Lewis Hamilton defended his Abu Dhabi Grand Prix tactics after he unsuccessfully tried to delay team mate Nico Rosberg.
Hamilton was unable to keep his team mate from finishing second, which was what Rosberg required to clinch the title.
“At that point, what am I supposed to do? Sit there and let the dude win the championship? I had to help myself.”
However Hamilton is optimistic he will have a chance to win further titles in the future. “Providing in following years we’re in equal cars there’s more championships to be won,” he said.
Asked if he felt the best driver had won this year Hamilton added: “I don’t agree with that necessarily. I’ll leave that to your imagination.”
Hamilton said his team’s repeated radio messages urging him to speed up were unnecessary. “I don’t know why they didn’t just let us race,” he said in the post-race press confernece.
“There was never a moment when I felt that I was going to lose the race. It is a shame, it’s quite clear their thought process, I don’t really have much to say.”
Hamilton congratulated his team mate on the championship but also pointed out the difference in reliability the two had enjoyed during the season.
“I did everything that I could, particularly towards the end and obviously Nico had a very, very clean year without any real issues to be honest and that’s why we sit in this position right now,” said Hamilton.
“But he did a fantastic job, so big congratulations to him, it’s a great feeling to win the world championship and I look forward to fighting with him next year.”
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
27th November 2016, 15:47
I’d go even further and question why the team even had to ask Ham to go faster?
Before the race they said they won’t interfere and as soon as Lewis tried to take it into his own hands they were on the radio. Bad enough Mercedes screwed him over with reliability, the last thing they needed to do is dictate the last race. And EVEN IF Lewis had lost the team 1-2 it’s something the team owes Lewis at this point.
Sumedh
27th November 2016, 15:55
Mercedes said that they won’t interfere in the title battle but their aim is the race win. The radio messages to Hamilton about hurrying up did not come until it was clear that Vettel might be in with a chance of a victory.
They never heeded Rosberg’s request of swapping the cars. They never asked Hamilton to hurry up while it was just harming Rosberg and not affecting their chances of a race win.
I think all 3 – Hamilton, Mercedes, Rosberg drove and behaved like a champion today. Hamilton with his brilliant slow driving, Rosberg not losing any position to Vettel and overtaking Verstappen with extreme amount of caution and Mercedes, by keeping out of it (like they said) and coming in only when their race win was in doubt (like they said).
David BR
27th November 2016, 16:31
I don’t for one second believe Mercedes thought Vettel would catch Hamilton. As soon as he passed Rosberg, he’d be off. There just wasn’t time for him to catch both.
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th November 2016, 16:54
So the team was risking to lose a 1-2 finish, which they wanted to avoid.
Mercedes are always aiming for the best result as a team, which makes sense if you’re pumping more than half a billion dollars in your F1 team every year.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 17:45
Hyia, Patrick! Hello fellas!
Nice you have pointed the money issue, it brings to mind Mercedes probably had received the next year’s check. Besides, nobody could catch either HAM or ROS in championship points table. That only embarassed Mercedes.
Calling somebodyelse’s dad, assuring you won’t interfere in a track battle, but then doing the opposite… I simply don’t buy their narrative.
lockup (@)
27th November 2016, 21:53
which makes sense if you’re pumping more than half a billion dollars in your F1 team every year.
The team is more or less breaking even, with FoM money and sponsorship.
JCost (@jcost)
28th November 2016, 7:44
Nothing special there, Lewis did what he had to do, he was trying to win the championship and within the rules he tried to achieve that.
I understand Mercedes, they’re entitled to aim for nothing but the best possible result for the team but as an F1 fan, I liked to see someone fighting for WDC with all he had without breaking any rules or risking anyone’s life, at least he did not push anyone out like some of our “heroes” from the past did.
petebaldwin (@)
28th November 2016, 11:53
@paeschli – whatever your view, Mercedes were at best, very naive to think Hamilton was going to listen!
Patrick (@paeschli)
29th November 2016, 12:59
@petebaldwin It was only naive because this is Hamilton we’re talking about.
Raikkonen would’ve listened, Massa would’ve listened…
Sumedh
27th November 2016, 17:57
If Vettel passed Rosberg, Hamilton wouldn’t run off in the distance. Because if Hamilton upped his pace, Nico would have easily repassed Sebastian. Hamilton needed to keep driving defensively, giving Seb DRS so that Seb could defend against Nico and then hope that Max puts one against Nico.
And in the hope of achieving all this, yes it was certainly possible for Vettel or Max to make a slightly risky move on Hamilton for the race lead (because Hamilton couldn’t afford contact, Max and Seb had nothing to lose).
So it was absolutely reasonable for Mercedes to think that their race win was in doubt.
Lee1
28th November 2016, 9:14
I disagree. Vettel had a fast enough car on the straights to make it very tough for Rosberg to re-pass. Hamilton had enough in the bag to put a gap between himself and Vettel. No matter what heppened in the race one of the mercs would have been world champion so why they were trying to protect Rosberg is beyond me. Hamilton was showing his skill off to the max so just let them race. If there was a chance that neither would win then I could understand it.
GnosticBrian (@gnosticbrian)
27th November 2016, 17:02
Sumedh – If you really believe that, I have this bridge for sale which I can let you have at a special price.
Tomas Andersson (@celebmir)
28th November 2016, 1:08
Hamilton compares all he does with Senna. I wonder the situation was reversed, Nico trailing some points at the last race of the season, would he do what Senna did and take himself and his rival out to secure the title? After today I think he would. I thought about it myself and I wondered if Nico ever thought about trying to take himself and Lewis out? Did Nico ever think about not breaking or breaking too late when Lewis tried to back him into the clutches of the competition?
He only needed to get Lewis off the podium.
Then again, if Lewis wants to emulate Senna he can’t win any more championships. But for pete sake, don’t emulate Senna all the way. I still remember sitting glued in front of the tele waiting to hear any news about Senna. Horrible afternoon.
Let’s end it high with huge congratulations to Nico Rosberg and Mercedes. Already looking forward to next season, the car reviels, testing days, driver line-ups and the Melbourne…
I think I need to rewatch an older season to get me through until Australia. Maybe 2009 to celebrate Button?
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
28th November 2016, 8:55
@celebmir
After that race it’s clear exactly what Hamilton would have done if the points situation was reversed – take the race lead and disappear off into the distance for an easy victory. Why would he bother taking the risk of taking out a slower rival?
krxx
28th November 2016, 16:56
+1
krxx
28th November 2016, 16:56
Sumedh
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th November 2016, 20:09
@ivan-vinitskyy – Surprising to see that some people still believe that a team would ever purposely lose points by way of sabotage on one of their own drivers to favor another. Throughout a long season how would the team know specifically which races to sabotage, how to cause a specific failure without creating a technical trail that could later be exposed, who would give the order to other team members, how a secret amongst a number of team members could be kept never, ever to be leaked and how to know for sure that such sabotage would not damage the team or driver points to such an extent to cost them places considering other unknown variables and outcomes at the time of the said sabotage?
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
27th November 2016, 20:38
@bullmello Where did I say they sabotaged a driver? I said they gave Lewis less reliable machinery. You can’t argue with that, it’s a fact. But if I were to take your bait and argue your point I’d say just because you can’t see it happening doesn’t mean others can’t. Team is big and each dept. have their own knowledge silos. I can see a world where very few individuals have access to control and hide certain parameters.
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th November 2016, 21:07
@ivan-vinitskyy – “Bad enough Mercedes screwed him over with reliability…”
Sounds like intentional sabotage. Not trying to “bait” anybody, just discussing. I too can imagine teams favoring a driver over another. The implementation and secrecy required without exposure seems more difficult to imagine.
More to your point in your original post – btw, I’m more of a Hamilton fan than a Rosberg fan or Mercedes fan – I have no problem with what he did in the race today nor am I surprised that Mercedes got involved. I would expect nothing less from Lewis than to keep fighting until the end. And it is Mercedes’ team. Regardless of what they say pre-race, they will run their team as they see fit during a race whether fans or Lewis like it or not.
JCost (@jcost)
28th November 2016, 7:47
I don’t believe they did it in purpose. I believe it was completely random and could happen to any other driver, I don’t believe Mercedes was happy with so many bad publicity.
Can’t wait for 2017.
knoxploration
27th November 2016, 21:27
Because Lewis was selfishly putting his own interest above that of the team, something he does with a regularity that should be of concern to his bosses.
Damon85
27th November 2016, 21:59
Driver puts his own title challenge first after the team have already bagged the WCC and WDC….. that’s the lowest of the low from Hamilton……
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 6:01
I always thought the lowest of the low was when one team management favoured one driver over another. Always something new to learn in F1, huh?
Lee1
28th November 2016, 9:18
What were the team going to loose? They already won the Constructors title and one of them was guaranteed to be WDC? Hamilton was doing what any other driver would have done in the same position, ignore the dumb request by the team. I thought he handled that quite well as if it were me I would have had to make use of vettels bleep machine!
tete
28th November 2016, 4:43
Why hamilton’s fan forget to mention what hamilton told
the mercedes pitwall over the radio. Hamilton said something along the line “forget it man, I’m losing the champiknship so I don’t care if I lose the race” basically Hamilton put his interest before mercedes’. Mercedes always want the best result and in this case was a 1-2 result. Because this gives them the maximum amount of points per race both for
the drivers’ championship and contructor’s championship along with the most tv exposure for the mercedes brand. Also hamilton’s fans don’t remember in the last race of 2014 , rosberg had an engine faulire while fighting for the championship and that race was worth twice the points. In the last two races of the 2015 season rosberg has an engine that wasncreating lest horse power than hamilton’s and that happened because rosberg had to use an older engine than hamilton.
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 6:00
Having said they would not interfere, they did – but only after receiving complaints from Nico!
Did they really have such little faith in their drivers and cars as to think that SV could really get near?
This was a BIG mistake from Mercedes to attempt to intervene. It served no-one well and left viewers with an impression that they were bay sitting Nico. They demoted Nico’s triumph with this saga!
It’s also worth mentioning that Ham had good reason to ‘nurse his engine’ for as long as possible, huh?
PostScript: does anyone yet have more info about that oil pressure failure that caused the bigend failure in Ham’s engine? I find it really intriguing that Merc changed the oil specs after that race.
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 6:02
bay sitting typo – ‘baby sitting’
sunny stivala
28th November 2016, 6:47
To say that a team screwed one of it’s drivers with reliability is stupid.
Wolff “undermining a structure in public means you are putting yourself before the team, it is simple, anarchy does not work in any company”. it is not like its been the first time that the Mercedes team authority has been undermined, and it has been proved it does work when the management is ball-less.
David BR
28th November 2016, 10:29
Not agreeing with his decision doesn’t constitute anarchy. Mercedes have gained hugely by Hamilton’s presence, and frankly he, Hamilton, is the only one there with marketing wit about him – the only one with a real idea of what racing fans want to see. Nobody is interested in corporate perfection, they want to see on track battles. And that actually sells the Mercedes brand much more. If Mercedes are second best next season, good luck with Rosberg doing that battling alone.
PMccarthy_is_a_legend (@pmccarthy_is_a_legend)
28th November 2016, 13:07
This weekends race reminded me of dicky dastardly and muttle for some reason. ;)
PS. I am a Hamilton fan.
SiDziner (@sidziner)
27th November 2016, 15:48
Couldn’t agree more. Hamilton did everything he could, and should have, but nothing dirty. What is he supposed to do, roll over and just let Nico win it? Thankfully no. At least Hamilton made the race interesting. In the end Nico did everything he had to do, and won.
Ajaxn
27th November 2016, 17:11
You could also see that by driving slow Hamilton actually gave Nico a chance to make a race of it and prove to the world that he is the best.
Rosberg could have taken on that challenge, taken the race to Hamilton and given us all a truly memorable end to the season – “Mano a Mano”. Rosberg could have called Hamilton’s gambit . Instead he whimped out.
Now can you imagine Hamilton, or any of the ‘greats’ hanging back in the same circumstances? That in a nutshell sums up today’s take on this idea of sport. Its now a numbers game in more ways than one. Calculated.
So much so that someone like Hamilton is refered to as ‘wearing his heart on his sleaves’, when that sense of ‘passion’ use to be the essence of Motor Racing.
…just saying.
magon4 (@magon4)
27th November 2016, 17:40
Brilliant.
So he should have forgotten his goal to win the championship to show Lewis and the world who is really better?
Get real ;)
JeffreyJ
27th November 2016, 22:42
ROS drove for his championship so he did not take the risk of fighting HAM as he should and as probably everyone would have in his position. That’s not cowardly, that’s what trying to win a championship looks like.
Equally, Hamilton drove for his championship by backing ROS into VET/VES/RIC as he should and as probably everyone would have done in his position as well. That’s not dirty, that’s what trying to win a championship looks like.
I don’t see anything wrong with either at all tbh.
What Merc did, however, was trying to secure the 1-2 which would normally be fine too but in this case with the constructors championship already in the bagg and either one of their drivers becoming drivers champion also already sucured, they should have just let them fight it out between themselves. In not doing so the team effectively sided with Rosberg because they fully knew what this inteference, if obeyed by Hamilton, would win ROS the championship. This to me really, is the only thing that’s actually NOT okay about the way this race went down.
Mark in Florida
28th November 2016, 3:37
Why is it wrong for the team to tell Lewis to speed up? If I remember didn’t they tell Rosberg to move over in Monaco? Maybe Rosberg should have told the team that he was in the lead and that he was comfortable with his pace. You Hamilton fans can’t have it all one way and not the other. Rosberg moved over in Monaco but I couldn’t ever picture Hamilton doing so. This race proved that he can’t ever follow the team’s directions. This race exposed what he really is… a poor sportsman.
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
28th November 2016, 9:04
JeffreyJ – I couldn’t agree more with this analysis. Anyone on Merc management who thought that Lewis would actually follow an order to speed up and throw away the championship was deluded. In which case whilst it’s naturally what they wanted to happen and no doubt pre-race they told Lewis not to mess up the team’s race by broadcasting it on team radio (which made no difference whatsoever to Lewis’ actions) they just made themselves look stupid, lacking authority and, potentially, biased. A lesser driver could be kicked out of a team in this case but given the uncertainty of the rule changes for next year Merc can’t afford to kick their best driver out just yet.
tete
28th November 2016, 4:50
agreed. what would have happened if rosberg would have attempted to pass hamilton and crashed into him, or have to use an evasion manuver and losing places with max or vettel and that would have cost him the championship. You would be telling him that he only needed to secure the 2nd place. That he. shouldn’t have done what he did,etc,etc,etc.
bezza695 (@bezza695)
27th November 2016, 17:40
Prost is a great and he always played the numbers game so I don’t really see your point.
Bill Foster
27th November 2016, 19:20
Oh, yes.
Rosberg pulls out to pass Hamilton.
Hamilton has steering/grip problems, and forces Rosberg off the track, possibly to drop out.
Nico has seen it all before
Only one Mercedes driver looked and sounded like a spoiled, petulant brat.
Clue….his name isn’t Rosberg.
Mckellarmeg
27th November 2016, 20:21
HATE Hamilton spoiled child hope he never wins another race , Never mind championship WELL DONE NICO and good luck JENSON
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
28th November 2016, 2:20
Mckellarmeg, you are a true poster child for a good number of posters on this and other forums.
Esteban
27th November 2016, 20:54
Not even Alonso could pass, and a slower car, remember? (No DRS in that time, but he couldn’t anyway)
Duncan Idaho (@)
27th November 2016, 21:42
Maybe ROS thought HAM would do anything to win – chancing the ability to continue after the inevitable clash, the scenario that’s cost him at least 30 points this year alone.
JCost (@jcost)
28th November 2016, 8:04
Nico had a WDC at stake, winning in Abu Dhabi would not make him better than Lewis, all he needed to do was get enough points to clinch the championship and he did it.
petebaldwin (@)
28th November 2016, 11:54
Wimped out? You mean he used his head instead of going into “Jeremy Clarkson ATTACK Mode?”
joe jopling (@jop452)
27th November 2016, 15:50
He did what any racer would do in that position….nothing was stopping Nico trying to overtake….although faced with those tactics, Nico must have been tempted to take them both out…..I feel Lewis though is the best race driver out of them both..
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:07
Couldn’t disagree more. To say no racer would try to win the race by as far a margin as possible to prove how much of a better driver they are is disrespectful to a lot of racers. So many have been in losing positions, but don’t resort to such ridiculous tactics.
Will Jones
27th November 2016, 16:10
I’m guessing those racers you feel have been disrespected had the luxuary of a new engine on demand and didn’t wrap their hubs in mozerella. We are necessarily in an era of management in the race, like it or not, winning as slowly as possible is modern racing, and I think we just saw a near masterclass in the skills required
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:14
If that’s true, I’m switching off, without reservation… And good luck to them trying to market it.
chris (@)
27th November 2016, 22:17
Tristan
yet another clueless viewer drops off
JeffreyJ
27th November 2016, 22:50
@Tristan
the goal is to win at as slow a rate as possible” is a quote from Jackie Stewart I believe. It has always been the goal of any race in any category in history of racing. You simply don’t take the unnecessary risk of reliability issues just as you don’t make the car any more reliable then it needs to be to finish first (like the brake issues teams always seem to have, just because bigger and better brake discs would be 0.001’s slower)
In Hamilton’s case with the championship on the line, this was especially true in. To me that’s not dirty and he certainly didn’t brake any rules or ram off his teammate to win the championship like Senna and Schumi have done in the past. It’s just racing to win. Rosberg, however, prevailed and so all props to him. He drove a great race that got him the result he needed to bagg the title.
Tristan
28th November 2016, 1:16
@9chris9
Good thing it isn’t true… And clueless? If calling people clueless who you don’t agree with is the limit of your reasoning ability, then I don’t understand why you bothered replying. Other than to insult?
@JeffreyJ
“the goal is to win at as slow a rate as possible” that quote was not meant for this scenario and Stewart had nothing positive to say about Hamilton’s driving after the race.
trublu (@trublu)
27th November 2016, 16:19
Hamilton could have blown Rosberg away by sixty seconds and all most would say is that Rosberg was being careful. Winning by a large margin would have done Hamilton no favors and earned him nothing.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:24
earned him nothing
How about the respect of his team and the paddock? In the heat of the moment it’s all about championships to Hamilton, and when the camera’s on it’s all about the fans. I understand how a lot of people can respect that, but I can’t.
drmouse (@drmouse)
27th November 2016, 16:34
This race was not about the race for either Nico or Lewis, it was about the championship, just as it would have been for any driver with a shot.
I don’t understand how anyone could be critical of Lewis’ tactics today. His only chance of winning the championship, realistically, was to win with Nico off the podium, and it took masterful, controlled driving to even come as close to making that possible as he did.
Just as a game of chess is not just about taking your opponent’s pieces, winning the championship sometimes takes intelligent tactics. It has been there same for Rosberg: in a normal race he would probably have been more aggressive and attacked for the win, but he didn’t care about the race win, he cared about the WDC.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:38
Yeah fair call and good point. Personally I wouldn’t agree with it if worked either but he would have been the champion regardless so it doesn’t really matter what I agree with.
John H (@john-h)
27th November 2016, 17:24
Respect? Hamilton would have got battered for not trying to win the championship by backing up Rosberg, probably with some then saying he’s not a cerebral driver or that kind of thing.
Hamilton did what he had to without causing a collision (like Roseberg in Austria for example), but it just wasn’t good enough. Fair play to Rosberg, he proved his worth today and in Brazil by withstanding that tension.
Bill Foster
27th November 2016, 19:21
I’m with you, Tristan.
joe jopling (@jop452)
27th November 2016, 16:20
Sorry Tristan…..the big race of the day was the World Championship…not Abu Dhabi and Lewis did what he had to do….its tactics but they are not ridiculous…
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:25
Righto, I give up, said my piece.
Adolf
27th November 2016, 16:36
Tristan – I understand what you say and agree with you totally. It doesn’t need justification or explanation. To try and claim that Hamilton’s actions were those of a “true racer” are just ridiculous.
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 6:08
A ‘true racer’ would not have settled for 2nd place either, so exactly what is your point Adolf – apart from the fact that you don’t like LH I mean?
Simon
27th November 2016, 16:27
Ridiculous tactics? Maybe to you, but we’re talking about world class athletes and a desire to compete and win most of us will never have.
In their shoes, you do whatever will maximise your chance of winning, within the rules (and sometimes you stretch them to the limit and beyond – just like Rosberg did in Austria).
Once the start was out the way, backing the pack up was Hamilton’s best option. If anything, his mistake was speeding up too much during the middle stint. Even Rosberg commented how well Hamilton executed the tactic and that’s something to be admired in its own right.
After the race, Lauda also said that they used all the same tricks in his era, so it’s just part of how the very best athletes compete. Embrace it.
Will Wood (@willwood)
27th November 2016, 15:52
I think Hamilton did nothing wrong, to be honest.
He didn’t do anything untoward. He was within the rules. He tried to play a strategic game and while it didn’t work out, it gave him a better chance of influencing the outcome than he would’ve had had he disappeared off into the distance. I felt it was smart tactics.
I appreciate Mercedes wanted to fend off the threat of Vettel, but I do think it was rather inappropriate for Paddy Lowe to try and tell Hamilton to speed up. He had a legitimate shot for the championship and was free to race against Rosberg, who was free to try and pass him if he wanted. There was no way Hamilton should’ve been asked to compromise his own championship chances in that situation.
I think the one biggest point to make from Hamilton’s tactics is that it says a lot about the painfully poor nature of the Yas Marina circuit that, despite the long straights and DRS, Hamilton was able to dictate the pace of his team mate to begin with. This is not Monaco. This is a purpose-built racing facility. And yet, the fact that Hamilton was able to back up his rival in the way that he did is a dreadful reflection on the Yas Marina circuit and should disqualify it from ever hosting another championship decider ever again.
pH (@ph)
27th November 2016, 17:02
While I also do not like Abu Dhabi much, I do not think that your argument applies. Every single circuit has several spots where overtaking is feasible (some more, some less) and the rest of the track makes passing close to impossible without tremendous speed difference. When one takes two cars of identical abilities, this makes passing impossible unless the first driver makes an error. You simply get your speed up at those few passing places and slow down at the rest. If the other driver tries something at those other places, he would have to go off the racing line, at which moment you simply pick up the pace and he’s left in a vulnerable position with respect to the car after him.
Good drive by Hamilton. And by Rosberg.
SiDziner (@sidziner)
28th November 2016, 1:21
I don’t agree. I think everyone involved did exactly what they should have done.
Mercedes is interested in the most points for the team, period, i.e 1-2 finish. They are perfectly correct in asking
Lewis to speed up to assure that 1-2. They would do it in any other race, so they should do it here. To do otherwise would be unfair to rosberg.
Rosberg did everything he should to assure his championship. Which Includes asking the team to intervene and also not forcing a crazy pass attempt on Hamilton.
Lewis did what he should … Do everything in his power to win the championship. The race win is meaningless compared to the championship. The constructors championship was in the bag, so ignoring the team wasn’t of great consequence. Lewis didn’t do anything dirty … Like wreck his competitor. Teams often use the strategy of one teammate going slower to affect a competitor for the benefit of the other teammate. Only in this case it was within the same team, but was of no consequence for the constructors championship.
I think all involved did exactly as they should have. It made for an interesting finish. Good on the team for voicing their desire to make an easy 1-2. Good on Rosberg for being smart and winning the championship. Good on Hamilton for not making it easy on Rosberg. I don’t see anything wrong with it.
For those that think it was unsportsmanlike, and champions of the past would not have done it, I think you may be right if you are talking about the 50s and maybe 60s. But since the 80s on … Bullshit. In the 80s and 90s they intentionally wrecked competitors to win championships.
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 6:11
agreed. The effect of Paddy Lowe’s intervention was to diminish Nico’s victory as it made it look as though Merc were baby sitting Nico. (remember, PL’s intervention came after Nico’s repeated complaints).
Themarinesurveyor
29th November 2016, 0:23
Totally agree Yas Marina should be dropped as an F1 circuit unless extensively altered to provide overtaking opportunities.
Plaudits to Johnny Herbert for his incisive questions to Toto Wolff while other Sky professional journalists did there usual fawning.
As for the Hamilton issue lets all agree it livened up an otherwise BORING race.
Mark G (@)
27th November 2016, 15:55
If he hadn’t done it would he have looked back and regretted it? Yes.
He had nothing to lose and kudos to him for giving it a shot. It gave Rosberg a chance to prove his worth too and he delivered under incredible pressure, even if the Merc was a much better car than those it was defending from.
I’m glad it ended this way, it provided a bit of a climax to what would have otherwise been the most boring end to a Championship battle.
It sets up next season nicely too; Mercedes had no right to interfere like they did and I doubt Hamilton will let them forget it. He’ll be hard to top, so just I hope that Rosberg can remain motivated enough to provide a challenge again.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th November 2016, 22:42
@sparkyamg I agree with you and others that LH did nothing wrong, other than disobeying an instruction, of course. He’s not the first one to do that. I think he was right there in the middle of things in a sense, in spite of his lead…his only option was to try to get Nico passed by some cars and off the podium. At the same time I don’t fault the team because they started to see that SV was becoming a threat, and even if LH never felt threatened, he certainly would not have won the WDC if he didn’t come in first place.
So in that sense I don’t blame the team, and I think they DO have a right to do what they did. LH is part of a team and it is not his team, it is Mercedes’ and they have a right to do as they wish with their team and it’s employees. So I don’t see it as him ‘not letting them forget it.’
Besides…they didn’t interfere, because LH ignored the instruction. And it was an instruction to carry on and win the race, so that’s a bit hard to argue against. He needed to win, bottom line.
Neil (@neilosjames)
27th November 2016, 15:56
I don’t believe Mercedes ever expected Hamilton to put a 1-2 before his own title hopes… deep down, I bet most of the management were pleased he was trying to do whatever it took.
Showed they have a driver with exactly the right attitude.
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th November 2016, 16:57
They are paying Hamilton more than 30 million dollars a year to race for them, it’s not unreasonable to ask him to listen to team orders.
Neil (@neilosjames)
27th November 2016, 16:59
When the title’s on the line, it’s entirely unreasonable.
Danny
27th November 2016, 17:25
The driver’s championship means nothing. I just don’t get why people who watch this sport don’t understand this.
Hamilton clearly put his own interests over the teams today. The people who design, build and service the cars that gave him his last two championships. If Hamilton were critical element in the team’s success, he would simply go over to Manor and win 5 championships in a row just to show Mercedes. Hamilton lost out to the unofficial number 2 driver. Look at the contracts and pay for both drivers.
Dr Sven (@svend1)
27th November 2016, 18:26
Are you ill?
Neil (@neilosjames)
27th November 2016, 18:40
And while this was going on, Yuji Ide would wander into the Mercedes garage, hop in the car and win the next 5 championships just to show that the driver doesn’t matter… right?
JerseyF1 (@jerseyf1)
28th November 2016, 9:44
@paeschli It’s also not unreasonable for Hamilton to expect to be given accurate information on the radio, rather than lies to justify the team’s position. Mercedes did not come on the radio and tell Hamilton to hurry up because the 1-2 finish was more important to them than his title hopes. Instead they kept insisting that Vettel was a threat for the victory. Hamilton and everyone watching knew that was not the case at any point in the race.
Toto admitted after the race that Hamilton was holding back by 1.5s per lap in which case they knew that even if Vettel had got past Rosberg that the victory for Hamilton was still safe. I’m certain it’s not the first time they have given Hamilton misleading information by team radio.
GM
28th November 2016, 13:55
F1 letting L Ham get away by cutting corners and getting major advantage earlier this year, others get penilised in the same race. The attitude of throwing the cap at Nico before and this year claiming he is sabotaged. Who is the problem in F1 here?? Merc has been so far ahead in the last few years that most decent F1 drivers would manage a win in that car. Wonder how their latest friend Verstappen would fare aganst Lewis?
Tom
27th November 2016, 15:57
Toto Wolff implied Hamilton only thinks about the driver’s championship and not the team result. However, if Nico cared so much about the team result he would’ve closed on Lewis and passed him to prevent Vettel potentially stealing the victory, but he played safe to protect HIS OWN championship aspirations. I am a big Lewis fan but think Nico is thoroughly deserving of this year’s championship. However, Mercedes management need to look at themselves. I do not believe they would show bias towards one driver but they are dangerously close to appearing that way at times.
javier javier
27th November 2016, 22:36
Lewis was slowing on slow sectors and speeding up when getting close to drs… That’s holding rosberg back to the red bull that are faster because of the aero and chassis.. you should watch the race how in slow corner Lewis slow down and rosberg get as much as 0.700 or 0.800s and before the drs zone he’s back to 1 or 1.1s
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2016, 6:40
As Javier mentions, Hamilton was slow in the parts where he could be without any risk – the parts where there is no chance to pass – and fast out of the corners to then never allow any gap for Rosberg.
Just look at how much trouble a 2 seconds/lap faster Vettel had passing Rosberg, and you can see that Rosberg in a car that was just as fast as his teammate who was controlling where to go fast and where not never had a chance of passing.
The reason Mercedes interfered, is that they had clearly discussed exactly the scenario that enfolded, and had agreed not to do that. It would be strange then not to interfere. Now, I am pretty sure that Mercedes only had little hope that Hamilton would play along with that.
And I am convinced that Nico’s “lets change around the cars, and if Lewis is still second by the flag, I will let him by” was meant more as a statement, maybe even a joke, than as a serious request to be let past, even if that would have been exactly what the team would have agreed upon pre-race.
We all knew Hamilton would put his own interest before that of his team (securing a solid 1-2 to finish off the seaon and not interfere with the title fight). But it might come back to bite him in the future (like, for example Nico did not have to move over in Monaco …, and had he not done that, might have already won the title earlier!)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
27th November 2016, 15:57
Ooh, he’s back in air quotes mode.
pSynrg (@psynrg)
27th November 2016, 16:57
@phylyp No, those are actual quotation marks. Signifying when the spoken word of someone is being written.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
27th November 2016, 17:03
@psynrg – my comment refers to an earlier instance (yesterday or Friday) when Hamilton actually gestured with air quotes when describing Rosberg as a world champion, as part of his mind games. His latest statement that I quoted relates back to that view that he holds.
Danny
27th November 2016, 17:26
Did he whisper under his breath that Max didn’t win, so the best driver didn’t win the championship.
DaveW (@dmw)
27th November 2016, 15:57
At the end of the day, if Rosberg had an issue with it, he could try to pass. He has no grounds to complain. The team of course want 1-2s, but Hamilton has given then enough glory to ignore the need for another twig of garnish on their plate.
Bocsn
27th November 2016, 15:57
Don’t agree with that defense of going slow; it’s entirely fair but it’s also borderline unsportsmanlike, especially considering they’re on the same team.
Also, Lewis had a lot of issues this year but, cmon, give Nico some credit for winning. How many championships have been decided due to circumstances outside of pure racing ability? Many. The very fact they both race for Mercedes already gives them an enormous advantage over the rest of the field – and that’s completely independent of their racing abilities. If racing ability was how championships were decided then we’d have a completely different list of world champions.
markp
27th November 2016, 20:22
Lewis had 1 issue in races all year. If he can moan then Vettel should moan he should have come 3rd in the title as he had more DNF’s that were not his fault, gearbox penalties amongst other things in races, quali and practice but Ricciardo had no issues.
Lewis had 2 DNF’s 1 his own fault but actually saved loosing another 7 points to Rosberg and break his run of victories. Yeah he started from the back in Spa but was top 10 in the 1st lap without doing much and got himself loads of fresh engines for the rest of the year. The 1 DNF he had was Malaysia but that was only a 10 point swing, had Rosberg not got knocked right to the back by someone else he would have come 2nd losing 7 points, instead he gained 3 points.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
27th November 2016, 16:03
Fair to him. Perfectly fine tactic for me. As usual Hamilton is playing early mind games!
mark jackson
27th November 2016, 16:17
These “mind games” Hamilton plays does nothing but make him look like a sore loser tbh. We saw how tough Nico is mentally today with his under pressure drive. Petty comments from a guy he just beat to a world title won’t mean much.
JimG (@jimg)
28th November 2016, 12:56
@mark: I don’t know who first said it, but the quote that springs to my mind is this: “show me a good loser, and I’ll show you a loser”.
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th November 2016, 16:59
He should have started winning races early instead of playing mind games.
What killed Hamilton’s chances were the bad results after the winter and the summer break, not the engine blow-up in Malaysia.
Danny
27th November 2016, 17:08
I thought it was the bad start in Japan that was the final nail in the coffin for the Championship
JW
28th November 2016, 8:59
How did a 28 point swing NOT kill his chances when the end result was a 5 point loss? New to this website so if you could elaborate I would like to hear it
Cheers
dan
27th November 2016, 19:12
@paeschli Wrong again Hamilton is WC if not for Malaysia it would have been over even earlier tho if he did not make a bad start so you are a little bit right. Just shows how much better Hamilton was really does it not? Had the issues a retirement bad starts 2 back of grid slots and lost by 5 points.
Patrick (@paeschli)
29th November 2016, 13:03
“Just shows how much better Hamilton was really does it not?”
If one DNF over a 21 GP season is enough to swing the championship the other way round, maybe Lewis isn’t that great after all.
Bad starts are entirely Lewis’ fault, don’t really understand how you put that in the same category as a retirement.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:04
It’s such an intriguing situation really. Personally I don’t side with Hamilton. A racer should race each race as fast as they can… I really disagree that a driver should look at a championship over each individual race.
I’ll bring this up for as long as I can be bothered:
“27.5 At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically or in a manner which could be
deemed potentially dangerous to other drivers or any other person. This will apply whether
any such car is being driven on the track, the pit entry or the pit lane.”
It’s clear cut to me… I’d strip his race win honestly, zero tolerance, completely unsporting.
N
27th November 2016, 16:07
By unnecessarily slowly, it means so that you do not become a mobile chicane. Most people understand this.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:07
“that you do not become a mobile chicane”
Mate, he was approaching that…
N
27th November 2016, 16:08
Hence why it uses words such as ‘erratic’ and ‘dangerous’.
Sigh.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:10
It is written or not and. English can be quite succint.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:12
“27.5 At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly. This will apply to
any car being driven on the track.”
That statement is just as correct as the full quote.
N
27th November 2016, 16:16
You’re really beating this dead horse arn’t you?
This rule exist’s soley to avoid a massive crash between 2 cars that have a massive speed delta differntial.
There was no risk of anything of the sort.
Sheeesh
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:20
Eh, say what you want… I’m happily to leave it at a disagreement.
Many drivers past and present are going to get very loud about this type of driving over the coming months and years, mark my words. No one wants to ruin the spirit at the moment.
That so many fans can’t read the body language of the presenters whenever this topic comes up astounds me.
John H (@john-h)
27th November 2016, 21:18
Wasn’t it necessarily slowly though? ;)
Duncan Idaho (@)
27th November 2016, 21:52
@john-h Hah!
Like Schumacher (or Rosberg) in Monaco.
Ivan Vinitskyy (@ivan-vinitskyy)
27th November 2016, 16:08
Unnecessarily? yeah those stupid championships… so unnecessary… why do those drivers bother?
beneboy (@beneboy)
27th November 2016, 16:11
You’ve quoted that rule before, you were interpreting it wrong then, and are doing so again now.
Why not take your axe to the blacksmith if you’re so desperate to grind it ? Doing so here makes you look silly, and desperate.
Lewis drove well, didn’t break any rules, and did nothing any sensible person would consider unsporting.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:15
And you’ve used that argument before also, without any supposition for your reasoning.
beneboy (@beneboy)
27th November 2016, 18:08
The fact that the stewards have never felt the need to even investigate your imagined breaking of the rules, and that not a single person involved with the sport has ever mentioned it as a potential issue would give a reasonable person grounds to think you’re making it up as you’re going along, and trying to invent an issue where none exists.
You’re not even clutching at straws, you’re clutching at something you think are straws that only exist in your mind.
Horner and others were even encouraging this tactic before the race, do you really think it would go unmentioned if it was against the rules ?
Mckellarmeg
27th November 2016, 21:33
Always felt choice of stewards (generally) always Brits leaned HEAVILY towards Hamilton , look at most if not all races this year , any accidents Hamilton leading virtual safety car (keep your distance) not leading safety car bunch em up give him a chance . MY SPORT IS FIXED
@HoHum (@hohum)
28th November 2016, 1:15
@tristan, I sympathise with your desire to see flat out racing but I don’t think you can invoke that rule against a driver that actually won the race and was never seriously challenged, let alone passed .
Sven (@crammond)
27th November 2016, 16:22
That’s a consequence of rule-making rather than a drivers choice though, isn’t it? Individual races got devalued through several steps, like when they made the races depend on each other (parts/engines for several races, penalties carried over), or a lot earlier when they nearly stopped price-money for races and instead began giving price-money for the (constructors) championship.
I’d really like more importance for individual races, too, but Hamilton is racing in F1 as it is today, and he did provide decent entertainment today, so I’m fine with that. The team radio was funny.
Tristan
27th November 2016, 16:27
I can agree with that at least. Good argument!
Mike
27th November 2016, 17:42
I’m with Tristan on this. Deliberately slow and could have been dangerous with fast car approaching. Unsporting behaviour. Hamilton could have sped off and won by a long way and hoped Ferrari and red bull interfere with rosberg. As for moral champion . Absolute garbage, sore loser . The table never lies . Rosberg has been consistent all year. And you need that bit of luck at times . You would never have seen a mansell for example doing that .
grat
27th November 2016, 19:49
A champion driver drives their car exactly as fast as it needs to go to win the race. No more, no less. Driving excessively fast wears tires, puts more load on the engine, and increases the likelihood of not finishing the race, or finishing outside the points.
Hamilton’s got 10 seasons of F1 racing experience, with three world titles, and the second highest number of overall wins of any F1 driver.
How many F1 races have you won?
Robbie (@robbie)
27th November 2016, 22:55
I completely disagree with the assertion that LH was driving in any way that endangered anybody or bent let alone broke any rules, other than perhaps within Mercedes for ignoring an instruction.
This rule being cited sounds more like it was written after MS went off, damaged his car, then came back on slowly and erratically and dangerously and whacked DH in 94. And got away with it. That’s how I think of this rule. Not for a driver voluntarily driving a second slower than being asked, in a perfectly healthy car.
N
27th November 2016, 16:04
The fact that Hamilton won the race despite slowing down to 9 seconds off pole pace, actually makes more of a statement than him disappearing into the distance.
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
27th November 2016, 16:28
Yes that he didn’t have the pace to be quick enough.
N
27th November 2016, 16:31
‘Hehe’
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:25
Hello, Pepper.
C’mon, I really doubt you believe in that.
Hamilton taunted Rosberg, he drop his arms inviting the guy to throw a punch. Instead of that Rosberg… Well, I guess you watched the race.
Bocsn
27th November 2016, 16:31
I think it just shows he didn’t want to take the high road.
N
27th November 2016, 18:27
Yeah, because sport is about taking the ‘high road’.
In Tennis, if you know your opponents back-hand is their weak area, you prey on it. In football, if their right-back is their weak area, you keep playing the ball down that area. In Snooker, if long-potting is their weak area, you keep leaving them long-shots. This is sport. Not a musical.
Hamilton drove like a master today, drove with a lot of thought, very cerebral (people don’t like putting ‘cerebral’ and Hamilton’ in the same sentence because it doesn’t suit their impression of him), playing that sort of tactic is difficult and can go very wrong because it gives you no room for error.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th November 2016, 23:00
Tis a bit interesting that LH himself said when asked if he would do what Horner suggested, namely what he did indeed do, LH said that wouldn’t be practical.
I had only wondered if the tactic would take his tires out of optimum temp and leave him a sitting duck.
verstappen (@verstappen)
27th November 2016, 16:05
Another thought:
Arrivabene will be on the phone with Lewis toninght.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
27th November 2016, 17:05
Unless Lewis is selling Arrivabene his car, little reason for Arrivabene to rock the boat, not when he has two drivers who get along well, and who are not the source of Ferrari’s woes.
Rick
27th November 2016, 17:47
Lewis wouldn’t last two seasons at Ferrari. First team orders ignored he’d be gone.
Haribo
27th November 2016, 16:07
I don’t really blame Mercedes for asking Hamilton to pick up the pace, with only their drivers able to win the championship, this was really just another race for them and congrats to whoever wins the title, I think I would have taken a similar approach to be honest.
Still, the last few laps were very exciting. Well done to Rosberg for not caving into the pressure.
Neel Jani (@neelv27)
27th November 2016, 16:08
Lewis is a great champion but a poor sportsman!
Let’s get this straight, Nico deserved the championship.
Lewis has been going around about not having the most reliable car this season which is true in comparison to Nico but the truth is that Lewis has also contributed to loss of points by messing up his starts (5 to be precise) and a crash in Baku qualifying.
Nico on the other hand although not as fast as Lewis in raw pace has delivered this year where he needed. He made mistakes too like Spain and Austria but he deserved this championship.
I remember in 2014 how Nico went up to the podium backroom to congratulate Lewis which for me was a sign of great sportmanship but Lewis, neither did he really congratulated Nico, nor spoke to him and I observed that he didn’t even sprayed champagne (a tradition I believe in any motorsport) on the new champion which was a clear sign of snubbing him.
That’s exactly I hate about Lewis, a great driver but a very poor sportsman and that’s how I’d describe him.
Sem
27th November 2016, 16:19
Agrred Neel Jani, I wanted Hamilton to win over Rosberg, but his lack of grace and his statements like ‘I’m the better driver’ are nauseating….he is a terrible loser…blaming anyone but himself when things don’t go his way…yes he is one of the greatest drivers of all time…but imaine how good he could be without all those distractions/lifestyle he has around him? Must be worth 4 tenths at least…
trublu (@trublu)
27th November 2016, 16:20
Ironic diatribe considering your Jorge avatar.
drmouse (@drmouse)
27th November 2016, 16:24
Yes, Nico deserved the championship. He has more points at the end than anyone else.
I’ve had the argument about the cool down room with others already. It was unsporting of Lewis not to congratulate Nico. However, anyone who didn’t see that coming was a fool. Neither Merc driver has been sporting in that respect all year, and I doubt Nico would have congratulated Hamilton if the positions had been reversed. Look at how he behaved in Austin last year.
For this race, on track, I think we saw a master class from Lewis. To be able to back your team mate up like that, yet keep him out of DRS range, showed a clear head and a very deliberate tactical mind. To control the pace to the fine margins he did, consistently and precisely, under intense pressure… It was incredible to watch! It also conclusively proved that Hamilton is able to be as much of a “thinking driver” as anyone else on the track, in spite of what many of his detractors have said over the years.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:28
Hamilton congratulated Rosberg before the cool room.
drmouse (@drmouse)
27th November 2016, 22:43
OK, my mistake, I didn’t see that.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2016, 7:52
are you sure about that @humb? I didn’t see them together outside (afterall Nico did the doughnut on the straight while Hamilton parked his car and went to the weighbridge, so they did not see eachother there), and Nico met Bernie first and lifted him and never seemed to be in a mood to have a word with Hamilton before the podium.
They did shake hands (DC even made them do it again for a better picture) on the podium.
chris (@)
27th November 2016, 22:40
Lewis congratulated Nico in the scrutineering area before the cool down room and again on the podium, twice, even gave him a hug.
you guys must be completely blinkered to have not have seen it.
At all times Lewis has been considerate and moderate. Yes pretty annoyed at not wining the WDC but you’d expect an F1 driver to be miffed at missing out on the WDC even though they won the race.
There is no way Nico could have driven as well as Lewis today.
Dani
27th November 2016, 16:47
I’ve seen and heard Rosberg be polite and gracious towards Hamilton in interviews and podiums. However I’ve not seen the same extended from Hamilton to Rosberg. Sure he congratulated him on the podium, but as soon as he was talking to the press, he referred to him as “dude”. He also was talking to the press ahead of the race dismissing the idea that there could be a new champion, because to him, he can be the only champion. Arrogance comes to mind.
Add to that he purposely drives slower at key parts of the race where it’s difficult to overtake, instead of driving fast from start to finish. I’d have respect for him if he could show it to others, and actually go out in style. Perhaps if he hadn’t have backed Rosberg up into other drivers, and instead focused on driving at the fastest pace he could go at, Vettel and/or Verstappen would probably have overtaken Rosberg. I’m certain Vettel said he was aiming to overtake and get in front of the Mercedes, but having Rosberg backed into him wasn’t in some way helping.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:36
Greetings!
Rosberg saying “the other car…” is rather polite and kind (being ironic).
It’s simple: you dislike the guy. No need to explain.
“Dude” in portuguese could be seen as grammar tool in order to avoid being repetitive.
Anyway, Rosberg could always had overtaken Lewis when the latter (grammar) was slower than the dude.
George (@george)
27th November 2016, 17:46
I’ve never liked Hamilton’s personality, but I still find myself supporting him on-track because of the type of driver he is. I agree his ‘mind games’ (aka being rude) off-track have been unsportsmanlike, but what he did on-track today was perfectly acceptable in my opinion. If anything it increased my estimation of his driving, seeing him go into the DRS zone 1.05s ahead lap after lap showed incredible judgement. He did what he had to do, the only way he could to affect the championship.
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th November 2016, 21:17
@neelv27 – Actually Lewis did congratulate Nico before they went to the podium room. Shook his hand and hugged right there in front to the team and everybody.
Danny
27th November 2016, 16:16
Time to terminate Hamilton’s employment. Breach of contract, refusing to obey team orders. When the Team’s technical director has to get on the radio to tell you to speed up and you disobey, it’s time for you to be fired. They could use the money they save from Hamilton’s contract to try to get Max on the team. He’s the best driver out there. Once Max gets a race winning car Hamilton will be long forgotten.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
27th November 2016, 17:32
He’s their best driver and best marketing tool, and you want them to fire him for trying to win the world championship?
If I was Toto Wolff I definitely wouldn’t take that one into the Daimler boardroom.
Danny
27th November 2016, 17:44
In a word yes. Best marketing tool: I’m not so sure of that, I think he makes Merc look like a bunch of idiots when he bad mouths them on the radio in front of the world. Best driver on the team: yes. But he lost out to the unofficial #2 driver this year. That massive $30 Million dollar contract can be spent on other things. Put Max on the team and you have a new marketing tool and a new #1 driver.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 17:58
You really believe RedBull you accept any money for Max?
And it’s really interesting your point about Hamilton becoming the unofficial second driver, how come that? He’s won the most GP, he’s taken the most poles… What’s Mercedes parameters to do so? A serious enterprise would only distinguishing workers based only in results. Hamilton always delivered. The narrative created this year just don’t fit, it’s illogical: Mercedes’ letter to public opinion saying they weren’t holding back one of the drivers, then we have Toto calling Max’s dad… Now Paddie asking Hamilton to just behave like a sitting duck… In business world Hamilton would have a case and I bet any judge would give him the suit law win.
IJW (@)
27th November 2016, 18:01
And what do you think it is going to cost them to buy Max out of his current contract with Red Bull (assuming that they were willing to release him). They would be mad to do ask for anything less $100million.
Danny
27th November 2016, 18:24
No, won’t happen- Max will be on Red Bull next year and Hamilton will be on Mercedes. Just an Opinion. All will be forgotten next year about what occurred this season. You don’t really think anyone in Formula 1 really cares about the opinions posted here, do you?
P.S. I didn’t say Hamilton became the unofficial #2 driver, I said he lost out to the unofficial #2 driver. The driver making the most money is the #1 driver, sometimes official and in this case unofficial. Since Mercedes has failed to name an official #1 and #2 driver.
Thomas
27th November 2016, 18:37
@Keith Let’s not ignore that he is probably only truly that popular in the UK. The rest of the world care a lot less and have their own countrymen to support. Put an American in the car and you have 300 million potential new consumers to gain brand awareness from instead. Just as an example.
dan
27th November 2016, 19:22
Hamilton is probably one of the most popular driver in other countries what are you talking about. His style on track got him fans and he has fanatical fans aswell. So I disagree completely. Just like Alo has loads of UK fans even after 07 saga. Ros for instance would be less more popular worldwide.
bull mello (@bullmello)
27th November 2016, 22:28
As a US citizen I would object to that. A fan since the 1960s my favorite driver of all time in any series is Jim Clark. Maybe I am atypical, but nationality does not automatically determine favoritism.
And, it does seem that Hamilton is quite popular all around the world.
joe jopling (@jop452)
27th November 2016, 21:14
The teams technical director was out of order today telling Lewis to speed up….which was not a view shared by other team members eg Toto……and maybe the rumoured departure is overdue for Paddy
Today was about the championship not the race.
Danny
27th November 2016, 22:26
Sounds like damage control to me, they got their 1-2 finish, everything is back to normal. Paddy has to suck it up and take the blame for “being out of order”. They engineers told Hamilton to pick up the pace also. I guess they were also “out of order”. Need to maintain the corporate image that everything is under control. Even when it not.
Hyoko
27th November 2016, 16:16
And a blatant liar, too. Not wholly unexpectedly, though.
jayteeniftb
27th November 2016, 16:28
All talent and zero class. Just don’t go around complaining when others try the same thing on you, sore loser.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:12
Hello, Jayteeniftb!
I’m pretty sure Hamilton would try to overtake anybody who would try to back him up, so, zero complaints.
Mudit Singh
27th November 2016, 16:42
I think Mr. Toto Wolff is a biased person. His comments on Lewis’s driving today, “Christian had the same idea before the weekend so he followed Christian instruction. Maybe he ought to drive for him! ” is a very irresponsible comment. I find no wrong in a guy who is trying to win a championship to pull up a few tricks from his sleeve. Mercedes with all those radio calls made themselves look ordinary, even Paddy laughed in race when cameras were focused on him, he knew he was stupid in making those calls and I am sure they were inspired by Mr. Wolff, who in my view is a great politician but knows the rules of engagement in and out to have a favourable outcome from a situation. HAM made ROS looks ordinary every day they raced in this championship, but still it’s always Mr. Wolff backing ROS for championship, it was pretty evident.
Patrick (@paeschli)
27th November 2016, 17:05
Except when Rosberg won 4 races back to back at the start of the season and when he won another 3 races back to back after the summer break.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:00
Please, try not to forget Hamilton sitting in his garage waiting for spare parts in some os those GPs.
JW
28th November 2016, 9:10
Once again @paeschli how can you forget the qualifying issues that resulted in those streaks? (China, Russia & Belgium)
There has to be an asterisk against this world championship (from a driving skill perspective)
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:02
I agree. They distinguished their drivers from each other without using good parameters. Yeah, Hamilton should give RedBull a try.
Johny Hakkinen
27th November 2016, 16:45
It was simply clever by Hamilton – blockin and waiting for others to pass Rosberg. That was his only chance to wina title. We all know it happened in the past alredy, F1fanatic mentioned alredy about Villeneuve’s Suzuka 1997 tactic, so did Senna in 1991, when fighting with Mansell: first he let Berger through in Spain and blocked 3dt Mansell, then did the same in Japan, when finally won it. So according to the pure logic and historical events, I just simply dont understant the comments regarding Ham’s “shame” or “dissrecpect” tactic. It was simply clever by him. One thing I would do different: I would start those tactics in Brasil already!
Btw: congrats to Nico!
Davy
27th November 2016, 17:07
Mercedes have been extremely unlikeable this year with the choices they’ve made. Unfortunately there aren’t any teams for Hamilton to move to which will treat him fairly.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:19
Hello, Davy!
I very much agree! Mercedes made Hamilton an unofficial second driver, but based on what? Most winnings, most poles… And they failed in giving HAM a car to race Rosberg a few times this year. Even though Hamilton conquered August month if I recall well, and put Rosberg to shame in Mexico and Brasil (both tracks without good grip conditions).
Calling somebodyelse’s daddy only makes your intentions clear. They had to nurse and nurture Rosberg, it was indeed a very stressfull season. I hope they would be happy by handing ROS this year’s title, then we all can watch thrilling races next year.
Robbie (@robbie)
27th November 2016, 23:14
@humb That’s disingenuine of you, to say ‘calling someone’s daddy.’ And you are assuming the call was made only with Nico in mind, and that is incorrect. Max had just whacked Nico in the 3rd last race when it was already known that the title was only down to LH and NR. Given that, there is nothing wrong with reminding the feisty youth that he probably would feel far more terrible for deciding the WDC for the world, than he would have felt proud of an overly aggressive pass…one that might have ended a WDC contenders day and WDC hopes. These types of reminders for drivers to not interfere with contenders’ chances have happened many times before. TW would never ask anybody to go out there and sandbag just to help his drivers out…it was always just please do whack a contender off the track again…you won’t like how you’ll feel nor how the world’s F1 audience would treat you.
Humb S (@humb)
28th November 2016, 2:44
, since the only different variable now from 2014 and 2015 was Nico being ahead in points, the Toto’s overprotection might be seeing as an attempt of guarding the LEADER of the championship. You are gonna need more than misconceptions to drop my argument, it’s fair for you to use deductive or/and inductive reasoning, but for the others is not?
Am I wrong and you are right when it comes to evaluate Mr. Wolff intentions? It’s not known if Toto had made such a ludicrous calling in the earlier seasons.
, they should had done the same before Spain, Austria, and that GP in which Rosberg used Kimi as brakes.
, actually that sounds like a mob threat. They are waged to race, fairly, but still race, it expected they can handle wheel-to-wheel battles, they were selected in order to deliver that (not the paying drivers), the watchers want that, how about the spounsors? I wouldn’t wage my money on a guy who couldn’t give a run for it, you speaks of the greater good for the sport, but by impairing its fairness.
Sincerely I feel sorry for Wolff and Rosberg, that displays Rosbergs clumsiness in wheel-to-wheel disputes, that’s why the team needed to avoid some sort of events.
I really respect your opinion, but your arguments are naïve and biased. I simply don’t buy Mercedes narrative for this years contest. I respect a corporation trying to provide equal chances of success to its employees, but in motorsport that should abridge set-ups sharings and radio coach, nothing else. There was no apparent reason for what they’ve done this season, so, if it wasn’t for the results (Hamilton is delivering as usual) they made distinction between their drivers using some other parameter, there was no risk of losing the race win nor the title for anybodyelse.
I can’t help feeling that last sunday Mercedes just crossed the line, rather, exposed that they had done so earlier.
Good for them they’re leading the pack now, so they can do whatever they like.
Robbie (@robbie)
28th November 2016, 11:23
@humb I disagree with your stance.
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
27th November 2016, 17:17
If Mercedes were always going to impose 1-2 team orders, then we really didn’t need to tune in to find out the world champion.
Robbie (@robbie)
28th November 2016, 11:27
Well…the order was for LH to go ahead and win the race, because Vettel winning it was certainly not going to see LH as WDC. It only arose because of Ferrari’s strategy. And LH ignored it anyway. So you certainly needed to tune in.
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
27th November 2016, 17:18
I’m really disappointed that Mercedes thought it was a good idea to get involved. They already won the constructors’ championship, so there should be no protestations that they needed it for the team. It puts their continual protestations that they let their drivers race into question and verges on the edge of manipulation of the drivers’ title (which we have seen before plenty of times in the past). Really, if they want to let their drivers race as fans expect they would need two strategists and no team orders. OK, it won’t happen, but don’t try and mislead us that there are no team orders. Hamilton was justified in ignoring them.
On a related issue, I think it’s a bit rich that Mercedes ahead of this weekend said they needed to make sure both cars had no problems, as they didn’t want reliability to decide the title!
Danny
27th November 2016, 17:32
They were concerned about max points, which equals max money for the race event. Which means more money for next years car. More money for next years car usually means a faster car. Why should they care about Hamilton’s ego. Unless you really think Hamilton could win the championship in a Manor or Sauber?
George (@george)
27th November 2016, 17:50
They only get money from the constructor’s championship, which they’ve already won. They had no stake in the result other than marketing and the record books. In any case, their budget is underwritten by Mercedes, they’re not a privateer.
IJW (@)
27th November 2016, 17:53
You do realise that the more points Mercedes score, the higher amount of money they have to pay to the FIA for their licence to run in F1. Yes, the FIA get paid that way.
Also, Constructor positions determine what teams get paid, not points. So, if Hamilton had been successful in his tactics and Rosberg had ended up 4th, then Mercedes would of ended up with MORE money, not less.
Danny
27th November 2016, 18:11
Yes, I am talking about overall why they don’t care about the driver’s championship. Why they want 1-2 finishes.
In this case it was prestige of 1 and 2, I should have added that in the first post. The driver’s championship is for the paying suckers, the punters as the English call them. It’s the design and engineering of the cars in which the real battle is fought. It’s a team sport, with the team getting the best results regardless of who’s ego is hurt.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:20
So what was the whole point in calling Verstappen’s dad?
kartguy07 (@kartguy07)
27th November 2016, 19:51
Firstly, you should have put this instead of your other post, which was just wrong as already pointed out by George and IJW.
I’ll still disagree, though, as prestige of winning the WCC was already achieved and Mercedes said ahead of the weekend that they wouldn’t intefere with the WDC. If they wanted to impose a 1-2 team order (and Hamilton had obeyed it) we could have congratulated Rosberg in Brazil already and saved everyone the time and expense of putting on a meaningless event in Bahrain.
PS. A sucker and a punter are not the same thing.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:09
Hello, there!
Perfect assertion, kartguy07.
Damon85
27th November 2016, 17:44
The team need to get a grip, why not ask Hamilton to stay in the pits to ensure there golden boy is crowned champion….
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 18:06
Ciao, Damon85.
Keeping Hamilton waiting for spare parts for his PU was used a lot this season… Your suggestion will be on the Next Year’s Excuses List.
=D
Damon85
27th November 2016, 19:56
Excuse list….. I guess we must have all imagined Hamilton’s misfortunes. Still if it makes you feel better keep living in that little bubble of yours…..
Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
27th November 2016, 18:21
Hamilton was never in any danger of not winning the race.
Look how far back Vettel was when they started telling Hamilton he needed to increase his pace to keep Vettel off.
Toto Wolff had said it over and over (I really don’t know why he thought he needed to) that the team would not interfere with the drivers – they would be left to race.
At the end of the day, we all saw what happened. Hamilton being ‘harassed’ to increase his speed, so as to protect Rosbergs position.
All through the season, I have pointed out that Mercedes have favored Rosberg over Hamilton. I have been insulted and branded a conspiracy theorist by many – even on these forums. But even at the last race, where Mercedes had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to lose, they could not but put on display a shameful show of favoritism.
Rosberg is the new World Champion. Congratulations to him. I have no problem with that. I do have a problem with people who refuse to face facts or try to alter the facts. Let truth be told, where it not for reliability issues this past season – whatever the ‘origin’ of those issues – I think I can confidently say we would be seeing a completely different celebration today.
Again, congratulations to Nico Rosberg, and thanks again to F1fanatic for an enjoyable and entertaining year.
Merry Christmas in advance, everyone.
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 19:10
Greetings!
, I agree, they were kinda desperate to display how ethical they are and how they hadn’t distinguished their drivers.
To me it’s naïve to avoiding wondering about what we receive from the media.
I scarcely understand how some fellas here do no comprehend the motivation behind calling somebodyelse’s dad asking his son to not race Mercedes drivers (Nico Rosberg).
Is it so difficult to see how the team was always quick to nurture and coach Rosberg; to use PR to help creating a narrative in which Rosberg is a genius (remember Paddie saying Nico performed a flying lap with more fuel and bla bla bla).
But in the end of the day, the sharp eyes would had seen a very coached driver (not ashamed of making questions about his opponent setups via radio) and a driver who had to handle some reliability issues while his teammate was almost bulletproof.
In the end of the day all I can see is a world champion who gave up on trying to overtake a slower Hamilton (and I have a feeling that Vettel didn’t want to interfere – if so: Petrov should earn the double for honouring his wage). Hamilton wouldn’t take them both out of the race, and even if he did so Rosberg would still be champion. Today Mercedes and Rosberg embarassed themselves. And trashed the sport with a fixed championship.
No need to offenses people who will desagree.
PeterG
27th November 2016, 19:54
@stubbornswiss
and likewise you could say that had he not had 5 poor starts & had he not made 2 mistakes in baku qualifying he’d have scored enough points to win the title even with the reliability problems.
in baku had he not made 2 mistakes in q3 & started 10th he’d have started on the front row & even with the engine setting issue he had during that race he’d have more than likely finished on the podium & those extra points would have been enough to win him the championship.
Martin
27th November 2016, 19:05
Lauda is kidding himself if he thinks he wouldnt have done the same thing in Hamilton’s position.
Especially when you take into account the bad luck Hamilton has had with reliability.
But in my opinion their stupid rules for pitting caused half these problems. Rosberg should have the option to pit when he wants not pit only if Hamilton drives slow.
Merc keep saying they dont want to get involved in the fight, but ultimately their equipment was reliable on only one side of the garage (yes its bad luck, but its still their responsibility).
At least it was good to see Toto comment saying he was undecided about what he would have done in the same situation.
Swede
27th November 2016, 19:40
It’s not the fact that Lewis played the numbers game! Any racer with a brain would of done the same! its the fact he’s a terrible loser who’s in the mindset that when he doesn’t win the team is sabotage him!! He’s won 3 titles to rosbergs one! He should at least be sportsman like in his defeat!!! At the end of the day he lost, stop blaming everything and everyone else and remember the bad starts you had earlier on in the championship! That’s what counts. You win some you lose some!!
Humb S (@humb)
27th November 2016, 22:09
Greetings, Swede!
Sincerely, how difficult it is to you to wonder why Toto would had call somebodyelse’s driver on the verge of a possibly decider race?. Why Paddy asked Hamilton to speed up? I respect your opinio, but to me it is plenty difficult to buy that reliability narrative, that’s the sort of thing that anybody would do in order to hide his intentions. The season finalle and some events in it make really easy to some of us to sum things up.
Of course some of us will shout “Grab your tin foile hat…”.
Even tennis had fixing results attempts… Mercedes just didn’t help the sport this season.
PeterG
27th November 2016, 19:47
While what Lewis did may have been ‘legal’ I really didn’t like it & lost some respect for Lewis today as I felt what he was doing was really unsporting.
had lewis tactics worked & nico had been passed or even had contact with the cars behind resulting in lewis winning the championship can any of his fans seriously say with a straight face that they feel that would have been a worthy or deserving way for lewis to win?
i personally would have put it on the same level of prost taking out senna to win in 1989 or senna doing the same in 1990, If you have to resort to silly games & unsporting behavior to clinch a title then in my book you simply don’t deserve said title.
N
27th November 2016, 20:12
There was nothing unsporting about it what-so-ever. There’s nothing that says you have to go flat-out all race long. There is nothing that says you have to drive to suit your opponents and title rivals needs.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
27th November 2016, 20:13
Just been told that the talk in the paddock saying that the relationship between Lewis & the team has been frosty all year as he went off at the team after the Spanish Gp, Told them he didn’t need them, he no longer wanted to drive for them before telling Toto, Niki & Paddy that he was quitting the team & then storming out & leaving the track is 100% accurate.
This is why if you go back to the post race test the team called up Pascal Wehrlein to replace Hamilton rather than to get Rosberg to do Hamilton’s days. They wanted to test Pascal in the 2016 car to evaluate his performance in case they needed to call him up to replace Lewis full time.
N
27th November 2016, 20:43
That all sounds a bit Hollywood to me. Although Hamilton did look surprised when Brundle mentioned to Hamilton about being ‘done’ after the Spanish GP collision, Hamilton said ‘that was a private conversation’, he will now be wondering who the snake is that has told reporters that information. Maybe Lowe, who is potentially off to Ferrari, maybe Rosberg? :]
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
27th November 2016, 21:04
@gt-racer Very interesting, could make sense! I wonder how that situation evolved. In the meantime I couldn’t possibly think of another team that would suit him. All seats are fixed for next year now anyway. Maybe in 2018 at McLaren? I’m sure he’ll stay at Mercedes if he can win championships with the car.
Robbie (@robbie)
28th November 2016, 13:03
@gt-racer We don’t know each other of course, but I have only fully respected all of your input, and so I know you wouldn’t have even posted this if it weren’t true.
I take this back to Austin 2015 and my take on what happened. LH moved NR off the track in T1. He immediately apologized on the radio claiming understeer. Imho Nico saved LH’s day by going off and not letting himself get hit by the understeering LH. LH goes on to win the race and the WDC and even throws a hat at Nico in the green room, and Nico has never felt more burned, and imho some of the team feels burned for Nico too.
With 3 races to go LH’s party starts and he literally is talking like he just wants the season over, his job done, he should be able to just phone it in. Yet as he lags behind Nico, LH still insists vehemently on the radio for special treatment, special strategies to get by Nico, disagreeing with the team on several occasions.
LH has an attitude problem and it is one of entitlement. He felt entitled to phone it in at the end of 2015 and yet still insisted on special treatment from the team to get by Nico when he couldn’t out qualify him or pass him on the track. He has felt entitled to something a team can never guarantee, that being 100% reliability on Sunday’s.
Consistently, I have always been of the opinion that in 2011, when LH was bested by JB and had said off-track distractions were costing him on Sunday’s, I felt terrible for the rest of the team and all who spent hundreds of millions to give him top 3 equipment, only to have him squander it for reasons nothing to do with F1. I think that was the beginning of the end for him at Mac.
If he has ensured he won’t be re-signed at Merc when his contract is up, he only needs look in the mirror for the reason why, although it would seem he will only see someone who is hard done by.
Hubert Reinartz
27th November 2016, 21:26
8941 Sunset Ridge Ct
Hubert Reinartz
27th November 2016, 21:36
No dignity! Oh yeah, I know – this is not a desired quality anymore. You can all complain about this comment now. No dignity either; just lots of hot air.
Tayyib
27th November 2016, 21:48
Surely he was entitled to do whatever. He did want to win the World Championship. He wouldnt just give up
Charles King (@charleski)
27th November 2016, 22:05
While I can appreciate there are arguments for Lewis’ tactic, and it was perfectly legal, it just left a bad taste in the mouth.
Before the race Hamilton explicitly ruled out the idea of backing Nico up, and frankly I thought he was above resorting to this sort of gamesmanship. But clearly I was wrong and he was not telling the truth. While I was cheering for him to take the title earlier in the year, this nonsense certainly made it easier to take Rosberg’s victory. I’m certainly less of a Hamilton fan than I was this time yesterday.
N
27th November 2016, 22:34
I guess it leaves a bad taste in your mouth when a snooker player puts his opponent in a snooker instead of trying to clear up that risky 147 opportunity. I guess you don’t like seeing tennis players keep playing the ball to their opponents weaker side? I guess you don’t like seeing a football team keep playing the ball down the right side of the field because they know that’s their opponents weakness?
If Rosberg had a problem with today, he could have tried to actually overtake Hamilton, instead he backed off and played it safe, whats Hamilton suppose to do then? sail off into the sunset and hand the title to Rosberg? Hamilton has no prerogative to race to Rosbergs own needs. The constructor title was already won and Hamilton was racing for himself. He can chose to go at whatever pace suits his needs and desires.
RRRR
28th November 2016, 4:56
Of course in all his ramblings, “N” forgets to address the most basic issue at hand here. He (Lewis) said he wouldn’t resort to such tactics and he did. He promised his team and Nico he wouldn’t right up to the pre race briefing…. and he did. Its not whether what he did is ok or not, its the fact that he gave his word as a racer and as an employee of Mercedes Benz that he wouldn’t resort to those tactics and then he just went and did what he did anyway. Oh well Karma did its thing in the end and here we are. Funny how life works out like that. :-)
N
28th November 2016, 10:51
” “N” forgets to address the most basic issue at hand here. He (Lewis) said he wouldn’t resort to such tactics and he did.”
You’re forgetting the even more basic issue of not revealing your cards before you play them.
Sheesh.
Robbie (@robbie)
28th November 2016, 13:11
Yeah LH was not obliged to stick to his word about slowing Nico up as being ‘impractical’, and the team was not obliged to stick to their words about not interfering once they saw the huge degree to which LH was doing it, combined with the pace of SV and Ferrari’s strategy.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
27th November 2016, 22:32
So I am going to throw up an idea:
While many people have defended Lewis’ tactics (“anyone else would have done it, there was nothing illegal in what he did, the team had already won the Constructors’,” etc etc etc), what I would have loved to have seen was a gesture from Lewis that showed that while winning is important, there are other principles in life as important. I would have loved to have seen a gesture out of the ordinary, a gesture of maturity, of true sportsmanship, of being a gentleman and at the end of the day, a teammate, a gesture that would have reminded us all of British sportsmanship in the manner of Peter Collins. When by the last lap, the slowdown tactics had not worked, Lewis could have pointed Nico by, and told the team, “I’m going to let Nico by, and then defend him. Congratulations to him on fighting me hard and taking the title this year. We will fight again next year.”
Can you imagine what such a gracious and dignified gesture would have done for Lewis’ reputation as a sportsman, and more importantly, a man? A man who has 3 championships and a net worth of millions who, having done everything he could until that point, is willing to finish the season in a gentlemanly way, to let his teammate have his moment.
There was a time when sport was like that.
N
27th November 2016, 22:39
What do you think this is? It’s sport not a romantic novel. He did everything right to win in a correct way. He was in front and he tried to use that to his advantage, he is entirely allowed, morally, to do that, Rosberg doesn’t like that? next time qualify on pole and try to dictate the pace yourself instead of cruising around in second and you don’t leave yourself open to tactical play.
At least Hamilton didn’t try to run Rosberg off the road, unlike Rosberg himself a couple of times this year.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
27th November 2016, 22:48
People make those kinds of choices in real life, and in sport. Life would be sad indeed if all of us made the choice to relegate good deeds to romantic novels. Thankfully, there are many who are “gentlemanly” and “sportsmanlike” in real life, ergo our civilized world. Because we all have a choice.
All your other points are fine, except that Lewis has run Nico out of road plenty of times, also this year. Which is why I agree with Nico not risking going past.
N
27th November 2016, 23:07
Why does hamilton have to defend his (legitimate) go-slow tactic but its ok for rosberg to go-slow in 4 consecutive races in order to crawl over the line?
Slowhands (@slowhands)
28th November 2016, 1:51
It is not just about going slow. Whatever speed Nico decided to finish in second, he was not putting his teammate purposely in the path of another team to either take the place or crash him out. That is completely disrespectful of the team who have provided a car nearly 1 second faster than any other over the past 3 years, and are paying you tens of millions of pounds. You may fight within a family, but never betray a family member to anyone outside. That’s the way I was raised. Sportsmanship is a dying value, I know, but rather than so many now saying Lewis was petty and unsportsmanlike, had he made a gesture such as I describe on the very last lap, he would have the admiration of not only his own fans, but of many more millions of people, not for being just a fast racing driver, but for being a classy, gracious sportsman, who knew both how to win and how to lose. Such an act would have increased his legend, not detracted from it. It’s about having the magnanimity to rise above yourself and see the bigger picture.
This 4 time champion also shares this idea of sportsmanship:
I have also one comment to make. I think, in my point of view, you don’t win the Championship by luck. Nico won the Championship today. He’s a deserved champion. You collect a lot of points throughout the season, sometimes you might have, yeah, fortunate situations, unfortunate situations with your car but I think there’s been other situations in the past with other drivers, that’s the way it goes. Sometimes you have better years in this regard, sometimes worse years but I think today is Nico’s day and it’s a sign of respect and greatness to give him that. I think we owe it to him, he’s a deserved champion.
N
28th November 2016, 10:48
“he was not putting his teammate purposely in the path of another team to either take the place or crash him out.”
Erm, but he is putting himself at greater risk. Did you not watch those 4 races where he nearly got punted out in Mexico, and got schooled by Verstappen in Brazil. Nico made himself look pathetic in the process.
drmouse (@drmouse)
27th November 2016, 22:57
On the last lap, there was still a good chance that Vettel could get by, and a slim chance that Rosberg would be pressured into a mistake. This could easily have handed the championship to Hamilton.
So you believe he should have given up when he still had a chance?
Slowhands (@slowhands)
28th November 2016, 2:02
At that point, on the very last lap, ALL chances were slim. It has been hard enough for Lewis himself to get by anyone in a competitive car this season when he has been behind, we have seen that. Just because there is “some” chance doesn’t make it the right thing to do. Against others, fine, do what you want. But not against your team or teammate. That is a line of honor for me and for many others, but perhaps not enough people, I’m afraid. Even in sport, there should be some honor.
I’m a Lewis fan, and will still be one. I’ve never felt one way or the other about Nico, I thought he was mentally weak last year, but this season has made me a fan of Nico the person if not the driver The ethos of sport is greater than all of us. Lewis has a lot to learn about how to lose with grace and maturity.
Humb S (@humb)
28th November 2016, 0:58
Greetings!
Well, Lewis offered Nico the chance to try to pass, of course it wouldn’t be a easy one.
Some deeds are made to needed people, but the context isn’t that: Rosberg had all the ethical support he needed, plus the unethical (a corporation should only distinguish its employees based on results, and we all had seen Hamilton delivering). I really liked your suggestion, but Lewis doesn’t owe Rosberg anything more.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
28th November 2016, 2:11
That’s the thing: Magnanimity and class is not about what you OWE. It’s what you can do when you DON’T owe. It shows that you recognize that you are PART of a TEAM, a TEAM that provided you with a car that allowed you to win TWO world championships. And a TEAMMATE who, when ordered by the team, did indeed move aside for you on instructions from the TEAM, at the holy jewel of F1, Monaco, losing many points at a place where overtaking is impossible, when it was clear that he was compromising the TEAM.
Strangely Brown (@irukaviking)
28th November 2016, 2:38
Magnanimity and class is not about what you OWE. It’s what you can do when you DON’T owe.
Humb S (@humb)
28th November 2016, 3:02
I’m pretty sure that would be more of “offering the other cheek”.
Again, liked your suggestion, but still intending to go sort of “not throwing the pearls to the pigs”.
In my heart I still feels that Mercedes and Rosberg are artifices of a bad joke which trapped the true, the glorius of the sport and somebodyelse’s reputation in a beautiful lye.
Congratulations, Nico! Enjoy it the way you can.
Looking forward to 2017!
javier javier
27th November 2016, 22:46
People don’t get that being too slow make the tires cold and brakes lose temperature.. specifically if you’re in front with clean air.. when i saw Monaco parking move of rosberg I lost the respect i had towards him.. but when Hamilton threw the cap at rosberg then I saw a more arrogant person.. he is definitely not a good sportsman.. good driver or athlete yea..
drmouse (@drmouse)
30th November 2016, 16:35
Funnily enough, I saw that the other way around. Nico was sitting, dejected, pretty much sulking. Hamilton was in high spirits and tossed the hat, which he needed, to him (not at him). Nico, already sulking, didn’t like it and threw it away.
It may have been an error in judgement by Hamilton, but not arrogant (in my view). Nico’s reaction, on the other hand, was virtually a tantrum.
Nigel
27th November 2016, 22:46
Let’s be honest here history repeats its self. The Rosbergs do it again and so similar. Daddy Keke was not a great driver. He won because all the other winning cars broke down. Nico won due to Lewis having reliability issues with the car. Nico is not a better driver then Lewis. Shows you that with the right car almost anyone could win.
As for Lewis driving today he was too nice and should have gone slower earlier.
Strangely Brown (@irukaviking)
27th November 2016, 23:36
What Hamilton did was legal and exactly what any driver would have done in his position. Of this I have no doubt. Would Rosberg, Vettel or Alonso have done any different if they were in the same position? I’d say no.
But, as I was rooting for Rosberg to win the championship, I did find myself uttering ”oooooh you tricky b’stard!” hehehe…..but still acknowledging that it was within the rules.
However, despite the obvious ”rockiness” of their relationship, I do find Hamilton to be a much worse sportsman. You don’t have to be an oscar winning actor to at least feign some kind of sportsmanlike conduct and give a hearty handshake to the person who just won the championship even if you’re thinking ”God I hate you, you schmuck”.
There’s a phrase that Hamilton would do well to employ ”Kill them with kindness”
JimG (@jimg)
28th November 2016, 13:24
@irukaviking: So you’d rather have another corporate drone, smiling and talking but dead behind the eyes? I don’t like everything that Hamilton says or does but at least he comes across as human, with all the good and bad that implies. He’s made some not-so-veiled comments about Rosberg having better reliability this year, but he congratulated him on winning the title.
Strangely Brown (@irukaviking)
28th November 2016, 22:18
It’s called sportsmanship…..has nothing to do with being a ”corporate drone”
Caztone
27th November 2016, 23:45
I’ve got nothing new to add to the discussion, but just wanted to say that Lewis did exactly the right thing in the circumstances and Mercedes shouldn’t have expected, or asked, him to do anything different. Louis has been suspicious of Mercedes for the last couple of years, and whilst I don’t normally submit to conspiracy theories, all they’ve done is reinforce his concerns – or feed his paranoia (whichever way you want to see it). A strange move, I think, from Mercedes given Louis’ current state of mind….
Jezza
27th November 2016, 23:53
If I was in Hamilton’s shoes I would have gone a lot slower a lot earlier. I believe he went 9 seconds or so below race pace the last lap and still didn’t get passed by Rosberg for P1. If he really wanted to throw the cat amongst the pigeons he could have been doing that from 5 laps before the end and put P3-P6 or P7 all on Rosberg’s spoiler.
That would have been doing everything he could have, and why should we expect anything less from racing drivers going for the title that is the absolute pinnacle of the sport?
mark jackson
28th November 2016, 1:22
Lewis’ slow driving tactic made Nico look like an absolute hero in Abu Dhabi. Putting up with that kind of pressure from Crazy Max and Seb with no mistakes, Nico absolutely killed it. The slower pace probably helped Nico’s reliability and being so close to Lewis gave Nico DRS to defend from Seb. Meanwhile, Lewis looks like a complete dud who would destroy team moral for his own personal gain.
Slowhands (@slowhands)
28th November 2016, 2:13
+1. Spot on.
Humb S (@humb)
28th November 2016, 2:57
It could be so, but Vettel not properly attacking Nico spoiled your narrative.
An absolute hero wouldn’t allow him/herself to help creating such twisted story of improving skills although we all saw young Max putting him to shame in several occasions.
Lewis dropped his arms and invited the punch… A punch which never came. Poor Rosberg, if it weren’t for all the lessons learnt and the radio aid provided…
But congrats for him. He DID everything he need to beat Hamilton. Hope in the future he can make peace with that.
Shimks (@shimks)
28th November 2016, 1:26
Hamilton drove an extraordinary race. But if his tactics had worked, I would have been left with a really sick feeling in my stomach.
JohnH
28th November 2016, 3:44
Hardly , Hamilton was never challenged he drove as slow as he could without facing a passing move against him. Racing was the last thing on his mind.
N
28th November 2016, 10:44
It wouldn’t have for me, for Nico had every opportunity to try and speed up and go out and win the race if he felt he was being slowed.
If a football team wants to hold onto the ball in their own half to stop the other team winning, then that is a legitimate tactic, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. The other team needs to attack if they feel they are being stopped from possession. But it definately wouldn’t make me ‘sick’ (people are so over reacting) if a team did it.
David Smith (@jezzard)
28th November 2016, 3:07
One of the most pathetic pieces of poor sportsmanship in any sport. Pathetic as it was unlikely to work, so why not just loose gracefully and win the race on pace. Even it had worked and Vettel had taken Rosberg out, does anyone really want to win a championship like that? Not a good way to win, not a good way to loose. In 2007 or 2008, did Ferrari get first Massa in 07 or Raikkonen in 08 to block Hamilton at the Brazilian GPs? No these drivers showed a bit of class in victory and defeat. Deliberately trying to deny your team points is low.
JimG (@jimg)
28th November 2016, 14:00
@jezzard: “Show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser”. Why should Hamilton give up when there was still a chance? He did everything he could within the rules. It’s this kind of dogged determination that makes good drivers great.
“Does anyone really want to win a championship like that?” As long as he hadn’t paid Vettel to take out Rosberg, why not? Hamilton had a slim chance to win the WDC and he did what he could.
I’m surprised at anyone bringing up Ferrari as an example of good sportsmanship. They may not have tried to block Hamilton (is that even plausible?), but they’ve done much worse to their own drivers. “Fernando is faster than you”, does that ring any bells?
To be really sporting, do you think that Rosberg should have retired in sympathy when Hamilton’s engine blew in Malaysia?
As for “Deliberately trying to deny your team points is low”, what effect would that have had on Mercedes? They already had the WCC in the bag and the WDC had to be either Rosberg or Hamilton. They would have lost a 1-2 finish. I doubt that any driver who would have given up a chance at the WDC for such a statistic would have the temperament to be in that position in the first place.
David Smith (@jezzard)
28th November 2016, 22:08
In order to loose with dignity and go out with a commanding performance rather than almost certainly loose with this pathetic “Look at me I’m Ayrton Senna” tactic. I’m surprised at the common defence “anyone else would have done it in the same situation” when it has never been done before in F1. What’s the logical extension of this? In every race from now on when two championship contenders are next to each other, does the race end with the one in front slowing down and trying to allow the rest of the opposition to pass his rival? This would look embarrassing and pathetic. And if this wasn’t an embarrassing tactic, an example of Hamilton’s determination, and something that he’s comfortable with, why had he not done this in the previous three races, which would have given him four times the chance to win the championship?
I raise the Ferrari point as even this team that has employed dubious tactics in the past didn’t swoop this low. It would have been optimal and very possible for Massa to have blocked Hamilton in 2007 or Raikkonen to have done so in 2008 at the start of each race, but would have looked worse than a quick position switch.
Rosberg retiring in Malaysia isn’t a serious point I know, and this would lose Mercedes points, but you can look at Monaco for the ultimate (unnecessarily imo) sporting, team playing gesture of allowing Hamilton to pass. It would have been optimal for Rosberg to block or hold up Hamilton for as long as possible, but he allowed Mercedes to win. And if you can’t see that Mercedes should find it optimal to score the maximum number of points at each race – i.e. dogged determination that makes teams great – why did they bother investing the hours and money they have done so in the final races since winning both titles?
Eggry (@eggry)
28th November 2016, 3:19
I don’t care about the tactics but late radio message made me really sick of him. I’m glad it didn’t work.
Neutral F1 Fan
28th November 2016, 4:31
It is the Mercedes Formula Team. NOT the Lewis Formula Team.
Mercedes employs Lewis to drives his fastest. Not, to sandbag it for his own gain. What team mate, with any class, would slow down to the point, that he hoped his team mate would fall into 4th place.
Jackie Steward commented that Lewis won the race, won 3 world championships, and have a little dignity in not winning the championship. Lewis always comes off like a spoiled little child who had his toy taken away.
If Lewis is willing to slow his own Mercedes team mate to that point (9 seconds off the pace!), he truly shows he’s not a TEAM player for Mercedes. Mercedes should teach him a lesson, fire him. Bring in someone who is more supportive to the team, and can have enough class to show respect to the team and his team mate. Not just thanking his personal fans, and fixing his hair and eyebrows. He’s always sour grapes. His behavior and antics before and after a race are so annoying to watch. So many more deserving drivers who could represent Mercedes much. Vettel/Rosberg would be a perfect team.
Bring in anyone. Get rid of the guy.
Tony Mansell
28th November 2016, 9:36
No they employ him to win WDC’s.
Thankfully you’re not in charge of Mercedes or they’d probably have a lapdog driving their car
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 11:52
not so neutral then, huh?
Perhaps Lewis was taking care of the old engine in his car – after all, he has had good reason this season to doubt the integrity of the ‘superlative Mercedes’.
Another way to look at it is exactly what Seb Vettel referred to: Nico was simply slipstreaming Lewis which made Nico’s job much easier.Nico only had to come 2nd or 3rd, so exactly where is your problem? Don’t you think both Mercs could have shown Seb a cloud of dust?
But hey, if you don’t like Lewis, that’s absolutely ok…but please don’t claim neutral commenting abilities.
Jon (@johns23)
28th November 2016, 6:21
Got to say, That was amazing driving by Hamilton, to do what he did was something else. Equally for Rosberg, under all that pressure deserved the same. Made the race worth watching. Mercedes need to pull their head in and back off. JUST LET THEM RACE! If thats the way Lewis wanted to drive, so be it. Although i would say Rosberg should of just piled on the pressure on Hamilton but seeing how much Lewis had in hand, that wasn’t going to happen. Bravo to both
Steven Smith (@ragwort)
28th November 2016, 7:13
If the car in front is going slowly then you should overtake it! Simple.
It’s called racing. It’s not a carnival procession.
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2016, 7:57
Hamilton defends his go slow tactics.
And he will have do do that for as long as we remember him, just like Senna had to do for crashing into Prost on purpose, Schumacher for crashing into Hill, Villeneuve and for Rascasse and pretty much like Rosberg will always have to answer those questions about Monaco qualifying.
JimG (@jimg)
28th November 2016, 14:03
@bascb: I doubt it, mostly because it didn’t work ;-)
BasCB (@bascb)
28th November 2016, 14:13
could be @jimg!
smudgersmith1 (@smudgersmith1)
28th November 2016, 8:37
Terrible behaviour from Mercedes, they were basically demanding Lewis to lose the Championship. He was quite right tell them to back off and let him race. I cannot understand or agree at all with telling one of the greatest drivers of all time not to defend his title how he sees fit. Toto and Paddy are complete control freaks who get a lot of the processes right but many many of the nuances totally wrong.
geoffgroom44 (@)
28th November 2016, 11:46
Perhaps we should try to be a little bit more understanding (?). I perfectly get it that Mercedes would want a German WC this year.I mean, it’s not exactly been a great year for German car integrity (VW scandal and engines blowing up due to oil pressure loss). They need something to takes their minds of this kind of news, huh?
But I wish Paddy hadn’t got involved after Nico had been complaining – it stole from Nico’s achievement.
Adam Hardwick (@fluxsource)
28th November 2016, 9:17
Following team orders is part of Lewis’s job – as long as the request isn’t unreasonable, they should be followed.
Providing their drivers with a reliable car – or failing that, at least as reliable as your team mate – is part of Mercedes job. They haven’t done that, and have let Lewis down badly – not just at those races where there was an engine problem, but also at Spa where the current rules meant he started at the back.
I my view this pretty insignificant “rebellion” by Lewis is more than fair game for Mercedes not doing their job properly this year. Toto himself has admitted that they have let Lewis down. Instead of picking apart this decision, both parties should focus on winning next year.
Tony Mansell
28th November 2016, 9:34
A lot of petticoat raisers in the world these days! Imagine what they’d be like if they were around when drivers pushed each other off the road to win WDC’s. I thought LH went easy on Nico and if Nico was really being slowed up too much well duh, overtake.
However, Mercedes are greedy and this era cant end quick enough. Giving them 3 years advance warning of a huge engine change has been a disaster. OK everyone had the same notice but the resources of Mercedes and their decision to write off 2 seasons till the hybrid era kicked in has been great for them but disastrous for the sport.
Well done Nico, great chap and beating Lewis is hugely impressive.
Gigantor (@kbdavies)
28th November 2016, 11:23
Is it true that Mercedes are considering sacking or pending Lewis over what will surely come to be known as “Snailgate”? Probably a lot of hot air….but…
Link – http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/15740/10675526/lewis-hamilton-reportedly-facing-the-sack-or-suspension-over-his-abu-dhabi-gp-rebellion
I know the Germans like to control everything, but this would be a step too far. This issue already has the makings of a PR disaster for Mercedes, and they may back themselves into a position they will have to humiliatingly climb down from.
Truth is, Lewis is their No.1 asset, and there is not much they can do – apart from making public inflammatory comments on the issue; as Toto has been doing. He should know Christian Horner would simply keep pouring fuel on the fire he is stoking, further destabilizing the team. Christian has shown he quite good at that.
Steven Robertson (@emu55)
28th November 2016, 13:08
Championships should be decided on wins not consistency
Marina
28th November 2016, 13:16
Truth is, Hamilton is driving a German car. Wonder what he will do in a Brittish car. With the Sky Brittish commentators being so biaise, it is hard to like LH. Congratulations Nico! Well done Seb – hope Ferrari can do better next year!
JimG (@jimg)
28th November 2016, 14:05
@Marina: A German car built in … Britain! ;-)
Antoon van Gemert
28th November 2016, 14:46
Nothing wrong with Lewis Hamilton closing up the field to try and bring Nico Rosberg in trouble. Let’s not forget Lewis was fighting to for his (fourth) worldtitle and had all the right to do so. Every true racer would have done the same in this situation. But Lewis should had slowed more down at the moment when Max Verstappen was overtaken by Rosberg. Just at that moment. Max would have taken the invitation to snatch the place back from Rosberg with both hands and Rosberg would then have to deal with the much faster Sebastian Vettel. I think that was his best chance.
Danixico
28th November 2016, 19:14
The problem of Hamilton is that he awake from is vacations too late…when he woke up, the championship almost have gone…wins the championship the most regular and intelligent driver. Hamilton is a good pilot but should be more humble
Crash
28th November 2016, 20:04
Everyone did what they have too – HAM took his chance by slowing ROS down – forcing him to risk a overtake of HAM or be overtaked by VET or VES… personel I liked the tactical issue of this race..it was fun to watch – nothing to blame anyone here..they all raced for their chance… and Mercedes was in focus in the camera so why blame HAM for this- the best commercial since television covered F1…
Solo (@solo)
16th April 2018, 13:27
For me that was shameful from Merc. Merc wanted the 1-2?
But if they wanted the 1-2 it was basically like telling Hamilton we don’t want you to be champion. Because getting the 1-2 meant Rosberg will be champion.
If they only cared about the win like they said on tv interviews then they are full of it because Hamilton was in no danger what so ever. He could go a lot faster if he wanted if Vettel ever appeared in his mirrors and they knew it very well so why were they lying? Just think about it? They were actually forced to lie which says something about their tactics.
Hamilton felt very betrayed because all the Merc policies were against his way of racing since different tacticians and free pit-stop tactics etc will fall in his hands because he could press Rosberg a lot more than the opposite. The same goes for wheel to wheel racing.
So the team made every tactic possible so they won’t meet each other at the track.
Hamilton knew how to be hard but correct while Rosberg every time he tried to be hard he made a stupid move that leads to accidents and yet when they sat down after incidents they both got the some silly twist in the arm about being careful hitting each other instead of the team ever admitting Rosberg was wrong.
Spain really was the kind of thing that made Hamilton full of anger because Rosberg just took out both cars with a Schumacher way and they try to cover it up and not throw blame at one driver and just pep talking both of them again.
Hamilton mind couldn’t get that crazy behaviour. “why are they covering him so much” was what was going in Hamilton’s mind. “He makes a major screw up and i am getting the same pep talk with him? And i am the three world champion and his at 0? what is with their attitude? No respect at all”. That is what Hamilton was thinking.
Along with the mechanics change, all their ways destabilized Hamilton and they didn’t treat him at all with the respect of him being their twice world champion.
He didn’t want to be like Schumacher with a contract of putting Rosberg as number 2 but he at least expected some respect and not treat them like they were both two knew rookies fighting each other to prove themselves that the team fully commands.