2016 Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi - Yas Marina, 25-27 November

[Just_a_fan]

There is an interesting point, however, in that if Hamilton is in front after the last pits stops, backing Nico in to the opposition and winning the title would be a "racer's drive" and probably well applauded by most. Of course, all Nico would do is chuck an overtake up the inside and let Hamilton choose what to do. If they crash out, Rosberg wins the title. If they don't, he's probably still going to win the title unless he's very unlucky.

The reality is that Hamilton's only real hope is a technical fault on Nico's car. I think Lewis will just try for the win and just let whatever happens, happen. At least he'll go in to the off season with a good string of wins and the knowledge (in his own mind and Nico's) that only reliability scuppered him. He didn't lose the title and Nico didn't take it from him. A mistake in a factory many months before decided the 2016 title.

S'funny, but lots of people hark on about the good old days and here we are reliving them (without the death and serious injury). Historically, titles were won by guys with reliable cars. It wasn't always the best driver but it was almost always the most reliable car.

[dans79]

Horner now weighing in on how his team can prevent Nico from becoming WDC.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127233

He is partially trolling, and partially hoping Hamilton does that so his drivers can get pass both the Mercedes'.

I'd personally love to see it, I picture Totto going through all kind of facial contortions on the pit wall.

[Just_a_fan]

Everyone's assuming Lewis will be ahead. Who's to say Nico won't get pole and disappear into the distance.. Lewis needs to get the job done on Saturday and get a good start on Sunday if he's even to stand a chance.

Indeed so. If I was a betting man, I'd bet on Hamilton getting pole. As to who leads at the end of the first lap? That's a bit trickier.

[SR71]

There is an interesting point, however, in that if Hamilton is in front after the last pits stops, backing Nico in to the opposition and winning the title would be a "racer's drive" and probably well applauded by most. Of course, all Nico would do is chuck an overtake up the inside and let Hamilton choose what to do. If they crash out, Rosberg wins the title. If they don't, he's probably still going to win the title unless he's very unlucky.

The reality is that Hamilton's only real hope is a technical fault on Nico's car. I think Lewis will just try for the win and just let whatever happens, happen. At least he'll go in to the off season with a good string of wins and the knowledge (in his own mind and Nico's) that only reliability scuppered him. He didn't lose the title and Nico didn't take it from him. A mistake in a factory many months before decided the 2016 title.

S'funny, but lots of people hark on about the good old days and here we are reliving them (without the death and serious injury). Historically, titles were won by guys with reliable cars. It wasn't always the best driver but it was almost always the most reliable car.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a mistake in the factory months before Japan caused Lewis to fail to win?

A mistake at the factory caused Lewis to hit the wall in Baku?

A mistake in the factory caused Spain?

Rosberg has won on merit many times this season and Lewis has enough errors and own goals that he's equally responsible for his points position.

Championships aren't decided in one race or one failure this year included.

[Fifty]

Don't forget about Kimi... he could just go all honey badger on them and upset the top 5...


...probably not... but maybe...

[ds.raikkonen]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a mistake in the factory months before Japan caused Lewis to fail to win?

A mistake at the factory caused Lewis to hit the wall in Baku?

A mistake in the factory caused Spain?

Rosberg has won on merit many times this season and Lewis has enough errors and own goals that he's equally responsible for his points position.

Championships aren't decided in one race or one failure this year included.

Uh-oh, you've just opened the Pandora's box with that post.

Bring the rain Hamfosis

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a mistake in the factory months before Japan caused Lewis to fail to win?

Any component that fails due to a design mistake, would obviously fall in that bracket. How did those ERS failures occured otherwise? A Failure in Malaysia, that was attributed to a "Big end bearring" on an ICE that had barely completed 618 kms. Isn't that a design/quality issue, which obviously would have been done months ago.

A mistake at the factory caused Lewis to hit the wall in Baku?

Reality check. Lewis was quite a lot faster on Friday and the engine mapping changes done overnight with whatever changes they did to Setup and breaks, started hurting him from FP3 itself.

FP1 Times:
Lewis - 1:46.435
Nico - 1:46.812 (+0.0.337)

FP2 Times:
Lewis - 1:44.223
Nico - 1:44.913 (+0.690)

FP2 Times:
Lewis - 1:44.352
Nico - 1:44.610 (+0.258)

Lewis did not improve in FP3 and his time was slower than in FP2, whereas Nico did improved.

"The settings were wrong because we had a messy Friday where we couldn't configure it in the way we should have done," he added. "So it was preset in the wrong way. And it happened a little bit earlier on Lewis' car than on Nico's car, I think it was three laps earlier.

So, it wasn't entirely driver's fault to blame for messy qualifying he had. He did accepted that the setup was wrong, but he couldn't adjust to it.

A mistake in the factory caused Spain?

Stupid question.

Rosberg has won on merit many times this season ....

To be precise, only three. Baku, Singapore and Japan.

Championships aren't decided in one race or one failure this year included.

Ignore all other problems and try to imagine if Malaysia failure wouldn't have occured. Just one failure!

Now imagine if Nico incurs one failure in the last race. Just one failure!

[Fulcrum]

My prediction.

Lewis and Rosberg to crash with indeterminate responsibility on either driver (i.e. racing incident). Lewis continues to finish 3rd/4th, Rosberg DNF.

[Vasconia]

Everyone's assuming Lewis will be ahead. Who's to say Nico won't get pole and disappear into the distance.. Lewis needs to get the job done on Saturday and get a good start on Sunday if he's even to stand a chance.

Nico has been slower in the last races which leds me to think that he is driving quite cautiously. It would surprise me if he leads the race though it would be great. I mean, of course he will try to get the pole, but if he is second he is not going to fight for the victory unless Lewis makes an awful start.

[Vasconia]

My prediction.

Lewis and Rosberg to crash with indeterminate responsibility on either driver (i.e. racing incident). Lewis continues to finish 3rd/4th, Rosberg DNF.

One can dislike or like Nico, but it cant be denied that he is a quite calculating and intelligent driver. I am 99,99% sure that he will reject any dangerous move which can put his WC under risk.

[Fulcrum]

My prediction.

Lewis and Rosberg to crash with indeterminate responsibility on either driver (i.e. racing incident). Lewis continues to finish 3rd/4th, Rosberg DNF.

One can dislike or like Nico, but it cant be denied that he is a quite calculating and intelligent driver. I am 99,99% sure that he will reject any dangerous move which can put his WC under risk.

I'm sure that would be his intention, but he doesn't have perfect control over everything around him. Starts are never completely controlled, being the best example I can think of on short notice.

It may seem unlikely, but there may be a situation during the race where Rosberg has to defend his position against Hamilton.

Realistically, my prediction is simply hypothetical. I'm more interested in the aftermath and commentary of such an incident, especially if Hamilton is catching someone for 3rd toward the end of the race and Rosberg has DNF'd.

[Sevach]

Horner now weighing in on how his team can prevent Nico from becoming WDC.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127233

He is partially trolling, and partially hoping Hamilton does that so his drivers can get pass both the Mercedes'.

That's the main problem for Hamilton, Red Bull will gamble for a race win and they are willing to sacrifice a solid second for that, it happened in Brazil it might happen again in Abu Dhabi.

[turbof1]

The 2016 driver championship is getting to a climax with the final round in Abu Dhabi. Given how much controversy this generated and in fear it will dominate the race thread, a decision has been made to concentrate all of the title discussion in a separate topic, right here: http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... 97#p664297. Discussion about the title itself will no longer be allowed in the race thread and will be removed , along with earning a warning. The warning will be given indiscriminately no matter what the circumstances are. A friendly reminder is that 3 warnings automatically result in a ban. So if you happen to make 3 consecutive posts about the title here while moderators are not around, and the moderator catches up on a later moment, well too bad but it'll get you a ban.

This to ensure the events of the race itself are not overwhelmed by any possible fallout. Example of what would be allowable in the race thread:

Omg, Rosberg just blew his engine!

Relevant to the race, nothing more, nothing less.

What would be wrong:

Omg, Rosberg just blew his engine! Title to Hamilton, woohoo!

Mister mrX, you just received a warning. In short any link made to the title will get you a warning. However, any events happened during the race which have an impact on the title but without referring yourself to the title, are allowable. Mind if the moderator deems you are trying to hide a remark towards the title in your post, you'll still receive a warning, so don't try to play smart. This rule starts from this post and will stay on for as long as the topic is being discussed, including after the race itself.

Topic first post is updated, and this message will be repeated several times this weekend.

[Manoah2u]

Don't forget about Kimi... he could just go all honey badger on them and upset the top 5...


...probably not... but maybe...

what?

Daniel Ricciardo is the Honey Badger. Kimi is the Iceman.

Even if Kimi would do outstanding, Ferrari will find a way to throw all the hard work away by questionable decisions.

[ChrisDanger]

The 2016 driver championship is getting to a climax with the final round in Abu Dhabi...

So, the first rule of the Race Thread is: "You do not talk about The Title".

Got it.