Mercedes’ continued domination made neutral fans antsy, but the 2016 Formula 1 season had entertainment aplenty as the sport turns to a new chapter this year.
It’s hard for me to think of a Formula 1 season that had more sting in its tail than 2016. Particularly over the last two rounds and even in its aftermath. Here we all were thinking that after a finale where the tension went through the roof, we could focus on non-F1 matters, at least until pre-season testing starts. But then Nico Rosberg dropped a bombshell that caught everyone off-guard. Except, by his own admission that is, Lewis Hamilton who did an about face on his stance of using tactics to try and trip Rosberg up at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
At the time of printing, we still weren’t aware of who would replace the third German driver to claim the F1 title. All signs seem to be pointing towards Valtteri Bottas, with Felipe Massa tipped to return for one more year before being allowed to call it quits himself.
MAGIC MAX
But being hung up on just this development would be missing the point of a season that still gave us plenty of on-track racing to talk about despite the drivers’ and constructors’ championships being an all-silver affair. How can anyone overlook the rise of Max Verstappen? F1’s latest superstar, has ‘future world champion’ written all over him. From his opportunistic win at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona – thanks to Rosberg and Hamilton yet again tripping over each other – to a sensational comeback in the closing stages of the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The 19-year-old Dutchman didn’t look back after Daniil Kvyat was demoted to Scuderia Toro Rosso. The Russian literally rubbed Sebastian Vettel the wrong way at the Chinese and Russian GPs. To Helmut Marko and the Red Bull brain trust, it was enough of an opportunity to give Verstappen the break many felt his prodigious talent deserved.
And it also happened to coincide with Renault – they power the Red Bull chassis, Tag Heuer branding or not – making significant gains with their power unit to help push F1’s former dominant force further up the grid. So much so that Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo combined to leave Ferrari in their wake, making Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen wonder where all the progress they made in 2015 suddenly went.
The sudden increase in Red Bull’s competitiveness also led to skirmishes between the Scuderia and the team from Milton Keynes. The closing stages of the Mexican GP and Vettel’s foul-mouthed tirade was the tipping point.
What followed Mexico though, will go down in history as one of F1’s greatest wet weather drives. Up there with Senna at the 1984 Monaco GP and the 1993 European GP as well as Michael Schumacher’s masterclass at the 1996 Spanish GP.
The conviction with which Verstappen scythed past a circumspect Rosberg early in a race that was seen as both the worst and best F1 event of the season, was the mark of a champion. And his recovery to third after a strategy error was an act of a future great serving notice.
THE WAITING GAME
One could even have said that of Rosberg’s performance at the Japanese GP where he both out-qualified and out-raced his more highly rated teammate at the legendary Suzuka circuit. Rosberg’s win - following a Malaysian GP that all but ended Hamilton’s title hopes – meant that he only needed to finish second in the four remaining races to seal the title. The son of the 1982 world champion had his share of fortune to help him seal those second places, however. Botched strategy calls by Red Bull at the United States GP, Red Bull and Vettel squabbling in Mexico and a LOT of opposite-lock in Brazil allowed him to roll into Abu Dhabi needing a third place to seal the deal.
It was this strategy of circumspection that, in a way, allowed Rosberg to fall prey to Hamilton when he finally decided to go against his statements in the Abu Dhabi pre-race press conference on Saturday. With the Mercedes pit-wall gripped in fear over losing a potential 1-2 finish and telling Hamilton to hurry up, the Briton calmly decided to ignore the team’s orders, allowing Vettel and Verstappen to close-up behind Rosberg. It was at this point that Rosberg may have thought back to the controversies involving him and Hamilton since Mercedes became the team to beat in 2014. Not only did it urge him to dig deep but also take stock of a championship won through extreme strife.
Suddenly it didn’t matter how taken aback Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff and its non-executive chairman Niki Lauda would be. All that mattered to Rosberg was that he had fulfilled his purpose for being in F1 in the first place and there was much more to look forward to in life.
Now the task of dealing with Hamilton, and maybe even Verstappen, is someone else’s problem.
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