Formula 1 - 2016 Season

[cjo]

Granted, same had happened before in the race too with Vettel pushing Alonso wide and gone unpunished, but that doesn't make it any more ok - they both should have been punished, or the damn rule needs to be removed so everyone can feel ok doing it.

The problem is that I don't think that this situation is explicitly covered by any rules. There are rules about what should happen on straights and coming in to the breaking zone for a corner. As for what happens at/just after the apex it's more philosophical than strict rules. It basically comes down to what is generally accepted by the drivers and stewards rather than specific rules. This seems to boil down to who gets control of the apex of the corner. That's why it wasn't punished; there will have been a strong enough argument that Max had control of the apex and the corner, so it was Vettel's responsibility to take avoiding action.

At this point, I think that Vettel was always going to put himself in to a difficult situation with Max whenever he tried to overtook; I'd have been surprised if there wasn't a complaint from Vettel however Max managed to get past - Vettel is coming across as more of a grumpy old man than a racing driver when it comes to Max.

 

[Bludd]

I'm not the biggest Verstappen fan but that was pretty astonishing.

Very brave driving from all drivers in really difficult circumstances with no visibility and aquaplaning. I was sad to see Alonso spin at the end but he drove well to get into the points again.

 

[tangey]

Assuming he poles, Hamilton needs to drive slow enough to keep the rest close enough to Rosberg that they can challenge him, but clearly ensure rosberg doesn't take him, or take him out.

 

[cjo]

Assuming he poles, Hamilton needs to drive slow enough to keep the rest close enough to Rosberg that they can challenge him, but clearly ensure rosberg doesn't take him, or take him out.

He needs one of the new, wider, 2017 cars.

 

[Lightman]

Assuming he poles, Hamilton needs to drive slow enough to keep the rest close enough to Rosberg that they can challenge him, but clearly ensure rosberg doesn't take him, or take him out.

At this stage there are only two ways Rosberg can loose title - himself and his team (reliability). Nothing Lewis or anyone else does will matter. Backing off another driver is tricky and can backfire quite easily, especially in Abu Dhabi, thanks to long straights (DRS). Running Nico off the road is like lottery as your car can get damaged as well. If only Lewis had lasers on his car or other type of weapon system ...

To be honest, I rather them fight it straight on the track. I personally like the idea of Nico WC!

 

[tangey]

Backing off another driver is tricky and can backfire quite easily, especially in Abu Dhabi, thanks to long straights (DRS).

...and the worst that can happen is he is still 2nd in the champsionship.

If he is pole, I don't see any point at all in heading of in the distance and thus having no possible input into improving the potential outcome.

 

[cjo]

...and the worst that can happen is he is still 2nd in the champsionship.

If he is pole, I don't see any point at all in heading of in the distance and thus having no possible input into improving the potential outcome.

It gives Rosberg the "option" of taking him out, it probably depends on how competitive Red Bull / Ferrari are. Rosberg doesn't seem to be the sort of person that would deliberately crash to secure a result, but then again, this would be his first WDC...

 

[Bludd]

McLaren hires well-connected commercial wheeler dealer Zak Brown as CEO, seems like a direct reaction to Ron Dennis' "we don't need no stinkin' title sponsor!". Zak Brown who was tipped to be hired by Liberty to maybe run F1's commercial side (Zak has been quoted saying he wouldn't want to be the second guy after Bernie, so that was probably why he said no).

Zak is now the third guy (effectively) after Ron Dennis at the new McLaren because Martin Whitmarsh was that unlucky second guy. I feel that Whitmarsh and Domenicali were ill served and were maybe too nice. Ferrari after Domenical has become worse and more paranoid and McLaren hasn't won a race since Whitmarsh was team principal.

Let's see what Zak Brown can do. I assume Eric Boullier will continue as, effectively, team principal, but who knows in this crazy sport.

 

[Kaotik]

Congrats to Nico on championship despite Hamiltons dirty trick towards the end, well deserved.

Unsuprisingly Kimi got the shortest straw on pit strategies

 

[Mariner]

Yeah, Hamilton dirtily won the race. What an absolute rotter!

The way you're talking, you'd think he'd dropped a Spyhunter-style oil slick, or something.

Ah well, the title was won by the driver with the fastest and most reliable car. Just the same as usual.

 

[Kaotik]

Yeah, Hamilton dirtily won the race. What an absolute rotter!

The way you're talking, you'd think he'd dropped a Spyhunter-style oil slick, or something.

Well, I do consider it playing dirty when you drive seconds per lap slower laps to try to feed your teammate to cars behind, but making sure he never gets a chance to pass you (and continue doing so despite team telling you to speed up)

 

[Deleted member 2197]

Team's have their own motivation as do drivers. I'm sure Hamilton would have done differently had the Championship not been so close in points.

 

[DJ12]

A dirty trick would've been to let Rosberg attempt a pass and then take him out. Hamilton behaved perfectly fairly and did what he had to do to try and win the championship, within the rules.

What did you want him to do? Waltz off into the distance accepting defeat in the championship? If you did, you are retarded. Not one driver would've done any different in those circumstances, not one, well I suspect some would've attempted the Schumacher approach to it.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Grats to Nico.

Onwards to 2017...

 

[Arwin]

This was a good season, and kudos again to Mercedes for letting their drivers really fight. I hope they don't back down from this next year. With some luck, both Ferrari and Red Bull pick up the pace next year and get a little closer to Mercedes, so that the fights will be even more exciting (which will, of course, increase the risk of team orders ... ).

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Hamilton is a douchebag. Nothing new there. The guy got the personality of a wet towel. Not a winner but a spoiled child.

Good he got nothing out of it.

 

[Billy Idol]

Congrats to Nico, well deserved.

 

[cjo]

Hamilton is a douchebag. Nothing new there. The guy got the personality of a wet towel. Not a winner but a spoiled child.

Good he got nothing out of it.

What did you expect him to do? The reason they race is to try to win the WDC. Driving off in to the distance doesn't achieve that. He didn't do anything against the rules, or immoral. If Nico didn't want to be where he was, he could have tried harder to get past him. Being able to drive like he did and keep someone that is (now) a WDC winner behind him takes a lot of skill.

It's a bit silly to complain that a driver was trying to make it harder on another driver. I mean, it's not as if we should expect a WDC to be able to overtake a teammate, or keep another driver in a worse car behind them for a few laps.

Both you and Kaotik shouldn't confuse dislike of a person with them doing something technically or morally wrong on the racetrack.

 

[Lightman]

Grats to Nico for his 1st WDC!

I think Lewis played it hard but fair considering rules. Well done to him for not giving up till the end!
Make no mistake, Lewis on most tracks is the faster driver, but the difference is small as Nico improved a lot this year. I would say Max Verstappen and Hamilton are two fastest drivers on the grid across wide variety of tracks. Alonso, Vettel and Ricciardo are very fast too, but also are good in other areas of the race and can play the long game.

This year is over, but I'm very much looking forward to new F1 in 2017! Especially excited for new, much faster cars and the potential to close the gaps between teams!

 

[cjo]

but the difference is small as Nico improved a lot this year.

He has improved in some aspects. However, from a BBC article:

He is still not - and never will be - Hamilton's equal as a racing driver.

Hamilton took 12 poles, Rosberg eight, despite the fact that the Briton did not even compete in three qualifying sessions because of other engine problems and their knock-on effects. Hamilton won 10 races and Rosberg nine. The average qualifying gap between them was 0.14 seconds in Hamilton's favour.

The popular impression is that Rosberg has been closer to Hamilton this year than ever before, but that is not quite true.

In races in which they have been able to directly compete, Hamilton has come out on top 11 times and Rosberg six - about the same ratio as their previous two seasons.

Verstappen having a whole season in a competitive car could be extremely interesting.