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

[weyland yutani]

interesting that under normal points, ROS would be champion by 1 point if he finished 2nd and HAM DNF'd. Although harsh on Hamilton, who really deserves the championship, no one could complain then.

[thegreenhell]

REALIST123 said:

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.

Fun fact:

The last driver to win the WDC with fewer wins than the second placed driver was... Lewis Hamilton, 2008 (5-6 vs Massa).

Previous to that:
1989 - Alain Prost (4-6 vs Senna)
1987 - Nelson Piquet (3-6 vs Mansell)
1986 - Alain Prost (4-5 vs Mansell)
1984 - Niki Lauda (5-7 vs Prost)
1983 - Nelson Piquet (3-4 vs Prost)
1982 - Keke Rosberg (1-2 vs Pironi. 11 different winners this season!)
1958 - Mike Hawthorn (1-4 vs Moss)

Regarding the comment on the absolute number of wins in a season, remember that not only are there more races in a season now than there have ever been, but reliability is far better than it ever was, so the chances of a single driver amassing a greater number of wins in a season is higher than it ever has been.

[Bomba]

I think the Merc guys have done their job and both Hamilton and Rosberg will finish. I think Rosberg will go all out in Qualy and get on pole, Hamilton P2 with about 0.75 sec behind. Rosberg and Hamilton will finish the race as they started with Massa on third.

[EskimoArapaho]

Rosberg has to hope that a SC situation arises to keep other drivers close enough to hassle Hamilton. That or a first lap tangle.

Otherwise Hamilton can drive at 9/10ths all day for second. He's grown up enough now to play the percentages and not bother pushing for first unnecessarily.

[VolvoT5]

EskimoArapaho said:

Rosberg has to hope that a SC situation arises to keep other drivers close enough to hassle Hamilton. That or a first lap tangle.

Otherwise Hamilton can drive at 9/10ths all day for second. He's grown up enough now to play the percentages and not bother pushing for first unnecessarily.

That is not what we saw at the last race. He went balls out trying to get past Nico during the stops and spun the car...... another day he could have spun into a wall and cost himself -25 points.

[BritishRacinGrin]

Bomba said:

I think Rosberg will go all out in Qualy and get on pole, Hamilton P2 with about 0.75 sec behind.

0.75 behind? Is Hamilton going to stop to sign some autographs on the way 'round or something? The gap at Interlagos was 0.033!

[vescaegg]

Bomba said:

I think the Merc guys have done their job and both Hamilton and Rosberg will finish. I think Rosberg will go all out in Qualy and get on pole, Hamilton P2 with about 0.75 sec behind. Rosberg and Hamilton will finish the race as they started with Massa on third.

Three quarters of a second behind?! What do you think he will be driving? A bus?

[anonymous-user]

1. Bottas
2. Hamilton
3. Massa

DNF. Rosberg

[VladD]

BritishRacinGrin said:

Bomba said:

I think Rosberg will go all out in Qualy and get on pole, Hamilton P2 with about 0.75 sec behind.

0.75 behind? Is Hamilton going to stop to sign some autographs on the way 'round or something? The gap at Interlagos was 0.033!

I think he meant that the rest of the field would be 0.75 behind the Mercs.

[Jasandjules]

What is going to be interesting if Nico gets pole, is whether or not he tries to scamper off away from Lewis or tries to back Lewis into the pack so one of them gets past him, but that of course will give Lewis the chance to overtake...

Also, if Lewis takes pole, Nico is going to have to go all out to get past, whilst Lewis can still cruise around (not that he will, Lewis will want to win).

[Hungrymc]

Jasandjules said:

What is going to be interesting if Nico gets pole, is whether or not he tries to scamper off away from Lewis or tries to back Lewis into the pack so one of them gets past him, but that of course will give Lewis the chance to overtake...

Also, if Lewis takes pole, Nico is going to have to go all out to get past, whilst Lewis can still cruise around (not that he will, Lewis will want to win).

Very hard for either of these to keep the other behind them driving at a good second or second and a half below full pace. Which is about the speed they would have to go to back them into the pack.

[DanielSan]

garyhun said:

1. Bottas
2. Hamilton
3. Massa

DNF. Rosberg

The circumstances for this to happen would be pretty entertaining. I'd prefer Massa to win though to be honest.

[anonymous-user]

Mad that Caterham crowd funding is selling a turning vane for £2200 but you can get a gearbox housing for £430 and an exhaust manifold for £300. Think of how much work goes into making an exhaust manifold.

[craigdub]

From Sky Sports,

[craigdub]

From Sky Sports,

[wevster]

I hope Lewis doesn't go all out for the win and settles for 2nd place.

Knowing Lewis he will damage his car trying to get past Nico to take the win when he doesnt need to.

[Dr Z]

tux said:

Mad that Caterham crowd funding is selling a turning vane for £2200 but you can get a gearbox housing for £430 and an exhaust manifold for £300. Think of how much work goes into making an exhaust manifold.

I think that's the point. The rest of the cash is a donation towards the 'cause'.

My revised prediction: Rosberg wins the race with Hamilton and Bottas populating the podium (in that order). Hamilton has to nurse the car due to some fault developing mid race, with Bottas charging hard behind to nab P2 at the climax, whilst the PH massive holds their collective breath. But Hamilton saves the day with a masterclass in defensive driving, worthy of a champion. WDC = Hamilton. PH = meltdown.

[NewMetalSystem]

Dr Z said:

tux said:

Mad that Caterham crowd funding is selling a turning vane for £2200 but you can get a gearbox housing for £430 and an exhaust manifold for £300. Think of how much work goes into making an exhaust manifold.

I think that's the point. The rest of the cash is a donation towards the 'cause'.

My revised prediction: Rosberg wins the race with Hamilton and Bottas populating the podium (in that order). Hamilton has to nurse the car due to some fault developing mid race, with Bottas charging hard behind to nab P2 at the climax, whilst the PH massive holds their collective breath. But Hamilton saves the day with a masterclass in defensive driving, worthy of a champion. WDC = Hamilton. PH = meltdown.

^ Probably. You don't expect Lewis to do it the easy way, do you?

[Dr Z]

NewMetalSystem said:

^ Probably. You don't expect Lewis to do it the easy way, do you?

Nope, never! There's always some entertainment with Hamilton (Cf. Interlagos 2014).

[smithyithy]

I think it'll be a bit of an anti-climax. I believe Lewis will win and (rightfully) take the championship. But he won't need to pass Nico for the win, which I think will sedate the race slightly..

Even if Rosberg qualifies ahead of Lewis which is quite likely, Lewis could just match his pace and stay 1 place behind him, without having to risk an overtake, and pretty much coast it home.

Would be better really if Lewis was behind on points, qualifies a somewhere in the top 10 and charges the race, passing Nico on the last couple of laps, just taking the points needed for the win. But that's some Hollywood stuff right there :lol: