Nico Rosberg - 2016 World Champion

[Pest44]

Congrats to Nico. Over the whole season drove to his best level and never cracked under the pressure towards the end. Well done

Is 44 in your username a nod to Lewis? If so, I'm touched by your magnanimity.

I am a big Hamilton fan but when I joined this forum Hamilton hadn't adopted the number yet. Just so happens 44 is my lucky number as well being born on the 4th April. But yeah would have loved to see Hamilton win his forth title but think Nico did what exactly he needed to do and never put a foot wrong so well played to him.

[stevey]

Toto states lh should drive for horner and we've got a wdc who can't drive in the rain. F1's reputation back in the gutter.

[Blake]

Toto just states in interview "Lewis had two choices today. Drive off into the distance or back the pack up like Christian horner said. He chose the latter so should go drive for him" and you saying there was no favouritism.

Toto just had his driver ignore Team Orders, you can hardly expect him to be pleased.

[Blake]

Toto states lh should drive for horner and we've got a wdc who can't drive in the rain. F1's reputation back in the gutter.

Please don't choke on those sour grapes.

[Zoue]

Toto just states in interview "Lewis had two choices today. Drive off into the distance or back the pack up like Christian horner said. He chose the latter so should go drive for him" and you saying there was no favouritism.

what part of that shows favouritism? I think you perhaps don't understand the term?

[mikeyg123]

Toto just states in interview "Lewis had two choices today. Drive off into the distance or back the pack up like Christian horner said. He chose the latter so should go drive for him" and you saying there was no favouritism.

Toto just had his driver ignore Team Orders, you can hardly expect him to be pleased.

Tbf Toton was very balanced. Basically said if he was Lewis he would have done the same thing.

[Colesy917]

A lot of people seem to think the 'lesser' talented ones of the world should just stay home and never try to compete.

It takes guts of steel to know you aren't the best, refuse to capitulate, pick yourself up after each loss and keep going.

Nico has everything in the world one can hope for, and nobody could've blamed him if he'd acknowledged the obvious after Lewis' two titles and walked away or accepted second best.

Lewis deserves kudos for not giving up in adversity, but so does Nico, esp. because it's much harder for him being second best talent wise.

Perfect expression of my thoughts too. I have no qualms admitting that Hamilton is better on average but Im thrilled Nico stuck it out and is a champion.

[Schumacher forever#1]

Turned out they don't have a procedure for getting off this forum.

Congratulations to Nico - well earned.

This has been a good year for him.
He and his wife have their first child.
He rescued a child from the sea.
He followed team orders and went against his own interests to allow Hamilton past him at Monaco.
He's World Champion.

Well summed up! He always needed that little bit of luck to swing his way for him to be World Champion. The previous two seasons it was against him by a small margin and now I think the luck has balanced out. Hamilton may be the better driver to 2:1 which is reflected with their Mercedes championships. A well-deserved championship - didn't crack under pressure and I believe he was the better driver up until after Japan where he maintained a cautious approach to secure the championship.

Great to see emotions running high on the podium and I was extremely impressed with his modesty and friendliness towards his main competitor, Hamilton. I think a lot of drivers would be bulling at Hamilton in Rosberg's shoes!

[ElevenTenths]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

[ElevenTenths]

Turned out they don't have a procedure for getting off this forum.

Congratulations to Nico - well earned.

This has been a good year for him.
He and his wife have their first child.
He rescued a child from the sea.
He followed team orders and went against his own interests to allow Hamilton past him at Monaco.
He's World Champion.

Well summed up! He always needed that little bit of luck to swing his way for him to be World Champion. The previous two seasons it was against him by a small margin and now I think the luck has balanced out. Hamilton may be the better driver to 2:1 which is reflected with their Mercedes championships. A well-deserved championship - didn't crack under pressure and I believe he was the better driver up until after Japan where he maintained a cautious approach to secure the championship.

Great to see emotions running high on the podium and I was extremely impressed with his modesty and friendliness towards his main competitor, Hamilton. I think a lot of drivers would be bulling at Hamilton in Rosberg's shoes!

"Little bit of luck" - is that what we are calling it now?

[Schumacher forever#1]

Turned out they don't have a procedure for getting off this forum.

Congratulations to Nico - well earned.

This has been a good year for him.
He and his wife have their first child.
He rescued a child from the sea.
He followed team orders and went against his own interests to allow Hamilton past him at Monaco.
He's World Champion.

Well summed up! He always needed that little bit of luck to swing his way for him to be World Champion. The previous two seasons it was against him by a small margin and now I think the luck has balanced out. Hamilton may be the better driver to 2:1 which is reflected with their Mercedes championships. A well-deserved championship - didn't crack under pressure and I believe he was the better driver up until after Japan where he maintained a cautious approach to secure the championship.

Great to see emotions running high on the podium and I was extremely impressed with his modesty and friendliness towards his main competitor, Hamilton. I think a lot of drivers would be bulling at Hamilton in Rosberg's shoes!

"Little bit of luck" - is that what we are calling it now?

I thought if I came to the forum two hours after the race Hamilton fans would be a little less sour... I was wrong

Yeah, at the start of the season I thought he'd need a bit of luck over the course of the season to give him that extra points push. Don't forget, Rosberg got spun around at the start of the same race Hamilton's engine blew up so the luck wasn't exactly one-way.

[mikeyg123]

Turned out they don't have a procedure for getting off this forum.

Congratulations to Nico - well earned.

This has been a good year for him.
He and his wife have their first child.
He rescued a child from the sea.
He followed team orders and went against his own interests to allow Hamilton past him at Monaco.
He's World Champion.

Well summed up! He always needed that little bit of luck to swing his way for him to be World Champion. The previous two seasons it was against him by a small margin and now I think the luck has balanced out. Hamilton may be the better driver to 2:1 which is reflected with their Mercedes championships. A well-deserved championship - didn't crack under pressure and I believe he was the better driver up until after Japan where he maintained a cautious approach to secure the championship.

Great to see emotions running high on the podium and I was extremely impressed with his modesty and friendliness towards his main competitor, Hamilton. I think a lot of drivers would be bulling at Hamilton in Rosberg's shoes!

"Little bit of luck" - is that what we are calling it now?

I thought if I came to the forum two hours after the race Hamilton fans would be a little less sour... I was wrong

Yeah, at the start of the season I thought he'd need a bit of luck over the course of the season to give him that extra points push. Don't forget, Rosberg got spun around at the start of the same race Hamilton's engine blew up so the luck wasn't exactly one-way.

In fairness... over the season it was a lot of luck, not a little. That said. Nico is a worthy champion. He's got the most points on the board.

[Crumpet]

Come on guys whatever bad luck Lewis had was not Nico's fault. I'm a Hamilton fan and think Lewis is faster but Nico has not been far off over the last few years. For that reason (and the fact Lewis already has three) I won't begrudge Nico this championship.

Ultimately whatever happens the guy who ends up with most points is the champion. Lewis had some good luck in winning his first one let's not forget!

[theman28]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

[F1Tyrant]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

Exactly, 2016 is more karma for 2008 than anything else. Nowhere near as dramatic but similar sentiments.

[mikeyg123]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

And with a faster car and some very suspicious officiating.

[chetan_rao]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

And with a faster car and some very suspicious officiating.

If the best car and dodgy officiating invalidate victories, I guess you believe nobody deserves their titles (including Hamilton)?

Every driver on the grid has had their share of dodgy decisions go both ways (even those not involving them directly), and Lewis has had a car advantage more often than not over his career.

Specious argument if I ever saw one.

[Sevenfest]

Surely that can't be the fist time a reigning WDC has had the crown taken off him by a team-mate?

It's not the first but I think the last time would be Prost from Senna - 88-89. Almost said Hill to Villeneuve 96-97 but Hill obviously wasn't at Williams in 97!

Full kudos to Rosberg for today. He can be proud of what's he's achieved. Would have loved to see him take the win by passing Lewis, if just to stop the inevitable bile from some Lewis fans (that has already started) that make me ashamed to call myself an F1/Lewis fan by association.

Lewis can be proud of his end to the season though and I'm sure he will come back stronger next year. Hoping for bigger battles - both at the front and across the field, the resurgence of Ferrari and McLaren, hopefully better tyres and some louder, pointier cars.

Just a shame we have to wait 4 MONTHS until Melbourne. I can't remember how I dealt with this last year...

[POBRatings]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

WDCs are not accurate measures of driver comparison, never have been. For one thing the points allocation is arbitrary. And packages (ie car-and-driver combined) and not drivers are measured/scored/allocated points.

[Rockie]

Congrats to Rosberg, I think Hamilton fans should just chill, he has lost move all you all knew that before the race began.

When your team mate is winning races consecutively and you dismiss it as an anomaly that you are not concerned things like this happen!

[Rockie]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

WDCs are not accurate measures of driver comparison, never have been. For one thing the points allocation is arbitrary. And packages (ie car-and-driver combined) and not drivers are measured/scored/allocated points.

I beg to disagree, maybe for drivers not in a title winning car.

[flyboy10]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

WDCs are not accurate measures of driver comparison, never have been. For one thing the points allocation is arbitrary. And packages (ie car-and-driver combined) and not drivers are measured/scored/allocated points.

I beg to disagree, maybe for drivers not in a title winning car.

I agree that with a different arbitrary weighting of points to indicate different relative importance placed on wins compared with other finishing positions, you could get quite a different WDC outcome. What amount of mathematics would provide a points system that was more meaningful?

[aice]

Cut the bashing, guys. There are cases for both drivers deserving or not deserving the title this year. Some will say Lewis should have ignored the orders, some will say he shouldn't. Some might cite Monaco where the orders were reversed, probably both sides will use elements of that. Fair enough, we all have our opinions.

That doesn't mean we'll sit back and let things get personal or out of hand, though.

Well said. It gets old, it gets tiring. Totally unnecessary.

[Zoue]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

And with a faster car and some very suspicious officiating.

Glad to see your can opener is working fine!

[KingVoid]

Lewis is the better driver, he's always been.

But I don't care.

YYYEEEEAAASSS - Tony Ross

[trento]

Rosberg reminds me of Massa, except he won a wdc

[KingVoid]

Rosberg reminds me of Massa, except he won a wdc

He's closer to Raikkonen and Button as a driver than to Massa IMO.

Ideally I want him to have another teammate sometime soon in the future.

[mikeyg123]

Lol this thread is funny, so by most people's logic I guess Massa was the 2008 champion seeing as though he had more wins but also had less luck.

And with a faster car and some very suspicious officiating.

Glad to see your can opener is working fine!

Haha I thought with all the excitement of the day I might be able to slip that in unchallenged

[Rockie]

Rosberg reminds me of Massa, except he won a wdc

Considering he is close to Hamilton on pace, I find this funny!

[Biffa]

Congrats to Nico from a Hami supporter, a well deserved first title, I’m looking forward to the battle next year as I think both Merc drivers will come out stronger.

[sandman1347]

Nico has earned this. It doesn't matter whether Hamilton is the better driver nor does it matter whether Hamilton had worse reliability. Those things can happen. At the end of the day; as a driver, you have to take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves to you and Nico did exactly that. He achieved something very special and he did not have an easy go of it. Reliability problems or not, to outscore Hamilton in the same car is super difficult to do.

This championship is a lot like Prost's in 89'. Senna was clearly the faster guy but he got the worst of it when it comes to reliability. That has happened in F1 many times actually so people should stop acting like this is an anomaly. I think Rosberg's patience and willingness to stick around at Merc even with Lewis coming to the team and stealing his thunder has paid off. I think Nico was smart enough to realize that a season like this might come some day; where luck was in his favor. Ultimately, he has been close enough to Hamilton over these last few years that that's all he really needed to become champion. Good for him.

[Blake]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

Did you buy those grapes by the bushel? You should get your money back,they appear to be sour.

[Rockie]

What amazes me is how much Mercedes had to sabotage Lewis in order to deliver the WDC to Rosberg and yet Rosberg won by only 5 points while losing both number of races and qualifying - sums up what has happend here.

Did you buy those grapes by the bushel? You should get your money back,they appear to be sour.

Lol now this is evil

[Fiki]

I can't get out of my head what I saw Keke do in Zolder many years ago; I'm just so happy for him and for Nico! Those who don't understand how much harder it is for somebody who is just a bit slower, to win a title in the same team, don't really understand F1 or motorsport.

Congratulations Nico, Mercedes can be proud of its longest-serving driver!

Hamilton's tactic was interesting to see, but we should all acknowledge that he didn't in the end jeopardize the team result. He gets a thumbs up from me for that.

[flyboy10]

I can't get out of my head what I saw Keke do in Zolder many years ago; I'm just so happy for him and for Nico! Those who don't understand how much harder it is for somebody who is just a bit slower, to win a title in the same team, don't really understand F1 or motorsport.

Congratulations Nico, Mercedes can be proud of its longest-serving driver!

Hamilton's tactic was interesting to see, but we should all acknowledge that he didn't in the end jeopardize the team result. He gets a thumbs up from me for that.

Do you mean in the FW08's debut when Watson won?

[Fiki]

I can't get out of my head what I saw Keke do in Zolder many years ago; I'm just so happy for him and for Nico! Those who don't understand how much harder it is for somebody who is just a bit slower, to win a title in the same team, don't really understand F1 or motorsport.

Congratulations Nico, Mercedes can be proud of its longest-serving driver!

Hamilton's tactic was interesting to see, but we should all acknowledge that he didn't in the end jeopardize the team result. He gets a thumbs up from me for that.

Do you mean in the FW08's debut when Watson won?

No, I remember Keke during tyre tests at Zolder 1984. There was a marshal telling all pitlane visitors it wasn't allowed to smoke there. In comes Keke, puts his car in the garage for attention, walks to the pitlane and sees this marshal. Keke walks up to him and asks "got a fag for me, mate?" and gets one promptly! I burst out laughing then, and I'm sitting here with a silly grin on my face remembering it now.

I remember Keke missing his braking for one of the last corners at Zolder in 1982, but for that, he would have had 2 wins in his championship. But all that doesn't matter; both Rosbergs are worthy champions!

[Grizzly B]

Rosberg drove superbly today.

The stats do not lie, had Hamilton's car been as reliable as Rosberg's he would have won the championship, however it wasn't and that is motor racing. I was worried that Rosberg winning might make the sport look bad, but on reflection the way he has handled the pressure has been exceptional and his drives in Malaysia and today stand out to me as those of a world champion.

He is not the best driver but he does deserve to be a world champion so congratulations to him.

[flyboy10]

I can't get out of my head what I saw Keke do in Zolder many years ago; I'm just so happy for him and for Nico! Those who don't understand how much harder it is for somebody who is just a bit slower, to win a title in the same team, don't really understand F1 or motorsport.

Congratulations Nico, Mercedes can be proud of its longest-serving driver!

Hamilton's tactic was interesting to see, but we should all acknowledge that he didn't in the end jeopardize the team result. He gets a thumbs up from me for that.

Do you mean in the FW08's debut when Watson won?

No, I remember Keke during tyre tests at Zolder 1984. There was a marshal telling all pitlane visitors it wasn't allowed to smoke there. In comes Keke, puts his car in the garage for attention, walks to the pitlane and sees this marshal. Keke walks up to him and asks "got a fag for me, mate?" and gets one promptly! I burst out laughing then, and I'm sitting here with a silly grin on my face remembering it now.

I remember Keke missing his braking for one of the last corners at Zolder in 1982, but for that, he would have had 2 wins in his championship. But all that doesn't matter; both Rosbergs are worthy champions!

That's the race I mean. His brakes were shot and went off with only 1 or 2 laps left but regained the track for P2. I was big fan of Keke too. I got his autograph at Silverstone in 1983 and I think I have Nico's too, if it's not just a print or a proxy for Mercedes publicity.

[pbchillin]

Rosberg drove superbly today.

The stats do not lie, had Hamilton's car been as reliable as Rosberg's he would have won the championship, however it wasn't and that is motor racing. I was worried that Rosberg winning might make the sport look bad, but on reflection the way he has handled the pressure has been exceptional and his drives in Malaysia and today stand out to me as those of a world champion.

He is not the best driver but he does deserve to be a world champion so congratulations to him.

To say it's only reliability is somewhat unfair on Rosberg given how Hamilton messed up 3-4 races with bad starts let alone any other factors.

But what if Hamilton didn't keep messing up his starts? He'd have the 5 points he needed.
What if he didn't crash in quali in Azerbaijan?
What if Red Bull didn't mess up Ricciardo's strategy in Monaco?
What if Ferrari didn't mess up Vettel's strategy in Australia?
What if the Mercedes didn't collide in Spain or Austria?

It shows how tight it was that any one of those could have swung the championship the other way.

[Clarky]

Congratulations Nico