Can Nico Rosberg win the 2016 Drivers Title?

**driveace** · 25th July 2016, 16:28

Nico is good if 1st into the first corner ,but I believe he has signed a new contract that also said " No more driving your team mate off the track" Hamilton is a true racer ,when pushed Nico makes mistakes.OK Hamilton fell asleep yesterday ,and admitted that he fell asleep and went off on a corner but Rosberg was not close enough or clever enough to take advantage

**Bagwan** · 25th July 2016, 17:12

Nico simply , as he said , didn't get the same start as Ricardo and Hamilton .
That's where he lost it .

And , as we know the Merc has trouble following other cars , so he was lucky he made it past the honey badger , or he would have been made to look a lot worse .

Lewis didn't put it an inch wrong , and deserved the win , as Nico was breathing down his neck the whole way .
The first corner is crucial .

**AL14** · 25th July 2016, 20:15

Originally Posted by zako85

One didn't need to wait until now to make that conclusion.

Completely agree but since this thread put a question I answered it.

**Mintexmemory** · 25th July 2016, 20:51

Originally Posted by zako85

Superficial? Anyone who followed the 2014 season would conclude that Hamilton is faster than Rosberg. The same was confirmed in 2015. One didn't need to wait until now to make that conclusion. Having said that, I think Rosberg is close enough to Hamilton to create a challenge that can't be ignored. Rosberg is the racer who will snatch the win from Hamilton if Hamilton happens to blink the wrong way some time during the racing weekend. This is something that can't be said when comparing say Vettel and Webber. One of the reasons the years of Vettel domination (at least half of all of them) were such a snoozefest was because Webber simply couldn't get anywhere near where Vettel was. It would have been a lot more fun as Rosberg was Vettel's teammate.

I think if this was LH and Rosberg in Red Bulls then the gap would be much wider! There would have been no change of mechanics and pit crew for a start.

**truefan72** · 26th July 2016, 11:11

Originally Posted by Mintexmemory

I think if this was LH and Rosberg in Red Bulls then the gap would be much wider! There would have been no change of mechanics and pit crew for a start.

yup!

**jens** · 26th July 2016, 12:08

Hamilton is the more talented of the two, though Rosberg could win the WDC if "reliability/circumstances" go in his favour, like they did early in the season. Don't give much chances for it to happen though. Back in 2014 at the same time Rosberg's points situation was even better than now (leading by 29 pts after Spa), yet couldn't win it.

Much is discussed about Mercedes' reliability, but they haven't had a car-related DNF yet! Though Hamilton did start last in China due to qualifying problems.

**Whyzars** · 27th July 2016, 23:37

No.

**AndyL** · 28th July 2016, 11:23

Originally Posted by jens

Hamilton is the more talented of the two, though Rosberg could win the WDC if "reliability/circumstances" go in his favour, like they did early in the season. Don't give much chances for it to happen though. Back in 2014 at the same time Rosberg's points situation was even better than now (leading by 29 pts after Spa), yet couldn't win it.

Much is discussed about Mercedes' reliability, but they haven't had a car-related DNF yet! Though Hamilton did start last in China due to qualifying problems.

Lewis has at least 15 places of grid penalties coming sooner or later. Rosberg is on course to complete the season without engine penalties, barring any more unexpected failures.

**driveace** · 28th July 2016, 12:25

But IF Lewis gets out in front as he did in Hungary then controls the race but does not thrash the car ,maybe he can make his engines last all season without any penalties .

**AndyL** · 28th July 2016, 12:39

Originally Posted by driveace

But IF Lewis gets out in front as he did in Hungary then controls the race but does not thrash the car ,maybe he can make his engines last all season without any penalties .

I think that's optimistic... Lewis was on to his 5th turbo and MGU-K at the start of the Austrian GP, with 13 races of 21 still ahead of him.