Nico Rosberg World Champion!

[Triumph]

Congratulations to Nico for his championship win. I'm really pleased for him. Lewis will undoubtedly be fighting right at the top next year, so he'll surely get another chance to win his fourth world championship.

I'm not sure if this has already been suggested by anyone else, but when Hamilton was backing up Rosberg etc, I got the impression that Vettel wasn't actually that desperate to get past Rosberg (despite what he said after the race).

My thoughts are that if Vettel got past Rosberg, and enabled Hamilton to win the championship (assuming Verstappen then took third place of course), that would enable Hamilton to match Vettel's four world titles, which I think Vettel would probably want to avoid happening. His sacrifice in this case was only really one place, and he still took a podium.

[Greasy]

That's what I said on the other race thread. Vettel (pot calling kettle) already said Hamilton was up to dirty tricks also...

[Zico]

That's what I said on the other race thread. Vettel (pot calling kettle) already said Hamilton was up to dirty tricks also...

Yes, I also thought the exact same. He was catching the leaders at a rate of a second a lap yet didn't even have a look never mind attempt it.
He (Seb) said that he thought about overtaking BOTH but allegedly didn't get the opportunity. I wouldn't mind another look at the facts, laptimes and footage but I suspect Seb wanted Nico to win the WDC for either (or both) of two possible reasons... and that's fair enough, I'd expect that and I'd probably do the same myself if I'm honest... but to accuse Lewis of dirty tricks is probably just a tad hypocritical to say the least.

[Triumph]

Not just me imagining things then. I watched the race again last night with a more critical eye, and still thought much the same. Vettel's two 'attempts' at overtaking Rosberg were to the outside, so not the greatest of prospects.

As for Lewis slowing down in an attempt to improve his chances for the championship, that's absolutely fine in my opinion. It's not as if he did anything really naughty like Michael Schumacher (and God knows how many others) would have done!

[AndyL]

Yes, I also thought the exact same. He was catching the leaders at a rate of a second a lap yet didn't even have a look never mind attempt it.
He (Seb) said that he thought about overtaking BOTH but allegedly didn't get the opportunity. I wouldn't mind another look at the facts, laptimes and footage but I suspect Seb wanted Nico to win the WDC for either (or both) of two possible reasons... and that's fair enough, I'd expect that and I'd probably do the same myself if I'm honest... but to accuse Lewis of dirty tricks is probably just a tad hypocritical to say the least.

If they were going so slow because of Hamilton's tactics, why didn't Rosberg pass Hamilton? Seems passing a Mercedes going at that speed was not so easy, even for someone in another Mercedes. That seems a more likely explanation for why Vettel couldn't pass Rosberg, than invoking conspiracy theories.

[Greasy]

If they were going so slow because of Hamilton's tactics, why didn't Rosberg pass Hamilton? Seems passing a Mercedes going at that speed was not so easy, even for someone in another Mercedes. That seems a more likely explanation for why Vettel couldn't pass Rosberg, than invoking conspiracy theories.

Rosberg had no need to go near Lewis and risk an accident or damage, as long as Nico had 3rd covered he could stay away, if Vettel had come closer he would have let him go.

[N4D13]

Regarding the "extreme imbalance" in reliability issues between Lewis' and Nico's side of the garage, here's an interesting fact: in 2015, Verstappen had two race-ending reliability issues, whereas Sainz got seven. That is actually a lot less likely than what's happened this year with the Mercedes drivers, but I don't recall having read anyone on this forum accusing STR of deliberately sabotaging one of their cars.

[Greasy]

Unfortunately the tin foil hat brigade won't accept your suggestion because its rational and suggests that Mercedes aren't committed to advertising their engine failings to a global audience deliberately in a method to sell cars.

[henners88]

I think any suggestion Mercedes manufactured the engine failures on Hamilton's car is total tripe. Sometimes people just get the bad luck and this season that fell to Lewis in Malaysia. He's moved on already judging by the nice things he's been saying about Nico. I'm looking forward now to 2017 and hoping the Red Bulls and Ferrari make a huge leap forward. Let's have a title fight with the best on the grid spanning a few teams please!!

[Tazio]

Let's have a title fight with the best on the grid spanning a few teams please!!

Add McLaren to that list......please