Hamilton says he faces “impossible odds” in title decider

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton says he faces “impossible odds” to beat Nico Rosberg to the championship in this weekend’s season finale.

The reigning world champion heads to Abu Dhabi needing to win the race with team mate Nico Rosberg finishing off the podium, in order to retain his crown.

Rosberg has a 90% chance of winning the title
“It’s not been a perfect season and I’m faced with pretty impossible odds no matter what I do this weekend,” Hamilton reflected. “But I can’t and won’t give up.”

“You never know what might happen – however unlikely it may seem. I’ll be proud of myself and what I’ve achieved as long as I feel I’ve given my all and performed at my best.”

“And, whatever happens, I’m proud of everyone who’s been a part of the success we’ve shared over the past few years. I’m approaching this weekend the same as I do every race. I want to win and I’ll give it everything to finish the season on a high.”

Mercedes executive director Toto Wolff says his team should be “very proud” of the fact one of its drivers will be champion again.

“But as a group we now have one very important final duty this season,” he added, “to give Nico and Lewis the platform they need to battle it out to the flag.”

“Both of them have been exceptional and either one would make a worthy champion.”

“It’s been a gruelling year for us all, with a record-breaking calendar and the added challenge of a new regulation set to prepare for in 2017,” Wolff added. “After such a battle of endurance, the winner can say without doubt that they earned it.”

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

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    Keith Collantine
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    109 comments on “Hamilton says he faces “impossible odds” in title decider”

    1. Can Nico handle the pressure? that’s the biggest unknown that might swing it towards Lewis. A mistake into the first corner than leaves Nico having to fight his way back up the field will make it a dramatic last race :)

      1. At least he was way better at handling pressure this year. I hope it will be a nice battle!

        1. Will Lewis have a good start?, he hasn’t always so it’s possible he could fumble the start. Will they both make it through turn 1?. Will the law of averages come in to play this season with Nico having a dnf?. A mercedes 1-2 is quite likely. looking forward to it whatever happens.

          1. The law of averages? More like the gamblers fallacy,…

    2. No Toto, you’ve already failed with your platform giving…

      What power unit elements do they both use? same wear on all components?

    3. What equality and giving up equal platform wolf is saying one driver enjoying 100%reliability and the other one in fact no 1 driver had all the reliability issues throughout the season with half of the current unreliability issues Hamilton would’ve been champion 2 race before and wolf saying about equality the damage already has been done and Hamilton is doing everything he can.just wishing him good luck.

      1. Perhaps, but Hamilton would also have been looking at another championship had he been at his best for every race weekend. Fact is, he wasn’t.

        1. Neither was Rosberg.

        2. Fact….Hamilton was at his best during the Malaysian GP, and comfortably leading the race, until with 16 laps to go, and had a complete devastating engine failure. That ended his race, and a likely Hamilton win. Lewis would be leading the WDC as we go into the last race at Abu Dahbi by 16 points, without that engine failure

          1. Fact: Lewis Hamilton made a huge mistake with a massive lock in Mexico. He saved the day only by taking a shortcut and totally ignoring T2.
            Fact: Max Verstappen got a penalty by doing exactly the same, in the same race, in the same turn. He got demoted from the podium. Lewis Hamilton was not penalized.
            Fact: Charlie Whiting blatantly lied when he stated that Lewis Hamilton got no lasting advantage by going off-track. There was no way he could keep inside the track after that lock and still maintain P1.
            The fact is after that lock Lewis lost all chance of winning the Mexican race fairly, he only won because he got away with a swindle.
            The fact is after that lock the best Lewis could reasonably expect was a recovery race up to P2 with a Nico Rosberg win, or a 100% deserved penalty that would have demoted him from P1 and given Nico the win.
            And the fact is that with a Nico win instead of P2 he would already be 26 points ahead, with the 2016 WDC already clinched after his P2 at Interlagos.
            So the point is that in Lewis Hamilton is still in the WDC competition after the Mexican T1 lock it is because of blatant dishonesty, both on his part and Whiting’s.

      2. Nico hasn’t had 100% reliability, He has had mechanical issues but has been fortunate to have them in practice & for them to not have been serious enough to require changes that have result in penalty’s.

        It’s also worth considering that the unreliability early in the year has meant that Lewis has had some advantage more recently as he’s running components with less mileage on them thanks to the several engine changes he went through at Spa to build up a new stockpile.

        1. “unreliability early in the year has meant that Lewis has had some advantage” you mean like he had his brand new engine with barely any miles on it from those new components had failed when he was leading like miles ahead! and Rosberg had gained additional 3 points while Hamilton Lost on 25! Making it nearly 28 points deficit! You think it is not worth considering?

        2. The “Nico hasn’t had 100% reliability” is a story Toto Wolff is repeating like a mantra since REAL issues plaguing Hamilton started to embarassingly defeat the law of averages.
          To be honest, it’s a non-story. Nico HAS 100% reliability.
          Mercedes HAS decided the championship yet.

    4. Nothing is impossible. Trump won the election.

      How dramatic would deliberate first corner double DNF be, like Prost and Senna?

      1. How dramatic would deliberate first corner double DNF be, like Prost and Senna?

        Surely that would be a massive anticlimax?

        1. If Rosberg were to do something like that (deliberately), it would probably involve total DSQ from the championship as per Jerez 1997.

          1. Still seems anticlimactic to me though. After all the build up the championship battle being decided on the first corner just seems like a waste of a race.

          2. @Ryan F Lol why would it be NR? He’s not the one who would risk damaging his own car, for it’s his WDC to lose. It is LH who would benefit from taking NR out, and if he broke his own car doing it, well, nothing ventured nothing gained…odds were ‘impossible’ anyway.

            Thankfully I don’t believe either one of them are a ‘Schumacher’. But since they’re teammates and it’s just down to the two of them, I would think for any incident, imho from hard racing not anything intentional, I think F1 would leave it at that, the drivers having decided it on the track. Different storyline than Jerez 97 where it was drivers from different teams involved.

            1. Lol why would it be NR?

              Erm

              How dramatic would deliberate first corner double DNF be

              Why would it be LH? :/ Double DNF means he loses.

            2. It would obviously be the result of LH trying to knock Rosberg out, while he can keep going.

            3. How about Max Verstappen taking one of them out. Deciding the championship.

          3. No, the first time is free, the second try gets you disqualified.

      2. Surely a massive disappointment. But I doubt he would dare to do that.

    5. A repeat of the 2014 title deciding race at this track will mean Hamilton is champion. Its not that impossible.

      1. I agree. It happened 2 years ago, so the odds are actually not that bad for it to occur again. Considering that Nico has had no mechanical problems (other than a small issue in Canada I believe), I also think it’s about time the law of averages caught up with him.

        If Rosberg starts the race with a gearbox or engine change dropping him 10 places on the grid, it could be an absolutely cracking weekend.

    6. Instinct says that the race will be a bit of a bore fest, If Hamilton is on pole Nico won’t really try passed the first lap to get by he will just sit in 2nd. Unless something crazy happens in the race or unless an engine fails I think Hamilton knows that this year he won’t be champion. It does seem all camps are trying to set out the story based on the most likely outcomes.

      Hamilton is saying he won’t give up but if it doesn’t happen he will be proud of his season, with the underlying tones of “If my car had of held up like Nico’s had then I would be going into this final race with a points lead” which is a fair statement, with Singapore being his only really disappointing drive in terms of performance this season, where he just didn’t show up and was put in the shade by Nico, albeit with car reliability issues during practice and which followed into the race which team confirmed after.

      Toto on the other hand knows he has a potential PR problem in terms of the championship. If Hamilton wins the final race he will have had more races wins, more podiums and more pole positions than Nico yet he won’t be the champion, Toto keeps saying about making sure reliability doesn’t decide the championship, but too a large degree it already has. If we take out the qually issues because you cant actually put a points total lost on those and just look at the engine failure the points standing would look like this

      1st – Hamilton – 380 (+25 points lost in MAL)
      2nd – Rosberg – 364 (-3 points he gained in getting 3rd in MAL instead of 4th if Hamilton had won)

      So Hamilton would head into AD with a 16 point lead in championship. People can debate about Hamiltons drive in Singapore, but then there was Nico in Monaco, we can look at Baku with the engine issue that Hamilton couldn’t fix himself but not being able to take part in Qually 3 times this year and with the engine failure while out in the lead in Malaysia it’s very hard (unless you are crazed fan) that reliabilty hasn’t already played it’s role.

      At the end of the season the driver with the most points will be champion, that’s simple & undeniable. They will be the 2016 F1 world champion in the history books. Whether they will be a “deserving champion” or “worthy champion” is a conversation that will go on and on because there isn’t a correct answer for that outside of fans often biased opinions.

      1. It’s extremely rare for any driver to have 100% reliability though a season, and Nico didn’t have that this year either. Reliability issues are the norm, not the exception. If Nico wins, of course he will be deserving and worthy. He has had nothing to do with LH’s issues, the team has not done anything intentional, and so it is what it is. It’s racing. If Nico wins, LH fans needn’t feel threatened, but will nonetheless go to every length to ensure people understand Nico is not a better driver than LH, and that the team conspired against LH. Fans also thought FA was the better driver on the grid even when SV and LH were crowned Champions in recent years. If LH wins, he will also be deserving and worthy, but it will likely come from a reliability issue for Nico, which LH fans will celebrate as ‘justice’. Suddenly there will not have been a conspiracy after all.

        1. @robbie Well said. All I think we should look forward from here is a nail-biting tense final, and may the seasonal champion be just that. Alas it may well just be a procession with a forgone conclusion after turn one.

          Nevertheless, as you say, all the factors which have got us, Rosberg & Hamilton here, are part and parcel of a typical F1 season. Sometimes one driver runs away with it – sometimes it goes to the wire, with a variety of events having contributed or not.

          The champion will be the champion.

          1. The champion will be the champion

            I haven’t seen anybody denying this. It’s when people start adding description it becomes contentious.

        2. @robbie To be fair Nico’s reliability issues have been covered and haven’t cost him points. It would be a very wide stretch to say Nico has had reliability problems this season. It would also be a very wide stretch to say that reliability hasn’t had a major impact on this years championship, the idea that it would be intentional is just ridiculous but intentional or not ultimately its the teams fault, which they openly admit. Although it is a bit too late now for Toto to talking about giving each driver the best possible chance.

          If Nico wins, of course he will be deserving and worthy.

          That is of course your opinion and I didn’t personally say he wouldn’t, I said there isn’t an answer to that question, for example you think he will but other will think he wont be, now you obviously give reasons why in your mind others wont think he is a worthy but their reasons are just as valid as your reasons for thinking he will be. Hence why I said this will go on and on.

          Should be noted though, both Hamilton & Nico have crazy fans on their side. You just see more of the Hamilton ones because his following is bigger.

        3. He has had nothing to do with LH’s issues, the team has not done anything intentional

          @robbie and how do you know this? At times the issues LH has faced have seemed rather choreographed – it’s not for nothing that his fans suspect he’s been failed deliberately. He himself more or less said it, even if Mercedes later issued a statement ‘clarifying’ his remarks.

        4. Indeed, Nico HAS perfect reliability this season.

      2. Toto on the other hand knows he has a potential PR problem in terms of the championship. If Hamilton wins the final race he will have had more races wins, more podiums and more pole positions than Nico yet he won’t be the champion, Toto keeps saying about making sure reliability doesn’t decide the championship, but too a large degree it already has.

        Yes exactly, this is the point really. In fact if you take out the 4 races Lewis was handicapped in it’ll be 5 wins to 10. Not easy to paint that ‘deserved’ or ‘worthy’.

        1. Of course everybody knows that reliability is no guarantee, let alone 100% reliability. If Toto could change it by winding the clock back and giving both drivers 100% reliability I’m sure he would. But he can’t, nor does it even exist in F1. All this moaning stems from those thinking there’s some conspiracy against LH, including coming from the team and Toto, and that’s pure drivel, propagated in part by LH himself, and therefore run with by his fans.

        2. Looking at it another way, if Hamilton really is the fastest out there as so many think, then the simple fact that Rosberg has beaten him in 5 issue free race weekends (if we use your figures) makes him all the more deserving.

          Personally I don’t buy into the ifs and buts discussion, such as that surrounding Hamilton’s engine problems. There are so many imponderables in racing that it is all too easy to construct a different championship story on the basis of whether something did or didn’t happen. Frankly it’s a pointless exercise. It is a process that could be use to challenge the credibility of so many F1 champions, including Hamilton himself (E.g. 2008 and 2014).

          1. Err that simply makes it obvious that Hamilton wins twice as many races as Rosberg.

            Which funnily enough is exactly what he did each of the last two seasons…

            I mean without those last few wins last year Rosberg was standing on being beaten 5 times for every one he managed to get for whatever reason (his couple of wins were hardly stunning drives) a nutty fact when there is no number one driver.

            I admire Rosberg for coming back for more but when Toto talks about an equal platform, the team failed completely to provide that and it would be far more palatable if someone just stated that instead of fudging around the fact.

            An example, as an engineer it truly saddened me when Paddy put the MGU H failures down to ‘luck’ as any engineer will know it had nothing to do with luck and everything to do with a stunning failure of quality assurance. In other words, the teams responsibility.

            One can call the Malaysia blow up ‘luck’ given the absolute rarity of such failures (as it happened it seemed to be oil pump related) but those continual MGU H failures when not a single other engine has had such a spate of failures. On eight cars across three seasons?

            That is why Mercedes have a PR problem.

            The championship has been scewed as a result.

            1. ‘The championship has been scewed as a result.’ But isn’t that always the case? Reliability and team failures have been and always will be a part of this sport.

              It’s just not meaningful to focus on these issues. The only reason people do it is because such issues can be easily quantified, but the truth is that so many unquantifiable things are at play in determining the outcome that one in isolation becomes an irrelevance; such as what other teams and drivers do, whether a driver has the flu one weekend, the weather, good or bad strategy calls, varying approach according to championship position, the arbitrary decisions of stewards and so on. Hence it is a pointless exercise.

      3. I would suggest NR ambitions (or lack thereof) to win in the races following Malaysia would be completely different had LH won that race. Very hard to just add and subtract to current total.

        1. Just like Hamilton last year? When he lost the last couple of races to Rosberg? Where he created the confidence and way to win at Rosberg? Pretty much there is where Hamilton lost this year. Never show a competitor weakness, didn’t see Senna slack off…

          1. didn’t see Senna slack off…

            Saw him fall off a lot more than Hamilton…

      4. @woodyd91

        Toto on the other hand knows he has a potential PR problem in terms of the championship. If Hamilton wins the final race he will have had more races wins, more podiums and more pole positions than Nico yet he won’t be the champion

        I think that would reflect more badly on F1 than Mercedes. At least as far as has been the case when other drivers have been accused of ‘points-collecting’ their way towards the championship rather than striving to win races.

        1. Against Massa Hamilton also did not have the most wins.. your point?

          1. Oh please…

            This is doing the rounds again I notice.

            With the convenient fact of Spa being forgotten.

            A race that Massa was absolutely nowhere I might add.

    7. In the “good old days” (1970s) this WDC would be 50/50 for Rosberg and Hamilton at this point, given the cars were so much less reliable, the fields were more competitive (there were no structurally-dominant teams such as w/ Mercedes), and the penalty for going off the circuit was that you were last, at best, and often out of the race.

      1. Having beaten the drum many times for scrapping points systems and giving the championship to whichever driver wins the most races, I have to self-servingly point out Rosberg and Hamilton are tied 9-9 by this score heading into the finale.

        1. Who wins the most races is not a fair comparison in a sport that at times, the Team controls finishing order.
          To have a true who wins the most races it seems you would need to eliminate the Team Championship, as it is a conflict of interest in possible finishing order. You would also need to separate the crews inside of the team, so strategy of one driver is not known or exploited by the other driver on the same team.

    8. I imagine Toto is worried the 2016 WDC will be labelled as the WDC that was decided by Mercedes UNreliability. Hence his anxiety to present Rosberg as ‘worthy’ and all the emphasis on closing the stable door, even though of course the horse has long since bolted and in fact reliability NOW just cements the embarrassing outcome in place.

      1. Toto isn’t worried about a thing. Nor has he ‘anxiety’. For he has done nothing intentional, and it is merely the luck of the draw that has seen it come down to this. Far from an embarrassing outcome, he will once again see his team win the WCC and take a 1-2 in the WDC. The highest achievement possible for a team in an F1 season. Toto knows that unreliability always plays a role in every race and every season, including from other teams, whose issues always also affect any race and season for other drivers. Unreliability comes with trying to give the drivers the best car and therefore being on the edge. Having achieved everything again this season Toto has nothing to hang his head over, other than for folks who like to imagine lots of things.

        1. Don’t get me wrong @robbie, I’m not saying Toto ought to feel guilty. Personally I reckon he’d rather Lewis were on course to win it. But he has the brand to nurture, and Rosberg winning through Mercedes unreliability is surely off-message.

      2. I dont think you understand what unreliability means. Please see Kimi 2005 for an accurate definition.

        Thats the kind of unreliability that costs you championships. HAM2016 has had enough of his own errors and failed performances that 1 failed PU literally means nothing.

        Have we forgot that MERC has essentially re-wrote the book on F1 reliability?

        Fans these days.

        1. @The Duke Are you seriously saying that Hamiltons reliability issues this season were limited to 1 PU failure? Seriously??

          You are right – ‘fans these days’.

        2. Hamilton has had his fair share of unreliability this year you must admit. The bad starts have stuffed him up just as much though

        3. I had posted an analysis that showed that Hamilton lost a minimum

          of 37 points to Rosberg this season due to reliability. So, instead of heading in to the championship 12 points down in the last race, Lewis would have actually wrapped up the title again with a race to spare if it wasn’t for mechanical problems.

          While I agree that Kimi 2005 is a great example of losing a championship due to unreliability, let’s not discount the fact that Lewis is also losing this title due to unreliability. While Lewis might not have raced at 100% this season, his 95% was good enough to get the job done on Rosberg.

    9. Reliability is part of the sport. No-one really believes Rosberg is the better driver. They might prefer him or like him or appreciate him, sure.. Ask any team boss who they would rather employ.. But this year Nico was just lucky and Lewis wasn’t

      1. this year Nico was just lucky and Lewis wasn’t

        So true. Unarguable in fact. What’s arguable is people, including Toto of course, trying to redefine luckiness as worthiness. Or, I suppose, to bend the meaning of ‘worthy’ into some politically convenient euphemism.

        Also, as the saying goes, we don’t have to like it.

        1. “What’s arguable is people, including Toto of course, trying to redefine luckiness as worthiness.” Exactly, or indeed luckiness as unworthiness.

          1. In a test of skill you can be both lucky and worthy, but luck doesn’t MAKE you worthy. If your opponent shows more skill then they would be the worthy winner, not you.

            I dread this sneaky playing around with words if Rosberg wins.

            1. I agree. Luck on its own doesn’t make a worthy championship, but lets not pretend that winning 9 GPs and having 8 poles is down to luck. He had nothing to do with Hamilton’s failures and just did a good job. It is nonsense to suggest that having luck makes you unworthy. There is always an element of luck (e.g. Hamilton in Monaco). If it was as simple as that, then logically you would say Hamilton wasn’t worthy of his first championship, when clearly he was. There will be no need to play with words if Rosberg wins. It will be enough to say he is the world champion.

            2. It is nonsense to suggest that having luck makes you unworthy.

              I specifically pointed out I didn’t say that. Luck and worthiness are largely independent of each other. This is you playing with words.

              It will be enough to say he is the world champion.

              I’ve also pointed out nobody is denying this. Just say you support Rosberg, instead of all this unedifying invention.

      2. Nico was just lucky and Lewis wasn’t

        Nico was there to pick up the points Lewis left behind. Lewis was just too inconsistent this year. After Malaysia he showed his true talent, pole to flag victory in every race. So where was that talent in the previous 14 races? What happened in Baku? Singapore? Japan? He’s too inconsistent, he too emotional, too distracted and doesn’t deserve a title this year imo.

        1. He’s too inconsistent, he too emotional, too distracted

          If it wasn’t for reliability Hamilton would have wrapped the championship up ages ago. If he really is “too emotional, too distracted and doesn’t deserve a title this year” what does that say about Rosberg? Since Rosberg couldn’t even outdrive Hamilton.

          Some people really just vomit drivel all over the internet.

        2. Nobody has a perfect season, ever. For example Rosberg was also slow away in Oz, hopeless in Monaco, multiple mistakes in Canada, bad start in Germany, wrong mode in Spain (not to mention swerving blind across the track), last lap error + penalty in Austria, got passed in Becketts, got passed in COTA and Mexico.

          So it’s Rosberg who’s been less consistent, if anything. Meanwhile Hamilton’s wins in Monaco, Canada, Austria, Silverstone, Hungary and Germany seem to have flown out of your mind.

        3. He’s too inconsistent, he too emotional, too distracted and doesn’t deserve a title this year imo.

          Lol what n0nsense. You are what, his shrink now?
          Presumptuous much?

      3. But this year Nico was just lucky

        First it was Nico was winning because his engineers are telling him how to drive, then it was Nico is winning because the team won’t give the 2nd driver (Lewis) a different race strategy, then it was Nico is winning because the teams swapped mechanic, then is was Nico is winning because “a higher up” wants him to win, then it was Nico is winning because Lewis’ unreliability… now Nico is winning because of luck. lol!! What will you people think of next?

        1. If Nico was capable of winning a race by out-driving everyone else then people would give him more credit. But he seems more than happy to get his wins from mistakes and unreliability from Lewis rather than spectacular driving or overtakes. In fact I think the number of times he was “done” by Hamilton the last few years have made him a very fragile racer mentally. It seems like whenever he’s in a scrap he comes off worse not just with Hamilton…

          If he wins then he wins and he will go down in history as WDC. But he will be a forgettable WDC.

          1. rocket_jocket81
            22nd November 2016, 14:30

            The tortoise beat the hare, because the hare made the “mistake” of being complacent and fell asleep on the trackside, yet no-one complains about the tortoise being a forgettable or unworthy champion.

            If Nico wins, there will be conversations years down the line where people will complain about the injustice of him winning the 2016 WDC. Pub quizzes will ask about father/son F1 WDC. Hell he might even appear on a list of “Pointless” F1 WDC answers if they are still filming in 20 years time. He may come and go as a winner of a single WDC but he will not be forgotten.

            As a Williams alumni I am rooting for Nico than the former McLaren man. I have nothing against Lewis, it just this stems from the ’91 and ’92 rivalry between Williams/Mansell and McLaren/Senna, which were key years to the development of my love affair with F1 in the first place.

    10. Hamilton with bad starts and penalties would be as champion as Rosbeg is now if it were not for that faulty brand new engine on Malaysia.

      Hamilton lost a huge amount of time getting to grips with the clutch and very uninspired races at Singapura and Baku. But even with that he didn’t lost as many points as he did with the unreliability of his car. And still he got to the last race only 12 points behind.

      This is by no means his best season, but if i were to say who was the better of the two, again i would vote Hamilton. Rosberg is the driver of the easy races. Perfect weather conditions and pole positions. His performances when an extra element was put in were always way inferior to Hamilton.

      1. “Hamilton with bad starts and penalties would be as champion as Rosbeg is now if it were not for that faulty brand new engine on Malaysia.”

        Hamilton with GOOD starts and showing up in races like Japan/Singapore and NOT hitting walls in Baku would be champion right now even with that faulty brand new engine in Malaysia.

        You see how that works?

        1. Hamilton with GOOD starts and showing up in races like Japan/Singapore and NOT hitting walls in Baku would be champion right now even with that faulty brand new engine in Malaysia.

          Hamilton has lost 14 points to Rosberg through starts this year, not enough to give him the championship.

          He had (again) reliability problems in Singapore that hampered his weekend and his only really problem he had in Japan was a bad start from a dirty and damp grid slot, hardly the same as not turning up is it ;)

          You see how that works?

          That either way Hamilton outdrove Rosberg this year?

          1. Out driving doesn’t a championship make….

            If so, Kimi would have 2 maybe 3. Alonso would have none. Massa would have 1 and Hamilton 2. Schumacher would have maybe 9? Senna? Who knows….

            Points however make the championship.

            1. Out driving doesn’t a championship make….

              “Out driving does not a championship make”, doesn’t is just plain wrong (though +1 for the phrasing, I do enjoy a good “x does not a y make”)

              Out driving doesn’t a championship make….

              Did I say that it did? If that is the only thing you can reply with then I guess you are agreeing with my corrections to your original post.

    11. Its nearly what we want. A final race showdown with a joker, ‘Max’ quite capable of pushing them down the order. Probably and particularly an understandably defensive Nico. To be fair to Niceberg he usually chokes a lot earlier in the season but the damage inflicted this time would probably be terminal. Have to say I cant wait and unlike 2008, which I can only now enjoy, with this last race, Lewis fans and Lewis himself can relax. Probably….

    12. Fun facts.

      If you completely remove the 4 races where Lewis was affected by un-reliability & penalty’s as a result of unreliability (China, Russia, Spa & Malaysia) Rosberg would still have been leading the championship for most of the year & only lost his lead after Mexico. And going into next weekend Lewis would be only be leading the championship by 7 points.

      1. Err…I think you mean “fun fiction” @gt-racer

      2. You sure @gt-racer? I make it 39.

        Rosberg loses 90 points from those four races (3×25 & 15) and Hamilton loses 39 (6,18,15,0), taking 367 to 277 and 355 to 316.

      3. If you want to post some “Fun Facts” in future make sure that they’re actually facts ;)

        By your own rules Hamilton would have been leading the championship by Canada, not Mexico (58-56 after 4 races) and would have held the lead for the rest of the championship. He would currently be leading the championship by 39 points and would have already secured the title.

        1. @lockup I failed!

          Don’t try & go through stats & do math when jet-lagged I guess, Especially using a note pad that is already full of numbers.

          1. Lol fair play @gt-racer. It would have been a very newsworthy stat!

    13. Many times I went on a date with impossible odds… 10% chances sound about right… But playing my cars right, I got lucky more than 10% times.

      But he seems to be bringing his best racer excuses… Impossible odds etc.

    14. Funny how had Lewis not called off the investigation in Japan and allowed Mercedes/FIA to investigate Max’s move, and Max did lose 2nd place, he would been in a winner take all situation in Abu Dhabi. None to blame but yourself, Lewis!

      1. Check your maths. Hamilton would only gain 3 points from 2nd in Japan, so still 9 behind with only a 7 point advantage available. Rosberg would still win by 2 points coming 2nd in Abu Dhabi.

    15. To all Hamilton’s fans out there: don’t despair… I believe that Mercedes and/or FIA stewards will find some way to give Lewis another title…

      1. i have a strange feeling that something stupid will happen to nico (technical dnf, bad start or verstapponado)

      2. It’s funny that, if this really happens, Hamilton would still be by far the mercedes driver most affected by reliability issues in 2016. Just saying.

        1. …and Rosberg would still be by far the mercedes driver most affected by race penalties, as Hamilton would still be by far the driver who escaped more penalties in 2016. Just saying.

      3. You would think if Mercedes wanted to “give” him the title, they would give him an equally reliable car. If we want to play conspiracy theory then it’s more likely that the German directors of the team feel that Nico would represent the Mercedes brand better than Lewis as a way to associate the team more with the German Mercedes brand than with the British F1 team.

        1. Oh, yes, very sharp reasoning. And it’s for that reason that Mercedes took Hamilton, paying him more than double (compared to Rosberg) when Schumacher retired. They clearly wanted to favour Nico, putting the fastest opponent in the other car, paying him so much more, and letting him push his team-mate off the track so many times in the last 3 seasons…

    16. Assuming Nico wins this year, I believe Lewis will have the best revenge when he comes back and takes the championship away from Nico next year, who will realize his win was just a blip. Lewis is the better, and a great driver, so if he and Nico have similar mechanical reliabilities, then Lewis will come out on top as the winner. I don’t think Mercedes is going to be un-throned next year, so the WDC will going to a Mercedes driver.

    17. I’ll admit, at first I was part of the “Nico is only going to win the championship because of Lewis’ bad reliability” camp. But, when all is said and done, Lewis had factors WITHIN his control that could have greatly improved his standing.

      Up until Suzuka, Lewis and Nico actually lost the same number of positions on the first lap (12 each). Lewis’ very poor start in Japan is definitely the one that has impacted him most, and I’m not buying that it’s the clutch’s fault, at least not at such a late stage in the season.

      On top of that, there was his sub-par qualifying and race in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

      Don’t get me wrong, Lewis is most definitely the faster driver and more complete racer, beating Nico in virtually every department, and YES, Lewis would be in a far better position without the reliability problems. However, arguing that Nico shouldn’t win the title whilst failing to accept that Lewis could have made more of some of the opportunities given to him over the course of the season… is petulant at worst and naive at best.

      1. I should note, the “12 places lost” is ignoring Spain, Bahrain (when Bottas collided with Lewis) and Malaysia (Vettel with Nico).

      2. If Lewis had driven the first perfect season in motor racing history @ninjenius, he’d have been too far ahead to be caught by a string of car failures, absolutely correct.

        1. +1
          @ninjenius
          If Rosberg had performed slightly better, he wouldn’t have to rely on Lewis’ mechanical woes to wrap up that title.

          Btw, I’m still on the bandwagon that you jumped off ;)

      3. Lewis had factors WITHIN his control that could have greatly improved his standing

        So has Rosberg. The very fact that Hamilton goes into the last race of the season with a chance of winning the championship after losing between 40-80 points due to mechanical issues is testament to how poorly Rosberg has performed over the course of the season. Had he driven a season like Hamilton did last year and put the championship out of reach with 3 races to go then I think you’d find there’d be a lot less discussion about it.

        Lewis’ very poor start in Japan is definitely the one that has impacted him most

        Rosberg started on pole. Assuming he went on to win the race regardless (which is not an unfair assumption) then Hamilton’s bad start cost him 3 points, hardly life changing.

        On top of that, there was his sub-par qualifying and race in Azerbaijan and Singapore.

        Singapore he was again hampered by mechanical issues. And given the engine issues he had in the race in Baku it is hard to say exactly how better off he would have been with a better qualifying performance (a podium finish might have still been out of reach).

        However, arguing that Nico shouldn’t win the title whilst failing to accept that Lewis could have made more of some of the opportunities given to him over the course of the season… is petulant at worst and naive at best.

        I’ve not see anyone say he shouldn’t. All the discussion has been around how much that would actually mean if he did. Simply put anything less than a championship win is a disaster for Rosberg given that there is only 1 other person on the grid with a car capable of racing him and he effectively started the season on -60 points.

    18. Hamilton was too arrogant after winning the title in 2015. He “gave up” the final 3 races in 2015 to Rosberg and lost the first 4 races in 2016. It’s almost like he forgot he was a racing driver for half a year. Points from the beginning of the season matter just as much as points from the end. I will admit, after his snapchat meltdown in Japan, he’s been driving superbly. Toto should have taken away his snapchat much earlier!

      1. Points from the beginning of the season matter just as much as points from the end

        Love this insight, gotta say. It’s almost as if you watched the races.

    19. Impossible odds? I’d say it’s 50%/50%. I understand his mantra though.
      I’d say being as far as Lewis was, which is not that far but far enough, means the same as being 5 points or tied from or a little in front. The difference is the pressure and how can you win the title, but I don’t think it matters. The difference is that Nico’s advantage put him in a position that he could win regardless of anymore retirements for either side, and that’s a big advantage but, such as no more retirements went on, losing 25 in Abu Dhabi is probably as much as a factor as Nico not finishing 2nd, finishing became everything, Nico going at the win would do him more harm than good, look at Marc Marquez in motogp, he managed his advantage perfectly, Rossi fell, he won the title. Being in Lewis position meant no matter what he did the title was Nico’s to lose, that’s an advantage I reckon, but again it doesn’t mean anything if both drivers generally either win or lose 7 points every single GP. Generally you would take the advantage and try to win the title but the truth is, considering that they generally finish 1-2, reliability was always going to decide the title between them. Lewis might have a had a lucky malaysian gp and benefit from nico’s early woes and still end up losing the title elsewhere and in Abu dhabi because of a dnf. I reckon by the time of the Malaysian GP it became unlikely that the title would get decided before the last round, probably only a slate of bad luck would end the title at that stage.

      1. 50%/50% is a ridiculous over estimation of Hamilton’s chances to win

        I’d say being as far as Lewis was, which is not that far but far enough, means the same as being 5 points or tied from or a little in front.

        Err pardon? I’ve read this a few times and it really doesn’t seem to be a coherent sentence. It seems like you are say that Hamilton’s current position is the same as being tied or only 5 points behind? If so that is completely untrue. If that were the case Hamilton could win the championship just by winning in Abu Dhabi, but he can’t

        The difference is that Nico’s advantage put him in a position that he could win regardless of anymore retirements for either side

        That’s not the case either, if Nico is unfortunate enough to retire Hamilton only needs 3rd to take the title (I think Nico wins on countback if Hamilton is 4th in this case)

    20. Some people seem to be acting like Hamilton only had engine problems in one race. Do people think he started at the back at Spa for fun? Or the fact he had multiple component failures on previous power units and yet still has ended up only 12 points behind Nico with a race to go?

      It feels like the more success and records Hamilton breaks the more people dislike him, and almost all of it comes from things that have nothing to do with Formula 1..Hamilton is now 2nd only to Michael Schumacher in wins, if people think Nico is on the same level as Hamilton I think there’s a bit of fanboyism going on there.

      The only time we really get to see the true skill of F1 drivers in this sport lets face it is during proper wet races. Rosberg was yet again absolutely nowhere near Lewis in the rain and only ended up 2nd because of Red Bull’s horrific bad luck with strategy, Max managed to spin out and still managed to start pulling ahead of Rosberg..Yet Lewis had no problem at any point in keeping the gap to Max? I just feel like sometimes I’ve been watching a different season to some people.

    21. Evil Homer (@)
      22nd November 2016, 4:28

      I don’t think you can ever write off a driver like Lewis but I am hoping Rosberg can get the job done and even take the win and finish off in style.

      Hard to believe we are at the end of the season already, glad I have a heap of stuff recorded to watch again in the off season!

    22. Raikonnen faced even worse odds in 2007, but he did it.
      The Championship is still open!

    23. Todd (@braketurnaccelerate)
      22nd November 2016, 6:19

      I really hope Rosberg blows up during the reconnaissance lap.

    24. With so much talk of reliability throughout the season, it’s hard to remember why they ever removed the 11 best finishes policy. (Would need to be a higher amount now obviously!)

      1. I never liked that rule and yes, it would be pretty much redundant now.

    25. I hope Rosberg wins simply because he is the underdog and Hamilton has so little humility it is impossible to like him. I couldn’t care less who is the ‘better’ driver.

      1. @Go Rosberg So why exactly are you interested in F1 again?

        1. Sorry, I didn’t realise that one is only allowed to be interested in F1 if they want Hamilton to win. I assumed this was a sport like any other where fans don’t have to back the fastest or best player.

          1. I think what he meant was you seem more interested in a drivers personality than driving ability, so what is the point in watching F1. A sport that’s meant to represent the pinnacle of motorsport technology and have the best racing drivers in the world. If you aren’t interested in seeing the absolute best driving ability from the drivers but more interested in the personality’s what is the point in watching F1..?

            I can’t recall the last time I heard a football supporter care about premier league players personality’s they watch because they want to see the best football players in the world doing what they do best, because it is a sport not Eastenders..What has happened to the F1 fanbase recently..Have people gotten so bored of the current format the only thing they can do is moan about a drivers personality..?

            1. I know exactly what he meant. But I didn’t say that I wasn’t interested in driving ability. I said I couldn’t care less if the WDC is the best driver. There’s a big difference. Surely we as fans are permitted to back drivers who are not necessarily the best aren’t we? Just like I might support a football team that has no hope of winning the championship. Such choices are based on far more than mere talent. If they weren’t we would all back the same people, which is clearly no fun at all. It terms of the F1 fanbase changing, I don’t know what you’ve been watching but F1 has been about personalities as much as speed since the beginning.

    26. “Impossible odds” = 7/2

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