GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Monty on December 02, 2016, 01:37:10 PM
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I didn't see that one coming! Nico has retired with immediate effect! What will this do to the driver market????
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That's one way of getting to Hamilton, he can never beat him to take the title back. ;)
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So I wonder if Merc will bring Werlein up?
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Here's what Nico has to say about it:
https://twitter.com/nico_rosberg/status/804678179017334784
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I have to say that I didn't see it coming; however, it does seem reminiscent of James Hunt. I think about now and it is what to always seemed to be missing from Nico's presence.
I wonder if that thought has entered Lauda's mind.
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I'm a little older. It made me think about Mike Hawthorn retiring right after he won the 1958 WDC. I certainly hope it works out better for Nico.
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Alonso to Mercedes?
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Wow...respect Nico.
Yeah this is going to be a bit crazy until Merc signs someone. I would love to see Alonso move back to Merc, but I'm not so sure those two should ever drive on the same team. Of course it would be great for the drama, but on the other hand, that would leave McLaren without a driver. Perhaps we didn't see Jenson's last race after all.
I think Merc should just call up Werhlein now.
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I don't get it.
I understand that if your heart isn't 100% in it, being in an F1 car is a terrible idea, so I respect his decision to let someone who wants to be a racer race. However, all he wanted was to be WDC? I like my racers to be racers, not someone looking for a participation trophy.
I couldn't imagine living with the WDC he won. He had the best car by a long shot, and he only won because his teammate had ferociously bad luck. (Don't get me wrong, I believe Nico earned the championship, I just feel like if he wants to go out 'on top', this is hardly an indication of being a great driver, just in the right place at the right time.)
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He could go on, but like Jeri suggests and many of us believe, he would be chasing his second WDC forever...perhaps he realizes that as well. He has been in F1 for 10 years, has more money than he can spend in his lifetime (unless he spends like Hamilton), has very little chance at any further F1 achievements other than the next 50 races and the next 50 races...
Nico has a new family and 30-40 productive years ahead of him to do whatever the heck he wants. The more I think about it, I like his decision and respect him for having the guts to do it. I never liked him as an F1 driver, but am finding it hard not to have more respect for him as a person. :good: :good:
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Have to agree with Scott, fair play to the man. He doesn't need the danger and all the hassle he gets from social media he has enough money to do pretty much what he wants.
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Scotty your comment "Nico has a new family and 30-40 productive years ahead of him to do whatever the heck he wants." I have to take you to task over this comment as Nico is 31 + 30/40 = 61 or 71 and as I'm 64 I hope you're not insinuating I've overstayed my welcome? ;)
The sensible choice would be Wehrlein although Bottas could also be an option I somehow doubt Alonso or Vettel would give Toto and Co any easier time so what they'll do is going be in the headlines for awhile.
I think Nico had visions of multiple championships till Lewis turned up and would he have retired if Lewis pipped him this year?
Who wants Nico's book for Christmas 2017?
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A shock to say the least, however it makes sense when you consider it will be almost impossible to beat Lewis 2 years in a row in the same car.
At least it puts to rest the sack Lewis theory, Merc can hardly lose both drivers now can they? ;) :D :DD
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I'd love to see Button get a seat at Mercedes. I think he'd do well in a top flight car.
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I saw this last night and started to post it but then
I thought it was a phoney story.Bring on Button
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I saw this at lunch and assumed it was December Fools' Day. Now I see it is officially confirmed, I feel several things. Disappointed, because Nico clearly has more years of excitement to give us, respect that Nico has acheived quite a lot and happiness that he gets to achieve the thing he really wanted and then enjoy being with his family (in a similar way to Fisico getting what he wanted most out of F1 - a race in a Ferrari - and then enjoy more time with his family). It remains to be seen whether Nico decides, like Fisico, that he needs to race for fun in another series at some future point.
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Or as Clint Eastwood's character Dirty Harry is so fond of saying "A man's gotta know his limitations".
With completely new regs next year for everyone to cope with, especially for Merc to try to keep top spot, it turns out Nico is as about as good a team player as Dirty Harry - but without his tenacity. :D
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With several of you wishing JB in a Merc I don't think that's going to happen as he has had Lewis as team mate before and praises his speed and although he would stand a good chance of being up the front there's no guarantee of a WC which I think is all that would attract him. Sadly.
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hehe...referring to your earlier post Andy, it's all about how you take care of yourself. I hope to ski and bike in my 80's like parents of a friend of mine.
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In fairness to Nico, He's not the first race driver to walk away from the sport at the height of their careers. Something inside just says it's time to walk away. JYS did it after the death of his friend & teammate François Cevert.
It will be interesting to see if he stays retired or if he's back in IndyCar or sports cars is the future.
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In fairness to Nico, He's not the first race driver to walk away from the sport at the height of their careers. Something inside just says it's time to walk away. JYS did it after the death of his friend & teammate François Cevert.
It will be interesting to see if he stays retired or if he's back in IndyCar or sports cars is the future.
Jackie was going to retire anyway.I think that was going
to be his last race.Hunt walked away but he wasn't in a
top team by then.
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Jackie Stewart said - It is better to be asked "why did you retire?" than "why haven't you retired".
Wiz
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Jackie Stewart said - It is better to be asked "why did you retire?" than "why haven't you retired".
Wiz
Stewart was definitely in a different era. Certainly F1 racing is dangerous, but the life of a retired F1 driver seems to be plenty dangerous too. Even active drivers run greater risk outside an F1 car than inside.
As long as someone wants to race, and someone will let them, I don't mind watching guys embarrass themselves out there (as long as they're not risking anyone's lives, of course)
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Nico has retired from F1 he's not necessarily retired from motorsport.
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Nico's return to Brackley:
http://www.racer.com/videos/item/136943-f1-video-emotional-farewell-from-nico-rosberg
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A few days on and it is still odd that he has retired, I credit him though for making the decision and don't blame him at all. He has nothing left to prove and can only really go backwards from where he is now. I just hope Mercedes go for Button and leave Bottas alone. Please Mercedes... Leave the Williams team alone :good:
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A few days on and it is still odd that he has retired, I credit him though for making the decision and don't blame him at all. He has nothing left to prove and can only really go backwards from where he is now. I just hope Mercedes go for Button and leave Bottas alone. Please Mercedes... Leave the Williams team alone :good:
Obviously you cannot discount JB but it would contradict what he has said and may have been tempted if another WC was the chance but he's had Lewis as a team mate before and has always praised his speed so I doubt it'll happen but I also read this morning that Bottas is the favourite with Wehrlein taking his place and Williams being offered an engine deal for it to happen. All speculation or course.
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Yeah, I've seen those rumours too but I guess it depends on how bad Williams are really doing financially as I cannot imagine that Wehrlein will perform as consistently as Bottas and next season the midfield will be very tough so the drivers might make more of a difference. But if there my lot are up the creek financially I guess it makes sense to have a short term cash boost and hope Pascal picks up over the season. I'd prefer Bottas mind you!
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Niki isn't happy with Nico:
"On one hand, you have to accept if Nico wants to go," Lauda said. "But on the other, Nico signed a two-year contract with us in August. What bothers me is that Nico tells us that if he had not become world champion, he would have gone on. I think he could at least have hinted at this when he agreed to the contract. He says he just wanted to be champion and then stop, but the problem is that he never gave any signals that this was his concept. After all, 1,200 people of the F1 division at Mercedes gave him every opportunity to become world champion with a super car. And then he gave us his resignation overnight.
"This lone decision of Nico's -- and I mean everyone at Brackley and with Mercedes and many people who have worked closely with him, his engineers and mechanics -- has ripped a giant hole in this excellent working team."
http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/niki-lauda-blasts-nico-rosberg-breaking-mercedes-f1-contract
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I've said before in other topics that Rosberg is being very selfish by leaving Merc in the lurch. >:( Sure he has a right to do it, however his grounds of achieving his lifelong desire are a bit thin.
He signed a 2 year deal this summer knowing that he would walk if he became WDC smacks of extreme selfishness towards all the mechanics, engineers, designers and other assorted dedicated members of the Merc F1 team.
He could have stayed for one more year to help with the transition to the new wider track cars under the new regs, if the new car is off the pace then yes he could consider leaving mid season if things can't be improved.
I think Merc should sue him for breaking his contact and recoup some of the millions it's paid him, they could use it to pay compensation to the team they take his replacement from.
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I should imagine there are exit clauses in contracts for such situations and Nico isn't the first to retire. I guess his situation is exceptional but still, Mercedes have left themselves in an odd position if they don't have a reserve driver they actually trust to step in should anything happen to one of their drivers that would have prevented them racing for any reason.
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"Nico tells us that if he had not become world champion, he would have gone on. I think he could at least have hinted at this when he agreed to the contract"
translation...we could have arranged that he not win this year so he could finish his contract ;) ;)
I've said before in other topics that Rosberg is being very selfish by leaving Merc in the lurch.
What F1 driver isn't selfish? I don't know that you can suggest a 3 times WCC is really being left in the lurch. They still have every advantage for next year with the engine rules only slightly changing. They would lose more in PR terms if they sued Rosberg than they would spend on replacing him. It would only be a vindictive move. How about they sue Niki to get back whatever they've paid a guy who won't even wear a stitch of Mercedes kit to the races while he pretends he is some kind of executive.
I don't even see why they would go after Bottas. Werhlein has more than proven himself in the slowest car in the field. :DntKnw: :DntKnw:
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I've said before in other topics that Rosberg is being very selfish by leaving Merc in the lurch. >:( Sure he has a right to do it, however his grounds of achieving his lifelong desire are a bit thin.
He signed a 2 year deal this summer knowing that he would walk if he became WDC smacks of extreme selfishness towards all the mechanics, engineers, designers and other assorted dedicated members of the Merc F1 team.
He could have stayed for one more year to help with the transition to the new wider track cars under the new regs, if the new car is off the pace then yes he could consider leaving mid season if things can't be improved.
I think Merc should sue him for breaking his contact and recoup some of the millions it's paid him, they could use it to pay compensation to the team they take his replacement from.
I think it would be more selfish to race in an F1 car when you don't want to. There are dozens of drivers who are good enough to win the WDC driving the same car Rosberg just quit. If he doesn't want it, it would selfish to deny the dreams of others.
I agree that it looks bad with people not honouring contracts, however, I'm sure he's still bound by clauses in the contract, even if he's not in the car itself. Making sponsor appearances, avoiding dangerous activities etc. If he breaks those, then go after him ;)
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The year Lauda had the bad accident and came back he
quit the Japan GP giving the title to Hunt.So he's telling
quitter Ros not to be a quitter
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He clearly believes in the 'Do as I say, not as I do' form of leadership.
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The year Lauda had the bad accident and came back he
quit the Japan GP giving the title to Hunt.So he's telling
quitter Ros not to be a quitter
That's a bit harsh Dare considering that Lauda was nearly burnt to death that year and could not afford to crash again in a torrential downpour, I remember watching the race (in black and white) and it was difficult to see on the TV.
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The year Lauda had the bad accident and came back he
quit the Japan GP giving the title to Hunt.So he's telling
quitter Ros not to be a quitter
That's a bit harsh Dare considering that Lauda was nearly burnt to death that year and could not afford to crash again in a torrential downpour, I remember watching the race (in black and white) and it was difficult to see on the TV.
Probably a little too harsh but he always rings my bell.Like
Scott I wonder why he can't wear Mercedes gear?He used to
wear a Ferrari hat by gosh
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Probably a little too harsh but he always rings my bell.Like
Scott I wonder why he can't wear Mercedes gear?He used to
wear a Ferrari hat by gosh
Just like Lewis he wont wear their hat until a separate money arrangement is concluded for wearing it.
They gave in to Hammy as they found they could sell bucket loads of his ordinary & different coloured hats,
but only a very few Lauda caps will sell - so they ignore him. :D
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Too bad Parmalat couldn't afford Niki any more after the scandal. He probably still has a couple of warehouses full of those caps. ;)
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I was also completely taken aback by Rosberg's decision to retire, but I understand entirely why he chose to. In fact, I think that it was rather honest and courageous of him to come out and admit that he'd had to put so much mental effort into beating Hamilton that he knew he couldn't go through that again, and had to stop on that basis. Not every driver would ever have been so honest.
As for replacements, Wehrlein needs more experience before being thrown in the deep end to battle Hamilton, so Bottas will take the second seat. It's just a matter of working out exactly how Mercedes will compensate Williams to get him.