2016 FORMULA 1 ETIHAD AIRWAYS ABU DHABI GRAND PRIX **SPOILERS**

I get what you are saying, but I don't believe any f1 driver capable of winning a WDC would think like that. They are selfish because they come from a life of single seaters and they know how rare it is to have a winning car. This might have been Hamilton's last chance at another WDC; we just don't know.

Merc should have split the garage and let them both run their own strategy IMO.

 

Great shots! Are the green shirts worn by the Ferrari mechanics for end of season or normal for every GP?

+1

Having one strategist for both drivers the way Merc do it is always bound to create problems. How could it not, especially when they are the only ones going for the WDC.

 

If you are not competitive, you shouldn't be there. LH did what he needed to do without negating a Merc 1-2.


I don't understand why I'm disliked [rhetorical) on this board except maybe because I don't dislike Lewis. I am not a "fan" of his, per se, but I've raced and am competitive, so I understand his psyche.

Again, NR is WDC. LH won the race. Done.

 

Green shirts = high vis. As soon as the races are over the circuit becomes a building site. Sometimes the cars are in areas that require high visibility clothing... In Abu Dhabi, parc ferme was in such an area.

 

But when his tactics failed, he should have had the good graces to smile for the cameras, accept his defeat and congratulate Nico properly, not act like a spoilt child and try to detract from a great season from Nico. **** his problems with the car, that's life

 

Interesting read from another professional driver...

Lewis Hamilton did nothing wrong in Abu Dhabi decider - BBC Sport

 

Who's Allan McNish???

 

Tbh it was a pretty dull race and everybody did what he was expected to do. Hope next year's finale will be more interesting

 

Speed wise, Rosberg and Hamilton are equal, as demonstrated by both being able to qualify on the front row, and to take pole as well. Rosberg is not far from Hamilton in the number of poles, and when he comes second, it's only by a small margin. So both are fast.

Hamilton is better at racing than Rosberg, mostly in attacking and defending ruthlessly, although he keeps his most aggression against his team mate - the driver who threatens him the most, having equal car.

As for Mercedes, having won the WCC, and with the certainty that one of their driver would lift the WDC, they also wanted a win in Abu Dhabi to conclude the season, and a Mercedes 1-2 was their ambition. The United Arab Emirates is a big market for them, so winning there is a good marketing point. I hope you don't forget that Mercedes races to sell cars.

With the prospect of Vettel gaining on Rosberg and Hamilton and a certain win in jeopardy at some point because of Hamilton slowing down, there was panic in the Mercedes camp. So they were quite entitled to issue orders to have their drivers observing their plan; it was their interest at stake, even if you don't see it.

 

You know, this has been tried by Yamaha in MotoGP, to stop the animosity between Valentino Rossi and his team mate Jorge Lorenzo.
In the long run, it didn't work.

Rossi even left Yamaha for 2 years to drive for Ducati, and then came back at Yamaha, with the hostility between them growing even stronger.

Now, it's Lorenzo's turn to leave and join Ducati to avoid further clash with Rossi.

Yamaha accepts that splitting the team created a rift among the staff, created 2 teams refusing to cooperate and that slowed down development, etc...

 

It may bring some action on the track sometime, but PR wise, the rivalry between Hamilton and Rosberg is disastrous for Mercedes.

As Nikki Lauda pointed out, they often win, obtaining 1-2, but the body language and the attitude of both display unease and unhappiness in public.

When they should celebrate together the Mercedes team success, they sulk at each other and turn to the media to vent their dissatisfaction.

 

Compared to the enthusiasm shown by Ricciardo when he gets on the podium, for example, or the joy expressed by Perez, or even Massa when they score points for their teams, the Mercedes lot is rather lacklustre, to say the least.

Instead of rejoicing as a team, Hamilton and Rosberg mull in deep analysis without expressing much pleasure at their success. It's a bad show, IMO.

 

2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix team radio transcript · F1 Fanatic

Radio transcripts (as usual, not every bit is covered, but more than we hear on TV). Note that at lap 25 Vettel is, once again, doing the strategy whilst Ferrari is sat twiddling their thumbs. Do they even employ strategists?

 

Interesting. Thanks for sharing.

 

Every cars radio traffic is recorded and available to review and broadcast. Interestingly, the teams can 'red flag' certain radio comms at their discretion which cannot be broadcast. Makes you wonder why Ferrari chose to allow the famous Vettel message to Charlie to be broadcast....

 

54 To Lewis Hamilton Lewis we need to target the 45s if we’re going to win this.
54 From Lewis Hamilton Right now I’m losing the world championship so I’m really not bothered if I’m going to win or lose this race.


Thats the only comment that REALLY bothered me. I understand his anger, but be professional.

 

In publicizing these transmissions, F1 gives us a tiny and rare glimpse into drivers being human. Because of that, this comment doesn't bother me at all. I really don't understand why everyone wants these guys to act like professional PR people all the time. Don't we get enough of that?

 

+44

 

His job is drive as fast as he can, period. It isn't to slow down and block people, or risk the destruction of the second car, or alter its result. If he was so upset, park it and retire, plenty of people would cheer for him then!

 

It has nothing to do with PR or humanizing them. It has to do with his general demeanor as a teammate (not to rosberg but to his garage and everyone involved), a world champion, a professional. To say "meh i don't care" is saying to his mechanics and engineers, a big ol F you.

Its not just Hamilton i'm picking on, i see it in Football or other sports. When a guy stops chasing someone because they think they can't catch them, or they stop running, or the celebrate too much. Just be a professional. You're getting paid millions of dollars to do something you're supposed to love and be the best at. Act like it.

 

What he said over the radio doesn't make me think in any way that he didn't care about winning. He obviously was 100% incentivized to win the race. To win the WDC, he had to do that, but also have another outcome that he was trying to achieve. He knew he'd win, and IMO, he wasn't telling them he didn't care any more. He never stopped chasing the WDC until the race was over. Very much the opposite of your football analogy.

Now, had Rosberg decided to try to pass, that would have presented Hamilton the opportunity to do something that would have resulted in 100 times the criticism as he's getting now. And, if that happened, I'd be right there with the rest of you calling for his head. As it is, though, this didn't happen.

 

His job doesn't end at simply driving as fast as he can. His job is to try to win a WDC. He didn't risk Rosberg's destruction.

Look, I'm no fan of Hamilton, but he did nothing wrong in the race. I think the team's "speed up" order was ridiculous. I think Nico's offer to pass and then swap was cute (and appropriately caveated by Nico when he presented the idea). If you want to get on Hamilton's case about being so damn pouty at the end and offering up only perfunctory congratulations, I'm right there with you. But his race was fine in my book.

 

He works for the team, the WDC is a bonus, not priority one. Had Nico attempted to pass Elton would have spun him, its obvious, he wanted that opportunity. Luckily, Nico has the intelligence not to give the one-man destruction derby driver the opportunity to do it. Elton was dum this race, no more, no less, and his demeanour and action after the race show he is classless and not worthy of the fans he supposedly has on his side