2016 Petronas Malaysian GP Raceday **Spoilers**

LH44's DNF gives me a small feeling of "serves you right" after Mercedes introduced all those new power train parts for him at the last (?) round.

They interpreted the rules correctly that time, but it just rubbed me the wrong way.

I feel a balance has been restored.

Daniel and Max racing clean and getting a double podium, Kimi just (sorta) missing out on third and McLaren finishing in the points - an interesting finish. The rest of the race was dullsville, but I'm glad I was fast forwarding and didn't just shut it off.

 

No! - We all want our favourite driver/team to win, regardless of whether they are actually the best driver or not.

For Myself personally, if neither Ferrari driver can win the WDC then I don't particularly care which other driver wins it TBH!

(Saying that, this season I would rather see Nico win the WDC, if only because of the shameful booing that he's had to put with when on the podium!)

 

I didn't hear of any such accusations or insinuations. I heard Hamilton wondering why, of all the Mercedes engined drivers, he has suffered by far the majority of the engine problems. Looking for an explanation and answers - Andrew, of all people, you should understand the statistics and be raising your own questions about those facts!!!

It is undeniable that the failure rate of engines and components in Hamilton's car has been much greater than in Rosberg's or any of the other cars powered by Mercedes. Why? Random chance? Driving style?

Meanwhile - Rosberg again proves that he is a hack driver who hasn't got a clue about overtaking. Turn 1 was actually Rosberg's fault exclusively, Vettel and Verstappen didn't actually make contact, it was Rosberg trying to make the apex from the outside of 3 cars. Later, his dive bomb on Kimi in T2 was amateurish at best, and he rightly deserved the penalty.

 

No fault of his own? The T1 collision was all Rosberg's fault - Vettel and Verstappen never actually made contact, it was idiot Rosberg deciding that he had the right to sweep in to the apex from the outside of 3 cars at a race start. When has there ever been room for that move on L1 T1?? Rosberg's fault exclusively. If Toto and Niki weren't outraged, it was because they were embarrassed at the stupid move.

Following on from his previous race penalties for clumsy hack overtaking or defending moves, Rosberg again proved that he's a crap racer with his dive bomb on Kimi at T2. Barging into the side of the other car is not actually a great overtaking move. Again, Toto and Niki were both shaking their heads at Rosberg's clumsy driving.

 

+1

This rate of failure against otherwise perfect Mercedes reliability isn't down to bad luck. I also have a tough time believing driving style impacts anything these days; everything is tightly controlled by the electronics. It's not as if they can be aggressive at all anyway. All the drivers are very careful in throttle application because of the tire management and mainly due to the huge torque these PU's produce in all the gears.

Rosberg is fast, but not a first-class driver and a WDC would be slightly undeserved, particularly given Hamilton's unreliability.

Happy to see McLaren coming along well. Despite being seriously down on power they are pretty fast, makes me wonder if their aero and chassis has surpassed Ferrari. If Ferrari isn't able to deliver, at least McLaren should be up there. Those are the two teams that should really be at the front in an ideal world.

 

That is why I think it is not Vettel's fault but a racing incident. Rosberg held a door open. Mind you, neither Verstappen, nor Vettel were close enough to dive for that gap, they were racing one another. As Rosberg came in on the racing line Verstappen and Vettel go squeezed. Verstappen blocked all 4 wheels, Vettel didn't and couldn't slow down enough to avoid contact. Rosberg came from so far left because he was racing Hami, and perhaps hoping to get into a sweet spot for turn two. What you can blame Rosberg for was to be more focused on the road ahead than behind.
How you see Rosberg being at fault I don't know. All he had was a bit of play to balance for the nonsense people did behind him. He only had the ability to avoid being hit as a result of Vettel's misjudgement.

You see, that's why the ages old question of the 'best' driver being so pointless. If Rosberg takes the WDC home this year, it is because he is a heck of a driver. He has the car with the best qualifying abilities and voila, the person needed at Mercedes to win this year is a driver that can qualify well and win a race from the front.

Rosberg doesn't cry half as loud as Hamilton, that's why there is nowhere such a fallout if a fly shat on his visor. With Hamilton the whole world will know for days. Go ahead, count technical problems, I would be surprised if Hamilton is leading there by a notable margin (but please don't toil around and create some biased minimal statistics).

 

Vettel called Rosberg after the race and apologized.

Going to watch this race tonight or tomorrow...Seems pretty dramatic! Know the results (was inevitable I heard it).

 

100%. More. So bloody right.

IIRC Schumacher also shook each and every mechanics hand. He knew how much the engine loss meant to them, as much as himself. Schumacher defined winning and losing as a team.

 

Wrong. Alonso is also clearly the best driver out there. So...

 

If I were competing for the WDC and out of 43 engines across various teams, the ones allocated to me were the only ones to suffer failures I would be searching for answers also. I think anyone in that situation would. That said, those questions need to happen behind closed doors. I know Lewis was emotionally devastated after going from leading the championship to now trailing by almost a full race but media caution is always required.

He's having a year where the car is letting him down...it's happened to the best drivers. I think he is just further frustrated that none of the other Merc engines (obviously including Nico's) have suffered similar fates. I can't imagine I would be fine with that either...anyone who wants to be the best would be peeved.

 

Just obvious the team favors Hamilton. Also LOL at best driver, maybe at Merc

 

A great point. Will never forget that moment from Michael.

 

Shhh dont tell Gordo this, he knows better than the guys that were actually driving today and thinks it was Rosberg's fault

Seems extra salty today thanks to LH's DNF. Calling Rosberg a hack and crap racer is just hilarious. The guy is one of the most successful drivers of all time, multi time Monaco winner, etc. He has proven that he is stiff competition for Hamilton and a top driver. I thought his recovery drive today was impressive.

 

+1 Im thinking Vettel has a good idea of what actually happend. He was quite clear on the interview with SKY.

Hack LOL! LH has had plenty of 'hack' moments as well. Pure he is not at all.

 

Spot on.

 

Toto Wolff calls Rosberg penalty 'complete nonsense'

 

Rosberg will certainly find a home in the British touring car championship when his f1 career is over. That was the classic 'use someone else's car to get you round the corner' manoeuvre

 

We've seen the 3 into 1 first corner scenario a couple of times this year. Kimi was blamed a few races back for being on the outside of the 3 cars and trying to turn in on the "racing line" and squeezing Vettel and Verstappen. This time, it was Rosberg pretending that there is any sort of entitlement to a racing line at T1 on Lap 1. Who cares if your car is a 1/2 car length ahead if there's no room for that car you're squeezing on the inside? Where else is that inside car supposed to go? T1 Lap 1 scenarios don't differ - drivers going around the outside have to leave room for the inevitable cars going around the inside. If Rosberg wanted the inside, he should have been on the inside entry to the corner.

Rosberg is a fast driver - but a poor racer. This year, he's been penalized for defending too aggressively (not turning in to force another car off the track), penalized for bad overtaking twice (dive bombing up the inside and forcing the other car off the track, and today for hitting the other car). I certainly don't think that opinion is all that rare, his racecraft has often been called into question over the past few years.

Monaco - oh yeah, where he faked running off in Q3 to force a yellow flag to prevent anyone from bettering his Q3 lap. Shining example. Yes, he can win Monaco from the front... needed help that time to be at the front. This year in damp changing conditions, he was seconds a lap off the pace of his teammate and was told to let him by because he was too slow.

 

Shame for Hamilton. You don't want anyone to lose a race that way.

Max and ricciardo again show to be extremely talented and fair in their racing each other providing most of the entertainment.

If nico wins the wdc this year it'll be completely deserved. Some of you guys are unbelievable.

 

But you think Hamilton running Rosberg off the track 295 time in the last three seasons, entirely unpunished, speaks against Rosberg? (What he didn't need to learn that he needs to race dirty, too. What he needed to learn was that Hami gets away with sh*t.)

 

I do wonder Gordon if you actually watch the race itself, or have a fantastic scalectrix setup allowing you to reenact elements of the race? Otherwise, please explain how Nico is supposed to see the cars behind him, who are tasked with the FIA regs with making sure they give everyone they can see room, are doing, and exactly where was he supposed to turn, sepang airport? Vettel himself expressed his apologies to Nico for ruining his race.

As for hack..... Really? You see Elton crashing and blundering around into everyone at races where he isn't in front, and you think he is any better? How often does he drive at people, forcing them to decide whether to accept a crash or go off track to avoid his ill timed and overtly aggressive manoeuvres?

I have no love for Nico at all, but you can't be blind to the fact that he matches Elton much of the time, and since Elton tied up the championship last year, he has absolutely smashed him to bits. He deserves a title, and eltons whining just proves what a bad loser he really is. As I said before, he needs to look at how schumi reacted in similar situations, with good grace and as a gentleman, despite being well known as one of the hardest racers on track, and someone who used whatever methods he could manage to win.

 

They need to give McLaren / Honda some help.

 

My post said absolutely nothing about Hamilton.

I was surprised to hear of Vettel's penalty and apology, my comments were made after watching the race. I'd like to see a different camera angle that shows Vettel going wide from the apex.

I said nothing about Hamilton. My comments were strictly about Rosberg's lack of racecraft. Today, that was with respect to Vettel, Verstappen, and Kimi.

I don't need every thread and post to be about Hamilton - do you?

 

Mystery solved - Hamilton is their no 1 driver - straight from the horse's mouth :

Lewis Hamilton retaining Formula 1 title now would be 'greatest achievement' - BBC Sport

"There are eight cars out there powered by the same engine as mine and mine happens to fail and for Mercedes I am the number one driver."

Best,
Sammy

 

Where can I find a current list of engine parts left for the drivers until end of season?