Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

[Gregory2Smith1]

free practice1 live on channel 4 right now

there's been other occasions when drivers have lost the world championship at the very last race

granted I can't think of one when they have actually lost out to a team mate

here's hoping Hamilton can pull it off this weekend

with long run off areas and no rain,it seems unlikely,but you never know!

channel 4 live all weekend

 

[pasty]

Reckon as Button has announced his retirement, Hamilton should pay him to run Rosberg off

 

[highflyer]

Rosberg will win

I suspect a deal was done some time ago. Hamilton allowed to catch up on the agreement that Rosberg still gets to win in the end. Abu Dhabi didn't pay vast amounts of money to host a dead rubber. So it has been ensured that the title is still in contention until the last race of the seaon (as. strangely, nearly always happens when someone starts winning by a mile early in the season)

My conspiracy theory may turn out to be bollocks when the actual race happens of course. But anyone else have the same feeling about formula 1 'racing'?

 

[Deleted member 2719]

Reckon as Button has announced his retirement, Hamilton should pay him to run Rosberg off

The thing is i think Button would prefer to run Hamilton off.

 

[Icy Gull]

Rosberg will win

I suspect a deal was done some time ago. Hamilton allowed to catch up on the agreement that Rosberg still gets to win in the end. Abu Dhabi didn't pay vast amounts of money to host a dead rubber. So it has been ensured that the title is still in contention until the last race of the seaon (as. strangely, nearly always happens when someone starts winning by a mile early in the season)

My conspiracy theory may turn out to be bollocks when the actual race happens of course. But anyone else have the same feeling about formula 1 'racing'?

I think that Mercedes making sure Hamilton has engine problems whenever he gets close to Rosberg is a much more likely conspiracy theory. They even made sure Rosberg built what looked like an unassailable lead before they stopped fecking up Hamilton's engine. Once Lewis got into the position to take the lead they made sure his engine failed very late in the race and made a 25 point win into nil points.

German car, German driver, German and Austrian bosses. Hardly going to want the Englishman to win AGAIN are they?

I love conspiracy theories.

If I were Rosberg, I'd run Hamilton off the track in true sporting German style. They do have history of this

 

[highflyer]

I think that Mercedes making sure Hamilton has engine problems whenever he gets close to Rosberg is a much more likely conspiracy theory. They even made sure Rosberg built what looked like an unassailable lead before they stopped fecking up Hamilton'/ engine. Once he got into the position to take the lead they made sure his engine failed very late in the race.

German car, German driver, German and Austrian bosses. Hardly going to want the Englishman to win AGAIN are they?

I love conspiracy theories.

Problem with your conspiracy theory is that it assumes anyone involved gives a shite about anything other than money.
Which is patently silly

 

[Hillian1]

Nikki Lauda has already said that if Rosberg wins the title Hamilton has proved himself the best driver this season.

I'm no fan of Hamilton as a person, or his persona to be precise, but would love to see him overhaul Rosberg just to see the ensuing meltdown.

 

[RandyWanger]

Can only see this going one way, Nico. If allowed, Hamilton can easily win, but I can't see Nico not coming 2nd.
I'd love him to have a shocking qualification, struggle in the race, lose his shit, park it up and cry all the way home but more than likely Hamilton's engine will blow up.

 

[Gary Leeds]

what could be interesting is if with 5 laps to go Hamilton is 1st and Rosberg in second 30 seconds clear of 3rd. Will Hamilton slow the pace, Rosberg knows he only has to finish second to be champion so wont try anything risky but if Hamilton can back him up closer to 3rd place what would Rosberg do?

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

If I were Rosberg, I'd run Hamilton off the track in true sporting German style. They do have history of this

back in the day this would have been standard practice of course

Senna on Prost,Prost on Senna,Schumacher on Hill

but when Schumi tried it on Villeneuve in 1997,he had all his points taken away

would love it to happen,just to see how FIA deal with it

 

[Garry Nelson's Left Foot]

what could be interesting is if with 5 laps to go Hamilton is 1st and Rosberg in second 30 seconds clear of 3rd. Will Hamilton slow the pace, Rosberg knows he only has to finish second to be champion so wont try anything risky but if Hamilton can back him up closer to 3rd place what would Rosberg do?

It wouldn't make any difference. Rosberg will still win the championship even if he finishes third. Hamilton needs to win and Rosberg finish outside the top three if Hamilton is going to win the title. The only way that is going to happen is if Rosberg has a total meltdown at the start or if Verstappen has a go at overtking him, Rosberg panics and they crash. Possible, but unlikely.

 

[Marshy]

I would not put it past Verstappen to wipe out Rosberg, he literally does not give a sh*t about the mercedes battle and will just want to win, if there is a gap he will go for it regardless.

Should make for an interesting first bend, you would imagine Rosberg will be very tentative through it...

 

[BensGrandad]

I think that Mercedes making sure Hamilton has engine problems whenever he gets close to Rosberg is a much more likely conspiracy theory. They even made sure Rosberg built what looked like an unassailable lead before they stopped fecking up Hamilton's engine. Once Lewis got into the position to take the lead they made sure his engine failed very late in the race and made a 25 point win into nil points.

German car, German driver, German and Austrian bosses. Hardly going to want the Englishman to win AGAIN are they?

I love conspiracy theories.

If I were Rosberg, I'd run Hamilton off the track in true sporting German style. They do have history of this

I said this to my brother who is well into F1 last weekend but he said I had forgotten 1 important fact that Mercedes are a British based team. He also believes it would be an insult to past drivers if LH was to become champion again as he is not a good enough driver. His view is that Alonso is the best driver and that any of the top rated 5 or 6 drivers would be champion driving that car. I do not know enough about F1 to have an opinion.

 

[Icy Gull]

I said this to my brother who is well into F1 last weekend but he said I had forgotten 1 important fact that Mercedes are a British based team. He also believes it would be an insult to past drivers if LH was to become champion again as he is not a good enough driver. His view is that Alonso is the best driver and that any of the top rated 5 or 6 drivers would be champion driving that car. I do not know enough about F1 to have an opinion.

Not meaning to be rude but your brother is clueless if he doesn't think Hamilton is a World Class driver. He has been top dog in every team he has been in and was arguably better than double world Champion Alonso in his rookie season. To suggest that he is not good enough is laughable,. He is one of the all time greats and until Verstappen appeared on the scene has been pretty well the only reason I have bothered watching F1 since the over rated (imo) Vettel had a similar stranglehold on the F1 Championship.

I think there are some very good drivers out there now and I have no doubt any of them would do well in a McLaren, whether they'd be able to beat Hamilton is another thing entirely. Rosberg is not in the same class.

 

[Marshy]

I said this to my brother who is well into F1 last weekend but he said I had forgotten 1 important fact that Mercedes are a British based team. He also believes it would be an insult to past drivers if LH was to become champion again as he is not a good enough driver. His view is that Alonso is the best driver and that any of the top rated 5 or 6 drivers would be champion driving that car. I do not know enough about F1 to have an opinion.

there is no doubt the car is the most important factor, but in my opinion Hamilton is the best and quickest driver out there, along with a fast improving verstappen.

Hamilton and Verstappen are 2 proper old school racers

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

I said this to my brother who is well into F1 last weekend but he said I had forgotten 1 important fact that Mercedes are a British based team. He also believes it would be an insult to past drivers if LH was to become champion again as he is not a good enough driver. His view is that Alonso is the best driver and that any of the top rated 5 or 6 drivers would be champion driving that car. I do not know enough about F1 to have an opinion.

I will stick my neck out here and say I think young Verstappen is probably the best driver on the grid right now

Alonso was in my view,but age is fast going against him,I'd imagine Verstappen would be top of every team's choice of driver as it stands

in this order

Verstappen
Alonso
Hamilton,Ricarrdo
Bottas,Vettel
the rest

 

[Icy Gull]

I will stick my neck out here and say I think young Verstappen is probably the best driver on the grid right now

Alonso was in my view,but age is fast going against him,I'd imagine Verstappen would be top of every team's choice of driver as it stands

in this order

Verstappen
Alonso
Hamilton,Ricarrdo
Bottas,Vettel
the rest

I am a big Alonso fan but he couldn't beat Hamilton in Hamilton's first season, he struggles to beat Button sometimes. Not convinced he would beat a very mature ( in racing terms) Hamilton tbh. Verstappen I would love to see in the same team as Hamilton, there would be quite a few DNF from both of them I think.

 

[Marshy]

Hamilton's display at the rain soaked grand prix last time out showed he was in a class apart with Max, absolutely zero errors from Hamilton while everyone else had incidents.

you can tell a good driver in the rain and Hamilton always excels in those conditions when it is much more a level playing field.

 

[Gregory2Smith1]

I am a big Alonso fan but he couldn't beat Hamilton in Hamilton's first season, he struggles to beat Button sometimes. Not convinced he would beat a very mature ( in racing terms) Hamilton tbh. Verstappen I would love to see in the same team as Hamilton, there would be quite a few DNF from both of them I think.

well,in that first season they finished equal on points and I think both won 4 races,but as it was Hamilton's rookie year you'd have to give him the nod

in fact he should have won the world championship if it wasn't for the Chinese race

to be fair Hamilton also struggled at times when paired with Jenson Button

 

[Hillian1]

Hamilton's display at the rain soaked grand prix last time out showed he was in a class apart with Max, absolutely zero errors from Hamilton while everyone else had incidents.

you can tell a good driver in the rain and Hamilton always excels in those conditions when it is much more a level playing field.

Pretty much what I was about to write.