[Official] Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2016: Grand Prix Weekend Thread

[alfettafan]

Originally Posted by Aysedasi

Personally I didn't see any behaviour after the race for which Lewis deserves criticiam

Watch his C4 interview with Lee McKenzie then the comments from both DC and Mark Webber who for once actually said what they thought- that Hamilton was not gracious in defeat as demonstrated by the comments he had just made to Lee. For me it sums the guy up, no class and a sore loser. If he wants to see how to handle losing a championship at the final race he could have done worse than to look the direction of Felipe Massa, circa 2008.

[chillibowl]

What if they told him to lose on purpose, or to hold up another competitor, or worse to crash on purpose...there are limits to blindly obeying.

This wasn't that of course, but given the situation would any driver have done differently?

[S griffin]

Mercedes and Nico were both naive to think Lewis would take one for the team at this crucial stage

[JABWOA]

The dick move of the race were the calls from the Merc pits. Should have let them race with the caution no to do anything stupid. LH did what he had to (even if he said he wouldn't earlier in the week apparently) and Nico did what he had to. LH could have done a Max and weaved all over the place and been a right 'hole but instead drove measured. Nico likewise could have done a bonzai and taken the risk but drove measured as well.

For me, the right driver won the WDC this year.

[johnh875]

Quite the end to the season! Crafty is the right word for Hamilton's race I think, and from a viewer's point of view it certainly added a lot more interest than many races this season. I don't know who said "win at the slowest pace possible", but that certainly applied today/yesterday.

I'd have to agree with TrapeezeArtist that by the time Vettel caught Rosberg he didn't have the fresh tyres that were the key to his previous overtakes, and with loss of downforce following another car still makes straight-up overtaking too difficult.

I'm torn between Hamilton being a hard racer versus a sore loser. A bit of both perhaps, on one hand why accept losing the championship until it has been lost; but on the other I didn't think there was any likelihood that his tactic would work due to he, Rosberg and Vettel being so close to their cars' ultimate speed that there was never a realistic chance to overtake.

I don't think Mercedes were wrong trying to protect their 1-2 finish either. It would be interesting to be a fly on the wall in the debrief; then again all's well that ends well and it is now the end of the season so I wonder if there will be too many recriminations.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Alan52

The team is Mercedes F1 not Lewis Hamilton Racing.Blatantly disobeying team orders.In the long term today might be remembered as the day Lewis put a wedge between himself and the team that made him dispensible.

No real driver is going to obey team orders in the final laps of the final race with the world championship at stake. Mercedes were daft to ask him and with the WCC wrapped up and a guaranteed one, two in the drivers championship Mercedes had nothing to lose.

[Akrapovic]

Mercedes have already won everything there is to win this season. I don't see what they were going to achieve other than negative press by trying to force team orders.

[Moneyseeker]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Mercedes have already won everything there is to win this season. I don't see what they were going to achieve other than negative press by trying to force team orders.

All they achieved was to confirm the cynics view that Mercedes wanted Nico to win it this year......

[Taxi645]

Overly zealous followers of the "Befehl ist befehl" philosophy tend to end up as the tools of history.

The fact that they kept interfering with the title fight was quite telling. Mercedes should've let them race and understand that in this race the title fight was more important. Any racer worth his salt would've done the same as Lewis. Mercedes should've known that and they should've realized that Lewis could not possibly obey. So it was in fact Mercedes forcing this situation on Lewis and themselves. In the end it was still the zillionth Mercedes one two so they should just shut it.

Poor judgement by Mercedes for not letting them fight for the title and for putting their relationship with Hamilton at risk.


As for Lewis after the race, anybody expecting more from someone after loosing the title after such a season has unrealistic high standards. Of course he wasn't happy, he congratulated Nico and that's that.
I'm not a Hamilton fan, but some people are having an unfair go at him.

[TrapezeArtist]

Originally Posted by JohnSSC

While I agree with para 2, I have difficulties imagining Michael, Senna or Fangio lapping what, 6 seconds slower than pole in order to win the WDC.

Wasn't it Fangio who said his aim was to win at the slowest possible speed?

[GORDON STREETER]

Another season "dun n dusted" I doubt if Lewis will be filling in his UB40 regardless !

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by sparkione

Let's look at this from a different angle...What did anyone lose or gain from Lewis's tactics? If they had worked, and Nico had been beaten by Vettel or Max or both, Merc would have lost a few points. But they had already won the Constructors' title by a country mile and were guaranteed a WDC as well, either way.

We, on the other hand, were granted the excitement of seeing the title in the balance right up to the flag. If Lew had driven off into the distance – as he clearly could have done – it would have been an almighty yawn of a race, with the title a foregone conclusion from the start. After the dominant season they've had, allowing their two drivers to fight it out at the last round, using all the (legal) tricks of their trade, was a far greater imperative than yet another 1-2 finish.

Merc pays Hamilton his zillions because he's a balls-out racer who will never give up and settle for second best. They should cherish that, not try to sabotage it.

This was how I saw it too.

Originally Posted by S griffin

Not the greatest of races, but was one of those you couldn't take your eyes off, especially the last laps

Nico deserved the title, he has really raised his game and beaten the better driver. Yes Lewis had mechanical problems, but so has Nico in the past. And Lewis' bad starts didn't help either

Lewis did nothing wrong, yes he tried to back Nico up, but he didn't do anything dangerous. And no he wouldn't have tried to take out Nico, not least because unlike Ayrton and Michael he was behind coming in.

Vettel and Verstappen were the entertainers of the race, Max coming from behind, whilst Seb I thought was gonna win at one point.

Shame Button's race ended early, but his gesture in the pitlane was the best. And I'm glad Massa got a points finish in his final race

Finally thanks to C4 for making the coverage top class this season, certainly made it more enjoyable

I agree with all of this as well, it was a great shame for JB's last F1 race to end the way it did, but like the gentleman he is, he handled it well. Good for Massa to end u0p in the points too.

Originally Posted by alfettafan

Watch his C4 interview with Lee McKenzie then the comments from both DC and Mark Webber who for once actually said what they thought- that Hamilton was not gracious in defeat as demonstrated by the comments he had just made to Lee. For me it sums the guy up, no class and a sore loser. If he wants to see how to handle losing a championship at the final race he could have done worse than to look the direction of Felipe Massa, circa 2008.

I didn't see the post race interview (I already felt guilty spending so much time in front of the TV on a Sunday afternoon watching the race...) I did see Lewis congratulate Nico when they got out of the cars, the behaviour in the pre-podium room, and again on the podium. In all of that Lewis appeared to be magnanimous in defeat, but he was bound to be cheesed off.
I also remember (but can't say exactly when) a few occasions in the past when post race, Nico has had a face like a slapped bum because things hadn't gone his way...

[wolfhound]

The media are saying Lewis is facing the sack over the Abu Dhabi GP.

http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/formu...id=mailsignout

I doubt it but it might have implications the next time it comes to signing a new contract.

[Mike Harte]

Well, Hamilton certainly seems to have polarised those that seriously follow F1.

A number of times over the weekend, Rosberg said that he just didn't have the pace of Hamilton, and I am certain that Hamilton was more than aware of that fact. Under those circumstances, he had the option to show his class, and just leave the rest of the field in his exhaust dust and try to humiliate the rest of the grid by lapping them.

Having myself played a cat and mouse game with a competitor 50 odd years ago, I soon came to realise that it was just much more fun to lap everyone. It actually gave me far more satisfaction than just winning.

[maximus]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

The media are saying Lewis is facing the sack over the Abu Dhabi GP.

http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/formu...id=mailsignout

I doubt it but it might have implications the next time it comes to signing a new contract.

What a load of rubbish, they should sack Nico for his antics in Austria as well then.

[Greem]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

The media are saying Lewis is facing the sack over the Abu Dhabi GP.

http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/formu...id=mailsignout

I doubt it but it might have implications the next time it comes to signing a new contract.

That really would be killing the golden goose. Mercedes' popularity outside of what you'd normally consider their traditional markets is almost all down to Hamilton. I dare say the boards of both the F1 team and back in Germany will be looking at things in very great detail... Remember their duty is to their shareholders, not F1 fans!

[JeremySmith]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

The media are saying Lewis is facing the sack over the Abu Dhabi GP.

http://www.msn.com/en-ie/sport/formu...id=mailsignout

I doubt it but it might have implications the next time it comes to signing a new contract.

That's complete rubbish and just is not going to happen. Lewis was never going to except a team order and neither should he have to..
Nico is racing in the same machinery therefore let him overtake Lewis if he feels that the pace is to slow...

[wolfhound]

If Lewis had driven off into the distance what a boring race it would have been and we would not have seen mush of the MB cars on track as the race TV director would have found more interesting activity down the field.
However Hamilton's tactics put us on the edge of our seats as one tried to figure out what might happen and gave us a memorable race that had plenty of drama without cars in the barriers.

[JeremySmith]

A little perspective goes a long way ..
http://joeblogsf1.com/

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Mercedes have already won everything there is to win this season. I don't see what they were going to achieve other than negative press by trying to force team orders.

About Mercedes winning everything, I think they are the only F1 team to have both their current drivers win the WDC and in consecutive years.

[rustyfan]

Glad this season is over. Hopefully 2017 will be better.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith

About Mercedes winning everything, I think they are the only F1 team to have both their current drivers win the WDC and in consecutive years.

Not 100% sure on this but I have a feeling that both McLaren and Williams may have achieved this; I know both teams, possibly more than once, won consecutive driver's championships. Whether they still retained both drivers is the bit I can't remember.

Having just started to google it, Brabham did it with Jack and Denny Hulme, as well.

[Peter Mallett]

Jack Brabham 1966, Denny Hulme 1967 - Brabham. Guiseppe Farina 1950, Fangio 1951 - Maserati. Thanks to Wiki, usual caveats.

[maximus]

Ayrton Senna 1988, Alain Prost 1989 too.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

Jack Brabham 1966, Denny Hulme 1967 - Brabham. Guiseppe Farina 1950, Fangio 1951 - Maserati. Thanks to Wiki, usual caveats.

Prost and Senna at McLaren, again thanks to Wiki!