Rosberg, the Championship sleeper?

[maximilian]

He's done it very quietly under the radar, but I couldn't help noticing that Nico sits just 4 points off the Championship lead with 3 very solid finishes in a car that everyone says isn't "quite fast enough" yet - which makes me think that, IF Mercedes DO manage to find that last ounce of pace, he could be a real sleeper in the Championship.

I personally always thought Rosberg is the real deal, and while he's probably getting the LEAST attention of the top-8 "contenders" (even Webbo is generally being talked about more as a contender than Nico), Rosberg's talent for finishing races in the points with cars not fast enough (which is what he did with Williams) makes me think that he could string together plenty of podiums and wins to challenge for the title if the Merc finds the speed. So far, he is certainly leaving Schumacher in the dust, and Michael might find himself in the unfamiliar position of supporting another driver's title run in the (admittedly right now fictional) future! :D

[markabilly]

hummm wake me up after a few more races and we shall know

[DexDexter]

He's done it very quietly under the radar, but I couldn't help noticing that Nico sits just 4 points off the Championship lead with 3 very solid finishes in a car that everyone says isn't "quite fast enough" yet - which makes me think that, IF Mercedes DO manage to find that last ounce of pace, he could be a real sleeper in the Championship.

I personally always thought Rosberg is the real deal, and while he's probably getting the LEAST attention of the top-8 "contenders" (even Webbo is generally being talked about more as a contender than Nico), Rosberg's talent for finishing races in the points with cars not fast enough (which is what he did with Williams) makes me think that he could string together plenty of podiums and wins to challenge for the title if the Merc finds the speed. So far, he is certainly leaving Schumacher in the dust, and Michael might find himself in the unfamiliar position of supporting another driver's title run in the (admittedly right now fictional) future! :D

Rosberg doesn't currently have a fast enough car and he doesn't have experience of winning so logically this year is too early for Nico. He's doing a superb job though.

[Sonic]

So far this has been the season that us Nico fans have dreamed of! He's proved his critics wrong by being not only quick in qualifying but also solid in the races and picking up big points at all the GP's so far. Add into the mix that he is (atm) defacto team leader at Mercedes GP comfortably beating the legend that is M Schumacher and I should be peeing my pants with glee.

However it is still very early days and the car isn't there at the moment so I'll be keeping my expectations in check for the time being.

:)

[F1boat]

The same can be said about Kubica, though.

[Dzeidzei]

The same can be said about Kubica, though.

Maybe not. I wouldnt rate Petrov at the same level than MSC. Not yet.

[arknor]

rosberg still has never prooved he can go wheel to wheel look at how hamilton overtook him with east in melbourne, hes been lucky and taken advantage of other peoples misfortune so far you cant expect ferrari and mclaren to have many more bad weekends and redbull arent going to be plagued with mechanical failures for the whole season

[Sonic]

rosberg still has never prooved he can go wheel to wheel look at how hamilton overtook him with east in melbourne, hes been lucky and taken advantage of other peoples misfortune so far you cant expect ferrari and mclaren to have many more bad weekends and redbull arent going to be plagued with mechanical failures for the whole season

With regard to the Melbourne pass; what more could Nico do? Lewis (in a far faster and class of the field McLaren) came charging up behind with a 10-15kph advantage, Nico defended the line but was passed. There isn't a driver on the grid (save Lewis himself with his questionable weaving) who could have defended that move.

As for the season as a whole, Robert Kubica made a season long charge out of being in the right place at the right time and continuing to pick up points when others had off days.

Good luck for China Nico :)

[Robinho]

i'd say thats pretty much spot on, if the Merc continues to improve relative to the Ferrari, Mclaren and Red Bull then Rosbergs early consistency could pay dividends. if they get it right and he strings together a couple of mid season wins he could be right in the mix.

think it might be a step too far for him and the car though, with Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari all seemingly capable of winning races i don't think the merc will reach the required level of competitiveness to sustain a title challenge

[F1boat]

Maybe not. I wouldnt rate Petrov at the same level than MSC. Not yet.

We are talking about championship chances, not petty joy for the haters. Obviously the 7 titles hurt a lot, if the Finns are taking pleasure of a German kid beating an old man (for now).
The point of my comment was that if the Renault improves, Kubica might be the driver who challenges for the championship the top guns, although if Nico is anything like his Dad, he might try to win it with a single victory...
However, realistically Mercedes GP and Renault, although fast, benefited from the mistakes of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Red Bull and if the top three fix their problems, very quickly Rosberg and Kubica will disappear from the picture. And from past seasons I think that RBR, McLaren and Ferrari all have better development rate than the teams in Brackley and Enstone.

[airshifter]

Nico is doing a great job so far this year. If he can keep it up he may well be able to take advantage of the quicker teams making mistakes and taking points from each other as they battle.

I think with a little more development the Mercedes will be closer to the big teams. Having MS on board along with Ross Brawn should be a big factor in development, even if Nico retains the upper hand in pure speed.



This is shaping up to be quite a year. Only 9 points between Massa in first place in the WDC and Kubica in 7th.

[maximilian]

Well, the premise of my post wasn't so much RedBull, Ferrari and McLaren getting their act together and avoiding mistakes in the races to come (which seems unlikely, given that Ferrari probably will continue to make poor strategy decisions, RedBull will probably continue to have problems with mechanical DNFs, and McLaren will sooner or later be slapped with their traditional controversial penalties [all 3 with tongue-in-cheek, mind you]), but rather Mercedes' announced upgrade package being a success, catapulting them on the same level as the other 3... in which case Rosberg would be able to win races, and challenge for the championship, NOT having lost much ground in the races where Mercedes really wasn't up to snuff yet ... ;)

[Dzeidzei]

We are talking about championship chances, not petty joy for the haters. Obviously the 7 titles hurt a lot, if the Finns are taking pleasure of a German kid beating an old man (for now).
The point of my comment was that if the Renault improves, Kubica might be the driver who challenges for the championship the top guns, although if Nico is anything like his Dad, he might try to win it with a single victory...
However, realistically Mercedes GP and Renault, although fast, benefited from the mistakes of Ferrari, McLaren-Mercedes and Red Bull and if the top three fix their problems, very quickly Rosberg and Kubica will disappear from the picture. And from past seasons I think that RBR, McLaren and Ferrari all have better development rate than the teams in Brackley and Enstone.

Well, you didnt specify, you just compared Nico with Kubica. I only pointed out that Nicos teammate is of a bigger quality than Kubicas. Feel free to disagree.

You seem to have some weird hate for Finns which I find difficult to understand, but then again Im no psychiatrist. This has never been about nationalities, but being Keke´s son I rate Nico Finnish. Again youre free to disgree. Lighten up.

[F1boat]

You seem to have some weird hate for Finns which I find difficult to understand

Not true :) I like Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Miko Hirvonen, Tomi Makinen... They are all very good drivers and I have especially nice memories from Mika, who was a brilliant driver and a true gentleman. I will never ever forget his brilliant victories in Luxemburg 1998, Spa 2000...
However I have enormous respect for Michael and to be it is stupid to gloat over his defeat from Rosberg when he is obviously past his prime, a la that Tennis guy, Bjorg? And equally weird to praise Nico, who has not yet done anything spectacular. He is solid, but he always was. He is doing what Kubica is doing, gaining points from the mistakes of other people. But IMO to do it with a Renault is more impressive.

[Dzeidzei]

Not true :) I like Mika Hakkinen, Kimi Raikkonen, Miko Hirvonen, Tomi Makinen... They are all very good drivers and I have especially nice memories from Mika, who was a brilliant driver and a true gentleman. I will never ever forget his brilliant victories in Luxemburg 1998, Spa 2000...
However I have enormous respect for Michael and to be it is stupid to gloat over his defeat from Rosberg when he is obviously past his prime, a la that Tennis guy, Bjorg? And equally weird to praise Nico, who has not yet done anything spectacular. He is solid, but he always was. He is doing what Kubica is doing, gaining points from the mistakes of other people. But IMO to do it with a Renault is more impressive.

Fair enough. Dunno who Bjorg is but it could also be argued that Renault is not that bad. A rookie fought very well with Lewis in a Renault, which for me speaks a lot for the car.

[jens]

Rosberg certainly deserves credit here. If Schumacher or some other famous driver with a significant fanbase was in a similar situation (4 points behind the WDC-leader in an inferior car), we would hear no end to the hype, how this guy is a real miracle-maker. So in the light of this let's not understate - Rosberg has clearly been one of the best drivers so far this season. He also had quite impressive seasons in 2007 and 2009. Who knows, maybe he can follow the path of Häkkinen and after spending many years in average cars and without a win finally becomes a title contender one day.

A lot of doubts have been about Nico due to being paired with unproven team-mates. When Rosberg was paired with Schumacher, it was also suspected that this may not boost his reputation at all. And as we can see, expected excuses have started appearing again - Michael is too old or hasn't adapted to the car, rather than Rosberg doing a great job.


Fair enough. Dunno who Bjorg is but it could also be argued that Renault is not that bad. A rookie fought very well with Lewis in a Renault, which for me speaks a lot for the car.

Hamilton was faster than Petrov though and they were fighting for position only because Hamilton had started from behind - one brave counterattacking manouver doesn't make Renault a match to McLaren. I don't know, why are you keen on downplaying Kubica - he is doing a brilliant job.

[V12]

Rosberg for the first time in his career is driving for a team to be considered in the top band of teams, but although they have won one title in their recent past, their car isn't the quickest. He starts the season expected to be number two in this team but the early races see him gather more points than his team leader who narrowly missed out on the title in his previous season, and despite not winning a race so far Rosberg is in and around the title hunt.

I could be quite easily talking about Keke in 1982. Having said that I don't expect Schuey to do a Reutemann and jack it in imminently, and if I was a betting man (which I'm not) I wouldn't have Nico down as a championship favourite by any stretch, but he is in the mix which is pretty much the most a Mercedes driver could have expected at this early stage.

[wedge]

Agree with Brundle's assessment.

Rosberg needs to show he can fight against his peers ie. wheel to wheel within the top-4 teams and Kubica

[maximilian]

Nico moves up to 2nd in the Championship, and the dream continues! I am crossing my fingers that the much-talked about "upgrades" for Mercedes coming next race will turn out to be a hit. Keep going quietly about your business, Nico.

[jens]

Funny is that Rosberg seems to be on course trying to replicate his father's season from 1982. :p : This comparison is valid for one more reason - Keke was also paired with an old fox. But 40-y-o Reutemann retired quite quickly after the season had begun.

[F1boat]

Let's see if can Ross can engineer another title LOL.

[maximilian]

Funny is that Rosberg seems to be on course trying to replicate his father's season from 1982. :p : This comparison is valid for one more reason - Keke was also paired with an old fox. But 40-y-o Reutemann retired quite quickly after the season had begun.
Well... what can I say? :D If old Schumacher keeps going like this, he may well hang up his hat in the near future, too! ;)

[Sonic]

Nico drove a great race today, he was fast and tactically spot on. He also put up a very spirited defence against Lewis - he was the only one who could resist Hamiltons moves at turn 10 & 11.

We just need that debut win now to take him to the next level. ;)

[ioan]

Nico drove a great race today, he was fast and tactically spot on. He also put up a very spirited defence against Lewis - he was the only one who could resist Hamiltons moves at turn 10 & 11.

Strange that MS kept Lewis behind for several laps then.

[Sonic]

Strange that MS kept Lewis behind for several laps then.

I did specify at turns 10 & 11. MS did a good job holding back a superior car, but when Lewis was close enough to put a move on someone at turn 11 - he did. Only Nico (from what I saw) held him back.

Nico is coming into his own this year, so fingers crossed for that first win :)

[Jag_Warrior]

The kid can race. His performances in GP2 confirmed that for me. IMO, his issues at Williams had more to do with Williams (recently) having this uncanny ability to pick the wrong strategy at the wrong time 9 times out of 10. The present day Williams Team is not the Williams of old. I'm glad Nico went to a better team, with a better ability to get a handle on strategy. I think he's doing more than fine, and I think things are just going to get better. I'm also glad that Schumacher is at Mercedes/Brawn, so that he has a (truly) world class driver to measure himself against.

Including Vettel, there's just a whole host of younger drivers now that are talented that I really like. In years past, after Senna was killed, it was hard for me to pick a driver that I really liked (until Montoya showed up). Now I have several: Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Glock and I may warm up more to Hülkenberg.

Just look at the points shuffle from week to week. Have I mentioned how much I'm enjoying this season so far? :s mokin: Screw it, I'll say it again. This is great stuff!!! :bounce:

[Sonic]

You go ahead and say it Jag! This season has been greatly enjoyable so far.

Perhaps I am experiencing something like Saint D and other long term Jenson fans experienced last year. Having supported Nico since long before F1 its brilliant to see him doing so well.

[maximilian]

In years past, after Senna was killed, it was hard for me to pick a driver that I really liked
Interesting you said that, because there really seemed to be a time period where there not only weren't many drivers to LIKE, but there also seemed to be a lack of TALENT on the grid (with a pretty mediocre driver lucking into a WDC ride, and then later no one really able to provide serious challenge to Schumacher... or at least not a bunch of drivers who might have done that) - just today I was looking at the leader board of the race and thinking to myself, what DEPTH of talent we have on the grid at the moment, it's remarkable...

Absolute top talents like Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel.

Great young stars with lots of possibly future WDC potential like Kubica and Rosberg.

Best ever Schumacher.

Fabulous WDC quality masters of the game like Button and Massa.

Very strong winning veteran drivers such as Webber and Barrichello.

A couple still pretty quick veterans in the Lotuses (Loti?) and Glock.

And then guys who show occasional flashes of brilliance, like Sutil, Buemi, Petrov (at least today), mixed in with drivers who may show quite a bit of promise yet if given the chance, such as Aguersuari, Hülkenberg, Senna, Kobayashi, and perhaps DiGrassi...

Ummm which leaves de la Rosa and Chandhok, but even those two have their merits...

All in all, a great field, isn't it?

[airshifter]

This thread title is gaining more and more backing. Rosberg is quietly getting better and better. Similar to Kubica today, he seems to just stay out of the flailing and drive well.

I had previously thought MS would at least equal him by years end, but I'm not so sure any more. Being on those podiums has to be good for motivation too!

[call_me_andrew]

Rosberg has always been unappreciated.

[ShiftingGears]

Rosberg is doing an excellent job this season. Hope he keeps it up.

[Ranger]

Rosberg has always been unappreciated.

I wouldn't say so. He was beaten solidly by Webber and then beat Nakajima and Wurz, who were both very much sub-par.

He is doing a brilliant job this year though. Second in the championship in the 4th best car says something.

[Ari]

Nope.

Is doing a fantastic job but we must remember that 3 out of 4 races have been effected by rain with a little bit of craziness.

As soon as we settle into routine and races are a boring dry precession we will find the Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren at the fore. Simple as that.

But.... has had some fantastic drives thus far, can't win the championship in that car.

[Jag_Warrior]

All in all, a great field, isn't it?

It truly is. A very solid field of drivers and more than just a couple of teams capable of winning races, if not the WCC.

IMO, this is like the early/mid 80's all over again. I'm really enjoying this... and what seems to be in the near future. :s mokin:

[fandango]

I seem to be the only one who isn't impressed by Rosberg. He should have won in China. He gave the lead away by making a mistake at a vital moment, and then he went asleep. When Alonso closed on him he suddenly improved his laptimes, so why did it take a Ferrari breathing down his neck to get him back up to a pace matching the McLarens?

(And yes, I know I may have to wander over to the "I was wrong" thread in a few races....)

[Robinho]

Nope.

Is doing a fantastic job but we must remember that 3 out of 4 races have been effected by rain with a little bit of craziness.

As soon as we settle into routine and races are a boring dry precession we will find the Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren at the fore. Simple as that.

But.... has had some fantastic drives thus far, can't win the championship in that car.

i think spain will set the tone for the rest of the year, everyone is planning big upgradesx, B-spec cars etc, and we could see the pack shuffled again. those who have picked up decent points in the first 4 races have given themselves a decent foundation. if one of those emerges with a car thats quick enough to win races regularly in normal conditrions then they should be able to put a champ challenge togther.

i reckon that Merc could do that and that Nico is well placed, plus he already doesn't really have to contend with his teammate too much, the other 3 teams drivers are busy squabbling with each other taking points off each other.

i expect RBR, Ferrari and McLaren to stay ahead, but i think Nico is very much an outside chance if the Merc upgrade provides enough speed to challenge at the very front

[Sonic]

I seem to be the only one who isn't impressed by Rosberg. He should have won in China. He gave the lead away by making a mistake at a vital moment, and then he went asleep. When Alonso closed on him he suddenly improved his laptimes, so why did it take a Ferrari breathing down his neck to get him back up to a pace matching the McLarens?

(And yes, I know I may have to wander over to the "I was wrong" thread in a few races....)

I really don't see how he could have won in China. His car simply wasn't fast enough to beat the McLarens, and probably not fast enough to beat a Ferrari or Red Bull either, but he did.

As for why he increased his pace when Alonso came up behind; I should think it obvious. Nico was one of the few who stopped only twice so when he realised he couldn't beat the McLarens on pace tried instead to conserve his tyres to possibly jump Hamilton or both if they had to stop again. When Fred cruised up behind he had to up his pace.

Now I may be a bit blinkered as a Nico fan but i'd say that senario is fairly logical?

[F1boat]

I seem to be the only one who isn't impressed by Rosberg. He should have won in China. He gave the lead away by making a mistake at a vital moment

Yes, like in Singapore last year. I also don't think that he is special. But he has Brawn behind him and a solid car, so maybe if he is consistent it will be enough. It worked for his Dad.

[jens]

I wouldn't say so. He was beaten solidly by Webber and then beat Nakajima and Wurz, who were both very much sub-par.


Teaming with the likes of Nakajima and Wurz was the reason, why he was often underappreciated, because it was said that the main reason Nico is trashing them is because those guys suck, not that Rosberg is any good.

I saw Rosberg being very good, quick and consistent already in 2007, which was a much better season than he had endured in 2006. I'd say he was one of the best drivers of that particular season. His rookie season largely went to bust for whatever reason, but he has managed to improve on that significantly.

Sometimes it has seemed that the shadow of his rookie year has been one of the reasons, which has stopped people taking him seriously. As we remember, Massa wasn't taken seriously for a long time either thanks to a troubled beginning of his F1 career. But what is often not taken into account, is that people are capable of improving. :)

[F1boat]

Teaming with the likes of Nakajima and Wurz was the reason, why he was often underappreciated, because it was said that the main reason Nico is trashing them is because those guys suck, not that Rosberg is any good.


Well, Alex, like Michael, was quite old and returned after several years only testing, so he was not a top driver, although I think he scored a podium that year and Nico didn't. Kazuki I think was too erratic and as mentioned Webbo destroyed Nico, and while Nico was a rookie as we see in RBR, Webbo is not the best driver in the sport.
But as I said, Nico is very consistent and with Ross Brawn as his team boss this may be enough for a miracle.

[turismo6]

I think after two Nico podiums Mercedes will switch focus on getting Schumacher up to pace and allowing Nico to drop away from championship contention, prompting a terrible 2011 season for Mercedes who will then decide to pull out of f1 selling the team back to Brawn, Rosberg will leave the team Brawn will hire... let's say Gastón Mazzacane to replace him.

Rosberg will end up at Renault saying: " Mercedes were amateurish"

[maximilian]

:laugh:

Funny!

But seriously, something like that could NEVER happen in F1, right? :rolleyes:

At least not to a major German manufacturer! :D

[fandango]

I really don't see how he could have won in China. His car simply wasn't fast enough to beat the McLarens, and probably not fast enough to beat a Ferrari or Red Bull either, but he did.

As for why he increased his pace when Alonso came up behind; I should think it obvious. Nico was one of the few who stopped only twice so when he realised he couldn't beat the McLarens on pace tried instead to conserve his tyres to possibly jump Hamilton or both if they had to stop again. When Fred cruised up behind he had to up his pace.

Now I may be a bit blinkered as a Nico fan but i'd say that senario is fairly logical?

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I'm not 100% convinced, as his mistake when he might have held up Button and had him with Hamilton breathing down his neck would have been better. He just doesn't seem to display enough fight and hunger for that first win. And I find it hard to imagine him coming out top in a dogfight with Hamilton. But, as I said, I may just be setting myself up for a trip to the I was wrong thread...

[P3ws]

Some of you mention Webbo destroying Nico.
That was back in 2006 and the Williams was nowhere.
7-4 to webbo in points. 9-8 to Nico fastest lap in race.
Qualy 12-6 to webbo. position 7-5 to Webbo.
Not bad and definitely not destroying for a debut season IMHO.

It was Nicos first season and Webbos fith.
Webber also drove for the same team the year before so he must have had a better position within the team.

Webber is known to be good at a single lap dash but Nico was on par with him the last 10 races in Qualy.

[Sonic]

Okay, that makes a lot of sense. I'm not 100% convinced, as his mistake when he might have held up Button and had him with Hamilton breathing down his neck would have been better. He just doesn't seem to display enough fight and hunger for that first win. And I find it hard to imagine him coming out top in a dogfight with Hamilton. But, as I said, I may just be setting myself up for a trip to the I was wrong thread...

I don't think anyone really knows how far Nico can go - probably not even the man himself. But he's got the right team behind him now and if Merc can give him the machinery perhaps we'll find the answers to the questions you've posed.

[call_me_andrew]

Some of you mention Webbo destroying Nico.
That was back in 2006 and the Williams was nowhere.
7-4 to webbo in points. 9-8 to Nico fastest lap in race.
Qualy 12-6 to webbo. position 7-5 to Webbo.
Not bad and definitely not destroying for a debut season IMHO.

It was Nicos first season and Webbos fith.
Webber also drove for the same team the year before so he must have had a better position within the team.

Webber is known to be good at a single lap dash but Nico was on par with him the last 10 races in Qualy.

My thoughts exactly!

I've seen a lot of potentially great drivers fall through the cracks of F1 politics.

And I don't know why Sébastien Buemi still has a job.

[F1boat]

Some of you mention Webbo destroying Nico.
That was back in 2006 and the Williams was nowhere.
7-4 to webbo in points. 9-8 to Nico fastest lap in race.
Qualy 12-6 to webbo. position 7-5 to Webbo.
Not bad and definitely not destroying for a debut season IMHO.

It was Nicos first season and Webbos fith.
Webber also drove for the same team the year before so he must have had a better position within the team.

Webber is known to be good at a single lap dash but Nico was on par with him the last 10 races in Qualy.

Yes, it was not performance like Piquet jr, although Mark is not Alonso either. But still - if you compare Nico to Lewis, he is not that impressive.

[maximilian]

Yes, it was not performance like Piquet jr, although Mark is not Alonso either. But still - if you compare Nico to Lewis, he is not that impressive.
But that might also have something to do with Hamilton debuting in the world-class McLaren team running alongside WDC Alonso and having a top-notch winning car from race 1, while Nico debuted in the crappy Williams, and got stuck there for several seasons... I dare say if Nico had been in Lewis' place, and Lewis had gotten the Williams seat instead... well... :rolleyes:

[Mark in Oshawa]

From what I have seen, Nico is better than people think. The best thing about Nico is, he doesn't throw away points being stupid. IN f1, with the points structure as it stands now, getting a good finish race after race will put you in contention where anything can happen. Rosberg doesn't screw up and he stayed out on dry tires in China to do what Jensen did, that is stay infront and out of trouble by keeping his head and not making dumb mistakes.

Is he a WDC? No..that Mercedes is still behind Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren, but I will suspect he might manage to stay in the top 5 in points right through to the end of the season. He wont give away races by doing something his car isn't willing to give him.

[F1boat]

But that might also have something to do with Hamilton debuting in the world-class McLaren team running alongside WDC Alonso and having a top-notch winning car from race 1, while Nico debuted in the crappy Williams, and got stuck there for several seasons... I dare say if Nico had been in Lewis' place, and Lewis had gotten the Williams seat instead... well... :rolleyes:

I think that if it was the other way around Nico would have been a solid number two to Alonso and Lewis would have beaten Webber.

[Mia 01]

Nico will get a car with a longer wheelbase for Spain. It will be very useful in his hands.

[Mia 01]

Lets see now.