2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix - Yas Marina, 27-29 November

[Just_a_fan]

"Hamilton is the best, can`t do anything wrong" squad strikes again, 6th time in a row

Of course it`s impossible that Rosberg did a better lap or upped his game.

He got pole so he did a better lap. That's obvious.

If he's suddenly upped his game at the end of the season it begs the question "what was he doing earlier in the season when it mattered?". Is it possible that Rosberg doesn't handle pressure well? Or perhaps he worries about Hamilton's performance more than his own - we saw this a few times where he was asking what Hamilton was doing (and being told that was coaching).

There is no doubt that Rosberg is a very quick driver and that he's right up there with the best on the grid. The fact that he has been beaten by Hamilton every season so far suggests that either Hamilton is quicker/better/more clever with strategy/cooler under pressure/whatever or Rosberg can't produce when it matters. Neither is a great thing for someone hoping to win the title in front of his very successful team mate.

[Silent Storm]

dans79 - Rosberg is an idiot

Just_a_fan - has Hamilton unconsciously given up on the season?

Silent Storm - Hamilton has lost interest after he won the championship so he doesn't feel the need to push hard and is just driving because he has to

Silent Storm - There is no advantaged gained at the last corner hence track limits don't apply there.

atanatizante - I think it's down to Lewis's setup for the race, with a bias for protecting the rear tyres more

"Hamilton is the best, can`t do anything wrong" squad strikes again, 6th time in a row

Of course it`s impossible that Rosberg did a better lap or upped his game.

Funny thing about this is that I am not even a Hamilton fan no one is taking anything from Rosberg.. That was a great lap from him today.. But looking at how thing have turned last 5-6 races makes you think something is not right.. And now Hamilton has said it that something has changed in the car which does not suit him so Hamilton lost interest is out of option.

I think Croft mentioned it that there is no advantage gained at last corner so track limit rules don't apply.

[ME4ME]

coming into this weekend I tried to make some changes. It disadvantaged myself a little bit maybe with one of the things I took off the car which was of benefit. I tried to get around it but at the end of the day it wasn’t good enough.

He himself made that setup change, so responsibility is his. Feeling uncomfortable is not really an excuse.

Anyway the source for Hamilton's opportunistic setup might be the pressure he is starting to feel from Rosberg. I hope this continues all the way through 2016 so we can have a decent battle to enjoy, rather than a slaughter like the majority of this year

[F1NAC]

Tomorrow should be just pure racing. Let them race to the limits. Its not that important race. They should turn off team radios

[dans79]

"Hamilton is the best, can`t do anything wrong" squad strikes again, 6th time in a row

Of course it`s impossible that Rosberg did a better lap or upped his game.

Lol, did you even read what I wrote?

[Kingshark]

Rosberg just put 3 tenths between himself and Hamilton in sector 3 of Abu Dhabi. Let that sink in for a moment.

Anyway, congrats on 22 pole positions =D> Now has as many as Alonso. If he can continue this qualifying form into 2016, he could quite possibly be the driver with the 5th most pole positions of all time.

[giantfan10]

"Hamilton is the best, can`t do anything wrong" squad strikes again, 6th time in a row

Of course it`s impossible that Rosberg did a better lap or upped his game.

He got pole so he did a better lap. That's obvious.

If he's suddenly upped his game at the end of the season it begs the question "what was he doing earlier in the season when it mattered?". Is it possible that Rosberg doesn't handle pressure well? Or perhaps he worries about Hamilton's performance more than his own - we saw this a few times where he was asking what Hamilton was doing (and being told that was coaching).

There is no doubt that Rosberg is a very quick driver and that he's right up there with the best on the grid. The fact that he has been beaten by Hamilton every season so far suggests that either Hamilton is quicker/better/more clever with strategy/cooler under pressure/whatever or Rosberg can't produce when it matters. Neither is a great thing for someone hoping to win the title in front of his very successful team mate.

i dont agree with the statement in bold. Rosberg is in the quickest car by a country mile on the grid. The only conclusion that i have gathered in the last 2 years of F1 is that Hamilton is a better driver than Rosberg period.
as far as Rosberg being right up there with the best on the grid ... strongly disagree.
as far as i'm concerned the mercedes engineers should be the ones getting all the hype some people are heaping on Hamilton and Rosberg .

[Kingshark]

Rosberg's career did not begin in 2014. Mercedes had downright average cars between 2010 and 2012, at times they were painfully slow tyre eaters. Nico was able to do some great things in them. Those podiums in 2010 (especially China and Silverstone were very impressive), him leading and fighting for victory at China 2011 and Belgium 2011 with a significantly inferior car, his dominant win in China 2012. Schumacher, although obviously not as his best, was still no slouch even in his second career. Rosberg was a great driver even before Mercedes became dominant.

Rosberg is one of the fastest drivers on the grid. Is he inconsistent? Yes. Is he error prone? At times. Fragile under pressure? Yep. However, is Rosberg fast? You bet your arse he is.

[Paul]

One thing I love about night sessions is the ability to clearly see displays from on-boards. I am puzzled by a bar in the centre of the Williams display that rapidly depletes at the back of straights. Only thing that comes to mind that could be consistently happening there is battery charging, but then why is it the bar showing depletion? Any ideas?

[Fulcrum]

So I don't think it will be enough to make a major difference to the outcome of the race, but, Kimi has an extra set of the Super-soft tyres. Will Ferrari attempt to try something different?

Typically Kimi tries to eke out the tyre life, stopping a couple of laps later than others. This often compromises his race as he has to contend with being passed by faster cars on more stops, or ending up behind slower cars that stopped earlier.

I'd like to see Ferrari go aggressive with Kimi's strategy. Do a 3 stopper, going SS--SS--S--S, or some variation thereof, and ask him to drive to the limit of the tyres. Alternatively a 2-stopper using SS--S--SS, or SS--SS--S.

His pace was pretty good all weekend, and he really shouldn't be troubled from behind. FI won't sustain quali-pace in the race, and Williams look terrible.

If he managed to jump a Mercedes at the start that would be a bonus. Such a pity Vettel isn't there as Ferrari could then afford to split strategy and try every option available to compromise the Mercedes race strategy.

[Kingshark]

I want a safety car midway a stint for most cars. Then some cars pit and change their strategies, while others stick to their pre-planned strategy. That usually spices up the race.

[Skippon]

Paul

Battery "State Of Charge" !!!?

[iotar__]

So I don't think it will be enough to make a major difference to the outcome of the race, but, Kimi has an extra set of the Super-soft tyres. Will Ferrari attempt to try something different?

Typically Kimi tries to eke out the tyre life, stopping a couple of laps later than others. This often compromises his race as he has to contend with being passed by faster cars on more stops, or ending up behind slower cars that stopped earlier.

I'd like to see Ferrari go aggressive with Kimi's strategy. Do a 3 stopper, going SS--SS--S--S, or some variation thereof, and ask him to drive to the limit of the tyres. Alternatively a 2-stopper using SS--S--SS, or SS--SS--S.
His pace was pretty good all weekend, and he really shouldn't be troubled from behind. FI won't sustain quali-pace in the race, and Williams look terrible.

If he managed to jump a Mercedes at the start that would be a bonus. Such a pity Vettel isn't there as Ferrari could then afford to split strategy and try every option available to compromise the Mercedes race strategy.

Unlikely although it has been closer and more interesting than expected with some weird results: McLaren quick and of course Perez/Force India. Was it Ricciardo's engineer sounding surprised? I prefer a scenario when it's S.P. jumping quicker at the start with standard prediction of Merc winning easily.

Hamilton continues his superior to lesser drivers "driving doing the talking" approach. http://en.f1i.com/news/35588-hamilton-e ... gence.html "Hamilton explains reasons for Rosberg resurgence". Yesterday it was a strategy today some car excuse dug up from Singapore (why not say it then?) and tomorrow something else. I have a better explanation: the other driver has been quicker. No worries, if Rosberg's engine is ancient enough it might explode and everything will be fine again.

[Felipe 92]

Funny thing about this is that I am not even a Hamilton fan no one is taking anything from Rosberg.. That was a great lap from him today.. But looking at how thing have turned last 5-6 races makes you think something is not right.. And now Hamilton has said it that something has changed in the car which does not suit him so Hamilton lost interest is out of option.

I think Croft mentioned it that there is no advantage gained at last corner so track limit rules don't apply.

I think that Hamilton is more concentrated on becoming a gansta Kardashian celebrity than on his F1 career and his lame excuses are becoming worse with every new race (pushed Rosberg wide in America, can`t overtake at Brasil and now he removed part from his car which made it slower and unstable). Toto and Niki are covering his back and he can do whatever he wants because he is the most marketable driver out there.

I`ve been watching F1 since 1998 and coming from Schumacher/Hakkinen to this PU nonsense, don`t push save tyres/fuel strategies and on top of that we have Kanye West (aka Hamilton) as a WDC (which he won half-assed, probably spending more time partying and buying jewelry than preparing for races). He crashed Zonda in Monaco few days before Brazilian GP and blamed weeks of heavy partying for that, but the track layout and the car were excuse for 2nd place at Interlagos. I`m sorry for my raging against him (and his supporters here) but I can`t stand his "look at me I`ve got 5 golden chains", "still I rise", and especially I don`t want to listen stupid excuses when Rosberg beats him fair and square. Also feeling that after winning 3rd WDC he needs to say that he won because of his abilities and never done anything like Schumacher says quite a lot about his intelligence.

[andartop]

"There is part of the suspension which is worth just over a tenth of a half I think, something I didn’t think was working for me so I took it off," Hamilton said. "I have been using it for the last six races, but I tried to work around it and get back to where we were with it, but obviously we tried something different and it didn’t work so well.''

Hamilton said.

Sorry if I am just being thick, but if that is the main reason for losing pole in this race, how about the past 5 races where he has been using this magic part?

My view is that he simply stopped pushing 100% after the point he didn't need to, whether consciously or subconsciously, which is totally understandable and in no way indication of what is going to happen next year. As for his lifestyle mistakes, errr, sorry, choices, these are his to make. I'd rather have that than McLaren's 'our drivers are as disciplined as Jehova's wintesses training to be brain surgeons and taking part in the Olympic games after they come back from that NASA mission in Mars' approach.

As for Rosberg, he certainly is very fast, but whether he is, or can be, a better racer than Hamilton I doubt based on what I have seen so far of the two, regardless of how much I would have liked this not to be the case.