Like father, like son: Another Rosberg wins F1 title

A lot of debate following Lewis' tactics in backing Rosberg up. But what did people expect Lewis to do? And Tito Woolf's suggestion of a suspension for Lewis is ridiculous - Mercedes were going to gain a world champion anyway even if both cars were put out of the race. So it should have been a straight duel for the title. And Lewis did what he did to keep his hopes alive. Rosberg won the title this season because of mechanical issues with Lewis' car. That's why Rosberg is champion. Not because he was faster.

A disgusting display from Hamilton. What great racer would do that to his team mate? Raikonnen? Alonso? Button? Never!

See some sense outrider. If you were the fastest driver in F1 and previous champion and you still had a chance to win the title and you were leading that race would you follow team orders? What is so disgusting about that? We are crying out for some competitive action in F1 as most races are boring pole to finish wins with no overtaking. Be grateful that F1 has a real racer in Lewis. Why on earth would Lewis hand the championship to Rosberg on a plate?

TTD, no one knows if LH is the fastest driver in F1 on all tracks & conditions. He def drives the fastest car though.

I get his frustration but F1 has always been about team tactics, 'n1 vs n2 driver', mechanical issues or not etc. He's lucky enough to be in the best team in F1's world right now which virtually guarantees him a 50/50 shot at the title so imo he has to accept that mechanicals may favour his teammate sometimes. That's F1 (unfortunately).

Reckon half F1 pilots have the ability to win the F1 title on a Merc (with good karma i.e less mechanical issues than their teammate).

gold, this is where F1 has gone wrong (and stale). Technical caps should be in place where a car cannot be far superior. In the original days of formula racing everyone basically raced in the same car. But I would argue that under such conditions Lewis would still be the quickest. It is Rosberg who has benefitted most from being a Mercedes driver, not Lewis. There were never any team tactics yesterday. Mercedes were guaranteed a champion and had already won the works title so it was a straight battle between the two.

I can't stand Lewis as a person, but as a racer and a competitor, he has my respect. I can't fault him for his tactics today. He can be satisfied that he did everything within his power to win the title, but it didn't go his way. Like Senna and Schumacher, Hamilton is one of those racers that will do anything to win, an admirable quality, if not a likable one.

As wontond said. Funny that some people are dissing Lewis for his tactics yesterday. Anyone remember Rosberg's Monaco qualifying in 2014 and the escape road that cut Lewis' flying lap?

In my opinion Hamilton is a very gifted driver. Its his misfortune to have had his world championships at a time that will be looked back upon as a travesty for F1 (if indeed F1 even has a credible future, the way things are going). There are terrible problems with F1 - to the point where fans are deserting in droves. But having prissy, disloyal drivers who "will do anything to win" isn't the solution.

Mercedes should drop Hamilton and bring in someone with just as much talent (Alonso, Raikonnen, Button, e.g.) and (and I hate to say this, and until yesterday I wouldn't have) class.

@Outrider Hamilton was clearly the better driver of the season, his 10 first places are an example, if it wasnt for mechanical issues out of his control he would have won comfortably. His tactics in the last race were legal and he wanted to win the worldchampionship, no need to make it easy for him. Who can forget the last race in 1989 Suzuka against Senna / Prost. Senna clearly crashed into Prost knowing doing so hed win the world title.

The last 10 laps were the first and only F1 I've watched this season. I just noticed it was on.

I must say it was well entertaining and I was glued to it. I wouldn't have been if it were just a procession as the Mercedes team wanted. Coming from watching football, the backstage access for the cameras is also well impressive.

kohakuebisu, not only the same opinion as mine but named after my favourite beer in Japan.

Mercedes, Lauda and Woolf, need to be told by Ecclestone that they are ruining F1 with their autopilot processions. We cannot do anything about Mercedes having the standout car, but we can force Lauda and Woolf to provide the fans with some racing. Both of your drivers in with a shot of winning the championship on the last race of the season?

After Mercedes' instruction to Lewis to speed up it was obvious to me that they only wanted Rosberg for the championship.

Agree with you outrider. F1 drivers tend to act like petulant spoilt brats and often put their team's interests way behind their own interests even if a team strategy has been decided prior to the race.

Again I get their frustration and do not like teams' strategies in F1 but drivers know the rules at the start of the season i.e "the driver ahead on the championship ladder will be 'protected'.

Imo Hamilton was acting like a typical whingeing...F1 driver (pheeeew, almost said it! ;)

Well, everyone got what they wanted, almost. Good nail-biting tension right to the chequered flag of the very last race of the season!

The dodgy internet connection gave me plenty of virus warnings, buffering, black-outs and mozaics to spice it up.

Sad that on my pension I cannot afford to pay Sky or anyone for the privilege of actually watching a race, though. Used to love watching it as a child on terrestrial TV with my dad.

wtfjapan, Mechanical issues cost hamilton the championship? Thats racing. Roman Grosjean crashing into Alonso cost him the championship several years back. It happens. Im not a Rosberg fan, and I don't even think he's a great driver. This is what F1 has come to.

The cars a bloody joke. Vettel remarked a year or two ago that he almost poor his pants with fear the first time he drove a formula 1 car cos the step up from other levels of motorsport was frightening. Now, new drivers to F1 say to themselves, "Huh? whats all the fuss about?" Slow cars, bs rules, pampered drivers. Enough!

nandakandamanda: Sad that on my pension I cannot afford to pay Sky or anyone for the privilege of actually watching a race, though. Used to love watching it as a child on terrestrial TV with my dad.

googled "sports bars showing f1 races in tokyo", found:

http://www.tripatrek.com/where-to-watch-formula-1-grand-prix-race-in-tokyo/

There are plenty for bars where you can watch the Formula 1 Grand Prix races in Tokyo. Check out below the bars in Tokyo where you can watch Formula 1 Grand Prix Races. ....

... Akasaka, Roppongi and Shibuya ...

turbostat, many thanks! Great idea. (I'll check if there are any such bars down this end of the country.)

nandakandamanda, you are welcome :) ... happy hunting ...

Im not a Rosberg fan, and I don't even think he's a great driver. This is what F1 has come to. yes I agree there, Hamilton is clearly the best driver of the two, as for the best driver in the field, that debatable as Mercedes clearly has the superior cars. I personally think Riccardo is as good as Hamilton he proven himself against Vettel when they were teammates, even outperforming him, Verstappen is also very talented. Lets hope Redbull can get their act together next year and really challenge the Mercedes. Takes us back to the Senna /Prost years , now that was real racing

Wtfjapan, agreed.

Mechanical issues cost hamilton the championship? Thats racing.

Exactly. Racing is not just about skill. You need mechanical luck. While Malaysia was a big set back for Hamster it was not insurmountable. Remember this year's Japan GP? Lewis botched his start there which dropped him to 8th at the start. Mechanical difficulties and nefarious Mercedes team working did not do that. Lewis did. HAM is a great driver, and had he a normal start he could easily have overtaken Nico and won the race. He finished third, however which earned him 15 points to Nico's 25. If Lewis had won there and even if Nico was second (18 points) Hamster would be the champion.

Who can forget the last race in 1989 Suzuka against Senna / Prost. Senna clearly crashed into Prost knowing doing so hed win the world title

Prost crashed into Senna and Prost won the title. Senna needed to win. Unless you mean 1990 which could be seen as justice.

Unprecedented situation in Formula 1 I think. How do you race against someone who is behind you? That's how and Rosberg was up to it. That Nico and Lewis are in the same team makes it more difficult to debate. If they were in different teams then perhaps there would be no criticism. It would have been cruel if Vettel and Verstappen had got by but they didn't. Check out the final round of the 1964 championship if you want to see a cruel result, except for John Surtees who became the champion.