‘Half the F1 grid’ after Rosberg’s drive – Lauda

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In the round-up: Mercedes will consider replacements for Nico Rosberg on Monday but have already been contacted by half the drivers on the grid, says Niki Lauda.

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Vishy on what drove Nico Rosberg out of F1:

Why would Rosberg stop suddenly? It is obvious he loves his wife and daughter and is leaving F1 for his family. But also I think he is leaving what he was not enjoying.

The Mercedes was such a great car that with a lesser or more normal team mate he would have won the title with a lot less hard work and stress. I feel he had to sacrifice everything for the past three years to beat Lewis and he was not enjoying that.

On top of that, no matter what he does people would put him down compared to Lewis. Which is a shame because in addition to beating Hamilton this year he also beat Schumacher over three years and no one can deny Schumacher was a legend even in his twilight years.
Vishy

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Another shock Formula One announcement on this day eight years ago as Honda canned its team:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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76 comments on “‘Half the F1 grid’ after Rosberg’s drive – Lauda”

  1. Cannot think about chaning lanes without whitnessing drays onhazardous caftianus victims

    1. Jonathan Davies
      4th December 2016, 0:57

      Pardon?

    2. Lol how were the beers tonight?

    3. COTD right there!

    4. +1, I have the same problem when changing lanes

    5. There’s something that sounds strangely poetic about this

      1. I’ve come back to this post 3 times today and have laughed each time. Priceless 😄

    6. Yes, I’ve often thought that too.

  2. I am really envy Rosberg. To have gotten his long life target and retired young to had more time with his family. It’s a beautiful life indeed.

    1. The fact that he said he would have carried on had he lost the title is very telling though.

      1. That’s not certain, and you know it. Honestly, he’s done a good thing to go out on a high.

    2. @ruliemaulana He did not stopped because of his family cause had he not gifted the WDC he would continue.

      1. Gifted the WDC.. you seem to have missed this year.
        Started the year with lots of victory’s and always capitalized on every occasion.
        So he earned his points and became rightful WDC 2016!
        Al the HAM fans forgot the years HAM had the luck which is par tof F1.

        1. @erikje What luck did Hamilton had ?

        2. always capitalized on every occasion.

          Err I think you’re the one who missed this year.

  3. Go for Perez!!!! Lauda.

    1. Perez could barely compete with Button its quite a risk to his career going to Mercedes. But i suppose any driver would take that seat at any cost as they dont come along that often

      1. It wouldn’t be a risk to his career, it would be a risk to Mercedes. If he signed he would surely be finishing higher than a Force India. Hardly a risk.

        1. The risk is he could be beaten in a lopsided battle with Hamilton, Mercedes drops him like happened at McLaren and he ends up out of F1 altogether.

          1. Being beaten by Hamilton in a Mercedes means coming second in WDC, unless he is totally useless. My guess is that Mercedes bosses don’t expect anyone to beat Hamilton (from the get go at least), so there’s virtually no risk involved.

      2. @blackmamba, on the other hand, the indication is that McLaren weren’t supporting him very much that season. There is a suggestion that Ron Dennis, who was fighting to regain control of the team from Whitmarsh in 2013, wanted Perez to fail because it would open up the opportunity for his preferred driver, Magnussen, to take the seat.

  4. Rosberg said in a spanish interview: “I am not a robot, I am an human being”.
    I think that is a very good explanation of why he left formula 1, now as a champion.

  5. And that very same team that Honda canned eight years ago is the one that’s since won the past three championships, winning all bar 8 races.

    1. Actually, the team won 4 out of last 8 seasons, scoring 8 out 16 possible championships. 4 drivers and 4 constructors. It even won more than Red Bull, considering that they won the same number of championships, but the Brackley team scored way more wins and poles.

  6. That Card from horner is awesome

  7. Is Alonso still in Japan? Make haste young Samurai!!!

    1. @blackmamba No. I don’t want to see Alonso in Mercedes, he already had the chance when Mercedes asked if he wanted to race for them but he rejected and RBR he rejected too. Mercedes should simply opt’ for Werhlein ot Bottas, it’s time people are forgetting about Alonso, he’s nothing special, slow in qualy, poor in the rain. Just No, give that seat to a younger driver and make Hamilton No1 for once.

      1. @revelations Poor in the rain? Please elaborate.

      2. If HAM is not a first driver it is because he has been beaten by ROS.
        HAM is a great driver but with one great handicap: his fans.

        1. @erikje ”If HAM is not a first driver it is because he has been beaten by ROS” – leg eens uit

        2. Well said

  8. “He is the best driver in Formula 1 today and the points show that.”

    No, the points show who was most successful over the year.

    1. I dont think Rosberg is better than the 2 Red Bull drivers for example.

    2. Yeah, Toto talks nonsense sometimes. He won the championship because he had the best car and beat his teammate, and some people will argue that doesn’t even prove he’s the best driver in that team.

      Not meant as an attack on Rosberg, just on that quote. There are a lot of people who use that flawed logic when choosing DotW and no doubt DotS, and it gets on my nerves seeing it all the time.

    3. Strategy and tactics are essential in almost every sport. Pure ability isn’t enough. A person or team with slightly lesser ability can win beat a competitor who is better by the use of good tactics and good strategies. Good tactics and strategies are considered as just as essential as pure ability. No one would say a person or team that wins a World Championship or Olympic Gold in any other sport because they used good tactics wasn’t a worth champion.
      The same applies here: Rosberg won the WDC because he used better tactics and strategies than Hamilton did.

      1. @drycrust Rosberg won the WDC because due relialibity, despite Hamilton had so many issues Rosberg only won by five points.

        1. No. Rosberg won the WDC because he was much better at starting races. WHY DO SALTY HAMILTON FANS KEEP FORGETTING THIS!!!! SMH

          1. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
            4th December 2016, 8:59

            They don’t forget the conveniently ignore to try and justify Hamilton getting beaten

          2. No, that failure alone in Malaysia cost Hamilton the title…. of course you knew this…..

          3. Hamilton had a couple of bad starts because of a clutch problem? Toto and Mercedes said had nothing to do with what the driver in the car was doing that it was a hardware issue, they stated it would take atleast a couple of races to fix and then once it was fixed oh look the bad starts stopped?

            I think being a fanboy is routing for a driver no matter what and trashing his opponent, I watch F1 because I want to see the fastest driver win simple as that. When evidence shows that the fastest driver didn’t win the championship purely because of mechanical issues I think that’s a sad year for F1.
            And before you call me some Hamilton fanboy I actually routed for Ricciardo most of the races he was in the mix I like Hamilton,Ricciardo,Alonso,Max pretty evenly because they in my opinion are the most talented drivers on the grid.

          4. And why do people forget all the bad starts Rosberg had? Rosberg didn’t win the WDC because he was a slightly better starter, and he won despite the fact he was the worse of the two Mercedes drivers in 2016

        2. Ah, but the crucial thing is that he WON by those 5 points @revelations. As muc has it was clear that Hamilton was probably not quite a hungry for winning after claiming the 2015 title in Austin, Rosberg didn’t need to dig deeper and try and beat Hamilton on track for the last 4 races this year.

          We will never know whether he would have been able to challenge for more, had it been needed to (if say, Malaysia had turned out differently)

          1. Absolute rubbish on all points….

          2. @bascb
            Unlike Damon85, I actually strongly agree with everything you’ve said. Rosberg may well not have been trying his hardest in the last few races. He may have been just trying to do enough to be the world champion. Knowing what Hamilton and Rosberg have been like overtaking eachother at times, he may have just not wanted to risk overtaking to avoid anything going wrong. I know it would be very unlikely that it would but if it did, it could cost him the title. If he did hold back in the last 4 races, I think that was smart thinking. And like you say, if Hamilton hadn’t had that failure in Malaysia, Rosberg might have performed far better in the last few races. Again, it is unlikely that he could have beaten Hamilton every race but we just do not and will not know.

            I also agree about Hamilton last year. When he had won the title, he didn’t seem to be trying as hard in the final races. And as Rosberg knew he would win if he just finished 2 or 3rd in the last few races, he possibly thought it wasn’t worth taking any unnecessary risk fighting with Hamilton.

        3. @revelations Nico only needed one point to guarantee the WDC.

    4. Toto is just paying Rosberg respect upon his exit….it’s obvious Hamilton is a generational talent, but giving Nico a fond farewell by saying nice words is deserving of Nico’s fight and tenacity. Sure, he needed some luck and misfortune on Hamilton’s side of the garage, but a championship is a championship, and for the rest of his life and beyond he will be a world champion. The knife and dagger battle between he and Hamilton looks to have worn him down completely, and he is now, as champion, ready to move on to a new phase of his life where he can enjoy being a father and husband completely and free in his mind. That is beautiful. I’m a Lewis fan, unquestioned….but I’m very happy for Nico that his dream has been realized and he moves on from the grind with a clear heart earning what he has fought a lifetime to achieve.

      1. Nicely put.

      2. Well said @medman. I don’t think Rosberg could have come up against a much tougher collegue to beat in the other car. We saw that he managed Schumacher in his latter years and after trying since they were first paired 18 years together, he has come out as the winner for the first time over a season.

        I felt a bit disappointed when I read that Hamilton had said his “it’s the first time he has won in 18 years” but when I saw it in that video interview, I get it. It is Hamilton appreciating, maybe even admiring, Rosberg for pulling that off after all those years of coming second best to a driver who was always the faster, more determined one.

  9. Yes (@come-on-kubica)
    4th December 2016, 2:10

    Lol, of course Raikkonen hasn’t called Toto.

    1. @come-on-kubica Maybe there are reasons Kimi is so popular. I do quite like this non-move… and I’d be slightly disappointed with Seb if what Toto said was true.

      1. It wouldn’t surprise me if Kimi is still unaware of the fact that Rosberg has retired.

        1. @kingshark He’ll show up at winter testing with some dude in the second Ferrari and be all like ‘what?’.

        2. I think I saw it mentioned that Kimi was asked about it by a journalist @kingshark.

          What I find interesting is that Toto seems reluctant to even try and poach a top driver off other teams, stating not that he fears disruption in the team, but that he is reluctant to get either Ferrari or McLaren in the doldrums by finding themselves in a position to have to find a replacement now, in December, when everyone is already signed up (interview in Gazetto dello sport – i saw that mentioned somewhere else where they quoted it)

  10. “All drivers apart from Kvyat and Räikkönen.”

    Heh, who would have thought! I’d take that quote with a pinch of salt though, may be there’s a couple more drivers(or their managers/agents) who haven’t called too.

    1. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
      4th December 2016, 6:36

      Actually, that tweet reads that Kvyat and Raikkonen were the only ones who did call.
      Question: who hasn’t called?
      Toto: everyone but Daniil and Kimi hasn’t called.
      … so almost everyone hasn’t called?
      I may be over analyzing this :-)

      1. I think a comma is missing. Everyone, but Kvyat and Kimi haven’t called

      2. Sure, probably only a couple of drivers have called….. but I bet they have had calls from a lot of other drivers managers/agents ;-)

      3. I think you are :)

        Cummon it quite likely they are the only ones not to.

        Raikkonen: probably doesn’t care/know

        Kvyat: just happy he has a drive for next year, doesn’t want to step out of line jeopardise his seat.

    2. Hamilton’s called. And Massa.

    3. Or the managers/agents called and haven’t informed their drivers, after all it is their job to do such a thing. And in case something comes up they offer it: here you have it, do you want it?

      I think there isn’t much to take from that statement to be honest, apart from people doing their job

  11. Everyone should be after that drive. Atleast anyone with championship ambitions.

    If I were sure of my ability as a racing driver, then Hamilton is the guy to beat. Most likeley beating Hamilton next year will result in a chamoionship.

  12. How about Mercedes reserve driver, you know the one with the red cap?

    1. @xtwl Lauda or Schumacher?

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      4th December 2016, 11:17

      Verstappen appears to be available, confirmed by Max himself via twitter.
      @xtwl

      1. Lol Max is kidding, his father Jos as driver!

  13. Very good read in the Motorsport magazine article.

  14. Thanks for the COTD Keith! My first!

    1. Thanks for writing that one Vishy!

  15. Pierre Champoux
    4th December 2016, 13:17

    Replacing Rosberg and solving Mercedes anarchy:
    Mercedes: Alonso+Grosjean
    McLaren: Hamilton+Vandoorne
    Hass: Wehrlein+Magnuss

  16. Given how vocal he’s been recently, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jacques Villeneuve made some attempt to get into the vacant seat! Honestly though, I reckon Wehrlein is in a good position to get there, but I’d love to see Hulkenberg, Perez, or Verstappen up in that top team.

  17. And the other half of the grid want to punch Lauda’s lights out!

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