If Rosberg wins the WDC this year..

[Alfa Fan]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

[steveaki13]

Silly question in my opinion. A world champion deserves to be a world champion.

[Stan Reid]

I can think of a lot of them. How many championships would Fangio have won if he'd been driving for BRM (0)? He tried Indy and couldn't even qualify against 33 American drivers who mostly raced on dirt horse tracks.

[jens]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

In my book Rosberg would be no worse than Button or Räikkönen, let alone several other champions before these two.

Also it is worth keeping in mind a very important differentiator in this argument. To win the WDC, Rosberg has to beat Hamilton in equivalent cars. It is a damn hard thing to do, even if you have the advantage of reliability. Because most WDC's have weaker team-mates to beat (the Barrichellos, Webbers, Coulthards, Bergers and Patreses of this world) and/or their closest rivals are driving inferior cars.

[N. Jones]

No. This year he fixed the pressure mistakes and has driven brilliantly.
Besides, how many starts has Lewis bonked this season?

[Koz]

In my book Rosberg would be no worse than Button or Räikkönen, let alone several other champions before these two.


Why Raikkonen?

He fought the good fight in 2007, McLaren were slightly faster. He had mechanical failures and it went down to the last race.

[The Black Knight]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

Yes, he would deserve it. It's not fair on Nico to just blame reliability. Lewis couldn't beat him in a straight fight in Singapore. In all likelihood Rosberg wouldn't have beaten Lewis in a straight fight over the course of a season, we all know that but you need to take your chances when they come along and Nico hasn't put a foot wrong all season. I've always said he is good for one or two championships. I think he's a fantastic driver, just he is unlucky he's up against one of the best of his generation.

As for Lewis, reliability aside, he has made some balls up this season. He has scoffed the start on numerous occasions whereas Rosberg hasn't. Whether that is as out of his control as reliability or not I don't know but he certainly hasn't been nearly as impressive overall this season as he was last year. He has only himself to blame in the end because he spends most of his time jet setting around the world instead of working hard with his engineers. I've always felt his lifestyle would catch up with him at some point. You can't just show up at each race spending no time in between working with your engineers and then expect to win championships. The funny thing is there have been no snapchats from him in over two weeks because he is finally working as a driver should work. A bit too late though, he should have been doing it all year. If he had worked hard all year, he may not have had some of those atrocious starts and could be leading the championship right now, or at least it'd still be in his own hands.


Why Raikkonen?

He fought the good fight in 2007, McLaren were slightly faster. He had mechanical failures and it went down to the last race.

Raikkonen has shown since just how slow he really is. He's nowhere near being a top tier driver.

[jens]

Why Raikkonen?

He fought the good fight in 2007, McLaren were slightly faster. He had mechanical failures and it went down to the last race.

In my view the Ferrari was actually slightly faster. And Alonso-Hamilton a superior line-up to Räikkönen and Massa.:)

Anyway. I didn't mean the championship season in isolation, but how I generally rate these drivers. It is not a dent on Kimi or Jenson, because they are good drivers. But same applies to Nico - he is also good. He has been running Hamilton reasonably close. And if you are looking at qualifying statistics, ever since they have become Mercedes team-mates, they have scored roughly a similar amount of pole positions. Pretty impressive in my book, even if we consider Hamilton has had to sit out several Q sessions during the years due to car problems.

[AndyL]

Silly question in my opinion. A world champion deserves to be a world champion.

Exactly this.

The championship is not for being the "fastest" or most exciting. It's for scoring more points than your opponent. Clearly they guy who scores the most points deserves it.

[N4D13]

I wish people could support their favorite drivers without diminishing others.

[steveaki13]

I wish people could support their favorite drivers without diminishing others.

I try to.

[yodasarmpit]

He might be driving the fastest car, but he will have beaten Lewis (who many rate as the fastest guy out there at the moment) so no he will not be the least deserving - quite the opposite actually.

[Bagwan]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

If Nico was to beat Lewis to the top step in all the remaining races , would you still have the same opinion ?
Would 3 more wins change your mind ?

[zako85]

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.


You have no basis to say this. Rosberg has 9 wins against Hamilton's 7 wins so far this year. Yes, Rosberg may have been helped sometimes by Hamilton's bad luck. But there is no way we can deny how many perfect and flawless weekends Nico had this year. Rosberg may not have Hamilton's natural talent, but Nico is a very dedicated and "technical" driver who works his ass off every weekend to deliver the best result he can.

If you want to talk about the least deserving WDC win in the recent times, I think we need to recall 2013. Red Bull had the fastest car by a long shot and continued developing it through the season, while the rest of its competition gave up pretty much mid-summer. Vettel didn't have much competition from within or from outside of the team. Webber often struggled to even win his second place. On the other hand, there is a legitimate competition going on between Hamilton and Rosberg, and I hope it will go on to the final race of the season.

[steveaki13]

You have no basis to say this. Rosberg has 9 wins against Hamilton's 7 wins so far this year. Yes, Rosberg may have been helped sometimes by Hamilton's bad luck. But there is no way we can deny how many perfect and flawless weekends Nico had this year. Rosberg may not have Hamilton's natural talent, but Nico is a very dedicated and "technical" driver who works his ass off every weekend to deliver the best result he can.

If you want to talk about the least deserving WDC win in the recent times, I think we need to recall 2013. Red Bull had the fastest car by a long shot and continued developing it through the season, while the rest of its competition gave up pretty much mid-summer. Vettel didn't have much competition from within or from outside of the team. Webber often struggled to even win his second place. On the other hand, there is a legitimate competition going on between Hamilton and Rosberg, and I hope it will go on to the final race of the season.
Well said Zako

Sent from my GT-I9301I using Tapatalk

[Mekola]

His father Keke was sometimes considered the least deserving champion of all time.
Because many others were considered for the title: Reutemann, Villeneuve, Pironi, Prost, Watson...
Despite Keke conquered more victories after he was F1 Champion in 1982.

[Nitrodaze]

To win the WDC, Rosberg has to beat Hamilton in equivalent cars.

It may have a Merc logo on it, but l don't think we could call those cars equivalent. If one car is running smoothly and the other is dogged with all manner of problems, it is like a boxer having one hand tied to his back and taking on a Heavy weight fight. There is nothing equivalent about that.

That said, Rosberg would be a very deserving Champion considering that he lost a 43 points lead and was 19 points behind at one point but managed to turn it around to a 33 points lead with the help of a DNF and other problem for Hamilton of course. But one still has to cross the line first to win which he did with some quite superb drives actually.

[Starter]

It may have a Merc logo on it, but l don't think we could call those cars equivalent. If one car is running smoothly and the other is dogged with all manner of problems, it is like a boxer having one hand tied to his back and taking on a Heavy weight fight. There is nothing equivalent about that.
Hmm, wasn't aware that Mercedes is making black helicopters too. :p

[Nitrodaze]

No. This year he fixed the pressure mistakes and has driven brilliantly.
Besides, how many starts has Lewis bonked this season?

Rosberg bonked a few himself. The Merc just has the crappiest launch system on the grid.

[Nitrodaze]

Hmm, wasn't aware that Mercedes is making black helicopters too. :p

Sorry buddy, your insinuation not mine. I am just stating the facts. It may be pure bad luck but that is the way it is and l have talked about it.

[driveace]

Well at least Rosberg has stopped crowding his team mate off the track,or trying to puncture his tyre .Or blocking the track in quali
He has been a better RACER this year ,but a lot of the public have issues with him
ANYWAY the fat lady has not sung YET !
There are 2 more races !

[AndyL]

I'm sure Lewis will be remembering 9 years ago, when he had a proportionally much greater advantage with 2 races to go than Nico has now, and didn't manage to make it stick. Not over by any means!

[Tazio]

I'm sure Lewis will be remembering 9 years ago, when he had a proportionally much greater advantage with 2 races to go than Nico has now, and didn't manage to make it stick. Not over by any means!This is true, however in 2007 you had two teams that were fairly evenly matched(Ferrari won 9 races McLaren won 8). The Boss chucking it away in China, and than Brazil, and Kimi winning the last 2 races really was remarkable, and a feat not repeated since. Having said this I still think Lewis (as you pointed out) has a better chance than Kimi did with 2 races left, but he needs Nico to suffer some misfortune.

[The Black Knight]

Lewis best chance of winning the championship is either:

1) Rain in Brazil
2) Verstappen in Brazil of Abu Dhabi
3) Reliability issues

Otherwise it will simply be a Mercedes 1-2 in the final two races and Nico will take it either way.

[Phoenix]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?

I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

That's quite unfair - Rosberg will be as deserving as Lewis. He may not be as fast or complete as Lewis, but he's raised his game this year no doubt.

[Pechito37]

Yes, you're right, but
Nico is boring. Lewis is badass. Bernie said!

[BigWorm]

You're not a World Champion without serious talent. Every champion are respected and rightly so.

Is he better than Hamilton? No. But does he deserve title? If he has the most points of all drivers come sunday evening in Abu Dhabi, yes.

[Nitrodaze]

This is true, however in 2007 you had two teams that were fairly evenly matched(Ferrari won 9 races McLaren won 8). The Boss chucking it away in China, and than Brazil, and Kimi winning the last 2 races really was remarkable, and a feat not repeated since. Having said this I still think Lewis (as you pointed out) has a better chance than Kimi did with 2 races left, but he needs Nico to suffer some misfortune.

Kimi winning from third was not a feat really. Mclaren handed it to him on a platter with bitter inter team mate rivalry and the distraction of the Ferrari gate scandal.

Under normal circumstances, that title would have been a done deal. Kimi won it by one point from Hamilton who had a DNF due to gearbox failure on the last race of the season; which would have won him his first title in his rookie year.

[AndyL]

If you subtract Kimi from the 2007 equation, it's actually a more similar situation to now. Bitter team-mate rivalry and all! In 2007 Hamilton led Alonso by 12 points with 2 races to go - more than 1 win, proportionally 1.5x bigger than Rosberg's lead over Hamilton now. That lead reduced to zero in the last 2 races.

[Tazio]

Kimi winning from third was not a feat really. Mclaren handed it to him on a platter with bitter inter team mate rivalry and the distraction of the Ferrari gate scandal.

Under normal circumstances, that title would have been a done deal.Kimi won it by one point from Hamilton who had a DNF due to gearbox failure on the last race of the season; which would have won him his first title in his rookie year.
Hamilton finished 7th in the last race of 2007!

[The Black Knight]

If you subtract Kimi from the 2007 equation, it's actually a more similar situation to now. Bitter team-mate rivalry and all! In 2007 Hamilton led Alonso by 12 points with 2 races to go - more than 1 win, proportionally 1.5x bigger than Rosberg's lead over Hamilton now. That lead reduced to zero in the last 2 races.

Yeah but unfortunately McLaren weren't as dominant as Mercedes were then.

I think that RBR can be super competitive in Brazil though. It's going to be interesting to see what happens there. Lewis's only realistic chance is interference from RBR, a mistake from Rosberg or a mechanical failure.

[AndyL]

Yeah but unfortunately McLaren weren't as dominant as Mercedes were then.

It's true, it's a lot easier for a Mercedes driver to have a bad weekend and still finish 2nd or 3rd now. Certainly we won't see a Williams and 2 Saubers getting between them as happened to the two McLarens in the last race of 2007. But their superior car won't save them from a moment of ill luck or judgment like Hamilton's ignominious end in the pit lane gravel trap in China 2007. I don't think this championship is over yet.

[Nitrodaze]

Hamilton finished 7th in the last race of 2007!

Of course he did finis 7th in Brasil. The gearbox DNF happened in the previous race in China. You know ur F1 history bro.

[Tazio]

Of course he did finis 7th in Brasil. The gearbox DNF happened in the previous race in China. You know ur F1 history bro.The gearbox malfunction did happen in Brazil, but it was electronic and Hamilton was able to reset it after dropping almost all the way to the back of the field. China was a DNF, but it was the result of Hamilton beaching it in the small gravel trap at pit in.

[Nitrodaze]

The gearbox malfunction did happen in Brazil, but it was electronic and Hamilton was able to reset it after dropping almost all the way to the back of the field. China was a DNF, but it was the result of Hamilton beaching it in the small gravel trap at pit in.
I knew there was a gearbox problem in Brasil, l somehow thought it resulted in a DNF for some unknown reason. But l should have googled like everyone else. My point was the gearbox problem was the main reason that Hamilton missed out on winning the driver's title in his rookie year. If he had finish 4th behind Alonso, he would done enough to win the title which Raikonnen won by a sole point ahead for Hamilton who also finished by one single place ahead of Alonso in the championship.

Brasil has not been a great hunting ground for Hamilton for various reasons. But he has a great opportunity to set things straight this year. It has been all too easy for Rosberg, hence l would hope it properly goes to the wire. I read somewhere that Rosberg would be a lucky champion if he pulls it off. With what we have seen this year, most drivers on the grid would have won it with those sort of luck in a Mercedes car. That said, you still have to cross the line to win and Rosberg did alot of that to put himself in poll position for the driver's title of 2016. I cannot begrudge him his speed and calm head that has seen him through. Especially after blowing an earlier 43 points lead.

The fact remains that the drivers title was not seriously contested for this year. It seemed a breeze really?

[Tazio]

It's true, it's a lot easier for a Mercedes driver to have a bad weekend and still finish 2nd or 3rd now. Certainly we won't see a Williams and 2 Saubers getting between them as happened to the two McLarens in the last race of 2007. But their superior car won't save them from a moment of ill luck or judgment like Hamilton's ignominious end in the pit lane gravel trap in China 2007. I don't think this championship is over yet. The darndest thing about that DNF was (if I remember correctly) The Boss was pitting after running inters down to the cord. That was his only DNF of the season. Of course this was in the middle of a three year engine freeze, and I think each engine only had to last 2 races. Fred also had only one DNF in the sister MP4-22 when he crashed out at Fuji in the rain. Very reliable, yet simpler PU back then!

[Tazio]

Hamilton who also finished by one single point ahead of Alonso. Boss and Fred both finished with 109 points. Boss was given second on the count back!

[steveaki13]

This is it then. A critical day for the Championship and its raining..... edge of the seat stuff.

[keysersoze]

In my view the least great (I know--oxymoron) WDCs have been:
1. Keke R: Villeneuve's death, Pironi's season-ending injury, and turbo unreliability handed it to him
2. Damon Hill: never won in F3000, lucked into a Williams ride, had a dominant car and a rookie teammate in '96.
3. James Hunt: Lauda missed 2 races and still almost won.

[Rollo]

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time?
I can't think of another time where a driver has been so clearly inferior and won the championship due to reliability / other factors.

1982?
Keke Rosberg won the championship after only having one 1 race all year and because his nearest rival in Didier Pironi got smashed up so badly in Germany that he never raced again.

1976?
James Hunt won the championship after only Niki Lauda had crashed so badly that he suffered severe burns in the fire. Niki Lauda is so hard core that he came back and drove six weeks later. Then he won the 1977 championship and after a period of retirement, won the 1984 championship as well.

1988?
Ayrton Senna literally won the championship by being worse that Prost.

Even if Nico comes third and Lewis wins the last GP, Nico Rosberg will have still won 9 Grands Prix. I think that this thread follows Betteridge's law of headlines; which says that "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'."

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time? No.

[The Black Knight]

1982?
Keke Rosberg won the championship after only having one 1 race all year and because his nearest rival in Didier Pironi got smashed up so badly in Germany that he never raced again.

1976?
James Hunt won the championship after only Niki Lauda had crashed so badly that he suffered severe burns in the fire. Niki Lauda is so hard core that he came back and drove six weeks later. Then he won the 1977 championship and after a period of retirement, won the 1984 championship as well.

1988?
Ayrton Senna literally won the championship by being worse that Prost.

Even if Nico comes third and Lewis wins the last GP, Nico Rosberg will have still won 9 Grands Prix. I think that this thread follows Betteridge's law of headlines; which says that "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word 'no'."

Will he be the least deserving champion of all time? No.

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that. Rosberg is super talented and there have been far worse champions in the past. He has been lucky and sometimes you need that. The best top notch drivers don't need that luck, however, when your teammate has multiple reliability issues and you share the best car, sometimes it just falls into your lap.

[AndyL]

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that. Rosberg is super talented and there have been far worse champions in the past. He has been lucky and sometimes you need that. The best top notch drivers don't need that luck, however, when your teammate has multiple reliability issues and you share the best car, sometimes it just falls into your lap.

Even the best require luck I would say, except in Schumacher-Ferrari situation where they have a dominant car and a team-mate who is under orders to play second fiddle.

If you consider Hamilton to be one of the very best, and I would, then if the best didn't need luck he would win this year. Which he may still do of course. So we'll see in a couple of weeks whether you are right and the best don't need luck!

Alonso is another example though. At least once he's had a championship-winning car, and was the best driver on the grid at the time, but didn't win the WDC.

[Nitrodaze]

Thankfully it is going to the wire. With five points to spare, it would take a major f**k up or a DNF to cheat Rosberg out of his first F1 driver title. Hamilton would be thinking of 2007 where he was in a similar position then it all went pear shaped. As Rosberg has survived the crazy weather of Brasil and the rookie whipper snapper [Verstapenn]. He just needs to keep out of trouble and nurse the car home in 2nd or 3rd.

i agree that Rosberg has been quite good this year to take full advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves through the season. Even with luck, you still have to cross the line first. And he did that 8 times which is as many times that some world champions win in a season to become world champions.

If there are any qualms with the way the season turned out, it would be with Merc that did not provide the tools for an exciting battle for the driver's title to take place.

[The Black Knight]

Even the best require luck I would say, except in Schumacher-Ferrari situation where they have a dominant car and a team-mate who is under orders to play second fiddle.

If you consider Hamilton to be one of the very best, and I would, then if the best didn't need luck he would win this year. Which he may still do of course. So we'll see in a couple of weeks whether you are right and the best don't need luck!

Alonso is another example though. At least once he's had a championship-winning car, and was the best driver on the grid at the time, but didn't win the WDC.

I probably should have said the best don't always need luck rather than don't need it.

[Nitrodaze]

Even the best require luck I would say, except in Schumacher-Ferrari situation where they have a dominant car and a team-mate who is under orders to play second fiddle.

I probably would say Schumacher made is own luck and was always there to take advantage when things were not quite in his favour. But having a sidekick driver to back him up certainly made a huge difference to making his own luck.
I personally think Rubens Barichello and Eddie Irvine should have each won one drivers title at Ferrari given the support or left to race freely.

To win the title they need loads of talent firstly and then tons of luck. Luck is a crucial part of winning. To not crash out in the wet or get the dodgy engine or DNF due to other peoples mistakes is all luck. Hulkenburg would certainly agree with that.

[AndyL]

In my view the least great (I know--oxymoron) WDCs have been:
1. Keke R: Villeneuve's death, Pironi's season-ending injury, and turbo unreliability handed it to him



1982?
Keke Rosberg won the championship after only having one 1 race all year and because his nearest rival in Didier Pironi got smashed up so badly in Germany that he never raced again.

Stat attack: Keke is the only champion in the history of the F1 world championship to have won it in the 4th best car, as measured by constructor's championship standings.

That may be skewed by the fact he had somewhat lesser team-mate for most of the season, but Derek Daly was a consistent points finisher, and the Williams surely can't have been the fastest car by any means as it set no fastest laps and one pole position all season.

[Mia 01]

I hope Rosberg wins but both deserve the title.
Next year it´s Verstappens turn. I don´t like that, I dislike him even more than Hamilton!

[Ari33]

I hope Rosberg wins but both deserve the title.
Next year it´s Verstappens turn. I don´t like that, I dislike him even more than Hamilton!



I try to judge all F1 drivers on what I watch F1 for, their driving abilities. Some have bigger egos, character flaws or perceived personalities which are less likeable than others... but I've never really felt that way about Max.
What is it you don't like about him?

[Nitrodaze]

I hope Rosberg wins but both deserve the title.
Next year it´s Verstappens turn. I don´t like that, I dislike him even more than Hamilton!

Mia, you never know in this game, it might be Kimi or Vettels turn next season.

[Bagwan]

I try to judge all F1 drivers on what I watch F1 for, their driving abilities. Some have bigger egos, character flaws or perceived personalities which are less likeable than others... but I've never really felt that way about Max.
What is it you don't like about him?

He's had a few run-ins with Kimi .
Mia wouldn't like that too much .

I would think that's your reason .

[Bagwan]

Mia, you never know in this game, it might be Kimi or Vettels turn next season.

Seb would explode if Kimi won next year .

[The Black Knight]

Mia, you never know in this game, it might be Kimi or Vettels turn next season.

Unlikely to be either's turn next year unless there is a marked improvement within Ferrari's political structure. Ferrari strike me today as similar to the Ferrari we saw in the early 90s. An all Italian political structure that can be nearly there at times but never quite. Until they shake up the political climate I don't really see that changing.

[driveace]

Unlikely to be either's turn next year unless there is a marked improvement within Ferrari's political structure. Ferrari strike me today as similar to the Ferrari we saw in the early 90s. An all Italian political structure that can be nearly there at times but never quite. Until they shake up the political climate I don't really see that changing.

According to a F1 Journalist thats exactly what is needed at Ferrari
It needs an englishman there and possibly a guy who was there before as Filipe,s race engineer .
Yes things are not all rosy at Williams for Rob Smedley ,and Filipe is retiring ,so maybe a move back to Marrinello could be good for Rob and also beneficial for Ferrari too

[The Black Knight]

According to a F1 Journalist thats exactly what is needed at Ferrari
It needs an englishman there and possibly a guy who was there before as Filipe,s race engineer .
Yes things are not all rosy at Williams for Rob Smedley ,and Filipe is retiring ,so maybe a move back to Marrinello could be good for Rob and also beneficial for Ferrari too

I'd agree with that. Maurizio isn't going to bring them titles that's for sure. He needs to go anyway and Ferrari need to bring in someone top class to replace him. Not sure whom that might be yet but anyone is better than Ratatouille.

[Zico]

If Rosberg wins the World Championship, I made just that prediction before the seasons opening race..



If Merc are still as dominant this year, anyone else think they might give Nico the boost he needs to clinch his first WDC?

Hammy has had his glory, I have a hunch that its Nicos turn this year.



You read it here first. ;)


I'd still prefer Lewis to win it though as I feel he has been better than Nico over the whole season.

[Nitrodaze]

If Rosberg wins the World Championship, I made just that prediction before the seasons opening race..





I'd still prefer Lewis to win it though as I feel he has been better than Nico over the whole season.

I rooted for Rosberg to win it this year also, but not the way things has turned out. That's not to say he would not be a deserving champ. You got to take it as it comes. He did just that.

[Zico]

I rooted for Rosberg to win it this year also, but not the way things has turned out. That's not to say he would not be a deserving champ. You got to take it like it comes. He did just that.

Totally agree, he has had a tad more luck on his side but he has also driven very well with few mistakes.
Hamilton is clearly a cut above him in terms of talent but I certainly won't grudge Nico his WDC if that is what happens tomorrow.

[Tazio]

If Nico wins it, he deserves the WDC, all excuses considered. Still a great season for The Boss!