turbof1 wrote:There will be clauses that put Rosberg in a very tough spot contractual wise if he takes out his teammate, and especially in a championship-deciding situation.
The thing is; if anything does happen, it won't be a black/white situation. It'd be more like Monaco, or Spa, where everyone will talk for months, everyone with their own opinions and "facts" to proclaim what exactly happened. Unless Rosberg goes kamikatze-like into Hamilton or anything similarly, expect a very controversial outcome where in the end, the team will play it down and eventually move on - because taking sides or making a bigger drama of it would only damage what should really be a successfull end to a season of unparalleled dominance.
In any situation, there's always a counter argument to be made. As I imagined earlier, if Hamilton ever ends up ahead of Rosberg this weekend and the latter gets just a tiny opportunity to attempt a pass - he'll do it. Nico can only win if he wins the race and/or Hamilton has a DNF or is outside position
N+2, but ahead of him. So if he does end up behind and sees even the slightest of opportunities, why not take a little risk? I'd certainly expect Hamilton to yield and/or leave a bit more room than usual, as Hamiltons goal for this race is to finish and not suffer any damage. The risk would be too great to not leave room or take extra care, collide with Rosberg and then be the one that is more damaged and then watch your team-mate get to the finish line while you retire.
The odds are definately in Hamiltons favour, but a gap of 17 points is peanuts in a race where points will vary between 50 and 2 and the gaps between positions are a multiple of two.
Jonnycraig wrote:I can only imagine you haven't actually watched any of the racing if you think a Merc can start in 5th and not easily finish 2nd.
, especially at Abu Dhabi with two mammoth DRS zones.
We'll see. I'm happy to be proven wrong - I'm just not taking it for granted. I'm not disputing the Merc is fast and faster than all the other cars, but IMO not all DRS zones are as effective. How effective a DRS zone is depends on various factors. Going through the field (when starting from behind) is easy if you're overtaking back-markers and most of the midfield. The further up the grid you move, the more difficult it becomes. I take it the Williams are quite fast in a straight line, so if you can set up a pass or not, not only depends on acceleration on the straight, but also how well the car behind can follow before. I can't remember much about the 2013 race, but that was a completely different year. We'll see how it turns out this year.
. Just imagine Toto and Lauda their heads if it happens! Nico screaming and fist pumping jumping out of the car only to have his sights turning on the team. Joy turning into fear within a split second.
