Abu Dhabi Grand Prix -- SPOILER ALERT!!!!

[whitenemesis]

The original title for this thread was going to be

"Mercedes to Suspend Hamilton"

First off, let me congratulate Nico on his championship win. A consistent performance throughout the season, well done. I'd also like to say I think Lewis could have been a little more gracious in his congrats to Nico.....

As far as the headline possible suspension of Lewis for repeatedly ignoring team instructions to "pick up the pace", get a grip Totto!! Either you let a driver drive his own race or he will simply be a pilot for you. I don't think there would be a driver on (or off) that grid that would not have done exactly the same.

Lewis's tactic gave us a very enjoyable race with uncertainty right to the last lap, a very good watch

Perhaps, if Mercedes didn't want Lewis to back Nico into the approaching Ferrari and Red Bull they shouldn't have entered him in this final race.

Bring on next season's faster cars, can't wait :bannana:

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Snap. Hehehe. I'll pop a link to your thread from mine.

Ant.

 

[whitenemesis]

Ooops sorry Ant, not sure how I missed yours

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/ot-off-topic-forums/217264-conclusion-f1-season-result-enclosed.html

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Ooops sorry Ant, not sure how I missed yours

No worries mate. Easy done. Your OP s better than mine anyhow.

Agree with everything you said. I ADORE Lewis as a driver. But not as a person.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Excited to hear that Sky F1 HD will be broadcasting in 4K next year UNTIL I heard it is for Sky Q customers only.

 

[bob6600]

Of course Lewis was going to do whatever he could to hamper Rosberg, who wouldn't??

Rosberg's overtake of VES was crucial.

Vettel's overtake of VES was excellent, a bit more like the Seb of old.

Excited to hear that Sky F1 HD will be broadcasting in 4K next year UNTIL I heard it is for Sky Q customers only.

Don't think the current boxes are compatible

 

[whitenemesis]

Sad to read Sky will be the only live broadcaster of F1 from 2018

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Sad to read Sky will be the only live broadcaster of F1 from 2018

Agreed, unfortunately I think we all saw it coming.

 

[derekthetree]

There was an interesting editorial in CAR that suggested making raceday tickets free, and charge to watch on tv/stream, in order to get more atmosphere and attendance at the circuits...

 

[DSB SL AMG]

I think Rosberg deserved the championship in the end, i know Hamilton had some mechanical issues over the season but points were lost with a few bad starts as well...bearing in mind he lost the championship by only 5 points.

Probably most drivers would have done what Hamilton did today with backing the traffic up, his world championship at stake, if he had done this sooner in the race maybe the result would have been different...however i think his post match reaction was poor, either way he should have been professional in wishing his team mate genuinely well, stiff upper lip and putting a brave face on things is what brits do best...will be interesting next season for sure, particularly with the new regs!

 

[artyman]

I'm pleased that Nico managed to hold on to win the championship, although I think Lewis is the better driver of the two, he however won himself no friends in his grudging congratulations. Having three championships under his belt already you would have thought he could have been a bit more gracious in defeat. A differnet character to Jenson, who I will be sad to see go.

 

[Dryce]

Sad to read Sky will be the only live broadcaster of F1 from 2018

I was upset when the BBC lost half the live races.

Then I realised I actually preferred the highlight programmes. F1 isn't normally interesting enough to sustain my attention for a full live programme anymore.

Look at today's race. Prime example. Hamilton could dictate the pace. One of the most modern circuits in F1 is boring. Despite revisions the cars are techncal masterpieces that don't actually enable drivers to race full-on.

F1 apparently controls coverage of the race with its own production team - and yet the coverage of the race is often quite poor - focusing on the wrong cars at the wrong time.

 

[John Jones Jr]

Delighted for Rosberg, as for Hamilton...don't really know what to say other than the C4 post race interview with him was most telling.

 

[John Jones Jr]

An understandable and rational post race view by Wolff.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...inary-action-mercedes-abu-dhabi-f1-grand-prix

 

[whitenemesis]

The man is a racer fighting to get out of a business man's body..

 

[Deleted member 37751]

Why do so many people focus on Hamiltons persona when talking about his driving?

Yes, he's surly and a bit of a tosser but please believe me in a straight shoot-out between him and Rosberg I'd wager big money on Hamilton all day long, and the fact that he slowed down and still won the race says everything. I think it was Sterling Moss who said "the trick is to win the race as slow as possible".

 

[Deleted member 113659]

There's no doubt (in my mind) that Lewis is the better driver. But his attitude in defeat (for a professional) is awful. I lost count of the amount of times he mentioned his bad luck throughout the season(unreliability). What about Nico's bad luck in the same race in 2014? After that same race Nico made his way up to the drivers post race room to congratulate Lewis on his WDC.

What about his good luck in the last race of 2008.

IMO he's very UN-gracious in defeat. (But a mega racer)

Ant.

 

[Dryce]

Why do so many people focus on Hamiltons persona when talking about his driving?

Because he is what he is ?

Yes, he's surly and a bit of a tosser but please believe me in a straight shoot-out between him and Rosberg I'd wager big money on Hamilton all day long, and the fact that he slowed down and still won the race says everything.

Your wager wouldn't be a certainty.

I'd look at the weather forecast before laying down money on either of them against the other.

LH is very fast on some days. My take on Baku was that it probably happened because he doesn't put in enough off track work.

As for slowing down and winning. Yas Marina has prior form on this sort of thing. LH is to be commended on doing it very effectively.

Basically LH got the start right this time. Job done. That's F1 at some circuits. The sad thing is that Yas Marina is a relatively new circuit. The racing should be better.

I hope Mercedes don't take action against LH. It was an exceptional situation - and the constructors' championship was in the bag.

At the end of this NR started the season brilliantly. Managed the pressure of being up against one of the strongest teamates a driver could have. We could all see how for both of them it was about losing points and that minor mistakes or simple mishaps on track could be disproportionately costly.

I think today if LH had got the WDC then NR would be crushed. So LH didn't just have the WDC slip away - he's facing a teammate who can beat him more often than he likes who will probably have an even stronger mindset next year.

There are small moments in F1 that are sometimes memorable. And back in 2014 at Yas Marina towards the end when losing the WDC with his car wounded the team radioed NR to tell him to retire. He said we wanted to continue. I think many drivers would have taken the opportunity to retire in those circumstances.

 

[rockits]

Surely the whole point in being the best in the world at something means you are sacrificing everything at whatever cost. You think of nothing except winning & being champ. You are risking your life, relationships of all kinds & often marriages. You can't be the very best in the world at something in this day & age but still maintain balance. Did She Chris Hoy balance stuff when he was at his top.....no....although he probably attempted it better than Lewis.

I don't know Lewis so can't comment on if he is a nice bloke or not. I have no problem with him or anyone until I meet them & spend time to get to know them. He did nothing wrong in trying to win a race & championship in any way he can. Surely that is the point of being the best in the world to do so at at any cost. You are prepared to lay it all on the line & take some real heat to achieve this. It takes some blind commitment & balls to do this. You can become a very lonely person quickly with this attitude but you can't knock it.

Ayrton Senna was no different & probably worse. We all loved his ability, desire and racing though. Lewis isn't much different to Ayrton. Is he?

 

[brucemillar]

What Toto is saying is "we have 1500 people in this team. 1499 of them do what they are asked to do. No one person is bigger than the team". Lewis was risking a team finish in a team sport as well as NR' and his own race. The team, NR & LH all knew that NR only had to take LH out of the race to be champion - He didn't. Up until Saturday night LH was happily giving interviews stating that he would "not employ any tricks" and would drive fairly.

Remember: All he was being asked to do by his team, the team that given him everything he has, was to drive fairly and race. He has spent a season asking for more speed, then an entire race not using the speed he has been given.

His lack of grace on the podium and post race interviews is frankly embarrassing for him and the other 1499 people who work so hard to give him everything that they can. His "win at any cost" attitude is seen by many in the sport just wrong and betrayal of the team. Put simply he needs to man up and show some respect. He has the best machinery in the best team and therefore the best platform to demonstrate his undoubted talent. His petulance let's him down and insult's Paddy Lowe.