**** Abu Dhabi Grand Prix **** (contains spoilers)

[NewMetalSystem]

1) Hamilton
2) Rosberg
3) Button

Anti-climax. Lewis goes well at Abu Dhabi, pole and the win. Nico to keep him honest, but ultimately never close enough to challenge. JB to finish his career with a podium. McLaren updates to leave them optimistic about 2015 before they let everyone down at the first race. Ricciardo to outshine Seb, who has a low-key finish to life at Red Bull, battling the Williams for 5th, who should be fighting for the podium but their strategy lets them down. Magnussen to clumsily tag Alonso while battling both Ferraris for 8th, allowing Kimi to steal ahead of them and making things awkward at McLaren during the off-season.

[supertouring]

However I wanted this to be a great end to the season, I just see a Merc 1-2 which hands the title to LH.

Although I have been routing for Rosberg all season, I think LH has made the most out of the season and probably now deserves to win.

Any car failure for either driver will be a sad end to the season.

[NewMetalSystem]

supertouring said:

However I wanted this to be a great end to the season, I just see a Merc 1-2 which hands the title to LH.

Although I have been routing for Rosberg all season, I think LH has made the most out of the season and probably now deserves to win.

Any car failure for either driver will be a sad end to the season.

I'm glad Lewis is only 17 points ahead instead of 31. At least this way if he retires and Nico finishes first or second then Nico would have won the title irrespective of that stupid rule.

[mollytherocker]

NewMetalSystem said:

I'm glad Lewis is only 17 points ahead instead of 31. At least this way if he retires and Nico finishes first or second then Nico would have won the title irrespective of that stupid rule.

Given the possible outcomes, of which there are many, I guess that the chances of the double points changing the result is about 50/50?

[NewMetalSystem]

mollytherocker said:

NewMetalSystem said:

I'm glad Lewis is only 17 points ahead instead of 31. At least this way if he retires and Nico finishes first or second then Nico would have won the title irrespective of that stupid rule.

Given the possible outcomes, of which there are many, I guess that the chances of the double points changing the result is about 50/50?

I think if both cars finish, they'll be 1-2, and even if Lewis retires, I'd find it unlikely that Nico would be 3rd or lower. The only time they've not been on the top two steps was Hungary, and that was because of rain. Even when both cars had problems in Canada and Belgium they still managed to get one of them across the line in second.

I think the only difference is that if Lewis retired under normal points then Nico would have had to be top 2, and under double points he needs to be top 5.

[samvia]

1. Hamilton
2. Bottas
3. Rosberg

Rosberg to qualify on pole but have an issue/off early on, then spend most of the race trailing the Williams around like Alonso/Petrov in 2010.

[slipstream 1985]

hamilton clears off into the lead. rosberg retires with a car issue. dnfs due to mechanical are now equal and lewis wins the title with the points margin he deserves.

[so called]

I really dislike this double point BS.
LH has done enough for me to win the title with 10 wins.
These double point awards just distort and spoil the entire season in my opinion.

[TobyLaRohne]

My prediciton:
Hamilton wins, Rosberg chokes off the start and has an incident with someone trying to make back up the places, Hamilton walks it home, extremely boring race all in all.

[FeelingLucky]

Nobody has EVER scored ten wins and not taken the title.

For the title to be lost on ten wins, to somebody on six would be yet another smear on F1 already poor global image.

[Jasandjules]

FeelingLucky said:

Nobody has EVER scored ten wins and not taken the title.

For the title to be lost on ten wins, to somebody on six would be yet another smear on F1 already poor global image.

This is part of the problem I have with it. Makes it worse to think there were a couple of races Lewis could have won but for car issues. When you look at how many wins/seconds the Mercs have when they are both on the circuit.....

[Scuffers]

remember Bernie's medals proposal?

[anonymous-user]

Jasandjules said:

FeelingLucky said:

Nobody has EVER scored ten wins and not taken the title.

For the title to be lost on ten wins, to somebody on six would be yet another smear on F1 already poor global image.

This is part of the problem I have with it. Makes it worse to think there were a couple of races Lewis could have won but for car issues. When you look at how many wins/seconds the Mercs have when they are both on the circuit.....

There have been times when the champion has had less wins than others though. Maybe not ten but then there weren't always 19 races.

[suffolk009]

One comment during Sunday's race was that no driver has ever won four in a row and not taken the title.

[NRS]

ash73 said:

Williams Martini Racing takes the top step with a Bottas/Rosberg/Massa top-3, Lewis suffers gremlins after cooking his engine/gearbox slip-streaming Nico for 70 laps in Brazil, the entire internet goes into meltdown blaming the car. Ash pulls Flavia from Strictly and they live happily ever after.

I might be dreaming

Not sure how much effect the slipstreaming will have. Mercedes said they would use the least used parts from the season on both cars to try and ensure the least chance of a DNF for both drivers. So it may not be the same parts.

Predictions...

Hamilton
Rosberg
Massa

Rosberg on pole.

So the same as last time. Reason is Rosberg seems to be setting the car up with a bias towards qualifying, whereas Hamilton aims it a bit more towards the race. I think Hamilton might have got Rosberg without the spin last time. And Bottas has dropped off a bit towards the end of this season, so I can see Massa getting the final podium.

[Redlake27]

I think Rosberg's strategy could be interesting.

If the Mercs run flat out (assuming reliability) they will finish 1-2. That's no use to Rosberg.

If he is obstructive, driving as well as he did in Canada, he can slow the pace down. This could bring Red Bulls, Ferraris and McLarens into play.

His challenge is how he can slow the pace to push Hamilton down the field, without Hamilton nipping through. Abu Dhabi is a relatively easy track to obstruct on (think Alonso being stuck behind Petrov in 2010), but with DRS there are two very good overtaking zones.

The Mercs could romp away to a 40 second lead. It is up to Rosberg to make sure that they don't.

[toppstuff]

Hamilton to punt Rosberg off the track, both DNF and Lewis takes the WDC.

It would be fair and just.

And Senna would approve, looking down from above.

[mollytherocker]

toppstuff said:

Hamilton to punt Rosberg off the track, both DNF and Lewis takes the WDC.

It would be fair and just.

And Senna would approve, looking down from above.

Now you've done it......

[Daston]

Or Nico steams into the first corner clips the back of Lewis, smashing his front wing and breaking Lewis' suspension. Nico limps round, does an early stop and finishes 3rd.

Bottas and Button 1st and 2nd.

[TobyLaRohne]

Thats German tactics, us Brits don't get involved in that kind of thing!

I honestly believe only a mechanical issue can stop Lewis now, Rosberg doesn't have what it takes (yet).