Where does Nico Rosberg go from here?

[jens]

Then it is interesting about the cap throwing in the warm down room. Nico says it was games.

Does he mean Lewis throwing a cap at him saying P2 on the side, or him messing and throwing it back.

It all seems Nico has really been mad tonight.

Well yeah, he looked downbeat. And who wouldn't after throwing the race away like that in the final few laps.

As to "Where now?", a blunt answer would be the same as it was for the likes of Barrichello or Coulthard - "business as usual." If you don't have the talent to match/beat the best, the best you can do is to try to hang onto top team seats, collect podiums and on an odd occasion a win.

[Nitrodaze]

I understand the need to be first , and how bad they want it .

Certainly , Nico lost the pole advantage on the way to the corner , but he was right there with Lewis on entry .

You have two choices at that point , one to brake early and get him coming out , and the other , to stay outside , forcing him to brake early , knowing that if he didn't , he would touch .
I'm pretty sure Nico knew he would slide into him , as he had in the second corner at Suzuka , but he had to keep his line outside as the Bulls were right behind , waiting to pounce .
He was forced to believe his team mate would follow both the rules of the series and the specifically designed rules within his own team .

He was on the better trajectory , and on the grippier part of the track , but got rudely punted . It's as simple as that .


Nico had the measure of Lewis this last weekend , except for that one mistake , despite having to deal with the first corner punk .

I'm sad it's over , especially this way .

If Rosberg was ahead at the apex, he would have claimed the racing line to be in the inside for the next corner, but he was not. His only chance was for Hamilton to generously let him have the racing line and you know that was not going to happen.

Like you say, Rosberg was right there beside Hamilton but not in an advantageous position but a weak position that was going to get weaker the bigger a threat he became through the apex. It is no different to what MNassa did to Hamilton at the restart of the race after the safety car pulled in at Silverstone. Hamilton was positioned at a weak location relative to Massa who was ahead and Massa simply seized the racing line pushing Hamilton clean off the track in the process.

The first corner incident is really irrelevant, particularly since it had no bearing on the outcome of the race. I think it would have been interesting if Rosberg was able to pull off a win to keep the title fight open for a couple more races. As it went, Rosberg handed the win to Hamilton. He can blame no one else for that but himself.
If there was anything to be said, it is Rosberg let the fans down by not doing what it takes to win the race and keeping the driver championship alive for as long as possible; particularly since he clearly had the advantages to do so.

That said, l hope Hamilton helps Rosberg to claim the 2nd place spot by the end of the season. There is hard racing and there is team playing as well.

[Bagwan]

Nico has said he will treat the last few races as a mini-championship , and , since there is nothing for the team to lose but equipment , I expect Nico will assert himself in these situations when he expects the Hamilton "drive thru" window to be open .
Nothing to lose , he may try to make the point again , like at Spa 14 , now that everyone seems to get the point .

Or , maybe he'll be allowed to ask his team to protest , if he feels the need to get some clarification . It seems the only way to get a definitive answer as to whether these moves are right or wrong .

[The Black Knight]

It is sad really the way people are making such a big deal about the first corner non-incident, much like the cap-gate as its being called after the race. There really are some large amount of people out there with nothing else to do with their time than pick on the most obscure points one can possibly find and hold onto them with dear hope.

I guess it’s really just inevitable that when you’re rich, famous, popular with the ladies and talented that people will judge and begrudge you your success based on the tiny glimpses of your personality that is publicly visible, rather than talk about the success he’s had and how incredible his achievement has been coming all the way from Stevenage, having no money to what he has achieved now. It’s really an amazing story and he deserves all the success he has and he definitely deserves this and last years’ championship.

What’s more about the first corner incident is that I’m pretty sure the people who lambast Lewis here would be the first to say defend Rosberg were he the one on the inside of the corner. It was nothing more than a racing incident that has happened thousands of times in the history of F1 but because Lewis is involved, it’s a big deal suddenly. It is true that usually the greatest drivers cause the greatest controversy and divide opinion the most. That is certainly 100% the case with Lewis. The greatest driver in the sport right now, sparks controversy yet again

[truefan72]

It is sad really the way people are making such a big deal about the first corner non-incident, much like the cap-gate as its being called after the race. There really are some large amount of people out there with nothing else to do with their time than pick on the most obscure points one can possibly find and hold onto them with dear hope.

I guess it’s really just inevitable that when you’re rich, famous, popular with the ladies and talented that people will judge and begrudge you your success based on the tiny glimpses of your personality that is publicly visible, rather than talk about the success he’s had and how incredible his achievement has been coming all the way from Stevenage, having no money to what he has achieved now. It’s really an amazing story and he deserves all the success he has and he definitely deserves this and last years’ championship.

What’s more about the first corner incident is that I’m pretty sure the people who lambast Lewis here would be the first to say defend Rosberg were he the one on the inside of the corner. It was nothing more than a racing incident that has happened thousands of times in the history of F1 but because Lewis is involved, it’s a big deal suddenly. It is true that usually the greatest drivers cause the greatest controversy and divide opinion the most. That is certainly 100% the case with Lewis. The greatest driver in the sport right now, sparks controversy yet again

Well said

[Bagwan]

It is sad really the way people are making such a big deal about the first corner non-incident, much like the cap-gate as its being called after the race. There really are some large amount of people out there with nothing else to do with their time than pick on the most obscure points one can possibly find and hold onto them with dear hope.

I guess it’s really just inevitable that when you’re rich, famous, popular with the ladies and talented that people will judge and begrudge you your success based on the tiny glimpses of your personality that is publicly visible, rather than talk about the success he’s had and how incredible his achievement has been coming all the way from Stevenage, having no money to what he has achieved now. It’s really an amazing story and he deserves all the success he has and he definitely deserves this and last years’ championship.

What’s more about the first corner incident is that I’m pretty sure the people who lambast Lewis here would be the first to say defend Rosberg were he the one on the inside of the corner. It was nothing more than a racing incident that has happened thousands of times in the history of F1 but because Lewis is involved, it’s a big deal suddenly. It is true that usually the greatest drivers cause the greatest controversy and divide opinion the most. That is certainly 100% the case with Lewis. The greatest driver in the sport right now, sparks controversy yet again

He is a good enough driver to get it done without these controversial moves .
I'm sure you'd all agree with that .

Without them , I'd have nothing to complain about .
I'm sure you'd all like that as well .



If you all don't like the question when it involves Lewis , then tell me what Kimi wants to know .
Is it alright to push a guy onto the curbs and out or not ?

[The Black Knight]

He is a good enough driver to get it done without these controversial moves .
I'm sure you'd all agree with that .

Without them , I'd have nothing to complain about .
I'm sure you'd all like that as well .



If you all don't like the question when it involves Lewis , then tell me what Kimi wants to know .
Is it alright to push a guy onto the curbs and out or not ?

Well, you see, I don't regard it as a controversial move. I regard it as racing. In general, unless it's something malicious which was executed with clear intent(and in this case it wasn't) then I'm inclined to leave these incidents go without fear of rebuke from the stewards. Drivers are suffocated enough with rules about how they should overtake nowadays, lets not squeeze all the juice out of their balls.

I actually haven't seen clearly the incidents with Kimi and Verstappen. Before I can comment I must go back and look at them.

[Bagwan]

Well, you see, I don't regard it as a controversial move. I regard it as racing. In general, unless it's something malicious which was executed with clear intent(and in this case it wasn't) then I'm inclined to leave these incidents go without fear of rebuke from the stewards. Drivers are suffocated enough with rules about how they should overtake nowadays, lets not squeeze all the juice out of their balls.

I actually haven't seen clearly the incidents with Kimi and Verstappen. Before I can comment I must go back and look at them.

Kimi referenced his clash with Bottas last race , in regards to whether or not you are obligated to leave space .
He was told that one must , and so was penalized .
Even if one never gets to see the incident to which Kimi was referring , it is clear that he felt he was not afforded the luxury of any space , crowded onto the curbs and out .

He isn't angry about not getting the space , but just that he's been given mixed messages and wants clarity .

[Bagwan]

"With Verstapen what I wanted to know was if it's okay, when you're next another car, you're allowed to push the other car over the kerb.Obviously he's trying to defend when I'm trying to pass on the outside. It was fine, apparently it's okay, so it was fine.
As long as everybody has the same rules it doesn't matter. You have so many rules these days in Formula One, you have rules saying you shouldn't change line under braking, you should leave the other car enough room, one car space, but you're not leaving space if you're pushing the other guy wide.
I don't complain, it's fine, but it's not fine if the next time I do it to someone else, to get penalized -- that's the issue. You can do a lot of things, depending on the person, and then someone else does the same and gets penalized -- that's not fine. I don't complain about what he did today but it should be more clear, so we know what we can do and what we can't do."

It's the very same issue .
Nico's been told it's one way .
Kimi's feels like he's being told it's both , seemingly .

Neither complained , so there's no official word , but for Kim's penalty .

Which is it ?

[henners88]

The difference with Kimi is he ploughed into the side of Bottas and ended his race. That is causing a collision. Touching wheels and making somebody go wide is racing to the limit. It was cheeky what Lewis did, but Nico is regretting the fact he didn't defend the inside line. He should have learned from Suzuka really. Had Lewis taken Nico's front wing off, then a punishment would have been justified. Banging wheels is acceptable within reason and that is what needs to be made clear.