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We'd joked about it, of course. When he held a 43-point lead in the early championship standings it looked clear that 2016 would be Nico Rosberg's best chance at winning the championship. If he didn't take the trophy he'd be finished. And if he did, he'd probably do best to retire.
But nobody, and I mean nobody, ever saw this coming.
There are few who could blame him for taking the decision he has. It takes a big man to take stock of his life at such a comparatively young age and to decide that he had achieved all he wanted to in the field to which he had dedicated himself since he was barely out of diapers. How many of us, were we in his position, with his bank balance, a wife and a baby, wouldn't love to have walked off into the sunset?
But from a sporting perspective, there's a dilemma. Perhaps it's our problem. That we don't see elite sportsmen and women as normal people like the rest of us. Their competitive desires run deeper, their dedication sets them apart. Their want and their need to fight is what makes them special, and it is that which made us put them on a pedestal in the first place. And so when we see that they're just regular folk, we feel a tinge of disappointment.
Rosberg's announcement filled me with such a quandary. Because while on the one hand I could completely understand his want and his need to stop the travel, end the separation and cease the single-minded focus that comes with racing around in circles, on the other hand, as a fan of his and of the sport, I'd hoped so much he'd hang around.
He had finally beaten Lewis Hamilton to a championship for the first time in his life. After soundly drubbing Michael Schumacher for three years as teammates, Nico Rosberg could hold his head up as having taken on and defeated two of the finest drivers this sport has ever seen. Freed from the constraints and the pressures that winning a first world championship places on a racer, I was so looking forward to seeing just how good he could become. I was excited to witness how Lewis Hamilton would react and redouble his efforts for 2017 and what incredible heights to which the two drivers would push each other next year and beyond.
Selfishly, I wanted more. And I'm so sad the sport won't ever get to see that.
I'm also sad because, even in victory, questions had been raised over whether Rosberg was a worthy world champion. Whether he genuinely deserved his crown. Debate had always raged over his overall racecraft and in particular his ability not only to attack but to defend. Did he ever truly have the stomach for a fight?
That he has walked away without taking on the defense of a title he had worked so hard to achieve will answer that question for some. For others, it will forever leave question marks hanging over whether he truly merits a place among the all-time greats. And that is a great shame.
It’s a great shame also for Mercedes, and in particular his side of the garage. Niki Lauda has spoken of how badly many on Nico’s team have taken the news. This was their championship too, but the man who helped them achieve it has simply taken the plaudits and walked away. Speaking to a rival team boss, he told me he’d have been devastated if his driver had picked up his trophy and quit. Having a world champion on your team is an unrivalled gift for your team and your partners. For the next 12 months, no matter what else happens, he and you are the focal point. It’s why Sir Jackie Stewart always said winning back-to-back titles was so hard. The increase in promotional responsibilities that comes with being world champion makes winning the title the next year all the harder. But you do the tour, you say the right things, smile when asked and take the photos, because you recognize your position, your good fortune and your responsibility. You pay your dues.
Mercedes, its partners, its sponsors and its staff have lost that.
They’ve also lost a damn fine driver.
***
So who replaces Nico Rosberg?
First thing’s first: They need to repair the relationship with the one driver they have left. It came to light after the season that Lewis Hamilton had seriously considered quitting either the team or the sport altogether in 2016, so disillusioned was he by the manner in which Mercedes had dealt with the fallout from first Barcelona and then Austria. Despite the team’s protestations that it would not get involved in the championship fight in Abu Dhabi, the radio calls still came to Hamilton to up his pace, despite it being clear to all that he was simply doing what he had to do to try and hold onto his title, and that had Sebastian Vettel ever got anywhere near him he’d have picked his socks up.
How did Mercedes manage to play the situation so badly? What was really said in Barcelona? What pacts were made? Hamilton says we will find out one day, but the permutations are fascinating.
But after a season in which Hamilton clearly felt the team favored Rosberg over him, the team now has to make amends. They have to rebuild the bridges burned by their supposed support of a driver who no longer races for them.
All of this leaves Hamilton in a position of hegemony, and should Rosberg’s replacement not mark a challenge to Hamilton it is possible that his own power within the operation of the team could increase. So too his desire to quit himself and leave the team high and dry should a fourth world title be wrapped up.
Hamilton himself says he doesn’t mind who his new teammate is. The only stipulation he has is that they receive equal treatment. He doesn’t want to be number one. He doesn’t want to be handed a championship. But after the difficulties they have had controlling two number one drivers over the past three seasons, would Mercedes genuinely pitch for another top-line driver?
Mercedes says it has to consider Fernando Alonso as an option. Rumors out of Spain say that he is 50-50 for the seat. Now, we know that Alonso and Hamilton have long since buried the hatchet after their divisive 2007 campaign, and have built a mutual respect for one another and we can salivate at the thought of the two as teammates again. But would Zak Brown let Alonso leave McLaren?Then there’s the ever intriguing position of Sebastian Vettel. Sure, he’s saying the right things to please Ferrari at the moment, but Maranello is not a happy place, and with the political mess that exists behind the scenes it could take a long time for it to recover its winning ways. Seb was able to leave Red Bull at the end of 2014 because it has long been understood that he holds a release clause in all his contracts that is sprung if he fails to achieve a set percentage of the points won by the champion. In Abu Dhabi he failed to make a move on Rosberg in the closing laps despite being in range. One wonders if having done so might have pitched him over that percentage. Sure, no seats were free at the time, but might Sebastian have been playing the game to give himself an out if he needed it? It’s only speculation, but an interesting notion.
Then there’s Jenson Button, himself out of a ride at McLaren and who admitted in Abu Dhabi that he thought he may have called time on his career a touch too early. Red Bull aren’t going to let Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen out of their grip, so we can factor them out of the equation.
Which means, if we are looking at the top level, it seems it’d be either Alonso or Vettel. While both would be incredible, neither seems tremendously likely. And either would give Mercedes a competitive headache it has proven over the past three years it is not brilliant at handling.
So how about the promising racers who’ve never quite had their big chance? Renault say they won’t be letting Nico Hulkenberg go. Force India says they have Sergio Perez locked down. Romain Grosjean apparently has a get-out clause in his Haas contract should a top team come knocking, but it is believed this may be Ferrari-specific. But Williams is being surprisingly quiet about Valtteri Bottas. The Finn is, lest we forget, managed by Toto Wolff and would form a strong partner for Hamilton. But Williams wouldn’t let him go easily. With Lance Stroll joining the team next season, Williams needs a dependable and experienced team leader, and to lose Bottas would be a tremendous blow.
And so to the youngsters. Carlos Sainz knows he isn’t going to get promoted to Red Bull Racing anytime soon. He is in limbo – and he can’t stay there for long. But Mercedes has its own junior program to perhaps think about before plundering Red Bull’s. Esteban Ocon is seen as by far the best prospect, but Force India will do all it can to hang onto him. And besides, Wolff has already said that the Silverstone team is a good base for him next season. Which leaves just Pascal Wehrlein.
The German has taken many plaudits in 2016 after scoring points for the small Manor F1 team. Voted “Rookie of the Season” in countless polls, his nose was very much put out of joint when Force India chose Ocon over him. But the reason they did so seems to lie not only in the fact his race pace can often tail off, but in his overall attitude. He has built up a reputation for being something of a prima donna who believes he’s already made it. Scarf blowing in the wind like Isadora Duncan, perfectly quaffed hair, he’s known in certain parts of the paddock as “Princess Pascal.”
Perhaps a year alongside Lewis Hamilton would bring him down to size. Perhaps it would destroy him. It’s a big gamble to take.If it was down to me, I’d be on the phone to Helmut Marko and would be offering him whatever it took to pry Carlos Sainz away from the Red Bull family. He is one of the most gifted, promising and hardworking drivers in Formula 1 today. His performances in 2016 merited a place in my top five drivers of the year. To me there is no doubt that he is a champion in waiting, who would learn from Hamilton, pressure him as he grew, and position himself to lead the team once Hamilton himself retires.
So thank you, Nico, for everything. And for this final gift of a shake-up that could change the course not just of 2017, but potentially the next decade.
RACER's Formula 1 coverage is presented by Grand Prix Tours. Feel the power and the glory of Grand Prix racing now via Grand Prix Tours' Pick 8 competition.
We'd joked about it, of course. When he held a 43-point lead in the early championship standings it looked clear that 2016 would be Nico Rosberg's best chance at winning the championship. If he didn't take the trophy he'd be finished. And if he did, he'd probably do best to retire.
But nobody, and I mean nobody, ever saw this coming.
There are few who could blame him for taking the decision he has. It takes a big man to take stock of his life at such a comparatively young age and to decide that he had achieved all he wanted to in the field to which he had dedicated himself since he was barely out of diapers. How many of us, were we in his position, with his bank balance, a wife and a baby, wouldn't love to have walked off into the sunset?
But from a sporting perspective, there's a dilemma. Perhaps it's our problem. That we don't see elite sportsmen and women as normal people like the rest of us. Their competitive desires run deeper, their dedication sets them apart. Their want and their need to fight is what makes them special, and it is that which made us put them on a pedestal in the first place. And so when we see that they're just regular folk, we feel a tinge of disappointment.
Rosberg's announcement filled me with such a quandary. Because while on the one hand I could completely understand his want and his need to stop the travel, end the separation and cease the single-minded focus that comes with racing around in circles, on the other hand, as a fan of his and of the sport, I'd hoped so much he'd hang around.
He had finally beaten Lewis Hamilton to a championship for the first time in his life. After soundly drubbing Michael Schumacher for three years as teammates, Nico Rosberg could hold his head up as having taken on and defeated two of the finest drivers this sport has ever seen. Freed from the constraints and the pressures that winning a first world championship places on a racer, I was so looking forward to seeing just how good he could become. I was excited to witness how Lewis Hamilton would react and redouble his efforts for 2017 and what incredible heights to which the two drivers would push each other next year and beyond.
Selfishly, I wanted more. And I'm so sad the sport won't ever get to see that.
I'm also sad because, even in victory, questions had been raised over whether Rosberg was a worthy world champion. Whether he genuinely deserved his crown. Debate had always raged over his overall racecraft and in particular his ability not only to attack but to defend. Did he ever truly have the stomach for a fight?
That he has walked away without taking on the defense of a title he had worked so hard to achieve will answer that question for some. For others, it will forever leave question marks hanging over whether he truly merits a place among the all-time greats. And that is a great shame.
It’s a great shame also for Mercedes, and in particular his side of the garage. Niki Lauda has spoken of how badly many on Nico’s team have taken the news. This was their championship too, but the man who helped them achieve it has simply taken the plaudits and walked away. Speaking to a rival team boss, he told me he’d have been devastated if his driver had picked up his trophy and quit. Having a world champion on your team is an unrivalled gift for your team and your partners. For the next 12 months, no matter what else happens, he and you are the focal point. It’s why Sir Jackie Stewart always said winning back-to-back titles was so hard. The increase in promotional responsibilities that comes with being world champion makes winning the title the next year all the harder. But you do the tour, you say the right things, smile when asked and take the photos, because you recognize your position, your good fortune and your responsibility. You pay your dues.
Mercedes, its partners, its sponsors and its staff have lost that.
They’ve also lost a damn fine driver.
***
So who replaces Nico Rosberg?
First thing’s first: They need to repair the relationship with the one driver they have left. It came to light after the season that Lewis Hamilton had seriously considered quitting either the team or the sport altogether in 2016, so disillusioned was he by the manner in which Mercedes had dealt with the fallout from first Barcelona and then Austria. Despite the team’s protestations that it would not get involved in the championship fight in Abu Dhabi, the radio calls still came to Hamilton to up his pace, despite it being clear to all that he was simply doing what he had to do to try and hold onto his title, and that had Sebastian Vettel ever got anywhere near him he’d have picked his socks up.
How did Mercedes manage to play the situation so badly? What was really said in Barcelona? What pacts were made? Hamilton says we will find out one day, but the permutations are fascinating.
But after a season in which Hamilton clearly felt the team favored Rosberg over him, the team now has to make amends. They have to rebuild the bridges burned by their supposed support of a driver who no longer races for them.
All of this leaves Hamilton in a position of hegemony, and should Rosberg’s replacement not mark a challenge to Hamilton it is possible that his own power within the operation of the team could increase. So too his desire to quit himself and leave the team high and dry should a fourth world title be wrapped up.
Hamilton himself says he doesn’t mind who his new teammate is. The only stipulation he has is that they receive equal treatment. He doesn’t want to be number one. He doesn’t want to be handed a championship. But after the difficulties they have had controlling two number one drivers over the past three seasons, would Mercedes genuinely pitch for another top-line driver?
Mercedes says it has to consider Fernando Alonso as an option. Rumors out of Spain say that he is 50-50 for the seat. Now, we know that Alonso and Hamilton have long since buried the hatchet after their divisive 2007 campaign, and have built a mutual respect for one another and we can salivate at the thought of the two as teammates again. But would Zak Brown let Alonso leave McLaren?Then there’s the ever intriguing position of Sebastian Vettel. Sure, he’s saying the right things to please Ferrari at the moment, but Maranello is not a happy place, and with the political mess that exists behind the scenes it could take a long time for it to recover its winning ways. Seb was able to leave Red Bull at the end of 2014 because it has long been understood that he holds a release clause in all his contracts that is sprung if he fails to achieve a set percentage of the points won by the champion. In Abu Dhabi he failed to make a move on Rosberg in the closing laps despite being in range. One wonders if having done so might have pitched him over that percentage. Sure, no seats were free at the time, but might Sebastian have been playing the game to give himself an out if he needed it? It’s only speculation, but an interesting notion.
Then there’s Jenson Button, himself out of a ride at McLaren and who admitted in Abu Dhabi that he thought he may have called time on his career a touch too early. Red Bull aren’t going to let Daniel Ricciardo or Max Verstappen out of their grip, so we can factor them out of the equation.
Which means, if we are looking at the top level, it seems it’d be either Alonso or Vettel. While both would be incredible, neither seems tremendously likely. And either would give Mercedes a competitive headache it has proven over the past three years it is not brilliant at handling.
So how about the promising racers who’ve never quite had their big chance? Renault say they won’t be letting Nico Hulkenberg go. Force India says they have Sergio Perez locked down. Romain Grosjean apparently has a get-out clause in his Haas contract should a top team come knocking, but it is believed this may be Ferrari-specific. But Williams is being surprisingly quiet about Valtteri Bottas. The Finn is, lest we forget, managed by Toto Wolff and would form a strong partner for Hamilton. But Williams wouldn’t let him go easily. With Lance Stroll joining the team next season, Williams needs a dependable and experienced team leader, and to lose Bottas would be a tremendous blow.
And so to the youngsters. Carlos Sainz knows he isn’t going to get promoted to Red Bull Racing anytime soon. He is in limbo – and he can’t stay there for long. But Mercedes has its own junior program to perhaps think about before plundering Red Bull’s. Esteban Ocon is seen as by far the best prospect, but Force India will do all it can to hang onto him. And besides, Wolff has already said that the Silverstone team is a good base for him next season. Which leaves just Pascal Wehrlein.
The German has taken many plaudits in 2016 after scoring points for the small Manor F1 team. Voted “Rookie of the Season” in countless polls, his nose was very much put out of joint when Force India chose Ocon over him. But the reason they did so seems to lie not only in the fact his race pace can often tail off, but in his overall attitude. He has built up a reputation for being something of a prima donna who believes he’s already made it. Scarf blowing in the wind like Isadora Duncan, perfectly quaffed hair, he’s known in certain parts of the paddock as “Princess Pascal.”
Perhaps a year alongside Lewis Hamilton would bring him down to size. Perhaps it would destroy him. It’s a big gamble to take.If it was down to me, I’d be on the phone to Helmut Marko and would be offering him whatever it took to pry Carlos Sainz away from the Red Bull family. He is one of the most gifted, promising and hardworking drivers in Formula 1 today. His performances in 2016 merited a place in my top five drivers of the year. To me there is no doubt that he is a champion in waiting, who would learn from Hamilton, pressure him as he grew, and position himself to lead the team once Hamilton himself retires.
So thank you, Nico, for everything. And for this final gift of a shake-up that could change the course not just of 2017, but potentially the next decade.
RACER's Formula 1 coverage is presented by Grand Prix Tours. Feel the power and the glory of Grand Prix racing now via Grand Prix Tours' Pick 8 competition.
this was a good read but since it was not paywalled, i think the URL would have been sufficient
He has built up a reputation for being something of a prima donna who believes he’s already made it. Scarf blowing in the wind like Isadora Duncan, perfectly quaffed hair, he’s known in certain parts of the paddock as “Princess Pascal.”
Isadora Duncan was killed when the scarf she was wearing became entangled in the wheels and axle of the car in which she was riding
There is a good argument to say that downforce produced from the underbody - or as it's known 'ground effect' - is less critical to turbulence. The underbody is working like an expanding duct with the opposing surface being the ground. Because of the changing ride heights it has to cope with, its design needs to be fairly robust.
It should be better in turbulence than a wing that has had its surfaces optimised to work in clean, non-turbulent airflow. All that said, if the front wing stalls it will cause havoc to everything downstream, so the underbody will suffer. It's all in the design.
As for the second part of your question, more downforce and more tyre grip will give more overall grip in both low and high-speed corners. This will decrease braking distances, increase corner entry, mid-corner and exit speeds. All of these will make overtaking more difficult.
So I'm afraid someone forgot to engage their brain before they opened their mouth when they came up with this change in regulations.
Re: The Official Formula 1 2017 Season Thread
RACER's Formula 1 coverage is presented by Grand Prix Tours. Feel the power and the glory of Grand Prix racing now via Grand Prix Tours' Pick 8 competition.
fixed
