Grand Prix Rejects

And Autosport http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... retirement

I did not see that coming.

Aguaman wrote:I did not see that coming.

Said Rosberg every time Hamilton ran into him

Blimey. Hugely surprisingly decision, and that's an understatement.

Who gets the Mercedes seat, then...? They'll surely go for a solid No. 2 driver rather than have the headache of another equal for Hamilton, surely...?

surely this a joke. OMG- WHY???

and if this is true- who gets the second Mercedes seat- pascal wehrlein seems the obvious choice but who knows?

"Toto? Toto....its Fernando here. I was wandering if " rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

What? I thought he would drive for a couple of seasons and then retire to spend time with his family but now? Winning the championship is the best way to end a career. All the best to Nico and thanks for making the championship exciting (I don't think many drivers would have challenged Hamilton as much).

bathplug what?

In fairness, I think he's played a blinder. He gets to bow out on top of the series, he's made his money and he's getting out of it whilst he still can. Kinda similar to Gil De Ferran, as Gil won his two CART titles and the Indy 500, then retired shortly afterwards.

Big respect to Rosberg. It takes balls to do that. As world champion he will now never be beaten.

CoopsII wrote:Big respect to Rosberg. It takes balls to do that. As world champion he will now never be beaten.

And if the previous numbering scheme was still in use, there'd be a #0 on the grid next season!

Real curveball thrown there. Question now is, who replaces him?

Does Wehrlein jump straight up? Or does he go to Force India with Ocon getting the big prize?

I have to spare a thought for Hulkenberg right now, I imagine he'd have really been in the hunt for that seat before he threw his lot in with Renault. The guy just can't catch a break.

You do wonder if this decision could coax Button out of retirement- it is his old team, sort of...

Besides that, only Wehrlein is really possible for next year now, bar buying someone like Alonso or Ricciardo out of their contracts.

Actually, come to think of it, they could try and poach someone from GP2, such as Giovannianzi or Gasly instead, but again, this is improbable

I mean Wehlrein is the best choice unless someone left field.

Force India won't stand in Nico's way.

Please let there be someone available who can match Hamilton for pace.

Motorsport has it too. It's official.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/newly ... -1-856112/

Izzyeviel wrote:Force India won't stand in Nico's way.

I think Renault will.

Can't alonso get out of his contract if the mclaren is shite next year.

I have spoken to him in the past, I think he is respectful he is the world champion, but he shouldn't do these kinds of things he should respect all of the competitors. You never know, maybe in the future I will be fighting a championship with him so he has to respect that.

Behold, Lewis. Esteban has no contract and he is coming for you.

giraurd wrote:

I have spoken to him in the past, I think he is respectful he is the world champion, but he shouldn't do these kinds of things he should respect all of the competitors. You never know, maybe in the future I will be fighting a championship with him so he has to respect that.

Behold, Lewis. Esteban has no contract and he is coming for you.

Yeah, Tuero definitely deserves to take the title of "comeback king".

Oh wait, you meant the other Esteban...

Well...just decided to take a look at the BBC website to see what was going on in the world and even in this year of surprises, I was not expecting that!

Fair enough though, he's probably had enough of Lewis to last a lifetime. And his Dad did pretty much the same thing of course, in terms of retiring suddenly rather than directly after winning the title admittedly.

Surely Wehrlein will get the seat, although he was looking distinctly beaten in the last few races of the season much as I think Ocon is vastly over-rated.

Nuppiz wrote:

giraurd wrote:

I have spoken to him in the past, I think he is respectful he is the world champion, but he shouldn't do these kinds of things he should respect all of the competitors. You never know, maybe in the future I will be fighting a championship with him so he has to respect that.

Behold, Lewis. Esteban has no contract and he is coming for you.

Yeah, Tuero definitely deserves to take the title of "comeback king".

Oh wait, you meant the other Esteban...

Sure, I heard Guerrieri is keen to have another shot at a World Championship after his one-off drive in WTCC earlier this year.

Sorry, couldn't resist

Luca badoar. You heard it hear first,

We're forgetting one thing: Nico's been driving in F1 for eleven seasons. A pretty long time, even by the current standards of overreliability and career longevity. No other driver (bar Nigel Mansell) had to wait so long to win a title. And he got a bit better every year - the choice to leave at the highest point makes sense.

This is shocking and saddening to hear, but good luck on whatever career path you choose from here, Nico. Of course this is the perfect opportunity for all those Rosberg haters to say 'ah, he's a complete wimp to retire like that, he's leaving jus cus he can't handle Lewis' speed' or something along those lines

good_Ralf wrote:This is shocking and saddening to hear, but good luck on whatever career path you choose from here, Nico. Of course this is the perfect opportunity for all those Rosberg haters to say 'ah, he's a complete wimp to retire like that, he's leaving jus cus he can't handle Lewis' speed' or something along those lines

Speed is one thing, maybe he just can't stand Hamilton's disgraceful personality any longer?

There aren't enough s in the world for this.

It sounds like Ocon may be the big loser in all of this, because I fully expect Wehrlein to jump the queue and take the vacant seat, and that means the way up for Ocon will be closed until Hamilton retires (or moves to another team, but I honestly don't see that happening).

Caption time?

Couldn't believe it when I read it, and I was really looking forward to seeing how Nico would perform with the championship monkey off his back. That said, he's performed the F1 equivalent of a mic drop, and so leaves on the best possible terms.

I wish him well in his future, and he's earned a nice, quiet life with his young family.

I'm really going to miss Nico, Jenson and Felipe. They've been huge players in a sport which has undeniably shaped my life in such a way, and it's going to be very weird without them.

EDIT: This post is supposed to have a serious tone. My "avatar" will probably undermine that

"Just waiting for the phone call."

Alonso did mention earlier this year that it would be of interest to him, though the opportunity was not apparent at that time...

WHOA! This is the most shocking news in years (2016, what is happening with you? What a reject year)! I think he is making a HUGE mistake in retiring too soon, especially since he is going to have a competitive car for the next year. I bet his clashes with Hamilton is one of the reasons.

Good for Hamilton if Mercedes don't hire Alonso. Good for Mercedes since this is end the fierce battle between his drivers. EXTREMELY GOOD for Werhlein and maybe good for Nasr too if Werhlein replaces Rosberg. An opportunity for Alonso since I bet his contract has a special clause.

pasta_maldonado wrote:Speed is one thing, maybe he just can't stand Hamilton's disgraceful personality any longer?

Of course. But I'm sure a lot of people will choose/have already chosen to forget about that being a thing.

Well that's not what I was expecting to read whilst browsing Facebook on my phone at the bureau de change.

I hope now that he's called it a day, people will stop bashing Nico and come around to the fact that he's one of the most underrated drivers of the last five years. I'll be sad to see him go, but he got that world championship, so that's the main thing. I wish him all the best.

He sure as hell went out on a high though...

Well... that happened.

I just hope he doesn't look at F1 in a couple of years and think: "Damn, I wish I was still doing that."

With rule changes that might potentially shake up the grid next season I think Mercedes will want to have a clear #1, so I don't see them going for Alonso. Wehrlein's Christmas has come early.

I'm not sure if Rosberg is trying to grab reject of the season. This is a strange move. Or is it. I have no idea.

Any chance of a podcast full of wild speculation to clear things up?

And all of you thought 2016 was already crazy enough.

Not soemthing I expected to wake up to this morning, but it kind of makes sense. He's had a decent career lengthwise, and he's finally hit the top spot. What better way to end it all off? That said, I would've liked to see how well he would do next year, being the world champion plus the new downforce-heavy regulations.

As for who will be taking his spot, my guess is that it will be Wehrlein. He's got a year of experience now, and people know he can get good results. He's not in contract yet and I'm sure that Mercedes would want a solid second driver who can back up Hamilton, and get the results when Hammy falls short. And I think that he's still supported by Mercedes as well. Would screw up Manor though because Wehrlein is probably the main reason they had the Mercedes powertrain this season.

Avatar bet time perhaps?