Official 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix thread ***SPOILERS with rosewater refreshments***

Ever since qualifying finished yesterday, I've been been thinking - imagine if both Mercedes drivers had terrible starts and fell to 11th and 12th on the first lap. I know it's never going to happen, but the panic it would cause amongst the fans and the commentators would be hilarious.

In all seriousness, though - I have a gut feeling that Hamilton will win the title today, he has been in a good place these last few races and Rosberg has it all to lose this afternoon. It would be a cruel result, though.

Also, let's not forget this is the last race before the 2017 cars get rolled out. I for one am looking forward to next year, and am banking on it being the first of many steps to rejuvenate the sport a bit.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

Yes I agree, I am worried that Rosberg might lose it but on paper he should be fine so fingers crossed.

Not really as enthralled by this as previous championship battles, so definitely looking forward to 2017 as you allude to!

Also a strange feeling personally to farewell Massa and Button. I can best talk to Massa as a long time devotee and I must say it is really surreal seeing the level of support throughout the paddock, it has been really very flattering.

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X (@ed24f1)

All I'm saying is that if it still remains a one team show in 2017, that will probably make more people want to stop following F1. It's no fun watching when it's just one team doing all the dominating, so that's why I want to see the new regulations shake up the order.

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If we get a straight forward race... Hamilton wins the Grand Prix, Rosberg comes home second.. the internet will still go into meltdown.

Why?

Because Rosberg will be champion despite only winning 9 races to Hamilton's 10.

My preference is for Rosberg to win both the race and championship. I think it's time another driver had the reason to be as insufferable as Hamilton and Vettel.

Hope Button and Massa have fun days.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2016 01:19PM by J i m.

For any Hamilton fans that suggest most wins apparently deserves the title point them in the direction of 2008

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X (@ed24f1)

Oooooh dear did Nico just put his wheels over the pit exit line????

From what I saw he did at the first part of the exit at the top of the hill, which you are allowed to. I didn't see him go over the line where it blends with the track

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X (@ed24f1)

That sequence between Max and Nico was nerve-wracking and a half!

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X (@ed24f1)

What a tense finish.

I can completely understand Mercedes' stance but I equally agree with what Hamilton did and I've even done the same in sim-racing when trying to secure a constructor's title. I didn't feel ashamed doing it and that was with good mates, and I don't think Mercedes will be too upset ultimately... if it all went belly up it would have been great to hear more fireworks though!

Does Nico deserve the title? Undoubtedly. For all of Hamilton's qualifying and start woes in the first half of the season, Rosberg was fantastic, controlling races and in my opinion the better of the 2 drivers. He had a Nicowobble in the middle of the season, but it was short. He did everything he needed to after Hamilton's Sepang failure, and I thought it might come back to bite him, but he showed massive confidence in the team regarding reliability.

A typically tense championship decider, which always seems to throw a curve ball, but it was very watchable.

Phroaww that was the tensest game of chess I ever saw.

Ok.. So that was very very exciting and I wouldn't change anything which happened. But Hamilton really let his colours shine through. What a hypocrypt.. Trying the backing up tactic after taking pains to point out that was exactly the kind of thing he wouldn't do. And then ignoring the team instruction to speed up. Fair enough, it's racing but it's the bare cheeked bull @#$%& of the guy.

I'm glad Nico held his nerve and took the championship. This is likely to have been his best chance... he may not get another one.

Great stuff by Verstappen and Vettel. Great shame for Button.

Critical move by Rosberg on Verstappen very possibly rescued his championship right there... but hang on a mo.. It was the same manner of his move on Verstappen at Hockenheim and his move on Raikkonen at Malsysia... OMFG!! Why no penalty? guys? Consistency?

Loved his Vettel style celebration on the pit straight too... they'll find him for that and award him some penalty points. But meh, he won't care.

J i m Wrote:
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> What a
> hypocrypt..

You're dead wrong.

J i m Wrote:
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> Loved his Vettel style celebration on the pit straight too...
> they'll find him for that and award him some
> penalty points. But meh, he won't care.

Didn't they change the rules to allow doughnuts for the winner at season-end?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/27/2016 05:14PM by Laton.

Laton Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> J i m Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What a
> > hypocrypt..
>
> You're dead wrong.

I tend to agree a bit. He said it would be inconvenient and difficult in a track like this, but the context made it look like he said he wouldn't do it. However, the cheeky answer and fact that he ended up doing it annoyed me a bit. But in the end he did not cheat. No rules prevent you from holding up someone, so long as you're not driving dangerously slow, otherwise you'd get a white/black and orange/black flag.

> J i m Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Loved his Vettel style celebration on the pit
> straight too...
> > they'll find him for that and award him some
> > penalty points. But meh, he won't care.
>
> Didn't they change the rules to allow doughnuts
> for the winner at season-end?


I think they allowed any kind of celebrations like that but not abandoning the car in the main straight. The previous rule was something like after the finish all cars must proceed at a safe speed to the pit area blah blah blah and now they scrapped the part about just parading. You're free to do doughnuts, burn rubber or whatever. But not leave the car out, that's a breach of protocol. So surely he'll be fined. As Jim said, he won't give a damn.

Congrats to him and I seriously hope he grabs number 1, it's the only thing I hate about the numbers system. Maybe a combined style, like Ryan Hunter-Reay did:





Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

Carlitox Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Laton Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > J i m Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > What a
> > > hypocrypt..
> >
> > You're dead wrong.
>
> I tend to agree a bit. He said it would be
> inconvenient and difficult in a track like this,
> but the context made it look like he said he
> wouldn't do it...

No, you've made a grave mistake.

:D

I think Carlitox missed it.

Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

I made a bit of a mistake by labelling Hamilton a 'hypocrypt' ...

Of course he's not that.... He is a bit of a hypocrite though

Damn these multilingual forums!

Something I remembered while having a bath last night... Monaco, when Rosberg let Hamilton through as he couldn't get his wets up to temperature.

Obviously very different circumstances, and I still would have done what Hamilton did, but as Webber put perfectly, he could have been more gracious after the race yesterday.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/28/2016 09:30AM by gav.

Dunno why people are so upset with Hamilton.

If you are not willing to sell you soul, to all sorts of sponsors and corporate interests, to be in that car, you are not gonna be there. And many in the paddock would vote any day, that you SHOULD'T even be there. Added to that, we have seen the rise of the fully optimized sportsman, that is totally cycloptic on their goals, and burns with a dedication far beyond the fanatical. This is pervasive in every sport now. Very few other sporting stars exist, and I would even add, most that don't seem like this are putting on a front for the fans and the media. On top of that, we have sportsmen that are breed and raised on their sport and ambition, to the total detriment of developing other facets of their lives and character. The sacrifices they make to be the best severely stifles their maturity, social skills and personalities. Hamilton, like Max Verstappen and Vettel are part of this new wave of sportsmen born and breed to be superstars of their vocation.

Given that this is the reality of the world we live in, what would we expect to happen? You are seriously gonna ask a human machine that knows nothing else than the thirst for victory, to hand over the last shot he has in the season to nail the title? That's never gonna happen, and if Rosberg wasn't his team mate, everyone would be raging that he didn't try. Well, the team mate is always your worst rival, so you can't have both! It's not more than a few seasons ago, that we thought drivers should be allowed to race as long as it was not mathematically impossible to become champion. If Hamilton's tactics had panned he WOULD have been! That is what he is there for! That is what he has been motivating himself and training to do for his entire life. And suddenly, he has to forgo his whole personality to satisfy some other moral standard?

We have seen far worse happen in championship battles. This was mild. What he did was fully within the rules. He is allowed to race as he wants to, and how he feels is best. He is there to optimize his own chances, as long as it doesn't hurt the team, and Mercedes would not have been much worse off, if they couldn't get another 1-2.

It would be nice, if we could have these finely honed machines of athletic ability, at the pinnacle of what humanity is able to produce at this time, that ALSO had mature well rounded characters, well developed social skills, deep rooted senses of justice, fairness and gallantry. But that time is gone. They don't have the opportunity to become the latter if they also want to be the former.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

I am curious to see what would happen if someone, particularly someone with a vocal fan group like Hamilton or Max, did a Schumacher/Senna style move in a season finale and to see how it would be received these days.

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X (@ed24f1)