OT: F1 2016 World Driving Champion Rosberg Retires

[fuzzalow]

NEW F1 WORLD CHAMPION NICO ROSBERG ANNOUNCES SHOCK RETIREMENT (https://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2016/12/new-f1-world-champion-nico-rosberg-announces-shock-retirement/)

Best of luck to him. Nice to go out on top and under his own terms.

What a silly season this winter could have been with the most coveted seat in F1 to suddenly become available. I admire Alonso as a driver but not as a leader. He has been poison to every team everywhere he goes. But I desire spectacle: Have him get the Mercedes seat and have Hamilton out-qualify him but now also out-race him as Hamilton is now capable of doing unlike the pair's first conflict at McLaren.

Hamilton's remaining weakness is he is fragile in his head which Alonso could well exploit.

[carpediemracing]

I came here for this. Incredible. An open seat at Mercedes, at this time of the season, that's absolutely huge.

For non-F1 people this is like Froome suddenly announcing he's retiring. Or Sagan. Or Quintana. Name anyone that's at the top of their game. And announcing it right now, when many of the teams are already set.

I can't work through the permutations but there are some good drivers from poorer teams that have committed to better teams. Those drivers are like the talented riders that are riding for continental pro teams, like that sprinter Dan McClay, or a Lachan Morton (sp?).

What if Button (he is retiring this year) decided, what the heck, let's see I can win another title. That would be kind of neat.

Or one of the Manor guys (backmarker team) gets promoted to Mercedes. That would be insane, absolutely nuts if, say, Wehrlein got the seat (he's a Mercedes sponsored driver, apparently pretty good, but currently racing for about the slowest team out there which is Manor).

[FlashUNC]

How Alonso ever gets back in a car after that crash in Australia is beyond me.

[cfox]

Their man-in-waiting Pascal Wehrlein is hugely talented and I hope he gets a shot. Enough with the old dudes. Button has zero desire to race in F1 any more. Dude has been mailing it in for a while now. Vandoorne will be a breath of fresh air for Mclaren.

I would think Wolff would want a break from the drama and enjoy a year or two of having a definitive #1 and #2 driver.

[donevwil]

Good for Nico. I've always been meh on him, but maybe it was the absence of the common "world revolves around me" attitude. Nice grown-up move, papa has influenced him well.

That said, I'd love to see Verstappen in a Merc.

[cfox]

I came here for this. Incredible. An open seat at Mercedes, at this time of the season, that's absolutely huge.

For non-F1 people this is like Froome suddenly announcing he's retiring. Or Sagan. Or Quintana. Name anyone that's at the top of their game. And announcing it right now, when many of the teams are already set.

I can't work through the permutations but there are some good drivers from poorer teams that have committed to better teams. Those drivers are like the talented riders that are riding for continental pro teams, like that sprinter Dan McClay, or a Lachan Morton (sp?).

What if Button (he is retiring this year) decided, what the heck, let's see I can win another title. That would be kind of neat.

Or one of the Manor guys (backmarker team) gets promoted to Mercedes. That would be insane, absolutely nuts if, say, Wehrlein got the seat (he's a Mercedes sponsored driver, apparently pretty good, but currently racing for about the slowest team out there which is Manor).

Wouldn't be insane, that's been the plan all along for Wehrlein. Manor is a de-facto JV team for Mercedes, like they were when they had Ferrari power. Bianchi was being groomed for a Ferrari seat before his tragic death.

[gasman]

Good for him. Shocking, but he clearly realized the toll it took on him and his family. It must have been a long, hard decision to come to.

[bicycletricycle]

I really think he should be commended for this decision. Lot to be said for going out on top.


I want Alonso to get his seat!

[cadence90]

I don't follow F1 at all, really. But, reading Gazzetta I see reports all the time. There seems to be a lot of shock that Rosberg retired. Also, is Hamilton really disliked? There are frequent reports regarding his behavior/personality, and Rosberg has been candid in stating that they are "not friends at all".

This is how the Gazzetta poll is reading so far.

http://i1360.photobucket.com/albums/r654/traghetter/rosberg_zpsoef68c9d.jpg (http://s1360.photobucket.com/user/traghetter/media/rosberg_zpsoef68c9d.jpg.html)


Also, I have watched this a few times on Netflix. It's excellent.

https://secure.netflix.com/us/boxshots/ghd/70285687.jpg

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[zap]

wow.......had to check the date........wow.

[soulspinner]

Im stunned....but he has a family and cool for him. Id love to see Vettel in there. He has been overdriving the Ferrari in hopes of compensating for the deficit in straight speed the Mercs have. Alonso prolly doesn't have it any more. Wherlin seems to be the internet insiders pick. Maybe with the changes coming everybody will have to relearn the cars to level the playing field.

[bluesea]

Classy move on his part I think, that way he handled it.

[bruin11]

Good on him. But finally beating Hamilton obviously took a major toll on him. I just wish that F1 was a little more competitive with more teams at the top level.

[soulspinner]

Good on him. But finally beating Hamilton obviously took a major toll on him. I just wish that F1 was a little more competitive with more teams at the top level.

+1 getting sick of of wondering which Mercedes driver will win. Love to see 3 teams be competitive.

[loimpact]

For non-F1 people this is like Froome suddenly announcing he's retiring. Or Sagan. Or Quintana. Name anyone that's at the top of their game. And announcing it right now, when many of the teams are already set.


I'll go even one further than that......It's like Froome retiring after he won the TDF in 2013! Friggin' jaw-dropping retirement!!!

But, alas, I can't knock him. Who knows how much goes into an F1 Championship.

Will be very interested to see who gets the seat!

:fight: