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Three Formula One drivers with a point to prove in 2016

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes. (photo: CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images)
Roar Guru
18th March, 2016
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There’s several Formula One drivers for whom the 2016 Formula One season – beginning this weekend in Melbourne – could prove to be a make or break year.

Nico Rosberg
This has been said for the past two seasons now, but in 2016 it really is title or bust for the Mercedes AMG driver.

Despite being annihilated for the most part of the previous campaign by his teammate and now three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, the German showed great speed in the final portion of the season – claiming six pole positions back-to-back and a hat-trick of wins.

2016 may be a challenging season for the Silver Arrows internally, with team boss Toto Wolff already threatening to separate the driver line-up if the civil war continues.

And with Ferrari looming as a genuine threat to their supremacy, if Rosberg doesn’t deliver he risks being acquiesced to being yet another ‘number two’ in Formula One history.

Kimi Räikkönen
It could very well be the famous Finn’s final fling in a Formula One car this year, with the 36-year old’s contract expiring at the end of 2016.

What may be Räikkönen’s saving grace is the new Ferrari chassis, designed completely by James Allison and his new team of boffins. The change to push-rod suspension is reported to be favoured by The Iceman.

If Ferrari do emerge as regular race winners, then it will be expected that the 2007 world champion contributes to the tally. Teammate Sebastian Vettel delighted himself with three wins in 2015, whilst Räikkönen claimed but the triumvirate of podiums.

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His last victory came for Lotus in 2013 and if this is to be his last hurrah, then it will be expected that he exits the sport with more than the 20 that he is credited for.

Valtteri Bottas
Like Rosberg, the junior Finn from Williams was also on this list twelve months ago. The conclusion then was that he neither under-performed nor overachieved and was pretty much anonymous for the campaign.

However for Bottas, 2016 will be crucial in terms of standing out of the crowd, with the silly season set to be intense, following several drivers going out of contract.

Can the Finn emerge as a protagonist at the head of the field? Or fall into the withering vortex of the mid-field, such as the highly praised Nico Hulkenberg.

From pre-season it was evident that Williams are still in that ‘third best’ position in the order, with the mighty Silver Arrows and Ferrari at the fore.

Should opportunities present themselves, the Grove team must embrace any given opportunity to claim their first win since 2012.

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