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What next for Rosberg and Hamilton?

Former temmates Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. (Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool)
Expert
28th November, 2016
19

After 21 gruelling rounds of Formula One Nico Rosberg has been crowned world champion, but this is no ending – this is a new beginning.

The 2016 season provided a spectacular conclusion few thought possible given the mathematics required Rosberg to finish anywhere on the podium to seal the deal, regardless where teammate Lewis Hamilton finished.

Both Mercedes got away easily from the grid, but on a weekend Red Bull Racing and Ferrari demonstrated threatening long-run pace, Hamilton tactically underperformed for almost the entire grand prix to ensure Rosberg remained within striking distance of the cars behind, knowing two cars between the silver arrows would be enough to crown him a four-time champion.

It almost worked, too. Sebastian Vettel fully utilised an unusually clever Ferrari strategy to close in on the leading duo during a final 18-lap blitz on a softer set of tyres, while Max Verstappen maximised his one-stop strategy to put himself in podium contention.

The dramatic pincer attack on Rosberg’s car was almost too tense to watch, but the German masterfully managed his two frontiers to cross the line in second with a five-point championship lead.

“I wasn’t expecting it,” Rosberg said of his teammate’s tactics after the race. “Maybe that was a bit naïve, but I didn’t expect it.”

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton

Even Sebastian Vettel, who stood the most to gain from Hamilton’s approach, thought little of it.

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“It was a difficult situation in the end with Lewis playing some dirty tricks,” he radioed his team at the end of the race.

Obviously Hamilton’s driving was not illegal. It would be a stretch to say it was immoral, too. At worst it was unsporting – especially given Rosberg’s willingness to play the team game to Hamilton’s advantage at various points in their partnership, including at Monaco this year, which Hamilton went on to win – but in a white-hot title fight such a definition becomes blurry at best.

What it did reveal, however, is Hamilton’s capacity to be Formula One’s villain.

In Abu Dhabi we saw the triple world champion at his most conniving. After psychologically abusing his teammate for the fortnight and professing himself to be the rightful world champion regardless of the points, Hamilton tried to force Rosberg into racing his rivals at a compromised speed and subsequently blatantly ignored orders from the pit wall to speed up to protect the team’s one-two finish.

It made for a thrilling race and compelling narrative – but then, after jumping out of the car, Hamilton returned to playing the underdog, the victim, and refused to claim his mean streak.

“It’s been a real privilege being part of this team and achieving the success we’ve had this year,” Hamilton said on the podium after metaphorically flipping off his bosses from the car.

There’s no doubt Lewis Hamilton is a divisive character, but a legacy of deliberate ruthlessness in and out of the car would be far longer lasting than his attempts to win sympathy votes with his attempts at image management that don’t correlate with his in-car behaviour.

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Not only is it disingenuous, but it takes the press and public – including his fans – for mugs.

What will it take for Hamilton to accept Formula One needs him to embrace the role of resident villain? Will it require potential action by Mercedes management for his perpetual intransigence, or will it take something more?

Perhaps it depends on how Nico Rosberg grows into his newfound status in 2017.

Rosberg, the truer underdog of this story, has done what few before him have managed in Formula One: win a world championship from the number-two-driver position.

It made doubly sweet the story of the new winner – the lifeblood of any competition – and his overwhelmed and emotional post-race reaction only endeared him further to the sport.

With the question of whether he is capable of beating his teammate vanquished, Rosberg has an opportunity to own the upswing in form that comes with the confidence of a world championship.

How will that function in a team alongside Lewis Hamilton? Will a breezy Rosberg, still high on his first title, prove a renewed thorn in the side of the brooding Hamilton as he attempts to scheme his way back to the championship he believes is rightfully his?

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The result in Abu Dhabi was the right outcome not because one driver was more deserving than the other and nor because Hamilton’s driving was out of bounds; rather, the 2016 season has put Formula One and the dominant Mercedes team into unknown territory.

In 2017 Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are off-script. How it ends is anyone’s guess.

Follow @MichaelLamonato on Twitter

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