Hamilton Tried To Win The F1 Title By Driving Super Slow, But It Didn’t Work
Lewis Hamilton started the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from pole position, but knew he had to do something different if he wanted to take a fourth world title.
Nico Rosberg lined up alongside him and needed to finish on the podium, if Hamilton won, to claim his first world championship.
What followed proved to be one of the tensest season finales and title deciders we’ve seen in some time, with Hamilton pulling out an unusual tactic to try and take the title.
But what other option did he have? With the chequered flag in sight, Rosberg remained in second place but the Red Bull drivers and Sebastian Vettel on super-softs were closing in.
Hamilton put the tactics to work and drove slower than Mercedes wanted, in a bid to bunch up the field and push Rosberg into the clutches of the Red Bulls and Vettel.
The Ferrari driver ended up picking his way passed Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, latching onto the gearbox of Rosberg with a few laps remaining.
Through all of this, Mercedes kept telling Hamilton to up the pace due to the “dangers” from behind. But Hamilton continued to do what he was doing, in the hope of securing the title.
The repetitive instructions caused Hamilton to respond “just let us race” and “I’m comfortable where I am”. Things got a little heated over team radio!
But in the end, Hamilton’s tactic didn’t pay off as Vettel’s charge faded. The Ferrari racer tried, but couldn’t get ahead of Rosberg.
Hamilton crossed the line in first place, with Rosberg in second to secure the world title – his first in F1. Vettel was third, with Verstappen and Ricciardo next up.
After so much Mercedes domination, it really was cool to see three different cars in the top four, fighting so close together with just a few seconds separating them for the final few laps.
It was a hugely tense final race and an emotional one too, for Rosberg, Hamilton (for the wrong reasons – even if he did seem fairly upbeat on the podium) and – of course – the departing Felipe Massa and Jenson Button. Massa finished ninth, while Button retired with a suspension failure.
And of course, it was super awkward between Hamilton and Rosberg after the race…
Comments
I’m gutted personally….
I really wanted Hamilton to win
Congratulations to Nico, however I do wonder how far ahead hamilton would have been if he didn’t have all the engine blow ups
Just curious, were you wondering the same in 2014 when Nico had way more reliability issues (including the car breaking down while leading the race) and even in the title decider. I don’t remember people being so outraged back then with the difference in reliability.
I don’t think Lewis did anything wrong. It’s racing, not stepping on the gas as much as you can. I’m a fan of neither drivers but I think Lewis tried his best to be world champion
Nico deserved the title. He wasn’t taking unnecessary risks and won. Hamilton’s move was expected, but it was still a low blow. Better to lose like a man, than win like a boy.
Low blow? He was fighting till the end. I certainly dislike Lewis, but he earned a lot of respect for what he did there.
win like a boy ? which is not the case of rosberg as well. He got 4 in a row 2nd places both in quali and race! That’s a true legend and champion yes !
If it hadn’t been for that engine failure this would have been a completely different scenario, still I was glad to see much needed action from a sport such as F1, even if it was just for the final 10 laps..
A- he should not have pushed the engine so hard
B- Rosberg would have pushed harder if he needed to
C- it was only 15 points damage
DC on podium be like
Next year Danny Ric will charge through
I loved Hamilton’s radio at one point
Team: “Hamilton, this is Paddy, we need you to be at a 1:45.1 to win the race”
Hamilton: “Uh, I’m actually in the lead right now and I’m quite comfortable.”
Were can i watch the race on the internet?
Or any other F1 races from 2016.
I don’t know what Mercedes expected Lewis to do. If Vettel or Shuey or Senna or Alonso had been in the same position what would we expect them to do. Also it’s difficult to see how Mercedes had much to loose - after all they’ve won the championship by a huge amount - have they not got enough constructors trophies already? We could have had a race where Lewis disappeared into the distance instead of the edge of the seat drama that lasted to the finish.
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