Icy Gull
Back on the rollercoaster
- Jul 5, 2003
- 72,015
I don't think saying 'one less technical failure' and Hamilton would be champion is a valid argument. In the last few races Rosberg looked to be playing it safe, since he knew all he had to do was finish 2nd in most of the races. If he had to do something else, he may well have done it. He's shown balls of steel to not crumble under the pressure, and the overtake on Verstappen today was fantastic. There have been races this season where Hamilton has had no answer to Rosberg. Carrying on from last season Rosberg had won 7 races in a row at the start of the season. Rosberg had more fastest laps than Hamilton this season. Hamilton obviously wasn't helped by the reliability issues, but nor was he helped by some poor starts which were his own fault.
Rosberg has been playing defence the last few races, trying to not concede any goals. If Hamilton had scored, Rosberg would have gone on the attack.
Remember, it's not all been plane sailing for Rosberg this season either: collision in Austria with Hamilton which demoted him to 4th in the race and Hamilton won, gearbox failure, radio penalty
You have to applaud the fight and motivation Rosberg has shown this season after losing out to Hamilton in the previous two seasons.
Rosberg did what he had to do and is the worthy champion in my opinion. A much nicer guy too. The lack of respect being shown to him by large quarters of the media and fans is not nice to see. I know Hamilton is British, but it would be nice to see a bit of impartiality in the reporting, especially on the BBC website.
Rosberg was extremely gracious in defeat to Hamilton on the last day of the 2014 season when he had an engine problem. He knew he had lost, his team told him to retire, but he wanted to cross the line regardless and finish the race. Afterwards, he showed great sportsmanship towards Hamilton. Hamilton could learn a few things from Rosberg in this respect.
Hamilton, on the other hand, multiple times after the race, without being prompted, said he was only where he was (i.e. not first) simply because of reliability issues. What a total lack of class. Rosberg did not bite or comment, displaying the sort of trait which is why I was supporting Rosberg today and I'm glad he won. Today is a win for sportsmanship.
Interesting views, and yes he has handled the pressure even if it hasn't been that big as for most of the season he has had a very sizeable points advantage. Whenever it was whittled down Hamilton suffered another failure allowing Rosberg to stretch the lead again. Rosberg finished with the most points so he is a worthy champion but he is not half the driver Hamilton is IMO.