much of it was yet to evolve. Not to take anything away from what LH has done, but no current driver can come anywhere near the important pioneering that Stewart did for the sport those currently gleening millions, doing what they love in such a safe manner, enjoy.

        1. Very true and well said @robbie . I truly believe that he and others have saved many lives. One would think that the name calling and petty attacks on Hamilton would be beneath him though.

      3. Many other drivers would have been killed if it wasn’t for Jackie Stewart. The only thing Hamilton does is hangout with people more famous than him. Yes Jim Clark is the best ever but Hamilton isn’t even a quarter as good as Schumacher and I rate Vettel and Alonso as good as Hamilton if not better.

        1. Yeah! nobody is paying Vettel or Alonso Hamilton money are they?

          So it seems to be a good thing that your opinions stay your opinions.

        2. @jamiejay995 ” I rate Vettel and Alonso as good as Hamilton if not better.” – lol. Both Vettel and Alonso are trash in the rain and both are OVERRATED. Alonso couldn’t even overtake Petrov when needed to become WDC yet you rate him higher then Hamilton 😂😂

          1. Yeah your right. Monza 2008 in a midfield car in the wet was rubbish.

          2. Malaysia 2014.. and 2015.. with an inferior car.. vettel almost took the Pole… That s enough to see who’s the best in the rain

          3. Hungary 2006 was also rubbish wasn’t it?? (sarcasm intended)

          4. And what about Malaysia 2012??

          5. @markp The Toro Rosso was as equal to the RBR and McLaren, Ferrari and BMW where on the track with the wrong tires

            @sm Hungary 2006 was good not nothing special, Malaysia was nothing but due McLaren messing up Hamilton’s strategy and two pitstop one of 8 seconds and the other of 11 seconds which Alonso then overtook hamilton in the pits, nothing special.

          6. Torro Rosso was best car. Well thats a chicken or egg argument. Car ir driver. Could say the Toleman was the best car in the day at Monaco 84 or Mclaren at Donington 93 etc. No driver had or has since done anything close in a Torro Rosso then he went to RB who had never won a race then what happened? Vettel is awesome and so is the little balerina no need to downplay great drivers to suit your favourite.

      4. “Like him or loathe him, Hamilton has done more for the image of F1 than Stewart ever did.”

        Thanks for the laugh. I needed a good one tonight.

      5. I’m not saying I agree with him but you seem to disagree with him being knighted. Why?

      6. Max Mosley, is it You?

      7. @Grumpy: [QUOTE]“Sir” Jackie Stewart is and always has been an arrogant, self opinionated ass[/QUOTE]

        Sir Jackie Stewart’s F1 was in F1 between 1964 and 1973. Apart from almost being killed himself at Spa in 1966, the following drivers lost their lives testing or racing in F1 during his career:

        Carel Godin de Beaufort
        John Taylor
        Lorenzo Bandini
        Bob Anderson
        Jo Schlesser
        Gerhard Mitter
        Martin Brain
        Piers Courage
        Jochen Rindt
        Jo Siffert
        Roger Williamson
        Francois Cevert

        (This list does not include F1 drivers killed at other auto racing events such as Jim Clark or Jo Bonnier.)

        To drive past the crash site at Monaco, the air permeated by the smell of Bandini’s flesh as he was being roasted alive, or getting back into his car after learning of the decapitation of his team mate Cevert is something the soft generation of modern F1-drivers never have been forced to endure. Now may I respectfully suggest you shove your head back up where the sun doesn’t shine and stop talking crap about Sir Jackie Stewart

    6. There’s certainly a pattern here. I won’t suggest that Jackie has anything against Lewis, I would rather believe that Jackie simply doesn’t agree with the way Lewis presents himself as a sportsman. Times have changed, maybe Jackie doesn’t need to be so harsh or perhaps Lewis didn’t act like a sportsman, a tactic that would taint the championship, anyway doing what Lewis did was the only way to affect the championship.

      1. @peartree Very well said.

      2. Lewis congratulated Rosberg with a handshake a comment and clap on the shoulder in parc ferme. The media conjecture and unsportsmanlike talk from everybody else is utter horsemanure of the fowlest quality.

        He’s calling is formula 1 driver! A winning one too boot. He’s not a professional apologist or a congratulatorian by profession.

    7. SevenFiftySeven
      30th November 2016, 5:41

      Jackie believes he’s the better British driver between Lewis and him based on him having competed at a more demanding and dangerous time in the sport, and eventually securing 3 WDCs with lesser starts than Lewis. He can’t say this directly to Lewis, so Jackie uses his seniority/status to play mind games to get that message across to Lewis. The message also delivered tacitly is he (Jackie) is the model embodiment of a British sportsman; not Lewis. This is Jackie’s way of playing mind games with Lewis.

      I fail to understand why people find this alarming, given the fact that Lewis plays mind games with his competitors and the media, himself.

      1. Jackie Stewart’s achievements are more impressive considering the different circumstances he won his 3 championships. The cars back then were far less reliable and there were less Grand Prixs per season back then.

        Stewart greatly overestimates F1’s influence over Mercedes. But this is typical of Stewart- he is one of the biggest corporate darlings that has ever raced in F1. This is Mercedes we are talking about- a massive, multi-national corporation that invented the car and is established so firmly in the automotive world that there is no way its image could be tarnished by even as famous as someone as Hamilton- and if there was any damage done it would only be in the UK market. F1 doesn’t have too great a bearing on Merc’s image- hardly any, actually.

    8. Seems he never got over Lewis turning down his offer to coach him. Also I remember him saying to camera in Monaco 2010 that JB was the first British wdc since Damon Hill.

      1. I wonder why Stewart would have ‘forgotten’ Hamilton is British. Hmmm. Must be some reason…?

    9. I can understand Jackie’s point of view – he comes from a different age of motor racing – where death was always present and trust in your fellow drivers was of much greater significant – a time when valor and honor out weighed the title of world champion.

      I think the big thing here is that they are part of the same team.

      Throughout the early years of racing many racers even gave up there cars for there team mate, other held position when they could have challenged for the win or even Championship – Gilles one of the most loved drivers comes to mind but there plenty of other great examples. These driver where often seen as hero’s in there own right and those that did not… Pironi….

      I agree Hamilton played within the “rules” but did he play with honor, did his drive showing a great talent at holding up Rosberg deserve respect? For me the answer lies in what was said before and after the race. If in the pre race build up Hamilton had played open cards and said this is was his plan I would have had much greater respect, instead “backing up Rosberg not Practical” and “I always really just try to, if I’m out ahead I want to be as far ahead as possible. Generally when you have a 18, 30 second lead, that’s as painful a blow as you can give to the guy that you’re fighting. So you look at the last race, if we didn’t have red flags, I would have been 30 seconds ahead. Those scenarios for me is more valuable, more of an achievement than backing up your team mate.” Really I believe he was being very economical with the truth – those comments don’t inspire trust, honor etc when you think about what happened…..

      In the Post race interview I saw with Wolff or Paddy it was mentioned that it had been discussed that if Hamilton tried to hold up Rosberg by driving to slowly they would pit Rosberg first – hence Hamiltons tactics really coming to the for once the final pitstops had been completed. This strikes me as a guy going against his team, against what was probably agreed to, again a certain lack of honor….

      I think this is the angle Jackie is coming from, did he show the team respect, where his actions honorable…. and remember he is holding him up to the standard of his day…

      1. Anthony- Great comment!

      2. There would be no honour in simply handing the championship to Rosberg. Hamilton is a Racing driver, he is there to win. Going slowly was not unsportmanlike it was simply using tactics to try to get the win. Ferrari have in the past had a driver go slow to hold up the pack and allow their other driver to pull clear so what is the difference? Other teams pit certain cars at certain times to affect the field and protect their other driver etc it is all part of the game.

        And I disagree that you have to do anything your boss asks you to. To quote the old saying “Would you jump off a cliff just because your boss said it was for the good of the team?”

        If hamilton had gone fast all race then he would have lost the championship without a fight and the race would have been a borefest! We need more of this sort of thing not less.

        Now compare this to Schumacher who purposefully crashed into Hill in order to win a championship, parked on apexes to affect other drivers, and almost killed Massa (at least i think it was massa) by trying to drive him into a pit wall…

        Or Senna, who purposefully crashed into Prost.

        Or Rosberg who purposefully caused a yellow flag at monaco…

        the list goes on and what Hamilton did was simply racing and yet he gets lambasted for it.

        1. It was Schumacher on Barrichello in 2010

      3. +1M at Anthony

      4. @Anthony So Hamilton holding off Ros is not honorable, but Ros for not pushing at all is honorable for the past few races?

        OK a bit fanboyism: In Baku, Ham begged the team for help for several laps, and Team Said “NO” then comes 2 races later, Ros in problem, Team Told him way too much info, and saved him from potential DNF, but it wasnt worth for Hamilton to go up a few positions? How is this honorable? Another point in Austria, how was Ros’s drive at the end honorable? Lets have a look at Spain: How is this old man out right blaming Hamilton for trying to pass Ros cleanly, who by the way got a very clean tow and pass and had no problem just 2 corners earlier, is honorable?

        Speaking of honor, please dont use it lousy…

        Team got WMC, and light years ahead in the championship… If there was any honorable thing to do in this race, it was to let the drivers enjoy the race uninterrupted for once as there was no pressure of any sort from team point of view. It was either drivers’ most crucial day, and Ham didnt ask team to slow down Ros, Ros chose to drive safe while doing just enough! Ham did not try to take out Ros in any way, has the situation be any different, do you think Ros would just drive honorable? Right? Right, i didnt think so either…

        It had nothing to do with honor, Ham drove within rules, and if Ros didnt wanna drive over cautious, he would have tried to do the honorable thing, rather than logical thing, we wouldnt be talking about this subject! Ros drove logically, and Ham answered back as logical as possible, and gave him the drive of his life to deserve it, and not chicken out of competition!

      5. Agreed and the comment from Lewis in the radio transcript saying he didn’t care if wins or loses the race (when that is all Merc cared for) says it all.

    10. Sexist comment too, no-one seems to have pointed out yet. There’s nothing wrong with being a ballerina.

      1. @lockup And coming from a man in a skirt too… (I’m sorry, couldn’t resist)

  2. SHOCKING NEWS: Driver who was gifted WDC jumps to defend driver who was gifted WDC.

    1. Or…..I’ll take a swipe at the driver that is more of a threat to me…not the one that won the WDC

    2. So I know that you are referring to Nico as the driver that “was gifted the WDC”. And the driver that was previously gifted the WDC is…. Seb Vettel? Jackie Stewart? I’m confused.
      Let me clear it up for you. No-one in the history of F1 has ever been gifted an F1 WDC title.

      1. Exactly true @mickharrold. In Kimi’s case yes his teammate did let him win the penultimate race in China (he had to be in a clear second place for that to happen mind!) but over a season of 17 Grand Prix, Kimi did win the most races (2 more than Hamilton & Alonso) and had the most points. I don’t get why the second point isn’t enough for people to accept “worthy champions”?! Kimi also has more retirements, and in the all the races he finished he was only off the podium in three of them! That is astounding at a time when Ferrari and McLaren were so well matched in performance and having four very quick drivers at the time.

        1. Haha, I didn’t even think that he was referring to Kimi, so thanks for enlightening me. Assuming that is what he was actually referring to.
          I say it again. “No-one in the history of F1 has ever been gifted an F1 WDC title.”

          But I may be a little stupid. I think Prost was Senna’s equal. Jack Brabham was one of the greatest drivers ever. Damon Hill and Jaques Villeneuve deserved their titles. And lastly, Nico Rosberg is a very deserving champion. Being quick on your day isn’t everything in F1. I loved Jean Alesi. He was very quick and exciting, but there was a very good reason why he never won a title. You don’t just need to be quick, you need mental fortitude, an ability to manage the car, you need to stay away from incidents and also quite a bit of luck. Oh, and most of all, you need to be in the right car at the right time.

      2. One could argue that Gilles gifted Schecter the 79 championship, but to be fair that was more of a gentleman’s agreement not to despoil the team’s image. That kind of thing doesn’t seem to happen anymore… ;)

    3. The Iceman won 6 GP’s that year. He won more than Hamilton but he was ‘gifted’, yes just like Lewis was in 2008 when he won less races than Felipe. Give me a break

    4. And the gifted 2008 title?

      None were gifted all desreved. When Lewis retires so will his fans who followed F1 since 2007.

    5. @altitude2k Well said mate.

  3. Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    30th November 2016, 0:45

    Well, according to Raikonnen, Rosberg was better because he scored more points than Lewis. To be precise Nico was 1.31% better than Lewis according to Kimi.

    If that’s the case, that also means that:
    – Vettel was 12.25% better than Raikonnen in 2016
    – Vettel was almost 100% percent better than Raikonnen in 2015
    – Alonso was almost 300% better than Raikonnen in 2014

    Many might say (myself included) that Kimi has actually been the better driver over the last half of the 2016 season compared to Vettel and the numbers don’t reflect that.

    But of course looking at his progression coming back from 300% to 100% to 12.25% over 3 years, Kimi is enroute to winning the WCC alone next year for Ferrari. Can someone chart where Kimi will be in 2 years?

    1. Madhujit Sinha
      30th November 2016, 5:29

      ” To be precise Nico was 1.31% better than Lewis according to Kimi.”

      According to You. Kimi didn’t calculate percentages. I’m sure he has better things to do.

    2. All Kimi is saying is that it doesn’t matter who’s faster. Either you have the points or you don’t.

    3. I can’t be sure, what are you mad about?
      Is it about Kimi’s form in recent years or him not saying Lewis deserved the WDC more?

    4. Lies, Damn lies and statistics. Well, since we are going down that path, Rosberg won 100% more titles than Hamilton this year! See how you can use statistics to prove anything you are looking to prove. Look for a result that you want and you can always find the statistics to prove it. You seem to want to prove that Hamilton was better than Rosberg. I bet if we go head to head, I can find even more statistics to prove he wasn’t. But at the end of the day, those are all just statistics. Both of us will be clutching at straws just to prove a point.

      Rosberg won the title. He deserved it. Get over it.

      P.S. As if Kimi ever said that Rosberg was 1.31% better than Hamilton. I am not even sure Kimi can do maths and even if he can, he wouldn’t let on that he can. Maths is for geeks and Kimi would never say that. Kimi is more likely to have said “Leave him alone, he is the world champion and he knows what he is doing”. But he didn’t say either of those things.

      1. @mickharrold bad year for Nico to win statistically

        200% more engine problems for Lewis over Nico (38 vs 28 vs 22 for the median)
        Nico lost the pole championship 12-9
        Nico scored fewer victories 10-9
        Nico qualified in all 21 races in the front row while Lewis couldn’t because of issues
        Nico didn’t lose 32 points in a single race as Lewis did in Malaysia (almost 10% of his points)
        Nico lost on track commandingly in the rain and while racing
        Lewis was brilliant in his strategy and racing

        It was the most ridiculous championship ever won. You can make a more convincing case that Haryanto was as deserving of the championship as Nico was this year.

        1. You forgot 0% Hamilton WDC’s in 2016

        2. @freelittlebirds
          Out of all the qualifying they both took part in, in a way Rosberg did better. Every qualifying he took part in, he managed 1st or 2nd place, unlike Hamilton. So it wasn’t as you say. It wasn’t just because of issues that he didn’t always get a front row start. Even though Hamilton couldn’t take part in one or 2 of them, he also wasn’t 1st or 2nd on 2 other occasions when he easily had the chance to be. That is Hamilton performing badly there, not Rosberg. In Europe, Hamilton made a right mess of qualifying. In Q2, he spun and only just made it through to Q3 as he was 10th. Then in Q3 he crashed all by himself. At leased Rosberg had kept all his qualifying sessions clean. Hamilton also had poor performance in qualifying in Singapore. He was over 7 tenths off Rosberg’s time and ended up behind a Red bull so started in P3. Even his performance in the race wasn’t that good as he finished 3rd as well.

          I’m not trying to say that Rosberg is any more deserving than Hamilton but it is a fact that they both have made several errors between them this year. Hamilton certainly had overall been better but when he’s been having bad luck, Rosberg has just been making the most of it that he can. He can’t help that Hamilton has been unlucky. IMO, he certainly is a deserving world champion and you seem to be one of the very few that seem to be very strongly against this. Hamilton has had plenty of negative points to the season that you don’t seem to mention any of. You clearly seem to be a huge Lewis fan and try to find everything that Rosberg has done wrong. Hamilton to me didn’t have an impressive last race at all. He went over the limit with the team orders. He went far slower than necessary and constantly got told to pull a way and his team said “that is an instruction” and he kept ignoring them. That’s not a professional way to act.

          1. @thegianthogweed Even with 2 botched qualis, Lewis won 12-9.

            Do you really believe that Lewis was 7/10ths off Nico’s pace in Singapore? It’s more likely that Lewis won pole that day on pace and should have started 1st :-)

            You mean the grazed wall at Baku? That’s a tough one but I’m actually ok with that one because it’s 1 in 100. You have to accept some risk… I prefer that he hit it while trying to go as fast as possible. It’s why he’s the fastest – they all make one mistake a season or 1 in 21. If not, you are not driving the car fast enough.

            It’s why he would have been 100 points ahead of Nico without all the Mercedes baggage…

          2. @freelittlebirds
            I will admit that Hamilton has beaten Rosberg in Qualifying. That is obviously a fact and it is better that he’s managed to do this. But he has had a couple of times when he’s done far worse than Rosberg and it was his own fault. Rosberg has at worst been 2nd and no worse than that every qualifying session he’s been able to take part in. Hamilton hasn’t taken part in all of them and still has managed to beat Rosberg more often than not, but has cost himself a front row start twice. At leased Rosberg has never done this in 2016.

            I still don’t get what you are saying about Rosberg at Singapore. The fact is, Rosberg was 0.704 seconds faster than Hamilton. Even Ricciardo was well over a 10th of a second faster than Hamilton. That was a poor qualifying by Hamilton and he even admitted it, so you must to. Even in that race, He was hardly challenging Rosberg and finished quite a few seconds behind Ricciardo who was 2nd.

            Hamilton wasn’t 7 tenths of Rosbergs pace but he was that far off in qualifying as the results show. But Rosberg’s pace certainly was better overall that weekend when compared to Hamilton. Even after the race, Hamilton admitted he hadn’t had the greatest of weekends.

            Your comment about if a driver hasn’t crashed at least once in the season means they are not driving fast enough is complete nonsense, seriously. It makes it sound like Bottas prooving that he was a better, faster driver by making his one and only mistake by crashing into Hamilton in Bahrain. If he didn’t do that, then In your opinion, would his season have been worse? Sorry, some of the points you been maaking in several of your comments just don’t make sense.

            If drivers don’t crash at leased once in the season, it DOES NOT mean that they are not trying hard enough! It means they are very solid and consistent drivers. Ricciardo is one of these. You may not have meant exactly what I’m taking it as but if that is the case, you really need to be more careful with what you wright as a lot of it doesn’t make sense.

    5. @mike @praxis @mickharrold I’m just pointing out how ridiculous it is for Kimi to be stating that Nico was better because he scored more points.

      Kimi should be working at McDonalds based on points scored much less racing in F1. He’s had a brilliant second half in 2016 but the points don’t show that. So he’s totally wrong – if he was right, he should have quit or been fired in 2014 and 2015.

      1. OK, so you think Kimi should work at McDonalds because he finished with 12% lower points than Vettel. Sorry, I had to do some maths in there for you again. Verstappen finished 21% behind Ricciardo. I guess he should get a job cleaning toilets then?

        1. @mickharrold In 2014, Alonso scored 161 points to Kimi’s 55 – that’s almost triple the points
          In 2015, Vettel scored 278 points to Kimi’s 150 points – that’s almost double

          In 2016, I believe Kimi should have scored more than Vettel and he was the overall better driver especially at the end although Vettel was extremely unlucky at the beginning of the race.

          Verstappen’s points include races at Toro Rosso and Verstappen is in “learning” mode this year since he won his 1st GP at Red Bull and that caused all kinds of turmoil. Next year Max will be in “racing” mode – I feel bad for Daniel. He’s great in quali but he’s bad in the race and Max has exposed it just like JEV had. Daniel can be electric in some races like Perez but in over half of them, he’s just forgettable.

  4. The ‘official’ reason may well be that Lewis is not feeling well but i’m hearing a lot of things from a lot of different people that are saying that all is not well inside Mercedes & that the relationship between Lewis & the team has been at an all time low since very early on in the year.

    It seems that since the decision to switch the mechanics/engineer’s around Lewis has got it into his head that the team are favoring Nico & that none of the things the team have said to try & put his mind at ease have worked.
    And on the team’s side he’s upset & annoyed people with some of the comment’s he’s made regarding the team shakeup, The reliability problems he’s suffered & some of the way he’s acted regarding team instructions & the way they expect him to behave on & off the track.

    For instance the shakeup of mechanics/engineer’s, By suggesting or even hinting that the move was done to help Nico or to give Nico the best people within the team is insulting to his new crew who are going to be just as good as the guys on Nico’s side because a top team like Mercedes isn’t going to hire bad people.
    By even hinting that there was some intentional act behind his unreliability was again insulting to the guys who work on the bits that failed & something which the team management as well as the Mercedes board don’t look kindly at.

    With regards to Abu Dhabi & Lewis backing Nico into the cars behind, I gather that the reason the team are more upset than they otherwise would be is because Lewis promised them that he wouldn’t do it & that certain agreements were made Pre-race which Lewis ended up breaking.

    Mercedes want there drivers to race, They have no problem with them racing but the internal philosophy has always been that they must race each other fair & must race with the team’s best interest in mind. Some within the team feel that Lewis’ actions on Sunday were not fair & were not done with the teams best interest’s in mind & that as I already mentioned that he broke all the pre-race agreements & promises that were made & this has upset those people & further strained a relationship which was already strained.

    1. Incidentally, I’m also told that Paddy Lowe has been the thing thats held things together through this year when things have gotten difficult in the relationship between Lewis & the team & that the feeling is that if Paddy does leave as is been strongly rumored chances are that Lewis will be looking elsewhere as well & nobody would be surprised if he ends up wherever Paddy does.

      1. Back at McLaren hopefully… but not likely.

      2. I always enjoy reading your insightful comments!

        It’d be interesting to see where he’d end up if he does choose to leave withn the next year or so, possibly in Alonso or Raikkonen’s seat?

        1. I don’t think any F1 driver in their right mind would join Mclaren.

          Ferrari is probably Hamilton’s next destination. I’d expect Seb’s relationship to go sour with Ferrari within a season or two and then pave the way for Hamilton to enter the team.

          1. You would expect that Seb and Ferrari go sour? So Alonso can be the champion of patience? What a nonsense.

          2. @todfod People said the same about Mercedes when Hamilton McLaren, Mercedes was a midfield team when Hamilton joined and later Paddy, look what Hamilton and Paddy have created. If they both leave Mercedes then Mercedes will have the same fate as McLaren after Hamilton left them.

          3. @Bultaco85

            Yes. Sebastian isn’t very patient. Probably also has something to do with the fact that he’s had a championship winning car from his 2nd season in f1. It’s clear for all to see that a winless year for Sebastian brings out the worst in his personality and driving abilities. Another season or two of that, and I’d expect the relationship to break down.

            I would actually put money on Sebastian leaving Ferrari by the end of 2018.

      3. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
        30th November 2016, 3:42

        @gt-racer just curious about it, if you don’t mind… And without the need to reveal names… Are your sources about Lewis and Paddy’s possible leaving reliable?

        1. @omarr-pepper The bit about Paddy Lowe potentially leaving is just paddock rumor right now but it has come up a couple times through the year which often mean’s there’s something there.

          With regards to Lewis leaving that is more of a feeling from some people within Mercedes given Paddy’s role at keeping the peace between them & Lewis.

      4. @gt-racer I still wonder if there is anything to my suspicion that the change in tone started in the aftermath of Austin last year. Nico gets shoved off by a ‘sorry’ Lewis, loses the race and the Championship, and gets a hat tossed at him to boot…LH goes into ‘My job done, party time’ mode, and in lagging behind Nico for the next three races complains that you can’t pass in dirty air (kind of confirming Nico’s frequent plight), and half a step behind from the night before, grills his team mid-race for extraordinary measures to get ahead of Nico…denied…

        Some would say that is showing a driven Champion. I wonder if he isn’t rather just feeling entitled, and that one can be a Multi-Champion without the melodrama. But then, I think he is working on building his brand, moreso than F1’s, ala the Kardashians and the Wests.

      5. @gt-racer

        This is good insight. Vettel’s contract runs out a Ferrari next year yes? Or was it 2018?

        I’d like to think (more like hope) that Mercedes will not be as dominant next year, I expect Red Bull to be much stronger, meaning it will not be plain sailing for Merc. This coupled with Lewis (possibly) retreating into his shell, perceiving its him against the world (which has been a common theme), it could very well lead to him leaving at the end of 2017 for a swap with Seb.

        Its no secret that Lewis has had his eye on a seat at Maranello. Sergio Marchionne will be sure to pull out all the stops if the move was a possibility. It would be a real coup for Ferrari as Lewis would be the perfect marketing tool.

        Seb can then go to Mercedes to see out his career on a long term contract.

        So 2018 line ups
        Ferrari – Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen (I cant wait for this!!)
        Mercedes – Vettel and Rosberg

        1. Well, I can sort of get Lewis wanting to go to Ferrari for 2018 @jaymenon10. But why on earth would Verstappen go there when he can instead drive a Red Bull?

          1. If he leaves Mercedes it will be out of F1.

            Ferrari wont employ Hamilton!

            What is this marketability people keep talking about with Hamilton? What sponsorship has he brought to Mercedes or its because of him Merc sells more cars. People should wake up to reality and stop regurgitating what Brundle says in his personal life he can’t get serious sponsors let alone for a team!
            In 3 years of Merc domination they as a company cant get sponsors people are talking about Hamilton’s marketability what a joke.

            Ferrari don’t need a driver to market their product really people to buy a 488GTB today new will take you 2 years on a waiting list no driver

          2. @ Rockie. I think you only need to look at the number of Mercedes F1 fans pre Hamilton to now in regards to marketability. How many people did you see wearing Mercedes caps and shirts before Hamilton arrived? Mercedes fan base has massively grown since Ham arrived and even more since 2014 having an untouchable car. Lets be honest Mercedes doesn’t need ‘sponsorship’ and neither does Ferrari to remain competitive, but both have massive fan bases which broadens their marketability across the globe.

      6. I think Vettel and Hamilton will swap seats.

        1. Surely Alonso and Hamilton is more likely. Ferdie is all over getting in that merc.

      7. That might happen. And it would probably coincide with a downturn in Merc performance while Hamilton’s chosen team would be on the upturn.
        Let’s face facts. Hamilton isn’t going anywhere. Unless he sees a drop off in Merc performance. He’s not stupid and given a choice between being Alonso at McLaren and coming second by a close margin to Rosberg while believing he is better. He will choose Merc every time.

        All drivers in their younger years get teams chosen for them. Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel and so on didn’t choose the teams that won them a WDC. Good teams chose them because they were quick. However, what makes Hamilton different is that he correctly chose the right team to go to at the right time. Anyone remember people questioning why Hamilton would go to Merc when he did? Hardly anyone questioned Vettel’s move to Ferrari. I am old enough to remember Alesi having a Williams contract in his pocket and choosing to sign for Ferrari. The year before firstly Hill and then Villeneuve won the WDC. Alesi was better than both of them. There are so many other stories of good drivers going the wrong way with teams that I don’t have time to mention them all.

    2. At the end of the day if Hamilton doesn’t like the way things are at Mercedes he can break his contract or be grateful for all the hard work the people at Mercedes have put in to give him one of the most dominant cars of all time. He seems to think he is Mercedes and they have to cater to him.

      1. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
        30th November 2016, 3:46

        @jamiejay995 agree. He cries so much about Mercedes and instead he should be grateful they don’t pick Max Verstappen for the next year and make him break all his solid records in a couple of seasons!

        1. Agreed, likely Hamilton is miffed because he’s been upstaged in a lot of areas this year despite a bunch of wins, and was expecting a fourth title and all the lauds and laurels, now he’s been beaten by a number two he’s long disparaged.

          Rosberg did what he needed to, took advantage of his opportunities, and was fully deserving of the title. In the end, Rosberg won 9 races and finished second to Hamilton 5 tiimes. So if Hamilton hadn’t raced this year, Mercedes would have still won 14 races with Rosberg. That doesn’t incklude the race where they both crashed out at the start which I’ll leave at 50/50. Mercedes didn’t really need Hamilton to win both titles in ’16 as much as he needed them. Super-classy of Vettel to step in during the post-race presser and support the legitimacy of Rosberg’s title in the midst of Hamilton’s whingefest. Maybe a year or two at a struggling team will provide some perspective.

          For me, Verstappen was the most exciting driver and Riccardo the most consistently quick and aggressive this year. After Brazil, Verstappen, with quite a few years ahead of him, if available, would be signed by Mercedes (or any other team) over Rosberg or Hamilton. Red Bull looks good for 2017.

          Despite Hamilton proclaiming himself as the next Senna, fans are seeing Verstappen as the Next Big Thing. It’s more likely to be Circus Maximus that draws the crowds in the next few years than Hammer Time. Even the normally biased Brit journalists are fawning over Verstappen now.

          1. “Rosberg won 9 races and finished second to Hamilton 5 tiimes. So if Hamilton hadn’t raced this year, Mercedes would have still won 14 races with Rosberg”

            Indeed they would have, now ask yourself how many races Nico would have won this year if the top 3 teams had equal machinery ?
            Also you say Nico won 9 races this year but only say Lewis won a ‘bunch’, why do you not want to say how many Lewis won ??

      2. You fail to understand, a simple fact that comes with money and success. Lewis wanted more and Mercedes wanted more, their goals alligned and deal was done, you seem to think that Mercedes waved money and Lewis said how high.

        In this light do still feel Mercedes delivered? Because I know they didn’t.

      3. @jamiejay995 @omarr-pepper @Kevin Mercedes needs to be gratefull, back when they where in the midfield from 2010 till 2012 no top driver wanted to race them. (Alonso and Vettel) Hamilton joined their midfield team because he was tired of McLaren nonsense, the same nonsense he’s experiencing again at Mercedes. Hamilton wanted to stop racing for them after the Spanish GP where Rosberg pushed Hamilton in the wall but Mercedes begged Hamilton not to leave, they did not want him to leave cause they know how important Hamilton’s input is, hence Mercedes made leaps of progress in 2013. I can clearly read from your post you three have something against Hamilton for whatever poor reason. Let Mercedes sack Hamilton and they will go the same fate as McLaren, back to the midfield where they raced before Hamilton came.

        1. so you are saying Hamilton going to Mercedes is what made them great? Not the input of Rosberg and Schumacher not the engineers and technicians at Mercedes. Hamilton and Rosberg weren’t even in talks to be WDC until Mercedes had a dominant car. If Hamilton was still at McLaren we would be saying he is washed up. Hamilton needs a better teammate he tied Alonso, JB beat him in 2012 and yet Rosberg took the championship to the last race in 2014 and then won it this year so you have to take a step back and say is Hamilton great or is the car so dominant that any driver on the grid can win with it

    3. Sounds like Multi 21. No doubt Vettel fans will be supporting Lewis.

      1. Going to Ferrari as a second driver would be a very bad move for Verstappen. I also don’t think Hamilton would be able to abide by the Ferrari rules…

        On a side note to Hamilton… Sky were saying that after the Spain coming together, Hamilton quit (according to rumour from within the Mercedes), which led them to call Wehrlein from Manor to do the testing. Even when challenged directly about it, all Hamilton said was that was a personal issue.

      2. To me that feels more like Hamilton feeling entitled to a no. 1 position in the team and not getting it (see him having ignored requests to let Rosberg by when the occasion arose but himself demanding the team do somethign to put him ahead) @hohum.

        1. @bascb Nonsense. Hamilton already had his mechanic givin to Rosberg for a very poor reason and then Rosberg pushed Hamilton in the walls and then Lauda blaming Hamilton for it, and so what if Hamilton wanted No1 status if true, Alonso had ite, Vettel had it, so what’s the problem if Hamilton would it ?. When has Hamilton demanded that the team should put him ahead ?, where do you get that from ?

          1. @revelations Teams moving there mechanics & engineer’s around is something that is a regular thing in F1 & other categories. It’s so commonplace that you usually don’t hear anything about it & the only reason we did in this case is because Lewis decided to make a big deal about it.

            Interestingly a big part of the reason its done is because the Motorsport world learned from what happened at McLaren in 1989 where people that had been working on Prost’s car for many years started feeling like they were working for Prost rather than the team & you started seeing a situation where data was been held back & you had 2 teams within the team each working purely for there driver.
            Since then you regularly see teams moving personnel between cars every few years to stop that situation happening & to ensure that everyone is working for the team rather than for 1 driver within said team.

            As Anthony Davidson said on Sky’s broadcast over the weekend the Toyota WEC team that he drivers for have done the same thing a few times since he’s been there & over in Indycar you see the same thing happen with the Multi-Car teams (Andretti Autosport do it every year).

          2. Man with all this mechanic switching it makes it sound like they are the real Champions not the drivers. So is Hamilton not able to win with other mechanics?

          3. Yeah, nonsense alright @revelations.

            As mentioned here by others, changing the mechanics around has been a normal, almost standard ritual teams tend to do to keep the whole team working together, to help them rake in those titles long term.

            As for the no. 1 Status, first of all, Mercedes have so far always kept away from that, and I am happy they did. Yes, at Ferrari a no. 1 driver and a sidekick are standard for almost 2 decades now. And at Red Bull to some extent it worked out that way too. But Hamilton himself has always maintained that he didn’t want that. He did however request the team to think of something to get him ahead of Rosberg in several races last year, when he found out for himself that passing a Mercedes on track is not all that easy.

    4. He has reason to be upset. He had a working team of mechanics on his side, Mercedes decided to change that, however you turned that fact Mercedes handicapped his chances, if you don’t understand the importance of having a good established team around you then you fail to grasp the importance of how winning is accomplished, also somewhat telling is that Rosberg has not complained about the switch to his team. In this area of teamwork the driver can establish a great inviroment to work in, Mercedes destabilized Hamilton by changing team members. This might be good for the team in the long run but it was detrimental for Hamilton.

      Mercedes screwed Hamilton title chances more than Hamilton did to his own. Rosberg committed more punishable offenses than Hamilton, has proven that he will resort to skullduggery if needed. Rosberg did not at any time beat his team in a straight fight.
      Rosberg thought Hamiltons tactics were ok.

      All that strife and Hamilton still managed to to come within 5 points.

      Rosbergs winning is in most part down to being there and getting it done, congrats to Rosberg.

      Hamiltons loss is down to Mercedes mistakes, when talking about punishment Mercedes are in awkward position they know they failed Hamilton massively and multiple times to provide a basic level support and reliability.

      1. +1000, Dr Fitch.

    5. An interesting read GT. You seem to suggest that things have got into Lewis’s head regarding the engineers swop at the beginning of the year and I would agree with this. You also suggest that Merc wouldn’t hire rubbish engineers and that all the engineers are as good as each other……if that is indeed the case then why swop them in the first place ? Also if that was true then after the swop both drivers would have experienced the same reliability they had before the swop, unfortunately this hasn’t been the case. Nico has suffered slightly worse reliability for the previous years and after the swop he has now had almost perfect reliability whilst Lewis’s was slightly better for the previous years and has now been awful. These facts alone suggest that actually there is a difference in the quality of the engineers and Merc have given Nico all the good ones for 2016 and the future.
      I don’t pretend to know what is really going on inside Merc, all I know are the hard facts regarding both drivers reliability before the swop and after it and that alone would suggest that Lewis has good reason to be annoyed.

      1. No Nico has not suffered worse reliability issues since 2014. I think people are only looking at reliability in races, which if you look at it that way, even that is not as extreme as how it’s being made to look.

        ROS mechanical DNF’s in 2014:
        Silverstone
        Singapore
        Abu Dhabi* (had no effect on final outcome as he was trailing in points going into the race and in the race)

        2015:
        Monza
        Russia

        2016:
        None

        Hamilton 2014:
        Australia, Canada

        2015
        Singapore

        2016
        Malaysia

        So Rosberg has 1 more over that time.

        However what about qualifying?

        Rosberg is the only drive that has taken part in every Q3 session since 2014

        Hamilton had failure in Hungary & Germany 2014, this year China & Russia (I may have missed one).

        So the theory that Rosberg has suffered more mechincal issues is not actually true.

        1. I keep mentioning this but it appears this Nico’s 2014 reliability myth that is being bandied about is like the Jenson Button outscored Lewis over their three years together nonsense.

          Nico did have one more DNF than Lewis in 2014 but he did not lose more points due to reliability. As you rightly point out there were issues in qualifying that caused Lewis to start from the back of the grid from in two races in succession and a few other problems for both of them.

          I think you can also add in Spa 2016 as Lewis started at the back of the grid due to cummulative penalties which were given as a result of his power unit failures.

          https://www.racefans.net/2014/11/25/hamilton-vs-rosberg-unreliability-decide-title/

          Funnily enough Nico’s best performances against Lewis I think was in 2013 – were if I am not mistaken he had two wins to Lewis’s one, although I think a failure effected Lewis from a further win and Lewis outscored Nico overall.

      2. “These facts alone suggest that actually there is a difference in the quality of the engineers and Merc have given Nico all the good ones for 2016 and the future.”

        And therefore Nico was given the bad ones in 2014 and 2015? How is that fair?

      3. @Ricky We’ve been given the reason. They did the swap to prevent a division happening within the team, so that they remained one whole team working together. You are also mistakenly blaming LH’s issues on his crew which is not fair. Stuff simply happens. The best mechanics and engineers in the world cannot prevent nor predict unreliability. It’s very much part of racing. Claiming the facts about the drivers’ reliability records is no proof of the quality of the crews.

        1. Tell that to SkySports…

    6. The team were weak and foolish to keep covering for Rosberg’s cheats. I daresay it’s seemed expedient each time but it was always storing up mistrust and inviting paranoia.

      1. @lockup Well said mate.

      2. The team is strong and wise to have re-signed Nico and managed a tough rivalry that was inevitably going to cause contentious occasions. The only mistrust and paranoia has originated from Lewis who can’t seem to manage his sense of entitlement and goes the route of hard done by when it isn’t all about him on the team. As was said during the race of LH while he cheated the team by going against his own agreements with them ahead of the race, there may be no ‘I’ in team, but there is a ‘me’. Not that I disagreed nor was surprised to see LH do that, but it certainly puts a different light on it that he thinks he is bigger than the team. He can have all the hissy fits he wants, claiming he doesn’t need them, but he will always need the best car to win, and Merc doesn’t need him either while they are providing top equipment of which many drivers would be genuinely appreciative.

        1. As usual @robbie you can’t discuss a topic with specifics about the topic.

          1. @lockup If you feel I haven’t been specific enough, perhaps it is because it is hard to respond specifically to speculative nonsense.

            Specifically Mercedes are not weak, not foolish, not covering up anything other than LH’s hissy fit in Spain.

            You are convinced Nico is a cheater, and obviously the team doesn’t share that view. Let’s say internally they know you are right and Nico’s off in Monaco quali was intentional. I would suggest they were looking at what kind of things had been going on between the two drivers and chalking this up to a rivalry that needs managing. Nothing more. That move, even if intentional, was between NR and LH as far as Toto could do anything about.

            Same with Spa 2014…chalking it up to events leading up to that race Nico stubbornly decided he wasn’t going to back down. Yes I know you are convinced he intentionally cut LH’s rear tire, but it is just as likely I am right and that Nico was merely being stubborn due to the nature of the rivalry and where it sat leading up to that weekend from previous events. He cranked his wheel to the right not to cut his tire but to maintain control of his own car. No cover up…we found out Nico was fined internally, and LH needed only take a bit of vengeance from that as the victim…an acknowledgement that that shouldn’t have happened to him. Nico was more timid on the track after that too. And again, from TW’s standpoint, this is just part of managing a unique rivalry. Nico has no reputation for nefarious behaviour, nor had up to LH joining the team, so it’s no big stretch for TW to consider Nico’s discrepancies as part of their long standing relationship that had now seen them together and obviously serious Championship rivals in that awesome car. New circumstances for them together as old friends.

            You continue to way overthink things over which TW would have just shaken his head, raised his eyes, and quickly moved on from. He would know both drivers intimately, and know what they have done and said to each other with each event that has happened, and obviously has no use for the paranoia and mistrust you and LH share, because he knows the team have done everything in their power to help both drivers equally. And to great success, if you don’t count LH’s attitude of entitlement which would seem has been harder to manage than anything Nico has done.

      3. @lockup what “cheats” are you talking about?

        1. @asherway @robbie Yes in Monaco ’14 the team had the tyre load data as Mark Hughes said and Lewis intimated, so they knew it was deliberate. It had to be premediated because it depended on electing to run first, and quite likely on doing a slightly risky banker lap to get that right to choose.

          This is how Lewis knew while he was still in the car, and also why he was so furious – this was worse than any of Schumi’s infamous moves which at least looked spur-of-the-moment.

          So it was his childhood friend, and the team supported Rosberg to the stewards and let him keep pole and the points. Then they renewed Nico’s contract, then there was Spa.

          Then there were the later ones, and each time the team were talking, in public at least but quite likely in the office too, about BOTH drivers behaving. They bottled it. Yes they fined Rosberg for Spa but big deal, he kept the points and the team talked about ‘both drivers’ behaving.

          Then in ’15 there was the outrageous brake test in Sochi, that nobody said anything about, and the minor impeding in Sepang, ditto, and then this year Spain.

          In Spain Rosberg made the mistake that left him derating out of T3, that Lewis could see so they both knew that they both knew that Lewis had a lot more speed. Nico covered the left and middle, and as we saw in the overhead watched his left mirror. When he saw Lewis’ car disappear from it he swerved right, with no time to look in his right mirror, all the way to the right edge of the track by which time Lewis’ FW was alongside.

          Then Lauda blamed Lewis. Massive row. The team renewed Rosberg again.

          Fast forward to Austria, where the strategy guy + a bad stop + a lockup handed the win to Rosberg, but for an error and another cheat.

          So this is the context. The car team swap broke up his team, and I expect woke echoes of McLaren taking away his RE and reorganising the garage when Jenson arrived.

          And all the time the team avoided controversy, took the easy way out, and let the paranoia build. And as we know the very top sportspeople do tend to paranoia quite easily.

          1. @asherway You had to ask, eh?

            @lockup Call a wambulance. When they come and pick you up you’ll probably find Lewis driving it.

          2. @lockup Well, that’s quite an exhaustive breakdown… of 50% of the situation! You do realise that Mercedes have two drivers to manage right? I wonder if you’re as well versed in the crimes o’ Hamilton…

          3. Thanks @asherway. I daresay @robbie will invent some crimes o’ Hamilton if you ask nicely :)

        2. Too difficult, fancy that. You just reveal yourself @robbie. It’s not as if you give a toss about Nico Rosberg, which I could respect.

  5. I don’t get why people focus so much on the reliability this year. In my view reliability is not only about luck but also about how you drive. As an engineer I can’t just believe that Lewis’s aggressive driving style has nothing to do with it. It’s not the first time his reliability is not that good while his teammates have pretty good one.
    I might be wrong of course but who can prove this?

    The same goes for the team orders… Did everyone forget Monaco? Weren’t they both fighting for the championship that time? I am pretty sure they did…

    I actually would be very happy to see Lewis out of this Mercedes just so finally we could see some balls from one of these team owners. He is really arrogant and disrespectful towards his team and Nico. He is fast but it’s not like Mercedes wouldn’t win these three world titles without him with such car.

    1. You may be an engineer but you sure don’t sound like a racer. Monaco was race 6 of 21 and a completely different scenario, Nico was struggling for pace and Hamilton was way way faster, in Abu Dhabi the title was down to the wire …. are you REALLY telling me that if you were in Hamilton’s shoes you would have just surrendered the title without a fight.

      1. So, given your logic, why you still mention HAM lost the champ because of poor reliability?!?!? What race was Malaysia, 16th?! So, it was “a completely different scenario”, the title wasn’t down to the wire!!! Why still mention reliability killed the champ for HAM?!?!? It’s not even worth mentioning earlier races where HAM had tech problems, it was “a completely different scenario”, the title wasn’t down to the wire!!! Yeah, these arguments are bad! The fact that HAM was 2seconds per lap faster than ROS doesn’t matter, every driver must earn his position fairly via on-track fight. Now and here we are talking just about the drivers, not about Mercedes. About which one of them deserved the title. You say HAM deserved it because he was plagued by tech problems, but at the same time you say it’s OK ROS let him pass in Monaco which obviously helped him with 7 points more in his fight with ROS. ROS helped HAM win 7 points more and you call it fair?! So, if we’re talking about the drivers and their own interests in the champ, let’s not mix it with Mercedes’ interest as a team. Yeah, it was Mercedes interest to tell ROS let HAM pass and take the win in Monaco, but it wasn’t ROS’ interest in the WDC fight for sure.

      2. There is a difference between the tactics (fair enough) and defying team orders (not fair enough).

    2. @toxic

      Suggestions Hamilton’s driving style is to blame for the car failures is simply nonsense. These days the engines can’t be over revved and electronics control a lot. If he were constantly clattering over curbs and having suspension failures then it might be suspicious, but that has simply not been the case. It seems when people suggest by being he fastest driver he is in some way responsible for car issues they are just saying they don’t like him being fast.

      1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
        30th November 2016, 1:28

        +1

        It’s an utterly stupid idea to think that his driving style has anything to do with the reliability of the PU. Malaysia is a prime example. He was in total control, a class of one that weekend. He was driving so smoothly and beautifully, just stroking the car home and yet his engine failed.

        Although they didn’t need to, Mercedes confirmed that driving style played absolutely zero part in the Malaysia blowup to negate the arguments from the anti-Hamilton viewers.

        The amount of hate and idiotic commentary that Hamilton has been on the receiving end of since Abu Dhabi has been disgraceful.

    3. I’am not a engineer, but if the says his driving does not affect realibilty of the car watch is there to doubt. The same with the Tyres.

      He’s one of the best in tyremanagenent.

    4. @toxic

      As an engineer maybe you should question if Hamilton has an ‘aggressive’ driving style. He uses less fuel and is kinder to his tyres than Rosberg. Faster doesn’t equal aggressive.

      He used to be more aggressive when they could refuel and push on the tyres but he adapted to the modern formula.

  6. Surprise, Clarkson’s drivertribe actually makes sense, a bit extreme though, let’s hope FOM/FIA can finally make a rational decision and reduce aero-dependence in F1. Increasing both tyre and wing size should definitely make the cars faster but will likely do nothing for the quality of the racing, as Clarkson pointed out the A35 race at Goodwood was far more exciting than any F1 race run this century.

    1. It would put a massive premium on qualy pace, but wow it could fix F1…
      It’s like a half reverse grid with merit. Would be shocking to get pipped by 0.001 at Monaco…
      I hope they try it in a feeder series to see how it goes.

    2. How would it make sense. 1st, fast cars at the back usually progress quickly anyway, as many examples have shown, with the most recent being Max and his spin. 2nd, the rest of the necessary passing will be done in the pits anyway, re-establishing the natural order quickly. 3rd, qualifying is fine, so that’s no issue, again as we ;earned earlier this year.

      F1 is what it is and doesn’t need to be something else. We have other things for that. If he finds Austin races more exciting, watch those.

      The only thing I’d really change is development restrictions. Let the engineers be bold. They all look the same because they have to be. Minimum width, length and weight along with safety standards are all that’s really needed for the chassis rules.

      1. @selbbin, 1; I’m hoping passing in the pitstops will be less effective. 2: having half the fast cars at the back (half-fast idea?) would mean they would be fighting each other while passing the mobile-chicanes without blue flags to help and the finishing order should be a lot less Noahs Ark like, and that should make the championships a lot closer .

        1. I thought you were against gimmicks?

  7. I completely understand why Hamilton drove so slowly and anyone else would have done the same, but going that slow at the end might have caught Verstappen and Vettel of guard and what if they crashed into Rosberg? Hamilton could have been accused of dangerous driving if the car was healthy… just a thought.

    1. If Verstappen or Vettel had been caught off-guard and crashed into Rosberg it would have been the fault of nobody else but Verstappen and Vettel. To imply that Hamilton at the front is responsible for the race of the guys behind him is a ridiculous argument.

      No, Lewis did not drive dangerously, he didn’t weave or swerve or move in the braking zone or push anybody out. If the guys behind were faster, they should have overtaken the guy in front.

  8. What have you done lately Kimi ? (Insert ‘thinks’ smiley)

    1. Outqualified the wonderkid. Would have probably beaten him on the points total too if he constantly wasn’t given an inferior strategy and #2 driver resources.

      1. I don’t think Ferrari’s blunder were intentional…

      2. Hanlon’s razor: Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity

        1. @phylyp Ferrari recently: Never attirbute to competence that which is adequately explained by the lack thereof

      3. To be honest, Ferrari’s strategyies lately (as in the last few years) seem to be decided by throwing a dice. If they tried to give Vettel the better strategy they’d probably end up making Kimi win a race or something.

    2. Well, with better strategy, Kimi would have beaten Vettel in quite a few races recently, and off course he did outqualify him too @budchekov

      1. Lol maybe in his dreams, in terms of race pace he is nowhere near Vettel!

        1. No, it’s just Ferrari unfairly giving Kimi the Barrichello/Massa treatment.

  9. I just think there are a lot more opportunities to blame and complain these days, whether it is Lewis on the podium after abu dhabi or jackie Stewart sharing his thoughts. People love conflict.

  10. It’s about time Lewis started giving Stewart a bit back. Back in those days real driving talent was scarce. Although dangerous it was more like a Sunday stroll for the privileged…..

    I guess Kimi hasn’t been the “better” driver for a long, long time…..

    1. My feeling is, the more Stewart spouts without reply the better. It just makes his comments look like the ridiculous drivel they are.

      1. My feeling too @john-h, I think Hamilton is best off to just stay respectable towards an ageing 3WDC British driver who did a lot for the sport, even if said person is not respectful to him (just don’t invite him to a party he won’t enjoy …).

    2. Just as @john-h and @bosyber mentions, if Hamilton sees Stewart’s comments, the best he can do is just ignore it and laugh about it in private.

  11. So the Azerbaijani organizers no longer wants it called the European GP*, but instead Azerbaijan GP?

    I call it “Bakexit”.

    * Yeah, I get the whole thing about it straddling Eurasia.

    1. Shouldn’t that be something to do with cakes!??

      1. @john-h – 😁

        Now I’m craving cake.

  12. Racecar Engineering’s tweet is disappointing but not surprising – the heavy aero focus for 2017 might have meant many things, but not reducing dirty air behind cars.

    Also, Dr. Brent May’s tweet is interesting – yesterday, based on the medical summit presentation he mentioned self-extrication is longer, and extrication by marshals is unchanged. But having sat in the car, his views indicate that extrication is much harder.

    Are there any videos that have timed drivers getting out of a halo-equipped car (i.e. similar to the current ‘get out within 5 seconds’ rule that drivers have to demonstrate they are capable of)?

  13. Re: COTD.
    “Yes his tactics were right for him at the place and time.”

    I would argue that the tactics were right, but not the time. That time should have been USA, then if that failed Mexico, then if that failed Brazil.
    But to only start that tactic in Abu Dhabi was naive.

    We all knew what was required, but Lewis seemingly was not or was content to wait for reliability to do the hard work for him.

    1. Excellent comment @eurobrun, I agree completely. It was too little too late. He needed to put Rosberg in the position of needing another win, and put him in that position as soon as possible.

      The other point though is that the slow down tactics were extremely unlikely to work. USA, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi all have 2 DRS zones, leaving only 1 sector available for backing the field up (and it’s always the slowest sector of the 3). It’s really another example of how DRS has killed defensive driving.

    2. Then again, had he done it earlier, I doubt Mercedes would let him just get on with it @eurobrun. Remember, the team AND Lewis mentioned ahead of the race that they would not be doing something like this.

      It worked here, because even if the team had wanted to do something about it, there was just no way to do it. Had he done it earlier, they could have easily interferred.

    3. People going on about Hamilton backing up Rosberg, and that he should of done it in previous races. Well, guess what would of happened in subsequent races if he had done just that; Nico would of been given the undercut. Unfortunately, the only time he could do the backing up, was after the final pit-stop in the last race. That way the team couldn’t “interfere”, even if they did try to by asking him to speed up.

  14. I’ve never heard Jackie Stewart say a good word about anyone that’s currently living

  15. Jeremy Clarkson takes today’s qualifying format, add’s Bernie’s proposed reverse grids and divides by two!

  16. “This year, clearly, Malaysia cost Lewis the championship. It’s clear.” Yeah right! If he was driving there as he was in Abu Dhabi PU would be fine for sure.

  17. Hamilton the little ballerina XD

  18. @glennb COTD:

    Having said that, I believe he should have followed the direction of the boss when told to get on with it (more than once). He doesn’t own the car nor the team. He is paid to drive the company car and follow the directions of the owners, or their representatives. He was wrong to continue with the tactic at this point. I would have boxed him.

    First of all, if he wasn’t obeying an order to speed up, do you think there’s any chance at all he would obey an order to box?

    Secondly, IMHO, Mercedes were wrong to issue that order. They were, effectively, ordering him to give up on his title chance.

    Thirdly, it is not always correct to follow the orders of your boss. As an IT professional, if ordered to do something which is wrong, I believe it is my job, initially, to argue against it. If this fails, in certain circumstances (e.g. if it would be illegal, or had the potential to do serious damage to the company), refusing to follow the order is also correct. I may have to face the consequences (e.g. being fired), but that doesn’t make it wrong to disobey.

    And finally, in the end, F1 is not just a business, it is also a sport. I expect that any sportsman in the top flight to do anything they could (within the rules, and sometimes outside them) to win, and Mercedes should have expected the same.

  19. A lot of people here suggesting that Merc should get rid of Lewis but there is a problem with this. At the moment the Merc is much faster than any other car so it really doesn’t matter which driver you have in it, the chances are that Merc will win the constructors and one of the Merc drivers will be champion.
    The problem comes if/when things are evened out regarding the cars, then you want a driver that is as quick as possible with good race craft to make up the difference. Yes there are other drivers on the grid that fit this bill but if say the top 3 teams have equal cars those drivers have a choice who they drive for.
    I once heard Rob Smedly whilst he was at Ferrari say “we weren’t beaten by McClaren today we were beaten by Hamilton” This was when the McClaren and Ferrari were more or less equal, Merc would do well to remember this.

    1. “A lot of people here suggesting that Merc should get rid of Lewis but there is a problem with this.”

      Nah, not really… I just browsed the comments on this post. It’s kinda the opposite of it, people are guessing a switch to Ferrari in future by Lewis himself, with hope of some real good competition between top talents.

      But I do agree about driver talent. Look at Force India, 2 top quality drivers & they are 4th this year. I wouldn’t imagine them being 4th with less experienced(or talented) drivers like Magnussen, Palmer, Wehrlein, Gutierrez, Ocon etc.

  20. Old bloke has pop about young blokes behaviour. That’s certainly news. Maybe we can get some old windbag tell us how much better everything was when they were a lad.

    Still, old people haven’t got a monopoly on whingeing as the last few days have shown. Lewis plays last card he’s holding, plays within the rules, wins the race and still people sneer and squeal. He’s paid to win WDC’s, get over your hate of him because he has a tattoo and a gold chain. Its quite pathetic

    1. Yeah for sure old people don’t have a monopoly. See Lewis for young people whinging as well.

      Turns out Lewis was not playing within Mercedes’ rules. He’s paid alright…by Mercedes. Pathetic is claiming people ‘hate’ him, as well as that it is because of a tattoo and a gold chain.

      1. “Pathetic is claiming people ‘hate’ him, as well as that it is because of a tattoo and a gold chain.”

        Personally I sincerely believe a lot of people dislike Hamilton for some other reason, but it is not ‘politically correct’ to talk about it.

      2. Do you ever have anything nice to say Robbie?

  21. Mercedes were in the wrong in my opinion.

    You can’t hire two good drivers, give them equal equipment, say that you’ll let them race, get them to a point where both have a realistic chance at winning the championship in the last race, and then expect one of them to obey a team order that will end all his chances of winning the championship. Imagine if Hamilton was second and needed to win the race to win the championship, kept trying to overtake Rosberg forcing him to drive defensively, and a Ferrari/Red Bull was in a position of winning the race because of the slow pace.

    Imagine if Mercedes gave team orders to either driver in such a situation, to guarantee a 1-2 finish. I don’t think anybody could defend that.

    Mercedes talked the talk, but it’s yet to be seen if they could actually walk the walk.

  22. There were some interesting comments by the commentators at the end of the Sky broadcast that suggested Lewis threatened to quit the team after the Spanish GP incident, and that was the reason why Wehrlein was given the test drive at the last minute, because he might have been called up. Does anyone know more about this? If it is true, then Sir Jackie is correct. There is no place for a primadonna ballerina on an F1 team.

    1. all the top drivers complain when things dont go their way.alonso,vettel even kimi.
      but vettel was the worst this year.
      lewis is great for f1,he’s probably the most talked about driver.

      1. I agree with your points, but if a driver threatens to quit mid-season it is not good for the team. Lewis takes both the good and the bad pages from Senna’s playbook.

  23. so toto has admitted malaysia cost lewis the title…..good now lets move on.
    as for jackie,he’s always knocking lewis no matter what he does.

  24. Here’s what I hope Hamilton would say about Stewart’s remarks: “That his opinion. He’s welcome to have it. Ayrton didn’t care about his opinion and neither do I”

    What a tool, Stewart!

    1. You are right that Stewart is welcome to have his opinion. Why does that make him a tool?

      1. @robbie, because Sir Stewart’s opinion differs from his.

        1. @praxis @robbie I’m not a Hamilton fan, however I’m sick and tired of Stewart’s constant and predictable anti-Hamilton tirades. It’s irrational and certainly while Stewart has an image of being objective and impassionate, he’s anything but. And he proved over the years that he’s biased against Hamilton. Consequently, his opinions about Hamilton have zero value in my eyes(all this while I agree with him on some other subjects). Not all opinions are equal value. And yes, this remark does make him look like a tool.

          Stewart has a right to his opinion. And I have the right to call him a tool for it.

          1. @montreal95I,
            My take on that is Hamilton’s personality or traits clash with Stewart’s views. So he criticises Lewis more. I don’t count it as biased. I certainly value those comments too, including the positive ones from others.

            Hamilton’s capabilities/reputation as a diver is nowhere diminished by these comments. On top of that, don’t you think Lewis providing no reply is probably the smartest & classiest thing to do?

      2. Stewart’s attitude towards Hamilton has been hostile almost from day one, let’s put it that way. Also infallibly wrong. Mansell is another who has problems accepting being pushed down a rung on the list of top British drivers.

        1. In light of recent revelations about LH and his ‘I don’t need you’ comment to the team earlier in the season as per gt-racer’s posts, and I’ll extent that back to 2011 when LH was bested by Button and admitted off track distractions were costing him on the track, I just wonder, in fairness to Jackie Stewart, if he has known all along a heck of a lot more about LH and his personality than any of us in our armchairs, and so perhaps has had reasons to be critical and to hope to see him conduct himself differently. After the race JS plead for LH to be grateful, and also said he would win more WDCs. Is that so bad? The ballerina comment? He just thinks LH shouldn’t act like an entitled prima donna? Wouldn’t we all prefer that in a privileged top athlete?

  25. Lewis problem is mental.

    His mental attitude and resistance is not at Rosberg’s level.

    1. This is true. In Austin 2015 on a slightly damp track with championship hopes at stake, Rosberg cracked and let Hamilton by. In Brazil 2016 with the championship at stake, on a soaking wet track where every other driver had an incident Hamilton drove in a league of his own. His mental resilience is definitely not the same level as Rosberg’s.

      1. Lol! Well said, @philipgb. It’s funny when people who have have the mental resistance of a toddler, feel like they can judge the the mental resistance of people who have been sportsmen almost their whole lives. Sigh.

    2. Lolita… you are absolutely right. It is definitely not at Rosberg’s level. No, it is way above!

      That is why he has 3 (1, 2, 3) World Drivers Championship, and has the 2nd highest number of race wins in history, second only to Michael Schumacher, to mention just a couple of the numerous F1 records he holds.

      Rosberg on the other hand, could up until last Sunday, boast of being the F1 driver who has had to wait the longest to win a championship.

      Like I said, they are definitely not at the same level.

      1. It doesn’t seem to me that Lolita was talking about his driving. Perhaps moreso his attitude of entitlement. Perhaps that comes from being fortunate enough to never not be in a top 3 car, something that Nico has only had for the last 3 seasons. Perhaps that is why Nico seems way more genuinely appreciative than Lewis who says his is one minute, and then blames the team with sneaky innuendo the next. And that’s having just come off 2 solid Championships thanks to Mercedes, unlike the first one that he barely squeaked out.

        1. @robbie As someone pointed out a few posts above….

          “mog
          1st December 2016, 1:42

          Do you ever have anything nice to say Robbie?”

          Your dislike for this man appears to be so intense, its unbelievable. Everything – and I mean everything, you post about him is negative. You’re almost beginning to sound like Jackie Stewart!

  26. I think Lewis should take JS’s advice that I heard him state on Sky after the race. Be grateful for what you have (and I know he means be genuinely grateful) and go on to win more WDCs.

    1. Nobody should ever take Stewart’s advice on anything. Remember the advice from him and Moss that moving to Mercedes was ‘none to clever’ and ’emotional’?

      http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/9938615/Lewis-Hamilton-delighted-to-prove-Sir-Stirling-Moss-and-Sir-Jackie-Stewart-wrong-over-decision-to-leave-McLaren.html

      1. Yeah easy to say in hindsight. At the time many thought he should have tried to stay at Mac, not just Stewart and Moss. I thought from minute one it was the right thing to do and that he needed to leave the Mac nest. What was so wrong with opining at the time without the benefit of hindsight? Did anybody know how dominant the Mercs would be at that time? Gee what a shock…Stewart doesn’t have a crystal ball and isn’t always right. He was hardly insulting either.

    2. @robbie Stewart NEVER has a good word for or about Hamilton, and you suggest that Hamilton should take his advice? Come on Robbie…. we’ve been through this before – please get real.

      1. @stubbornswiss I guess you missed my comment and Jackie’s where he said LH will win more WDCs. And that he should be grateful.

        Maybe you are right. Forget what Stewart said. Don’t be grateful, and don’t win any more Championships, Lewis.

  27. You gotta love Lewis Hamilton. One of the best drivers of his generation & divides opinions like nobody else.
    Just check the number of comments in last few posts here. Maybe f1fanatic ought to post a traffic analysis correlating with any remarks, incident or issues related to Lewis.

  28. OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
    30th November 2016, 16:36

    Lewis complained so much about the mechanics… But it should have been Rosberg who complained (if he had Lewis’s poor attitude of course). I mean, Nico won the last 3 races of the year in a row, and suddenly, those “winning” mechanics are taken to the other side of the garage. But no! What did Nico do alongside with these late “losers” coming from Lewis garage? He won 4 races in a row!
    Those Lewis`s complaints about the mechanics are insulting to those guys who don’t have the chance to party with celebrities and fly in private jets. Instead, they are far from their families, trying to do their best FOR THE TEAM. The fact that Lewis is given a microphone doesn’t give him the right to throw mud to the team, the same team that has provided him (and Nico) with cars so extremely good, that not any other driver besides them has had any real chance to win, not even races. Almost all the 8 wins that the other teams managed to achieve were only because, in those races, Mercedes had problems.
    3 wins for Ricciardo, one of them when Rosberg lost hybrid power in Canada, and the other in Spa when both Mercedes collided (blame to Nico yeah I know).
    3 wins for Vettel, the one in Hungary came after a chaotic race.
    2 wins this year for Red Bull boys. Both when Mercedes was out of the way (crash in Spain, crash for Nico in Malaysia and engine failure for Lewis in the same race).

    So Lewis complains because of reliability. But Raikkonen, back in 2005, lost the championship for reliability, yet he never took a mic to throw dirt to McLaren. And Massa didn’t abuse verbally on Ferrari. Ever, not even after Hungary 2008 or their blunder in Singapore, not even after Germany 2010. That’s how you show you are a teamplayer.

  29. Word on the street is Mercedes and pertonas changed the oil in Lewis’s car for Malaysia to “help Lewis”. Oil was supposed to cut friction by 12% insuring Hamilton’s engines would last the rest of the season. When the temperature went too high it seized!

    1. I strongly believe somewhere down the line – 1 year, 2 years, 5 years maybe even 10 years time, it will all be revealed as to what really went on behind the scenes with the Mercedes team during the 2016 F1 season.

  30. And Jackie Stewart can be a complete [self-edited] some of the time. Well a lot of the time in fact. Must be tough not being Britain’s greatest ever Formula 1 driver anymore.

  31. Just one question…..

    Why does Jackie Stewart insist on making an ass of himself all the time?

  32. I really glad i found this site… The comments are so funny!

    HAM has proved several times he’s one of the great drivers on the grid (And in history), however MERC really did a good job with the car in the hybrid era, no other team have really come near them. Now, since they have 2 WDC’s in their team there reliance on having HAM is slightly less, if ROS is an easier driver to get on with and they can continue to keep pushing the development in the car to keep the advantage, i don’t think it’s inconceivable for MERC to think seriously about ditching HAM. Replacing HAM with WEH is an option since he hasn’t finalised where he’s going to be next season (or has he?).
    Although, HAM has stated on several occasions on the podium and in separate interviews the greatness of MERC in one way or another, however his frustrations do get the better of him and he’s made some howlers as well. (Monaco 2011 Ali G rant was hilarious!)
    With all that’s gone on, MERC and HAM should just patch up their differences and look forwards plus something tells me that ROS would prefer to keep HAM as a team mate…

    1. It’s funny you mention that Ali G “rant”. It was more of a joke, but a bad one. However, I regret to say, it was also true. There do seem to be a lot closet racists about. I mean, do you think he would get as much grief coming his way, if he was white. I don’t.

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