‘Hamilton should pay me to take out Rosberg’, jokes Button

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Jenson Button jokes about Sunday’s upcoming title-decider.

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Nico Rosberg has a healthy championship lead but that won’t necessarily make his tactics for Sunday any more straightforward.

I’m really looking forward to seeing how Rosberg approaches this race. Does he attack and go for the win or does he try and keep out of trouble and make sure of a podium finish? I can’t imagine he’ll want to get too close to Hamilton during the race as he has nothing to lose however if he is in second, Hamilton gets choice of pit stops etc… and that could cause Rosberg problems if the Red Bulls or Ferraris are on it.

Can you imagine how Rosberg will feel during the race? Every slight noise the car makes or anything that doesn’t quite feel right will cause panic. Red Bull are already guaranteed second in the constructors and Ferrari third so there is nothing to lose for them either – they can turn everything up to 10 and hope their cars get through to the end. Rosberg has to keep everything turned down well within the ‘safety zone’.
@PeteBaldwin

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86 comments on “‘Hamilton should pay me to take out Rosberg’, jokes Button”

  1. Rosberg better than Senna says Hamilton. Well how about that for a Headline! :-)

    1. I’m sure many will come to conclusion that he is talking about Schumi as soon as your hear the word dirty. But, yeah I will take your answer in this case lol

      1. It can be argued that Senna returned the favour to Prost for the previous seasons antics….

        I am hoping for a clean and trouble free finish for the season…

        1. I have to say i was not aware the sporting regulations held a paragraph “a driver may crash deliberately into another driver’s vehicle if driver b had It coming”

          1. @mrboerns
            It’s there, right next to the rule stating “The President of FISA will use spurious reasons to disqualify a driver if doing so gifts a Championship to his fellow countryman.”

          2. @beneboy
            I used to think his reasoning for disqualification was ridicolous. Actually i’m at the point i want this to be applied to everyone every race. Member staying on track? Oh, i member!

          3. @mrboerns: “Member staying on track? Oh, i member!”

            LOL, congrats for both the sentiment and the South Park reference :)

        2. I am hoping for a clean and trouble free finish for the season…

          That’s worst case scenario. A proper scandal would do F1 good, help distract from a somewhat boring season and give us some talking points over the winter. A racing incident, an investigation, a disqualification, public fallout, an appeal, a court case… that would be fun. And make the off-season shorter.

  2. Jenson, you will be missed! Dont exactly think he needs the money, could do it as a favour to his old team mate!!!

    1. I like Rally Cross. Go race there Jenson, it’s more fun than WEC…

      1. @jcost i was commenting on taking rosberg out of the finale, but yeah, i think rally cross is higher upchis list than wec, or maybe something else with honda, maybe super gt

  3. When’s a McLaren going to get close to a Mercedes? On the first pitstop or 2/3 during the race when they’re lapped? ;)

    Good to see Jenson’s bowing out with a bit of humour either way. Part of me still wants to see him parachuted into the car if things don’t work out so well, but if that’s the case the car is likely so bad that Alonso is already in WEC and McLaren can’t find another driver.

    Anyway, cheers for all the memories JB! Another British champion – you’ve done us proud.

    1. Yeah, Button mentions it would have to be when he gets lapped by Rosberg @gregkingston. I really like him talking like that, making a bit of fun, but also some more serious bits.

    2. Hi acknowledges it will have to be when he gets lapped… that’s a really nice interview, he’s a nice guy and will be missed.

  4. Instead of Lewis paying Jenson he should go up to Max and whisper in his ear ” Nico says your mom has a bigger moustache than a fireman”. Might work.

    1. Do you really think Hamilton can do anything to make Max Verstappen go any more agressively to get the podium and try for the win if he thinks there is a chance Josh?

      1. Just a little joke, I’m sure Max will be on it 110% this weekend.

        1. if his team doesnt get him out of the way first like so many times this year…

    2. That wouldn’t upset Max, seeing as it’s true… :)

    3. Lewis needs a bad start from Nico, one than sends him to 6th or 7th and by the end of the race he finds himself behind HAM (leading), VES and – at least – RIC.

      Without luck or a big mistake from Nico, Lewis has no chance.

      1. Like Lewis’s car blowing up in Msia? or Rosberg’s 2 years ago?

    4. Haha!

  5. Sebastian Vettel sent me a WhatsApp the other day. I was shocked! Not just because he sent me a WhatsApp, I was shocked by the content. Unbelievable! I still wouldn’t invite him though.

    Wow Jenson… I’m not sure if that speaks more of his character, or Vettel’s.

    1. That’s probably because Seb would cuss out the waiters, the chef and Jenson at some point in the night :P

    2. “Here’s a WhatsApp message for Charlie!”
      …I’ll get my coat.

    3. Anyone else get a click bait vibe reading that part of the interview?

      “I got a whatsapp from Vettel. What it said will shock you!”
      “F1 drivers cannot believe what Vettel puts in his whatsapp messages”
      “See the Vettel whatsapp that left this World Champion speechless”

      1. “Earn £££’s using this WhatsApp message they all wanted to ban. The contents will shock you!”

  6. As a Malaysian, the government’s stance on investment into F1 is perfectly understandable. In the 18 years that F1 has graced our shores, its hard to say that the sport has captivated the minds of the masses. It simply hasn’t happened.
    In the beginning, there was a big push to get a local driver onto the grid, which was achieved in the form of Alex Yoong. The result of that was nothing short of disastrous. It probably did more harm than good. The Lotus/Caterham debacle did little to help their cause.
    On the flip side however, the likes of Jazeman Jaafar, Nabil Jefri and Weiron Tan would not have had the opportunity to further their young racing careers in Europe if it wasn’t for the platform that was afforded by the government’s initial investments into F1. Unfortunately for them, they’ve arrived as relatively established junior formulae drivers at possibly the worst possible time.
    Petronas (aka Malaysia’s piggy bank) simply don’t have the funds to carry the can by themselves. The financial climate in Malaysia is such that corporate community aren’t interested in chucking millions into a sport that is proving to offer diminishing returns.
    F1 made sense as a global marketing platform in 1999, perhaps it was relevant until the end of the Naughties. Now, its relevance pales in comparison to what it once was. Just look at how empty space there is on the cars!
    The situation with the race in Sepang is a perfect example of how F1 has failed as a marketing platform, as this was the primary reason for Malaysia’s initial investment. Liberty Media should take note that while MotoGP at the same venue has gone from strength to strength, F1 will no longer race there.
    MotoGP wins simply because the common man affords to take his family to the race, while F1 tickets are simply unattainable for majority of Malaysians.

    1. Some good points in there @jaymenon10, and I too find it perfectly reasonable that Malaysia is not seeking to continue the deal.

      Maybe if Liberty improves what the sport offers, improves how it connects to fans, then in the future we can see the sport return to a great track like Sepang. But on current terms, I am sure there are more pressing matters to put money behind.

    2. Yes, i think F1 helped put Malaysia on the map which is incredible to think now… but now F1 needs Sepang more than Malaysia needs F1…

    3. Thanks for the comment.

    4. I take your points. But from my view, Malaysia has made a massive contribution to F1.

      F1 has also made a massive contribution to Malaysia, but that’s besides the point.

      I hope an agreement can be reached to keep this race on the calendar. It’s in my top 3, always has been. Malaysia will be missed.

  7. I’m enjoying Ham’s brain games. They say Jose Mourinho got brain games when all he’s stating is his own candid opinion, maybe it is a bluff or not. I can’t believe that Ham really does think that highly of Nico. He shouldn’t. The part on fair tactics is pure gold. Ham brought up fair tactics and then proceeded to state his opinion, answering a question that nobody raised. He asserts more pressure and above all he starts by implying that Nico has been a dirty driver in the past and then he’s enforcing that view that he has implied, that’s how you start stereotypes by the way.
    I believe both are just as talented, but we know Lewis has a better understanding of f1, he generally gets that extra bit of performance from everywhere, the rest is about nerves and luck.

    1. I don’t think he does either @peartree, although maybe Toto and Niki put in some really tough positions IF something like that would happen? But I agree it is a good way to put that bit of extra pressure on Nico.

      If Nico starts getting bugged by questions about this, it might just nig him into feeling that HIS chances are desperate (and start making mistakes with strategy) instead of keeping a cool head and just finishing second (unless he is off course the faster one this weekend) and get the title.

    2. He doesn’t imply that Nico has been a dirty driver in the past. He is talking about the likes of Senna and Schumacher and tactics they have used in Championship deciding races.

      1. @robbie He doesn’t say it, to me he’s implying that.

  8. It’s well know that I don’t fancy JB. I used to be a JB fan, I’m not a JB fan because I’ve long realised that his performances don’t match the trust put in him, and he’s been moaning for 2 years now. I’m not anti, I’m just not that blissful to confuse petulance and grumpiness as sarcasm. Amidst Jb’s moans there are “dog whistles”. As a pundit DC revealed and highlighted the inner working of teams, many facts that I didn’t took in consideration before. JB unlike DC is a current driver so to assert his opinions JB often whispers the true nature of human relations in his statements. By suggesting that he could crash on Nico, JB is not just being sarcastic. JB is cryptic with the entire paragraph. What Button’s talking about is true, we may not realise it but these stuff happens all the time. Critiquing that the title is down to reliability, quickly turns into a jab at drivers earning favours for whatever reason, conspiracies of the sort of causing artificial safety cars or hold cars on blue flags or let somebody pass easily or calling other drivers not to interfere and finally highlighting that Lewis as shown by his wealth is a much more valuable pick for the championship and that fact could sway the title. I don’t like Jb’s comment because regardless of the funny side and the truth in it, he has nothing to do with the title.

    1. You coulda been an f1 driver with that ego

      1. How’s Nigel doing btw?

      2. Tony and Mog ever heard of objective motor journalism? There’s no such thing. I gave my subjective opinion on JB not on what he said or what F1 has been. It’s not a surprise to me that when somebody points out objective and factual information, he gets labelled inane.

    2. you must be fun on a night out @peartree

      1. @brawngp Maybe if f1 did drink and drive it could be an honest and fun sport.

    3. Quite a subjective interpretation there. Not sure I agree with your conclusions, although I can see where you are coming from.
      JB’s is certainly talking more freely than normal, prob because he’s retiring, but it still doesn’t appear grumpy, petulant or even moaning. After that, well I guess all the inferences are due to your insight and understanding of F1.

  9. Hmmm… that makes sense! At least now we have more proof that some other drivers can have a say in deciding a title. If I were ROS, I’d take HAM out of race in the 1st corner… Senna-style!!! Nothing will hurt him more than that!

    1. … and will make ROS suddenly look like a 2-WDC racer.

      1. … and will make ROS suddenly look like a 2-WDC racer.

        Or get him disqualified from a championship he is now near guaranteed to win.

  10. ColdFly F1 (@)
    23rd November 2016, 6:53

    Thanks Button to talk about Top Gear (‘s ex presenters’ new creation called The Grand Tour)

    I watched the first episode, and was unimpressed. It’s probably exactly the same as what it was before, but every time Jeremy opens his mouth I shudder a the mere thought of him. He feels more like a guy who is making inappropriate jokes on a bus not knowing he is hot mic’ed.
    In the end I fast forwarded through most of the episode except for the driving parts in the 918/FLF/P1.

    1. Then you’re in th

    2. I agree. All the hype and it was basically the same tired format with some awkward filler moments. From the intro, it also looks like we’re in for more pointless blowing up of things. Shame really.

      1. For you, Most of the rest of the world disagrees. Maybe you don’t like cars and fun enough

        1. Your probably right. I’m a very grumpy individual.

      2. You Seem to Miss the point that neither did anyone expect anything Else nor did anyone wish for It. You wouldn’t wanna watch Monty Python do Drama would You?

        1. I was just hoping for more cars, less filler. Unrealistic I guess.

          1. I feel the tent part fell flat but i think with time they’ll hone it. If you watch the first series of the rebooted top gear (~2000) it was the same. After watching the new Top Gear I have higher hopes for The Grand Tour

  11. Unlike Massa who seems content to fade into the background and focus on family life, Button has been actively pontificating about a variety of topics. It does appear that Button wants to remain in the media eye, and whether that be for a punditry role or to promote the biography he has hinted at, one can only speculate.

    1. I thought first and foremost he was still going to be at Mac for another year or two advising and being a simulator/backup driver.

    2. That may just be local bias: Button is British and we have access to primarily British media, Massa on the other is Brazilian and we don’t really follow Brazilian media (well, at least I don’t – I don’t know for you).

  12. *the minority

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      23rd November 2016, 9:15

      and happy ;-)

  13. That Jazeman Jaafar’s comment is exactly what is wrong with the drivers market. That is not backing talent, that is backing ordinary drivers for the sake of some peoples interests.

    Giving Haryanto as an example, that is just comedy.

    Small team should be supported, not drivers, and then let them decide the best talent to drive their cars

  14. Smart Jenson, not only he wants to take “Britney” out but also would make someone else pay for it.

  15. Funny how Rosberg only needs to finish where you’d normally expect him to, whereas Hamilton is the one who needs something bad to happen to Rosberg – the proportion of articles alleging that Rosberg could be tempted to crash his team mate out doesn’t quite reflect that fact …

    1. I suppose it comes down to the fact that Nico could take them both out and win the WDC, whereas LH would have to take him out but survive to go on and at least score more than 12 points to win the WDC.

      So there’s a few silly assumptions being made (beyond either of these drivers even playing this way to begin with), in that Nico would have to make sure that LH’s car was too damaged to continue, LH would have to ensure Nico’s car was damaged enough but not his own, and lastly that the FIA would not penalize either driver if they did indeed pull a Schumacher.

      Hard to imagine anything nefarious happening, but then again when Schumacher did it to JV Mosely called it ‘instinctual’ and basically slapped him on the wrist, so who knows. Depends on the political atmosphere. I suspect any funny business between these two drivers would be left alone as long as they didn’t take anybody else out, since they are on the same team and either way a WDC will be decided for Merc.

      1. I would love Hamilton trying one of his Banzai-let-me-past-or-we-crash-moves with rosberg holding his line and both being out. Would be sort of a fitting end to the last three years.

        1. Lol certainly would set a tone at Merc for the off-season and the new season.

        2. I believe FIA would anyway find a way to penalize Rosberg, ad that would definitely be “a fitting end to the last three years”…

      2. @robbie
        I agree, it’s silly.
        As for Schumacher’s merely symbolical punishment, I think that’s due to the fact that his foul play ultimately didn’t benefit him at all. The title was won by the guy who didn’t do anything wrong (in that race), so there was no need to think up a harsh punishment.
        However, if one of the Mercedes drivers were to eliminate his respective team mate from the race unfairly, I can think of two possible reactions by the FIA:
        – If Hamilton were to crash Rosberg, the most straightforward reaction would be a black flag before the end of the race. A massive anti-climax, sure, but arguably better than letting him get away with it.
        – If Rosberg were to do the same thing, the problem would be that Rosberg automatically outscores Hamilton if the latter doesn’t finish on the podium. Therefore, the FIA could face a tough decision:
        On the one hand, a controversial precedent could be set by retroactively disqualifying Rosberg from the 2016 season (or subtracting a certain number of points to the same effect). However, as the Stewards of the Meeting can’t make such a decision, this would mean that the title would have to be decided in Paris, which I understand is as taboo as it gets.
        On the other hand, they could opt for a Solomonic judgement and let Rosberg take that ‘dirty’ title – but revoke his Super Licence for 2017.

        There, I called that discussion silly and then took part in it. So much for my self-discipline … ;-)

        1. @nase Lol and my self-discipline is no better. I think you are right that perhaps MS punished himself enough, but what galled me about it was firstly that Max Mosely had asked the other drivers not to interfere between the two only contenders in that race, or they’d face a 3-race ban at the start of the next season. To me MS did the ultimate ‘interference’ so should have had that ban at the start of 98. Instead his move was deemed ‘instinctual’ which, talking about silliness, could technically therefore be applied to pretty much every racing incident that occurs.

          The other thing that galled me was his removal from the Championship standings but he got to keep his poles
          and wins…wins mean points and if you are not in the standings how do you have points and therefore wins?

          But I digress. However, I did tie this stuff in a few weeks ago to the article talking about Toto calling Max’s Dad to have him not whack one of their drivers. Nobody, including Nico, expects anything less than hard but fair racing from all the drivers as usual, but let’s please not see the WDC decided by someone racing one of them so hard that they are taken out. Just pointing out there is at least one precedent that is now 20 years old of not just a team principal but the head of the FIA itself, asking for no interference for the WDC contenders. Toto has not asked for anything unreasonable that hasn’t been requested before.

          Come to think of it, teams ask this of one of their own drivers often enough in F1 too. If one has a title shot and the other doesn’t, we often talk about a ‘team order’ to ensure the one driver doesn’t interfere with the one who has the shot, something which should be a no-brainer for the guy without the shot anyway. He doesn’t have to help his teammate, but certainly don’t hinder him. It shouldn’t take a team order, just as I personally think it is a no-brainer that nobody needs contact either of the two Mercs.

          The End

  16. If they meet on the track they will probably crash. They have form and no sympatico race craft. Im not even sure its just NR. LH just doesn’t seem to know what NR is going to do which makes him nervous and less natural.

    1. Guess it will sepend

      1. Oops….Guess it will depend on their positioning in the points during the race as to how hard they’ll be racing each other, however I would think they both would be more interested in staying intact for the whole race. From P2 NR wouldn’t need to make a bold move on LH, but if LH is in P2 he has no choice but to get by. And I don’t think NR will fight it too much. He won’t need to do his legal one swift move across the track to defend, nor will he clumsily need to try to run LH wide outside a corner. Just let him go, as long as there’s little pressure from behind.

  17. Hamilton has himself to blame. He was leading at some point. Ros came back. And that is the difference now for the championship. I am not ros fan but he deserves it. Like Murray deserves no 1 spot. Talent is not all. Perseverance can make hell lot of difference.

    1. He really should have done a better job of building his engines and designing the clutch system so that he wouldn’t have had all of those car problems that cost him so many points this season…

      1. NR had the lead and lost it too. I don’t think LH has persevered any less than NR. They’ve both had their off days too, and come back from those.

        1. Indeed, they have both had off days. Rosberg could have led this championship from start to finish if it wasn’t for a couple of silly moments, like the Austria incident.

    2. By your post it sounds like you don’t actually watch any of the races you just look at the championship table on the Monday morning.

  18. Like how they got Gloc to pull over for his first title?

    1. Lol not sure if you kidding or not, but that’s been debunked several times over, including on this site not long ago.

      My whole thing about that weekend was that Massa did everything right, especially on Sunday when the pressure was at it’s greatest, while LH did nearly everything to throw the WDC away…ie. it was Massa who stamped his authority on the WDC, not LH. LH was lucky Glock was on those tires. I generally don’t bring things down to one incident, as the whole season adds up to them being where they are come the end, but since lately so many are saying Nico has ‘just been lucky’ this season, I thought I’d throw that little dig in about LH vs FM.

      1. LH was lucky Glock was on those tires.

        Not really, if he wasn’t on those tyres he wouldn’t have been ahead of Hamilton in the first place. That’s not luck :)

    2. It’s posts like these that make me miss a downvote button.

  19. Anyway on Sunday we must be psychologically prepared. NR will be the new champ. No scenarios and probabilities and possibilities and chances. To win LH must ask Bernie to stop all others and race alone. IMPOSSIBLE…

  20. All this talk about Hamilton being aggressive, Rosberg crashing etc. is pretty ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, Hamilton isn’t even in the same ballgame as Rosberg because all Nico has to do is score 15 points regardless of what Hamilton does. There nothing Lewis can do within the rulebook to prevent Rosberg from scoring 15 points. Prost once said the best way to win is to win in the slowest time possible. Rosberg has to secure the title in the safest way possible. Avoid others cars, score 15 points, peace out Hamilton.

  21. Lol, Nico better than Senna… Probably. Current drivers are better than any drivers in history… Probably. And Nico this year so far was better than Lewis. Lewis is now second on alltime win list…

    But, drivers of the past were amazing for their time.

    Nico is just one of the greatest nonchampions ever.

    1. Lewis is now second on alltime win list…

      The thing is, Lewis has been in more title contending machinery than most drivers (07,08,10,14,15,16) and he only has 2 championships from Mercedes and one extremely lucky championship win from Mclaren. Fifty percent hit rate isn’t all that great for something who claims to be the greatest. IMO, Lewis is terribly overrated IMO. Fast but clumsy is how I would sum up Lewis.

      1. You’ve counted ’16 before he’s even lost it, especially as we all know how. Bit of a clue what your opinion is worth, really, along with the tired old ‘title contending’ trick and ‘clumsy’. What is it you think you’re achieving? Some curious cathartic self-abasement?

  22. @mark jackson

    I can’t remember Lewis claiming to be ‘the greatest’. When did you hear him say that?

    And 2008 a ‘lucky’ championship. Do you have any more jokes? That was the last time the title was won in what was not the best car, which is quite a feat.

    Sure, Hamilton has the occasional off-weekend. As did Senna, Prost and even Fangio. But his talent is sublime, extraordinary. I had real fears that he would fade away in the current ridiculous era of F1, where raw pace is so much less important than it once was, but in fact that has simply not happened. He has been very successful with clown-tyres and fuel saving. I think if they were racing with 2005 cars and regulations, he would win nearly all of the races……..

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