Nico Rosberg retires from F1

[LDN]

funkyrobot said:

NJK44 said:

Football? Really? There is no comparison.

He's talking about a video game... like the guy you beat every time; he wins once and then announces he has to go home.

For the record; I don't blame Nico one bit; fair play to him.

[r11co]

Jamesgt said:

Love the old Pizza Hut advert with Damon Hill.

Murray - "and here comes the pasta! "

Damon - "It's pizza, Murray... "

[LDN]

r11co said:

torchy6 said:

Millionaires son never had to struggle.

Is that Lewis you are talking about (the one that lies about his hard upbringing)?

Yes, he must mean THAT millionaire's son

[Vocal Minority]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think Murray has an audience. I know he is very marmite - I like him as much as a commentator because of childhood memories as for any technical ability.

I can understand why he would irritate an anoraky audience - there were a lot of gaffs and he was prone to just going 'oh.....oh.....oh' when his brain got saturated and you sort of had to wait for it to wash through before words came out.

BUT you could have Derek Jenkinson talking about gear ratios and polar inertia and a small hardcore minority would love it - but the majority would be confused and feel excluded - what he did do was add in a sort of accessible excitement, and that meant that people who wear not anoraks felt included and welcome.

Between him, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill - they made F1 something worth broadcasting every event for live in Britain. So that was his contribution.

Also - we started our commentary careers at the same venue, so I will always have love for Murray (his has gone rather better so far...)

(And I have also been informed that he is the nicest man - little story - when he visited said venue in the early 2000s my mate going up the hill on a camcorder and had a microphone - and asked Murray Walker to say a few words over it - which he did without hesitation. He sent a copy to Murray after the event and got a charming hand written thank you letter back).

[Sylvaforever]

LDN said:

r11co said:

torchy6 said:

Millionaires son never had to struggle.

Is that Lewis you are talking about (the one that lies about his hard upbringing)?

Yes, he must mean THAT millionaire's son

incredible.

[old'uns]

all this talk of JB, FA et al to Mercedes.......anyone seen or heard of Paul Di Resta lately? surely he's still a Merc driver

i'm off to the bookies later

[r11co]

LDN said:

Yes, he must mean THAT millionaire's son

Yeah, the only karter of primary school age in living history to turn up at Larkhall cart track with his own pit crew.

Anthony Hamilton might not have made his first mill by that point, but Lewis didn't have a hard-knock upbringing by any manner of means.

Anyhoo, expect Nico to turn up in F1 again one day in some greater capacity.

Edited by r11co on Friday 2nd December 17:35

[VolvoT5]

While I think the obvious choice is Bottas or Pascal the more I think about it the more I think Mercedes almost have a duty to get another top line driver in that team. Can you imagine if they have a dominant car again next year and the championship is Lewis vs a rookie? The championship would turn into a total farce and it might even devalue it in Lewis' eyes too.

They have got to get one of the big 4 names in that seat if possible... or a least a proven race winner.

[sparta6]

ex1 said:

Good luck to him. I always thought the BS that goes with F1 didn't sit too well with him. He never looked comfortable with the PR or bravado.

1 WDC is enough. People like Hamilton simply have no perspective on life and think thats all there is. Its just driving around in circles after all.

+1

And just watch Hamilton's "maturity" flourish next season if Max starts handing his arse to him from a competitive RB

[Gary C]

Vocal Minority said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I think Murray has an audience. I know he is very marmite - I like him as much as a commentator because of childhood memories as for any technical ability.

I can understand why he would irritate an anoraky audience - there were a lot of gaffs and he was prone to just going 'oh.....oh.....oh' when his brain got saturated and you sort of had to wait for it to wash through before words came out.

BUT you could have Derek Jenkinson talking about gear ratios and polar inertia and a small hardcore minority would love it - but the majority would be confused and feel excluded - what he did do was add in a sort of accessible excitement, and that meant that people who wear not anoraks felt included and welcome.

Between him, Nigel Mansell and Damon Hill - they made F1 something worth broadcasting every event for live in Britain. So that was his contribution.

Also - we started our commentary careers at the same venue, so I will always have love for Murray (his has gone rather better so far...)

(And I have also been informed that he is the nicest man - little story - when he visited said venue in the early 2000s my mate going up the hill on a camcorder and had a microphone - and asked Murray Walker to say a few words over it - which he did without hesitation. He sent a copy to Murray after the event and got a charming hand written thank you letter back).

Murray and haunt were a match made in heaven.

Comedy gold

[Hungrymc]

Everyone is different. I can't blame Nico, he knows he had a bit of fortune this year (no harm in that), I think this is evident from the 'out at the top' sentiment. More importantly though he has a family, he has all the cash he could need. It's easy to see how you come to this decision.

It's always an interesting aspect to look at - if they really love what they are doing or if it's a job. I think when Stoner retired from MotoGP he had a lot of racing and winning still ahead of him, he just hated the whole circus. Rossi seems to live for motorbike racing and has races on way past normal retirement age (risking his record and his legacy in the process.

I guess Nico has just got to the point where it can only go downhill and he has a family to enjoy so chose that path. Wish him all the best.

[LDN]

r11co said:

LDN said:

Yes, he must mean THAT millionaire's son

Yeah, the only karter of primary school age in living history to turn up at Larkhall cart track with his own pit crew.

More envy; there's a lot of green around here

So
Lewis was the only driver, ever, supported by a major team. Do you know about F1? Go and look at Vettel's start and his Red Bull support... McLaren themselves have supported A LOT of junior drivers. You do know Lewis wasn't the only one; he's not THAT special.

[Emeye]

TheLimla said:

I don't see either of the Red Bull drivers wanting to move to merc, reckon the bull will be handy next year. Doubt Mclaren would let Alonso go, same for Vettel and Ferrari. Sainz however might feel theres no space at Red Bull and could do with a move to a top team!

Sainz would be my choice of up and coming drivers good enough to pressure Hamilton - he is pretty grounded considering his father's status - apparently he drives a Golf as his daily.

[r11co]

LDN said:

More envy; there's a lot of green around here

Nothing to do with envy, just dispelling the the myth that Nico was 'privileged' while Lewis somehow had to drag himself into the sport Mansell-style.

[lbc]

furtive said:

I guess he knows he'll never beat Lewis again so quit while you are on top

I think ths is the real reason.

Nico was gifted the championship due to the problems Lewis has had with his car.

It's unlikely Nico will get another freebie, and doesn't want the press latching onto that.

[Gary C]

Hungrymc said:

Everyone is different. I can't blame Nico, he knows he had a bit of fortune this year (no harm in that), I think this is evident from the 'out at the top' sentiment. More importantly though he has a family, he has all the cash he could need. It's easy to see how you come to this decision.

It's always an interesting aspect to look at - if they really love what they are doing or if it's a job. I think when Stoner retired from MotoGP he had a lot of racing and winning still ahead of him, he just hated the whole circus. Rossi seems to live for motorbike racing and has races on way past normal retirement age (risking his record and his legacy in the process.

I guess Nico has just got to the point where it can only go downhill and he has a family to enjoy so chose that path. Wish him all the best.

Well said

[LDN]

r11co said:

LDN said:

More envy; there's a lot of green around here

Nothing to do with envy, just dispelling the the myth that Nico was 'privileged' while Lewis somehow had to drag himself into the sport Mansell-style.

Never heard of that myth. It's all in your head I reckon. And why is privileged in inverted commas? You don't think Nico was privileged - and born into F1? You know he was, right? A tad different to having nothing to with the sport and getting to the top on talent alone.

Having said all of that, all the privilege in the world won't give you the drive and determination needed - so fair play to Rosberg.

[patmahe]

If Hamilton did say what has been quoted here it will cement my long held suspicion that he is a cock. And for what it's worth I have tried to like him but he makes it difficult sometimes.

How a man handles defeat says a lot about him.

[r11co]

lbc said:

Nico was gifted the championship due to the problems Lewis has had with his car.

Yeah. Lewis's performance in Baku played no part in it.

[LDN]

r11co said:

lbc said:

Nico was gifted the championship due to the problems Lewis has had with his car.

Yeah. Lewis's performance in Baku played no part in it.

It played a part but the major points were lost because of cooked engines. You know it. And so does Rosberg. Exit stage left...