Nico Rosberg retires from F1

[Catatafish]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Or the car is so dominant, you can cruise into second place at most tracks without much effort.

[TheLordJohn]

Evangelion said:

FOR THE LAST BLOODY TIME, NO!!!


Sorry for shouting, but this myth has been perpetuated far too many times on this thread. James Hunt won the WDC in 1976, and didn't retire until the end of the '79 season. As has been pointed out. On several occasions!

I thought James Hunt retired after winning the WDC in '76...?

[r11co]

Derek Smith said:

Who'll replace Rosberg; now there's a subject worth discussing.

There's another thread for that.

[anonymous-user]

TheLordJohn said:

I thought James Hunt retired after winning the WDC in '76...?

He should have


In his first year with McLaren, Hunt won the 1976 World Drivers' Championship, and he remained with the team for a further two years, although with less success, before moving to the Wolf team in early 1979. Following a string of races in which he failed to finish, Hunt retired from driving halfway through the 1979 season.

[Old Merc]

TheLordJohn said:

Evangelion said:

FOR THE LAST BLOODY TIME, NO!!!


Sorry for shouting, but this myth has been perpetuated far too many times on this thread. James Hunt won the WDC in 1976, and didn't retire until the end of the '79 season. As has been pointed out. On several occasions!

I thought James Hunt retired after winning the WDC in '76...?

Will you guys stop arguing about James bloody Hunt,he is F1 history. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hunt

and so is Nico Rosberg now.

[Mr Pointy]

Anyone know if Verstappen's Dad has phoned Toto yet?

[r11co]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Well said that man. I've said it on several occasions that Hamilton lacks self awareness, and Rosberg's decision to retire is a very public demonstration of the contrast between the two of them in that respect. Knowing when to quit and doing it at exactly the right moment is the ultimate act of self awareness for a racing driver.

[ZX10R NIN]

W12GT said:

Toto has been foolish there. Firstly in my opinion it's nonsense. He isn't the best driver - he won yes but that's down to car and the reliability of the car. Verstappen has been a better driver and showed the most improvement. Had Hamiltons car performed exactly as Rosberg then he would have one.

So Toto has risked upsetting his remaining driver - their best driver. Why would you do this? Why demoralise your only hope for the next year?

We have already witnessed that Hamilton is not particularly happy with elements of the team - primarily reliability but also team orders. Could we see him move to somewhere else???

He's not the best driver as far as the race(also he didn't say fastest or best racecraft ) fans are concerned, but from Mercedes point of view maybe he was the best number 2, he was good enough to keep Lewis honest but not to good as to ruffle Lewis's feathers to much also in terms of development they were a good fit.

Now Mercedes have a headache who do you put next to Lewis he's their superstar as much as I'd love to see it Max won't get the call Lewis or any of the other top guys won't want him next to them, I think they'll try to get Ocon out of his Force India drive either that or they might give JB a one season deal.

[sparta6]

r11co said:

Well said that man. I've said it on several occasions that Hamilton lacks self awareness, and Rosberg's decision to retire is a very public demonstration of the contrast between the two of them in that respect. Knowing when to quit and doing it at exactly the right moment is the ultimate act of self awareness for a racing driver.

+1

Takes guts and smarts to walk away and know when something is at it's peak.

[sparta6]

Mr Pointy said:

Anyone know if Verstappen's Dad has phoned Toto yet?

Nice idea but won't happen. Max is already second favourite at the bookies for 2017 WDC

[bobbo89]

Merc making some sort of announcement at 2pm, wonder what it is?

[big_rob_sydney]

SmoothCriminal said:

I can not believe people are slagging Hamilton on here for what he said.

Congrats to Nico for the championship he amassed the most points at the end of the season.

But what Nico has done is a complete bottle job won and run, if Hamilton had done it i guarantee there wouldn't have been the pat on the back reaction he's getting Nico's getting off here.

If he wanted to retire so badly why did he fight for another contract.

And lifestyle jeeze Hamilton is only 31 so what if he's not married and got kids let him live his life the way he wants.

I really do hope he goes on to get another wdc or 2 just to see the rage from certain "fans" when he jacks it and says bye to f1.

Whereas, I can completely understand people slagging Hamilton for his language.

There are tonnes of ways you can talk to people and get your point across. You wouldn't tell your child "No, you're st at that game", would you? No, most parents would recognise there are many ways to speak, and those that choose not to, well, you have to wonder what kind of people they really are.

In this instance, Hamilton isn't speaking to his child, clearly. But he is speaking in a way that you might argue was malicious, vindictive, capricious, and disrespectful. As I said, there are ways to get your point across. Hamilton's way was either a very negative dig, or stupidly blunt. And I don't for a second believe he is stupid, so...

As for the question on Rosberg's intelligence, I have to laugh. ALL these guys are clued up, and I give them massive respect for their technical abilities in driving. But to add to that, Nico also speaks multiple languages quite fluently. To even suggest ANY of these guys are unintelligent, and more particularly Nico, would suggest to me that someone has an axe to grind.

[Escapegoat]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

But you're simply projecting. He is VERY well liked by the general public. At any event, social media thing, etc - it is Hamilton who pulls in the masses. Go ask Bernie.

However, he is disliked greatly by a significant and vocal group of F1 fans who think "he isn't one of us, he doesn't walk/talk/dress/date/sing like an F1 driver should". Which is correct, he's not and he doesn't.

[Vaud]

sparta6 said:

r11co said:

Well said that man. I've said it on several occasions that Hamilton lacks self awareness, and Rosberg's decision to retire is a very public demonstration of the contrast between the two of them in that respect. Knowing when to quit and doing it at exactly the right moment is the ultimate act of self awareness for a racing driver.

+1

Takes guts and smarts to walk away and know when something is at it's peak.

Quite.

Who else has done it and not defended a WDC title?

Jackie Stewart '73
Mansell '92
Prost '93
etc

Better to exit at the top than be beaten.

[Shelsleyf2]

Rosberg has a unique insight to the world of a son of an F1 driver pre and post WDC. He can also access the thoughts of a parent competing in F1 pre and post WDC. Just maybe Dad told him he wishes he had stopped after winning and you never get a second chance to watch your children grow up.Or maybe dad was impossible to live with when chasing a second WDC who knows....but he has more real life information than anyone on here.....

[Hosenbugler]

Vaud said:

sparta6 said:

r11co said:

Well said that man. I've said it on several occasions that Hamilton lacks self awareness, and Rosberg's decision to retire is a very public demonstration of the contrast between the two of them in that respect. Knowing when to quit and doing it at exactly the right moment is the ultimate act of self awareness for a racing driver.

+1

Takes guts and smarts to walk away and know when something is at it's peak.

Quite.

Who else has done it and not defended a WDC title?

Jackie Stewart '73
Mansell '92
Prost '93
etc

Better to exit at the top than be beaten.

I was never a particular admirer of Mansel (I reckon it was his monotone drone) but he's the only person ever to be F1 and Indy car champion at the same time , quite something really .

[Shelsleyf2]

Rosberg has a unique insight to the world of a son of an F1 driver pre and post WDC. He can also access the thoughts of a parent competing in F1 pre and post WDC. Just maybe Dad told him he wishes he had stopped after winning and you never get a second chance to watch your children grow up.Or maybe dad was impossible to live with when chasing a second WDC who knows....but he has more real life information than anyone on here.....

[FourWheelDrift]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You mean like when he parachuted into McLaren and beat Lewis?

[_Leg_]

bobbo89 said:

Merc making some sort of announcement at 2pm, wonder what it is?

I've heard Toto is going to clarify when James Hunt retired once and for all.

[Evangelion]

The following is a list of all the drivers who have won the WDC then not stayed in F1 the following year to defend it. (One had a good excuse.)

Mike Hawthorn (1958)
Jochen Rindt (1970)
Nigel Mansell (1992)
Alain Prost (1993)
Nico Rosberg (2016)

In other words, the other 28 all did.

Does this mean Hamilton has to carry the number 0 next year?