The Official 2016 Chinese Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**
Discussion
swisstoni said:
sanf said:
mollytherocker said:
rsole said:
Hamilton (to me at least) seems to have lost some of that 'mojo' that lit races up regularly in the past. I know it's early in the season, but bad luck aside his performances in and out of the car seem a tad flat.
Guess we will see.
Totally agree.Guess we will see.
I do kind of hope Rosberg gets the title this year. When you look at all the stats being thrown about - if he doesn't I think he'll be a gibbering wreck crying in the corner of the garage.
He's now won the most amount of races for a driver who hasn't won a championship
Every driver that has won the first three races has won the title (over shorter seasons though)
The only other drivers who have won 6 races in a row have all been world champions (I think!!)
Stack those together - with Hamilton's very relaxed attitude - and perhaps mojo drop, combined with some unfortunate racing luck and things do seem to be lining up for Nico.
But I think a slightly mellowed Hamilton is even more dangerous than the more unstable version. I think the mojo is fully intact.
The main thing is the season is shaping up to be interesting.
His attitude this season either says, 1) whatever you do i will kick your ass, or 2) I've won 3 championships i dont care anymore.
For the sake of F1 i think we are dealing with number 1
Don't blame me, its the Jack. (Whoops and sorry)
rsole said:
swisstoni said:
sanf said:
mollytherocker said:
rsole said:
Hamilton (to me at least) seems to have lost some of that 'mojo' that lit races up regularly in the past. I know it's early in the season, but bad luck aside his performances in and out of the car seem a tad flat.
Guess we will see.
Totally agree.Guess we will see.
I do kind of hope Rosberg gets the title this year. When you look at all the stats being thrown about - if he doesn't I think he'll be a gibbering wreck crying in the corner of the garage.
He's now won the most amount of races for a driver who hasn't won a championship
Every driver that has won the first three races has won the title (over shorter seasons though)
The only other drivers who have won 6 races in a row have all been world champions (I think!!)
Stack those together - with Hamilton's very relaxed attitude - and perhaps mojo drop, combined with some unfortunate racing luck and things do seem to be lining up for Nico.
But I think a slightly mellowed Hamilton is even more dangerous than the more unstable version. I think the mojo is fully intact.
The main thing is the season is shaping up to be interesting.
His attitude this season either says, 1) whatever you do i will kick your ass, or 2) I've won 3 championships i dont care anymore.
For the sake of F1 i think we are dealing with number 1
Don't blame me, its the Jack. (Whoops and sorry)
Rosberg regularly beats Hamilton in qualifying and races. To me that puts in the top drawer, and a cut above the teammates a lot of recent World Champs have had to contend with.
And if things go Rosberg's way this season he'll have deserved it.
swisstoni said:
I didn't think anyone was having a pop at Hamilton btw. Its just that SOME people say Hamilton just had to turn up to win his WDCs - that totally ignores the fact that he had to climb over Rosberg to do it.
Rosberg regularly beats Hamilton in qualifying and races. To me that puts in the top drawer, and a cut above the teammates a lot of recent World Champs have had to contend with.
And if things go Rosberg's way this season he'll have deserved it.
That's a good point. For the first time in a long time we've got both drivers fully supported in a team that has the fastest car on the grid. Rosberg regularly beats Hamilton in qualifying and races. To me that puts in the top drawer, and a cut above the teammates a lot of recent World Champs have had to contend with.
And if things go Rosberg's way this season he'll have deserved it.
You've got to hand it to Merc, they've taken a risk, at least so far. One wonders what they might do if/when Ferrari improves enough to challenge them. If there are, say, six races to go and NR and LH are taking points from each other and SV is in with a shout whether they will suddenly decide they have a #2 driver.
Whilst we would all hope not, one could understand their point of view.
lord summerisle said:
Going into the last race there was 17 points between Hamilton and Rosberg. The points gap at the end looks big with the double points and Rosberg finishing out the points.
Sure - when Hamilton's car didnt fail, he was dominant - winning 11 races, on the podium for every race he finished.
But I maintain he didn't have a run away championship like the 2015 season, as he was playing catch up, points wise, for a good chunk of the year.
I agree. 2014 was so good in part because the mechanical failures and mind games played on each others insecurities. Post-Spa, Lewis looked to have the measure of Nico, who was often faster in qualifying but couldn't out-race Hamilton. Lewis then seemed to ride that form straight through 2015 until the tyre pressure changes where the pendulum seemed back to Nico, hence Hat-Gate when Nico blew it from in front.Sure - when Hamilton's car didnt fail, he was dominant - winning 11 races, on the podium for every race he finished.
But I maintain he didn't have a run away championship like the 2015 season, as he was playing catch up, points wise, for a good chunk of the year.
The gap looks big right now, but if Nico has a single DNF, Lewis claws back 25 points in one race.
I'd like Rosberg to take it this season. I like his precision and he doesn't come across as much of a spoiled brat as he used to.
But I doubt he will be able to hold his own in the tough wheel to wheel battles that are inevitably coming once Hamilton and Ferrari (and very likely Red Bull too) get their respective acts together. I just haven't seen a convincing fight from him in a head to head battle in years.
But I doubt he will be able to hold his own in the tough wheel to wheel battles that are inevitably coming once Hamilton and Ferrari (and very likely Red Bull too) get their respective acts together. I just haven't seen a convincing fight from him in a head to head battle in years.
vonuber said:
So they are going to change the rules to make sure Hamilton gets all the points from 1st to 10th? That's one way of guaranteeing he wins i guess.
New rule introduced for the last race of the season- Nico gets 1000 point penalty from the FIA for beating Ferrari and a 2000 point penalty from FOM as punishment for beating Hamilton in a revampof the points system to make the show more entertaining.Vaud said:
Maybe in total...
18 races x 25 points
And
18 races x18 points
Are the key ones....
Indeed. Rosberg has always been super-consistent while Hamilton has been up and down (e.g. Rosberg qualified 1,2 or two 3 and one 4th during 2014 whereas Hamilton overdrove the car during qualifying in Austria and had a rubbish Silverstone Qualifying too; in 2015 he nearly came a cropper getting far too racy after a bad start during the Hungarian race, etc.) 18 races x 25 points
And
18 races x18 points
Are the key ones....
After just three races there is a big points deficit to overhaul against someone who is likely as not to finish second if he isn't finishing first.
CoolHands said:
Does anyone think redbull are going to be a contender this season? Riciardo's done alright so far and everyone thought they were going to be nowhere after all the Renault crap
They said they would improve as the season went on. At the moment they are there when Ferrari mess up, like Ferrari are there when Mercedes mess up. I can't see them getting close to Mercedes while they've got the TAG/Renault engine, but they should be regularly hassling Ferrari as things go on and maybe getting on level terms by the end of the season. P2 in the constructors title will be close.Flooble said:
Indeed. Rosberg has always been super-consistent while Hamilton has been up and down (e.g. Rosberg qualified 1,2 or two 3 and one 4th during 2014 whereas Hamilton overdrove the car during qualifying in Austria and had a rubbish Silverstone Qualifying too; in 2015 he nearly came a cropper getting far too racy after a bad start during the Hungarian race, etc.)
After just three races there is a big points deficit to overhaul against someone who is likely as not to finish second if he isn't finishing first.
He's not quite as consistent when he has Hamilton breathing down his neck though, in terms of both races & championships ...& imo will need to be at least 25pts in front by the half way point ...going to be fascinating to watchAfter just three races there is a big points deficit to overhaul against someone who is likely as not to finish second if he isn't finishing first.
Flooble said:
Vaud said:
Maybe in total...
18 races x 25 points
And
18 races x18 points
Are the key ones....
Indeed. Rosberg has always been super-consistent while Hamilton has been up and down (e.g. Rosberg qualified 1,2 or two 3 and one 4th during 2014 whereas Hamilton overdrove the car during qualifying in Austria and had a rubbish Silverstone Qualifying too; in 2015 he nearly came a cropper getting far too racy after a bad start during the Hungarian race, etc.) 18 races x 25 points
And
18 races x18 points
Are the key ones....
After just three races there is a big points deficit to overhaul against someone who is likely as not to finish second if he isn't finishing first.
2010
| Driver | Hamilton | Button |
| Points | 240 | 214 |
| Poles | 1 | 0 |
| Wins | 3 | 2 |
2011
| Driver | Hamilton | Button |
| Points | 227 | 270 |
| Poles | 1 | 0 |
| Wins | 3 | 3 |
2012
| Driver | Hamilton | Button |
| Points | 190 | 188 |
| Poles | 7 | 1 |
| Wins | 4 | 3 |
Looking at these stats, it is apparent that Hamilton's performances in those three years have spectacular highs and below average lows, whereas the highs of Button are not as spectacular, his consistency allowed him to be in touch with Hamilton with having above average points scored during his 'low' days. Interestingly, even in his worst season in comparison to Button (2011), he still managed to win 3 races and grab the only non-Red Bull pole for that year. I think the word 'spectacular' quite aptly describes Hamilton.
What has happened since he joined Mercedes is that, he has kept his spectacular highs but gotten stronger and more consistent in his 'lows'. The years 2014 and 2015 have a lot of similarities interms of team mate rivalry to 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Red Bull found themselves with a car that can challenge for the wins consistently and it was the first time for both pilots too. So, managing the driver rivalry was a bit messy and it gave us a good season. Same for 2014, even though Hamilton was a WDC, I remember him saying it felt as if it was his first championship. But the car advantage helped massively in allowing him to have a relatively easy shot at the WDC. 2015 was very similar to 2011, with the new found confidence of being a WDC, he pretty much destroyed Rosberg. But here, the car advantage helped Rosberg to be in touch and finish runner up.
This year, with Ferrari being this close and having a car that can challenge for wins on an equal footing with Mercedes, I would say Hamilton is still a favourite for the title because he can be too good on his good days, and has gotten better at managing the bad days. I would say that Rosberg needed these 3 wins to front load some points buffer to stand a chance, because it is unlikely that he too will get to finish second on Hamilton's good days, as the car advantage is not there any more to the extent they both enjoyed in '14 and '15. Just pure consistency won't cut it for this year.
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