Rosberg worthy F1 champion 2016?

[DonPeffers]

Read http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/37813595

What does the collective think?

[BenD]

personally i think he does. i dont particually like him but its done out the way hese won his championship now maybe next year we can get on and see some proper racing.

i think hamilton is a faster driver and has been unlucky this year but i dont like his attitude towards the team with his accusations of sabotage and what not.

i hope next season ferrari and red bull have a more competative car against the mighty mercs and we see battles for top six

[Dommo]

Yes because he's been consistently good. He's not the very quickest out there but is still absolutely worthy.

[Michael Whitworth]

Yes he does deserve it. He has been consistent with his finishes, maximised most of his starts and had a bit of luck too.

Hamilton on the other hand has not been as consistent, He messed up 4 or 5 starts and has had mechanical issues that either took him out of the race or put him on the back foot. He has put in some sterling races this year but had he mastered the starts he would have walked it.

 

[Paul Hurdsfield - Joint Manchester AO]

Well he got the most points, so that makes him champion.

How many of you remember his dad won the championship with only one win!!!

[Thebigegor]

I think he is worthy especially liked it when he used to beat Schumacher on his return to F1

[Captain Colonial]

Yep, he won it fair and square, and Hamilton has only himself to blame.  He only lost it by 5 points and has been said, Lewis screwed up a number of his starts.  Even with the breakdowns, he could have walked it if he focused harder.  I also think his social life distracted him too much - maybe he read his own press too often.  Although I don't like Rosberg, he wasn't gifted the title - hard to decide if he earned it more than Hamilton threw it away.

Lewis made a huge mistake after the won the race that secured the title last year when he threw the 2nd place hat to / at Rosberg.  You could see it in Rosberg's eyes and on his face - I'll have you for that, and he has.

I'm in the camp that doesn't think Lewis did anything wrong slowing down and bunching up Rosberg and the others towards the end.  He was doing whatever he could to try and win the championship, as would any of us if we're being honest.  Wolfe and Lauda were monumentally naive to think Lewis wouldn't do it (hell, even I'd thought of it pre-race, and I'm a muppet), and unbelievably stupid thinking they could succeed in getting him to speed up.  M-B already had the constructor's title and the driver's title one way or the other, so what was the point?  They're racers, let them race.

[DavidR]

Rosberg is the champion because he scored more points and deserves it because he scored more points. Hamilton may well be considered the best driver but circumstances caused him to score fewer points. For me, Lewis falls into the same camp as Schumacher, both brilliant drivers but not likeable; their manner and attitudes in racing colour their appeal for me.  As an aside, if the Honda engine had been better then Jenson or Alonso might have been champion but what ifs don't count in F1. 

[Andrew O Byrne White - Ireland AO]

Funnily enough, people always talk about the reliability issues cisting Hamilton the championship but I never hear anyone question whether one driver's style actually causes the reliability issues?

 

True, Hamilton may more often be the outright faster driver, but does this put more pressure on the car and contribute to the mechanical failures? Could be something to be said for mechanical sympathy to your motor in these cases!

 

My vote though, absolutely deserved for Rosberg!

[Rhett Turner - Black Country AO]

Nico did what he needed to, he's been fast at times, reliable and steady which is sometimes what's needed. I guess the adage about driving as fast as needed to win the race applies to the championship as well.

Hamilton has been accused of dirty tricks, but I think he tried what he could in the last race and overall this season it's been Nico that has done some questionable things that have painted him in a poor light, I think the Spain crash was his fault, he knew he was in trouble and clearly blocked the fast moving car behind, and the the footage shows that with crashes with Hamilton and Verstappen he clearly drove them off the road by not trying to turn to take the apex.

Assuming that Merc are still at the top I would hope that Red Bull and the others are there as well. It would be good to see a start like 2010, but this time for the mix up to continue for the season rather than a single team beginning to dominate.    

[Man On The Clapham Omnibus]

Scott sort of summed it up for me. I am neither a NR fan nor LH, but I have to admit that they are both superb drivers. As for Lewis's actions, well they aren't exactly playing with a straight bat, so to speak, but he could have tried to take out Nico and he would either still have been WDC runner up if they'd both gone off, or Champion if only Nico went off. But despite some less than honourable behaviour by Nico in the earlier races, Lewis did nothing technically wrong. As Scott said, MB had the constructors' title and were guaranteed a drivers's title and second place too - just not from whom. The days of the gentleman driver are sadly past - few of the champs of the past would have done it (Button, Clark, Hill, Stewart et al certainly not, but Schumacher, Prost, and Senna certainly would have), but then the pressures were kept within the sport in the days of Jim Clark rather than as now and spread all over the media. I respect both Nico and Lewis as superb drivers, but not really as gentlemen, I'm afraid. We've lost Jenson, sadly, and I believe he is the last vestige of honourable ethics. Well, maybe... I suspect Sebastian Vettell, who was storming ahead up to his pass of Vestappen, but he didn't make any attempt to pass Nico. Maybe he simply didn't want to spoil Nico's party, or maybe he though Lewis's aims less than valiant, who can tell.

[Andrew]

I think Nico's done enough over the years to warrant a championship win, but god, I hope the red bull and Ferrari teams can mix it a bit more next year.. plus any others of course. F1 is still pretty much compulsive viewing for me, but getting a bit tired of the Merc domination.

[Sparkymart]

I think Nico got away with to much to lightly. As mentioned above the Spain incident was more Nico's fault than Lewis if if you watch the analysis by Ant Davidson on sky it clearly shows him changing settings on his wheel then close the door on Lewis. 

Then there was Austria where he ran Lewis off the track  and only a 10 second penalty which didn't affect his place 

And again in Silverstone when he got radio asstance and a 10 second penalty again.   But surely a 10 second penalty for radio help a think he should have had more of a penalty for running Lewis off the track. 

But I  can't help thinking Lewis won't be long with Mercedes after what has happened this year 

[Kevin (Mr T)]

Nico ran Lewis off the track in Austria and had a 10 second penalty. Seem to remember Lewis running Nico off the track in Austin not so long ago and getting no penalty. As far as this championship is concerned, as others have said, it's about accumulating the most points and that's what he did.

Personally, a championship won against just one other driver doesn't really fill me with warmth. I would love to see Hamilton, Rosberg, Alonso, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Vettel, Raikonnen, Hulkenberg and maybe a few of the others who have never had a ride in which they could shine, competing on a more level playing field in terms of cars. But we know that never really happens in this formula. If the new regulations bring Red Bull and Ferrari closer to the Mercs and Honda can give McLaren an F1 engine, next year could be fun.

Anyway, I digress. Nico is a worthy champion and he will collect the trophy in a couple of weeks to prove it!

[Steve (sdh2903)]

I'm going to buck the trend and say no I don't think he's a worthy champion. He's been 'good enough' in an extremely reliable car. I'm not a massive Hamilton fan as I find him a bit of a nob (but is very talented) yet even I can see that his reliability problems have cost him a minimum of 40 points this season. Rosberg has had very little if any points loss and got away with a lot. That's a big difference and if all had been equal Hamilton would have won it by 50 points. I know this is motorsport and reliability is part of racing. Mercedes themselves have even said the failures were not driving style related.

Also has taken hamilton's garage crew preparing rosbergs car to get him over the line. I can't help but feel that this will be remembered as the championship that Hamilton lost rather than the one rosberg won.

As stated I just really hope redbull/ferrari/mclaren get close next year to liven things up as I think redbull have a really good driver line up with 2 very talented and humble characters.