Hamilton: Rosberg’s title “well deserved”

78 comments on “Hamilton: Rosberg’s title “well deserved””

1. 

   Craig Wilde (@wildfire15)
   1st December 2016, 0:14

   Looking at the video of the proposed Netherlands track, it’s as if they started with a brief for a MotoGP track, then as they got towards the end of the track the designer was suddenly told to add some elevation change.
   1. 

      ColdFly F1 (@)
      1st December 2016, 0:32

      ‘Netherlands’ and ‘elevation change’; 2 words you don’t see often in one sentence.
      1. 

         mfreire
         1st December 2016, 2:57

         Hahaha this is true. And what was interesting is that Zandvoort had elevation change- it’s probably the only place in Holland where there is actually elevation change.
      2. 

         Richard (@rick1984)
         1st December 2016, 3:05

         @coldfly technically thats three words!!!!
      3. 

         pSynrg (@psynrg)
         1st December 2016, 6:41

         @coldfly I like it, but Zandvoort would disagree! True it’s not massive elevation change, but what’s there adds massive character to the track.
      4. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         1st December 2016, 9:01

         oh, we are good at making it – if I am not mistaken, it was a Dutch contractor that did the work to put up the 5 m. elevation they created in Abu Dhabi @coldfly.

         Almere is in a large polder, so yeah, completely flat. You can really nicely see how they created the up and down parts by digging and throwing up banks.

         I must say that while the track looks more kind of like what we thought of Hungaroring when first seen, having a track there actually makes some sense. A small airport present (and the Government wants to relay traffic there from Schiphol but so far no airline is biting), good connetions towards Amsterdam, Utrecht and towards the east, land is relatively cheap, and dependant on where you built it, noise will be less of a problem than in most other places in the Netherlands.

         If the companies showing their ad banners in the video (Red Bull, Heineken, ING and the VdValk hotel chain) are interested, I can even see this one happening with Max Verstappen being out there currently.
   2. 

      socksolid (@socksolid)
      1st December 2016, 7:42

      Zandvoort is very hilly compared to silverstone (or most other tracks) for example.

      This netherland’s track proposal first looked a bit meh. But once I saw those elevation changes and insanely cambered corners.. WOW! The video probably exaggarates them a bit I’m sure but wow! But I really hope they’d keep most of that.

      The track profile looks bad though. Some of corners look bad where cars can run off the track, use the tarmac runoff and gain time. Turn 1/2/3 is already one such place when they put tarmac runoff there instead of grass. That turn alone is very worrying because that kind of fast chicane is the worst kind of corner for overtaking. Just look at abu dhabi and how the chicanes kill any racing on that track. A sharp 90 degree corner would be much better. That first corner is almost designed to create another incident just like mexico’s first corner. Please no.

      That three piece right hander in the middle of the track looks kinda nice. I hope they profile it in such way that you can take different lines for the next corner. Hopefully so that you can choose to take later apex in the next corner in an attempt to try to get better run out of the corner. But the next corner kinda kills it. It is the worst corner of its kind. It has that stupid tightening kink at the exit which will only mean drivers will drive straight through it. Expect to have more pointless arguments whether a driver gained adventage by going off the track there. That kink should not be there. All it does it makes the corner worse for drivers and completely eliminates any chance of two drivers coming out from the corner side by side.

      No matter what they do I sure hope they keep that massively cambered fast corner there.
   3. 

      pH (@ph)
      1st December 2016, 7:56

      Too many 180o turns for my taste. But I like the part around the lake. Three 45o turns in a row. If you have the guts to go for a pass on the outside and can keep it for those three turns, you will be rewarded by having the inside line at the sharp bend at the end.
   4. 

      Joao (@johnmilk)
      1st December 2016, 11:10

      I was looking at the video, and I could only think: How come these car liveries are better than the real ones?
   5. 

      spoutnik (@spoutnik)
      1st December 2016, 16:03

      First thing that springs to mind is the return of a banking. The only banking on the calendar, that’d be great!
2. 

   Yes (@come-on-kubica)
   1st December 2016, 0:16

   Not convinced by Charles Leclerc. I have a feeling he’s going to be another GP3 champion flop like Alex Lynn.
   1. 

      Retired (@jeff1s)
      1st December 2016, 5:18

      Then, watch him race. Have you watched him race in F3 last year, GP3 this year? The man is fast, there’s no doubt about that.
      1. 

         Yes (@come-on-kubica)
         1st December 2016, 7:59

         @jeff1s I’ve watched him in GP3, he’s either decent or completely off the pace. The GP3 field was relatively average this year as well. He’ll have to definitely prove himself in GP2 and not disappear some weekends.
3. 

   Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
   1st December 2016, 0:28

   “Sebastian Vettel did his first official laps as a Ferrari driver on this day two years ago, at the wheel of an F2012”

   I remember thinking at the time, what Vettel said once he tried that car. Something along the lines of:

   “Fernando managed to fight a championship with this piece of junk?!”
   1. 

      Strontium (@strontium)
      1st December 2016, 0:51

      @fer-no65 I remember you saying that, was a good laugh :)
4. 

   Ads21 (@ads21)
   1st December 2016, 0:30

   I thought that tweet was a nice touch from Hamilton. It’s a shame he couldn’t have articulated that sentiment on Sunday, but I think perhaps we expect a bit too much from a competitive racing driver still fresh from a painful disappointment and with huge amounts of adrenaline still pumping through his veins. His post-race press-conference congratulations fell flat with the caveats about reliability he added, yet only an hour or so later with Martin Brundle he sounded more gracious and now we see him getting the sentiment right. The press probably should have been more forgiving about his press-conference answers, but when you remember his antics in Japan you can understand why the F1 press pack was probably less inclined to be sympathetic towards him.
   1. 

      Michael (@freelittlebirds)
      1st December 2016, 1:18

      @ads21 you mean he should have said that the day he lost a championship that he should have been leading by 100 points were Mercedes his equal.. That’s a tall order from anyone. I prefer Nelson Piquet’s karate moves:-)
      1. 

         Michael (@freelittlebirds)
         1st December 2016, 1:21

         @ads21 my bad, misread it:-)
      2. 

         Richard (@rick1984)
         1st December 2016, 3:12

         @freelittlebirds definetely, if your going to go off your head you may as well give it a full blown piquet.
         Actually a suarez / tyson might have been more sucessful – let him get out the car and take a chomp, might have been enough to make nico underweight.
   2. 

      Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
      1st December 2016, 2:07

      +1
   3. 

      Theoddkiwi (@theoddkiwi)
      1st December 2016, 2:43

      You realise when lewis got out of his car he went over and congratulated nico properly and appropriately. It just was not so well televised or publisised.

      This idea that losers of high pressure sports can just suddenly switch over to being happy for the winner is rediculous. There are plenty of examples of other sports people being visually disappointed after a loss and not so elated for the winner.
      Lewis still had it in his mind that winning the championship was still possible right up to the last lap in one of the most tactically brilliant races seen. The pressure would have been huge.

      Lets not forget he was also probably feeling undermined by the team who were basically trying to tell him to give up on the championship before the race was over.

      One of the differences with F1 is the loser can get just as much focus as the winner. In this case they both went on the podium, the interview etc etc. But if lewis did not make the podium. We wouldnt have heard anything from him until the interviews in the pen.

      In many other sports the loser gets in a couple of lines and is largely ignored while all the focus is on the winner.
      1. 

         Anthony
         1st December 2016, 8:12

         I don’t think Mercedes at any time undermined Hamilton, if anything they stayed true to what they have stood for for the last few seasons – i.e. the team come first – Wolff and Lauda have always been very clear abouth this, particularly when there has been some controversy. At a certain point in the race Hamilton started putting his own interests ahead of that of the team – many people feel he was entitled to do this as he was fighting for the WDC. Mercedes did not and therefore issued there instruction to speed up, if you or Hamilton disagree with them is not really the point – they are entitled to run the team team as they wish. To me it was consistent with what we have seen, heard etc from them previously.

         And that really again where all the controversy comes from, what does it mean to be part of a team? what does it mean to be a teammate? Does fighting for the world championship change these relationships? when does the individual become greater than the whole?

         Good tweet though… top class! I’d like to believe it was his and not the PR team.
         1. 

            Lyndell D Wolff (@deadbrotherbear)
            1st December 2016, 21:56

            +1
         2. 

            Kwaw
            2nd December 2016, 12:38

            Sure, but Nico and Lewis had already delivered two things for Mercedes – the constructors and drivers championship. So for this one race why didn’t they reward both drivers by giving them an opportunity to display their race craft?
      2. 

         GeeMac (@geemac)
         1st December 2016, 9:20

         “You realise when Lewis got out of his car he went over and congratulated Nico properly and appropriately. It just was not so well televised or publicised.”

         Thank you for mentioning that @theoddkiwi. This was broadcast on the world feed and was picked up in the Channel 4 broadcast and yet no one mentioned it. As soon as they got out of the cars he went over to Nico, patted him on the back and the gave him a hug. I thought it was all that could be asked of a sportsman who had just lost a world championship.
   4. 

      Peppermint-Lemon (@)
      1st December 2016, 6:29

      It’s a nice sentiment etc had it been genuinely from him, but Hamilton doesn’t manage his own twitter feed, his management company do so its a bit hollow.
      1. 

         Tweaek
         1st December 2016, 20:47

         HAM stated in The Austin drivers press conference that he is the only person who writes his social media comments. His team manages the relationships and who has access.
   5. 

      Dr Fritch
      2nd December 2016, 21:08

      Ads21 you would do well to remember, it’s the World driver Championship not the worlds best congratulationist after defeat championship.

      Everyone that says that he should’ve congratulated Rosberg more maybe what you really want is for Hamilton to call Rosberg massa as in master I am your slave.

      If you really feel that Hamilton should’ve thanked Rosberg more, you are watching the wrong sport! And don’t really him to begin with.
5. 

   Strontium (@strontium)
   1st December 2016, 0:50

   As somebody who has an interest in motorsport circuits, seeing that completely upsets me.

   It’s just another bland nothing. It reminds me a lot of the Circuit of Wales, but with additional infield turns.

   They’re not even exciting locations, just bang in the middle of a flat field.
   1. 

      Kevin Amery (@k-l-waster)
      1st December 2016, 0:57

      To be fair, it is Holland — the Dutch Alps barely reach past your calves….
   2. 

      Ronald (@mosquito)
      1st December 2016, 6:05

      No worries, this entire “plan” is not much more than a hoax. Two enthousiastic guys set up a website and made that video. Apart from that, there is nothing concrete in these plans.
      Never gonna happen in our lifetime. It best it can set some wheels in motion, but I don’t think so.
      1. 

         BasCB (@bascb)
         1st December 2016, 9:03

         Well @mosquito, let us hope the attention it gets will help to get someone to invest a bit of their money into it. I think it would be a pretty decent idea to put it in the area around Almere. Or maybe it helps get the ever talked about Zandvoort upgrade off the ground
6. 

   mfreire
   1st December 2016, 2:53

   Having the Dutch GP and the Belgian GP is probably going to be at each other’s expense or the expense of another race. There doesn’t need to be a Dutch GP, there hasn’t been one since 1985 and Verstappen gets lots of homeland support at nearby Spa anyway.
   1. 

      mfreire
      1st December 2016, 2:56

      And also- that new Dutch circuit looks kinda boring. They must have based their whole-view-of-the-facility idea on American oval tracks or more likely the Ricardo Tormo circuit.
      1. 

         mfreire
         1st December 2016, 3:07

         Well- at first glance, it looks boring- but there are some seriously cool corners there- one of which is a left hander that has what looks like 20 degrees of banking. But it looks like a go-kart track- which is what just about all of the F1 Tilkedromes look like.
7. 

   Michael Brown (@)
   1st December 2016, 3:09

   I like the design of the proposed Netherlands circuit. Much better than Sochi and Baku, certainly. Tilke tracks have a tendency to have angles rather than actual bends like most tracks of previous generations.
8. 

   mark jackson
   1st December 2016, 3:12

   In Japan, Hamilton said he doesn’t manage all of his social media so I’m pretty sure someone else wrote that tweet.
   1. 

      Kgn11
      1st December 2016, 5:37

      No one you’re not sure, you’re assuming you are.

      Yes he said that, but it doesn’t mean that on this occasion he’s not the one who did it himself. You could also be right that it was done by one of his team.

      But how about just giving him the benefit of the doubt for a change?
      1. 

         mark jackson
         1st December 2016, 20:28

         Judging by Lewis’ demeanor on Sunday, then refusing to complete the tire test on Monday, then 24 hrs later he’s cheerful and happy that Nico won? I don’t buy it. It sounds like his/Mercedes PR team are took over his social media so he doesn’t say something dumb and they’re in damage control mode right now.
         1. 

            Kgn11
            2nd December 2016, 3:21

            You wouldn’t buy it if you say him run into s burning building to save s kid, even if it happened right before your eyes.

            Btw, he wasn’t schedule to do the test.
         2. 

            Martin
            2nd December 2016, 11:53

            https://i.redd.it/kns6c2re170y.jpg

            Right after they got out of the cars in Abu Dhabi Hamilton hugged and congratulated Rosberg.
   2. 

      John H (@john-h)
      1st December 2016, 8:53

      I m guessing for a tweet like that he’s probably at least consulted.
   3. 

      Thetick
      1st December 2016, 9:12

      He does take pictures and write stuff sometimes and this passive aggressive tweet sounds like him.
9. 

   Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
   1st December 2016, 3:22

   Interesting to see that in a ‘secret’ ballot Lewis Hamilton is voted best driver of 2016 by all the F1 team bosses.

   What would be even more interesting, would be to see the results of an ‘open’ ballot with these same team bosses.
   1. 

      Todfod (@todfod)
      1st December 2016, 6:57

      Open ballot would put Fernando on top ;) . If only team boss’ pick for best drive on the grid translated to WDCs
   2. 

      GeeMac (@geemac)
      1st December 2016, 9:22

      Autosport do that poll every year, it is hardly a secret.
      1. 

         Fudge Kobayashi (@)
         1st December 2016, 9:57

         The secret part is the fact that the voter’s identities are not disclosed, not the poll itself! Lol
   3. 

      ColdFly F1 (@)
      1st December 2016, 13:02

      It’s hardly surprising, @stubbornswiss.
      Don’t assume team bosses would vote differently in an open ‘ballot’ (sometimes there is no conspiracy!). But of course in an open ballot all drivers would be ranked equally, as the bosses will never participate in such a vote.

      PS my open ranking as wannabee team boss (F1F mid season ranking):
      1) HAM(2) good racing throughout year, with few mistakes
      2) VES(4) just love the excitement and quality he brings to racing
      3) RIC(1) less mistakes than VES, but not as exciting
      4) ROS(8) very solid season, but had a few average moments
      5) ALO(6) can’t wait to see him in a stronger car again
      6) PER(7) very close to HUL, both solid
      7) HUL(10) over the full season just behind PER (or not, still not sure)
      8) SAI (5) falling a bit on my rating, very strong first half
      9) RAI (13) climbing, but does not show up enough on race day
      10)BOT (9) falling and becoming average, beating MAS is not enough.
      PS – there is very little between positions 2-5 on my list.
      1. 

         Stubborn Swiss (@stubbornswiss)
         1st December 2016, 13:35

         Hey @coldfly, at least I’m a ‘self confessed’ conspiracy theorist…… :)
      2. 

         ColdFly F1 (@)
         2nd December 2016, 5:46

         Oops left out VET.
         He’s 6th on my list (outside the power group 2-5) with all the rest 1 position lower.
10. 

    ThisNoNameID2 (@patienceandtime)
    1st December 2016, 3:33

    I doubt Hamilton has written it himself, more like Mercedes PR team who try to persuade hamilton fans to think otherwise, i won’t.
    1. 

       OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
       1st December 2016, 4:13

       @patienceandtime come on! Give your hero the credit he deserves as well, now that the dust has settled down. He won’t hug Nico every time they see each other, but finally some sensible words are coming from him, and you try to deny it?!!!
       And yes, I remember Lewis giving a good handshake to Nico just after the end of the race, as @theoddkiwi also points out.
    2. 

       Peppermint-Lemon (@)
       1st December 2016, 6:33

       Of course he didn’t, Hamilton (wrongly) is far to childish and unprofessional to write such a piece about Nico. He doesn’t even bother managing his own twitter feed, his mgmt company do to try and give a false impression that he is a cool dude lol.
11. 

    Rhys L
    1st December 2016, 3:37

    Need to put that track in a game (Codemasters F1 and/or iRacing or alike) and see how it feels. I know nothing of track design, but elevation changes (albeit artificial) and banked corners! Could be interesting.
    1. 

       N
       1st December 2016, 18:28

       iRacing only does laser scans of real circuits.
12. 

    Kgn11
    1st December 2016, 5:34

    Re COTD….

    Do you really think that Schumacher, Vettel, Alonso et al would’ve accepted having members of their crew swapped over to their teammates side of the garage? And it wasn’t just mechanics they swapped, they moved the #1 & 2 engineers as well as the #1 & 2 engine guys

    I’m still skeptical about all this and there’s more to this than just, “it was done to keep everyone happy”. The same guys who lost the previous 2 chips, still lost a third one and vice versa for those who won the previous 2.

    But hey, we’ll know in a couple years time what really happened
    1. 

       The Duke
       1st December 2016, 18:44

       In a couple of years it will be the same story.

       Lewis lost the championship due to 6 bad starts to the guy who couldn’t beat Webber.
    2. 

       grat
       2nd December 2016, 19:59

       It’s one thing to swap a few guys back and forth between seasons– or even during a season.

       As near as I can tell, they swapped sides on the garage– 2013-2015, Hamilton parked on the right, and Rosberg on the left. 2016, Rosberg parked on the right, and Hamilton on the left.

       That’s not swapping guys around to prevent team-within-a-team syndrome– at best, that’s shaking things up for the sole purpose of shaking things up.
13. 

    Kgn11
    1st December 2016, 5:41

    That track looks boring, not many places to overtake.
14. 

    Todfod (@todfod)
    1st December 2016, 7:02

    1 Lewis Hamilton, 234 points (No change)
    2 Max Verstappen, 183 (Up two places)
    3 Nico Rosberg, 176 (No change)
    4 Daniel Ricciardo, 133 (Up five)
    5 Sebastian Vettel, 90 (Down three)
    6 Fernando Alonso, 67 (No change)
    7 Kimi Raikkonen, 61 (Up three)
    8 Sergio Perez, 52 (No change)
    9 Valtteri Bottas, 26 (Down two)
    10 Carlos Sainz Jr, 25 (New entry)

    Crazy to see Max Verstappen up there already! Personally, I would give the top 2 spots to the Red Bull drivers, followed by Lewis, Fernando and Rosberg. Don’t know what Vettel is doing in P5… he seemed pretty rubbish to me this season.
    1. 

       bosyber (@bosyber)
       1st December 2016, 8:18

       I have to look back over the last few races, but my feeling is that Ricciardo, while he started the year very well, didn’t manage to impress so much in the last quarter @todfod – and with memories being short, that has a large influence even with these team bosses, as we sometimes see from who they hire for next year.
       1. 

          hahostolze (@hahostolze)
          1st December 2016, 20:00

          I think it’s simply a case of the team bosses, who know and understand F1, taking into account Verstappen’s age and inexperience, which people on here (for example) refuse to do because it’s somehow not a factor in determining how he’s doing. Has he been better than Ricciardo? Even without the above factors it’s a close call. With the above factors, it’s a slam dunk.
    2. 

       praxis (@praxis)
       1st December 2016, 8:51

       Hoped to see Perez higher.
15. 

    jaapgrolleman (@jaapgrolleman)
    1st December 2016, 7:27

    The Dutch F1 track is just a fun video made by a hobbyist. Even the city of Almere knew nothing about the plan when journalists asked them.
16. 

    NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
    1st December 2016, 8:05

    Yeah… I totaly agree with team bosses. Their driver lineup is correct.
17. 

    damonw
    1st December 2016, 8:05

    No Nico crashing into people is your forte, I do wonder what tactics Rosberg would have used had it been the other way around…..
    1. 

       mark jackson
       1st December 2016, 20:33

       Hamilton quit after the pair crashed Barcelona. It goes to show who the team think was really at fault.
18. 

    BasCB (@bascb)
    1st December 2016, 10:09

    Another one on the subject of whether Rosberg is a deserving champion – http://f1statblog.co.uk/2016/11/rosbergs-status-as-deserving-champion-not-to-be-debated/.
    1. 

       grat
       2nd December 2016, 20:02

       Of course Rosberg deserves the championship– if he hadn’t driven as well as he had, he wouldn’t have been in a position to gain an advantage from Hamilton’s misfortune.

       9 wins, 6 podiums, 8 pole positions– that’s pretty impressive by itself.
19. 

    Michael (@freelittlebirds)
    1st December 2016, 14:04

    I just watched the interview with Martin Brundle after the race – what a gracious person Lewis is.

    “It’s a great feeling for Nico to win a championship and I don’t want to take anything away from it… Wow…”

    Hats off to Lewis! That interview was special to watch. I’m shocked that folks are upset about his behavior. If Messi dedicated all his Ballon D’Ors and goals to Ronaldo, it’d be a less gracious gesture than what we’ve seen Lewis say in the wake of a very painful WDC loss.
    1. 

       Nuff said
       1st December 2016, 17:34

       The problem arose because at every opportunity he also mentioned his reliability issues. Even in the Brundle interview you have selectively quoted from. So whilst on the one hand he says I don’t want to take anything away from Nico, in the same breath he says… the only reason I lost is because of reliability. Why say that other than to demean the achievement of Nico? He should have just shut up, said well done and gone home. But instead he came across as a bad loser (whether or not he actually is one).
       1. 

          Damon85
          1st December 2016, 18:52

          So you would prefer it if he didn’t tell the truth…. alrighty then.
          1. 

             Nuff said
             1st December 2016, 19:18

             I couldn’t care less what he says. I’m just pointing out why he came across as he did and attracted the criticism he did.
             1. 

                Todfod (@todfod)
                2nd December 2016, 7:04

                What do you expect him to say? Rosberg won the title because he outqualified and outraced him?? That’s not the truth is it? He has to look back on all the mechnical problems during quali sessions and the engine blowup in Malaysia as the places where he lost big points to Rosberg.
       2. 

          grat
          2nd December 2016, 20:10

          It’s true– If Hamilton’s engine hadn’t exploded in Malaysia, he would have won the championship. That’s ignoring the two turbo failures early in the season.

          That doesn’t take away from the fact that Rosberg was within 10 points of Hamilton when it happened, though, which meant he was able to capitalize on his teammate’s misfortune, and win the championship.

          However, also worth noting, if Hamilton had won the Japanese grand prix, the Malaysia incident wouldn’t have mattered anyway. 0.014 seconds faster in Q3 would have seen Hamilton on pole, and less likely to get swamped at the start– but now we’re into serious woulda/coulda/shoulda territory.
    2. 

       Dr Fritch
       2nd December 2016, 21:56

       Michael it doesn’t matter what he does, as long as he is in a enviable position people will always criticize, and the darker the berry the more critics are critical. Serána Williams Just won a sportsperson of the year and and astounding amount of were outraged a horse was chosen before her. She should feel really lucky.
20. 

    hahostolze (@hahostolze)
    1st December 2016, 19:55

    Verstappen was ranked second. Funny that.
    1. 

       mark jackson
       1st December 2016, 20:35

       After Brazil, people forgot all about Mad Max’s crazy driving over the previous 18 races. Funny how F1 works.

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