It's utter rubbish, let's hope we have no mechanical failures at least.
Looks like Lewis could just cruise to WDC by coming in second or better - Let's hope no mechanical issues
The second sentence is wrong. Sorry it is just not the case... If Nico wins,... and Lewis is P2,... is Nico WDC? And that is without even resorting to this: If Kimi wins is he WDC? Alonso? Ricciardo? Massa? Bottas? All that said,... It is unlikely that the stupidity of 2x point will alter the outcome. The most likely scenarios are a MB 1/2 (order TBD),... or one of the MB cars DNF's. In either of these scenarios,... the double points don't effect the title.
You dont understand.. nothing new can possibly be good.... Its all about the old days. I'm probably the only one that likes it and hasn't moaned about it from the beginning. One more twist to the plot. Its just entertainment folks.
We don't know yet if the double points at Abu Dhabi are going to decide the title, but the outcome could be talked about for decades to come. I really don't know if the idea is substainable in the long run, for years to come. What are track owners and organisers in different circuits of the world are going to say, if the final GP has all the attention; will that make them feel second rate? Will they ask to pay half of what Abu Dhabi is charged?
So surprising because Nico is better than everyone thought, or because Lewis isn't as good as everyone thought? (Nico has said his driving is the same as ever, incidentally) "It has been surprising that Rosberg has been the guy to push Hamilton so close. Rosberg has flourished this season and delivered results I don't think many people thought he could deliver. "
Part of it is that it's only a two-man competition. Unless Ham won every race, it was always going to be close. Hamilton should have a bigger lead given a 10-6 advantage in race wins, but that has been mitigated by dnf's and other problems. Again, though, the other part of it is that Nico is a fast driver. If he's in clean air, he's a sure bet. He's not as comfortable battling in close quarters as Ham, but with this year's Merc that normally is not a problem (beyond dueling with Hamilton). I think e intra-team battle has been great this season. Without it, most fans would have tuned out by mid-season.
So you disagree with the writer, then? You're really blaming Lewis' DNFs for them being close in points, rather than what I believe the writer is implying, that Nico's performance is close to Lewis'.
1st place in 18 races= 450 pts 2nd place in 18races= 324 pts 3 DNF's = -75 pts 2 3rd place finishes (due to car issues): -30 pts That means Ham lost 105 pts due to car issues. That would leave him with 345 that he should score if all went well. If Lewis took first in every race and Nico took second, they would be separated by 126 points. Ham has 334, Nico has 317. I'm not taking anything away from Rosberg (as the portion you removed from my quote pointed out), but clearly the tightness of the championship has been impacted by Ham's dnf's and car issues.
We all know that stuff. I'm pretty sure toil has pointed it out once or 10,000 times. OTOH, Nico has had clear wins over Lewis, excuse free, like last weekend where he completely dominated Lewis in every session. You appear to be ignoring my point, again, and that is that they're obviously close. I'm not saying this because i'm for or against either driver, because I don't care which one wins anything...this is just an observation. It's close. There's no argument. If it wasn't close, only one would dominate all year. My original question still hasn't been answered. Why is the writer surprised that Nico brought the fight right up to Lewis? Because Nico is better than the writer thought, or because Lewis isn't as good as expected?
^^^ Somewhat strange question to ask. We all know Lewis is the real deal because of the quality of competition he has had in his McLaren and Merc days, but up till now, Nico hasn't had the opportunity to prove that he is. Now we know he is the real deal too. How hard can it be to work that out?
It has been answered. Nico is NOT Webber (actually, Webber almost beat Vettel for that first WDC). He is not going to beaten by a driver in an inferior car. That means he will get second most of the time to Ham's firsts and he will win most of the time when Ham dnf's. He also has head-to-head wins The Merc is a superior car. There were 674 first and second place points available so far this season. Merc has 651 points. If those two are scoring most of the 1st/2nd place points, there was never going to be a huge difference. Add to that the fact that Nico beat Ham head-to-head in 3 races along with the 3 dnf's and there you have it. I think there are a few drivers who would keep it this close (or closer) if you had the same circumstances in each race.
Agree...it's simple: Nico is a fast driver. He's not Maldonado or Perez or someone like that. It's been great to see him show how good he really is.
am I writing in English? maybe not!! So, is the writer surprised at how good Nico is, or that Lewis isn't as good as he thought or what? The writer actually used the word "surprised" I don't know how else to word my question that will get you over trying to prove that Lewis is better than Nico or that Nico isn't Maldonado (???)....that's not my question.
I guess I'm giving you the reasons I think the championship is close (to the 'is Nico that good or Lewis not good?' question). You're asking me to figure out why McNish is surprised it's close? Maybe he doesn't follow F1. Maybe he's not familiar with Nico. Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know him personally so it's tough to answer for him.(I do know who he is though)