Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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Phil
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote:Rosberg should atleast have said "I'll help out the team at winter testing". He is the most senior driver around regarding experience at the team. I think his feedback would have been very important to target weaknesses at the car, especially given new regulations next year. True, Hamilton is experienced in that regard as well, but I think it would have been valuable for the team to have feedback they can rely on, opposed to for instance Wehlrein, who has quite a bit less experience with the engineering team and generally with the setup of a new car.
Rosberg doesn't owe us this courtesy. The details surrounding his termination are probably confidential too. He may have offered, or he may not have. Who knows, who cares? It's between Nico and Mercedes. I'm certainly not going to discuss if Rosberg is a bad or good, or egoistic, arrogant ... [insert more adjectives] person based on 5th person information. The only fun thing about how the story leaked is that Rosberg came out with his own statement rather early which gave Mercedes little time to spin this news in a controlled manner.

I certainly agree that Rosberg has probably been a very important factor at Mercedes - his work ethos, his technical and analytical approach are probably very valued and I'm sure were important factors in the teams overall success. But all break-ups are usually and eventually painful. And not to long ago, we were speculation if Nico will be even retained or if he'd be off to another team due to his contract negotiations.
Not for nothing, Rosberg's Championship is the only thing that lends credibility to Hamilton's recent success. Otherwise, he'd just be the guy who's had the best car. — bhall II
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GPR-A duplicate2
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote:Rosberg should atleast have said "I'll help out the team at winter testing". He is the most senior driver around regarding experience at the team. I think his feedback would have been very important to target weaknesses at the car, especially given new regulations next year.
I don't think if I am the new driver joining Mercedes, I would accept that. I would like to drive the new car as much as possible. This would help me understand the car, would help me bond with my mechanics and engineers, which is critical for me to start a new season with a new car and a totally new setup of people. If I am worth my salt, I would make an impression with winter testing, which would allow team to assess my strengths as well, in comparison with their ace driver. Even if Nico can help out in winter testing and build the car good, it would be me who is going to drive it and if I am not in sync with the new car, I won't be in a position to make the best use of the best possible equipment.

basti313
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote:
Phil wrote:This talk about how Rosberg owes Mercedes anything or the other way around are kind of funny. They don't owe each other anything.
Well except for sitting out a signed contract. I can understand Rosberg's reasoning, but he did break the terms of a multi-year contract. Worse than that is he now leaves the team scrambling to find a decent replacement while almost driver has already signed somewhere.
How do you know, that he broke the contract? There was not a single word about this so far. To me it looks like he pulled a simple "walk away clause".
Maybe Toto and Niki were not even thinking he could pull this, when they put it into the contract...maybe they even had a buyout clause for themselves to get rid of him and this was just to make things a bit equal.
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wickedz50
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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Happy to see Nico retire. Hope Lewis is defector number 1 for 2017. I see a possibility of a good 2017 with the RBRs fighting it out with Lewis. Team trophy for Merc is a danger as there will be an experienced driver short. Pascal will more likely drive for Merc in 2017. Lewis will be much relieved and happy and hope he enjoys 2017.

santos
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote: No, Mercedes couldn't do anything else than letting him go. Still does not change the fact Rosberg did violate the terms of a signed contract and left the team scrambling to find a worthy successor. The team should indeed be thankful for the title, which they are for the record, but that does not change the fact Rosberg put them in a very rought spot due him misleading the team.

He could atleast have mentioned to the team as early as Japan "look guys, if I win the title, I'm out.".
I don't think that Mercedes will have much problems on replacing Rosberg. Maybe other team will have.
If Rosberg said that in Japan, the media would interpret that as a form of threat or an attempt by the team to favor him.

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turbof1
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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basti313 wrote:
turbof1 wrote:
Phil wrote:This talk about how Rosberg owes Mercedes anything or the other way around are kind of funny. They don't owe each other anything.
Well except for sitting out a signed contract. I can understand Rosberg's reasoning, but he did break the terms of a multi-year contract. Worse than that is he now leaves the team scrambling to find a decent replacement while almost driver has already signed somewhere.
How do you know, that he broke the contract? There was not a single word about this so far. To me it looks like he pulled a simple "walk away clause".
Maybe Toto and Niki were not even thinking he could pull this, when they put it into the contract...maybe they even had a buyout clause for themselves to get rid of him and this was just to make things a bit equal.
It is always possible, however I doubt it. Usually such clauses revolve around special circumstances like family ilness, or the car underperforming. If such a clause exists where the driver can freely eject himself, then what is the point of a multiple year contract in any case?

Again though, it is always possible and I'll be the first to admit it if such news about a clause-pull is published. Until then, I'll assume this is Rosberg tearing up the contract and Mercedes doing the logical thing as has been pointed out, it's not worth to try to force him to drive.
santos wrote:
turbof1 wrote: No, Mercedes couldn't do anything else than letting him go. Still does not change the fact Rosberg did violate the terms of a signed contract and left the team scrambling to find a worthy successor. The team should indeed be thankful for the title, which they are for the record, but that does not change the fact Rosberg put them in a very rought spot due him misleading the team.

He could atleast have mentioned to the team as early as Japan "look guys, if I win the title, I'm out.".
I don't think that Mercedes will have much problems on replacing Rosberg. Maybe other team will have.
If Rosberg said that in Japan, the media would interpret that as a form of threat or an attempt by the team to favor him.
He mentioned that thoughts about quitting came up in Japan, as after the race the championship was heavily in his favour. He did not expressed those thoughts to Mercedes or the public at the time. He spoke of this in an interview after his retirement announcement. In any case, he could have internally told this to Wolff and/or Lauda. Those 2 (and a few select others) would have kept their mouth shut until after the season to keep the team motivated.
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Vasconia
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote: He spoke of this in an interview after his retirement announcement. In any case, he could have internally told this to Wolff and/or Lauda. Those 2 (and a few select others) would have kept their mouth shut until after the season to keep the team motivated.
Are you talking abou the same Lauda? :mrgreen:


I think that Nico has kept this in secret until last week. If not Mercedes could have begun to negotiate with another driver before his annoucement. And I am sure that this is something we will know sooner o later.

notsofast
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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turbof1 wrote:what is the point of a multiple year contract in any case?
It is to prevent the driver from working for another team during those years, not to prevent him from retiring.

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dans79
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notsofast wrote:
turbof1 wrote:what is the point of a multiple year contract in any case?
It is to prevent the driver from working for another team during those years, not to prevent him from retiring.
it also locks in a salary!
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Mandrake
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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Just_a_fan wrote:
Mandrake wrote:
Tbh, the PR from either of them isn't great. Hamilton is more connected with Partying and problems with different women than with what the brand Mercedes stands for. Nico was better suited and will most likely still have to do PR which is less time consuming than being a full on F1 driver.
Mercedes are aiming for a younger customer these days, especially with the AMG brand. Indeed, on UK TV there is an advert where Hamilton drives an attractive woman in a green AMG.
Well what would you expect? A UK driver is being used as PR person IN THE UK? How unusual. If you look outside english speaking countries where there is much less of blind Hamilton support the picture is totally different.

Which again makes me feel that the distribution of forum users is massively towards english speaking countries supporting Hamilton...

Just_a_fan
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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Mandrake wrote:
Which again makes me feel that the distribution of forum users is massively towards english speaking countries supporting Hamilton...
Well F1 is an English-speaking sport that is mostly carried out by English speaking people in teams that are mostly based in England.

Importantly, being English or English-speaking doesn't make people Hamilton supporters. Indeed, Hamilton isn't as popular in England as you might think, strangely.
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GrandAxe
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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To those suggesting that Mercedes might keep Nico on for some marketing duties... I really don't think a contract breaker is a marketing asset of any worth, particularly in the sort of corporate circles Mercedes exists in. Keeping Nico will sully their brand image to quite some degree.
Last edited by GrandAxe on 05 Dec 2016, 19:02, edited 1 time in total.

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dans79
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Mandrake wrote: Which again makes me feel that the distribution of forum users is massively towards english speaking countries supporting Hamilton...
I was in the Dominican Republic earlier this year, and several people knew who Lewis was. If anything, Lewis is well known, because he is the most open about his personal life.
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A-Bap
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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GrandAxe wrote:To those suggesting that Mercedes might keep Nico on for some marketing duties... I really don't think a contract breaker is a marketing asset of any worth, particularly in the sort of corporate circles Mercedes exists in. Keeping Nico will sully their brand image to quite some degree.

Are you kidding? If you're a marketer, this is a dream come true.

Lewis: Rockstar F1 pilot and celebrity globetrotter.
Nico: Retired F1 pilot, and committed family man.

Lifelong rivals...and though young, they are difference places in their lives. Consequently, they have similarly demanding yet very different values, wants and needs for themselves, and for their cars...and all of them can be found in a Mercedes.

All of this aligns perfectly with why Mercedes is in F1 in the first place: win on Sunday, sell on Monday.

So many clever ad storyline possibilities. This is gold if you want to do more (and more effective) adverts.
Last edited by A-Bap on 05 Dec 2016, 20:36, edited 1 time in total.

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turbof1
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Re: Nico Rosberg to retire from F1 (!)

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A-Bap wrote:
GrandAxe wrote:To those suggesting that Mercedes might keep Nico on for some marketing duties... I really don't think a contract breaker is a marketing asset of any worth, particularly in the sort of corporate circles Mercedes exists in. Keeping Nico will sully their brand image to quite some degree.

Are you kidding? If you're a marketer, this is a dream come true.

Lewis: Rockstar F1 pilot and celebrity globetrotter.
Nico: Retired F1 pilot, and committed family man.

Though young, they are lifelong rivals and at difference places in their lives, with similarly demanding yet very different values, wants and needs for themselves, and for their cars...and all of them can be found in a Mercedes.

All of this aligns perfect with why Mercedes is in F1 in the first place: win on Sunday, sell on Monday.

So many clever ad storyline possibilities. This is gold if you want to do more (and more effective) adverts.
Oh that's good. Mercedes could praise its more luxurious, family cars with Rosberg, while the more sportive side could be promoted by Hamilton.
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