Nico Rosberg: F1's Nearly Man?

[Tal]

Anyone who thinks Nico is nearly anything but taking a spot that many others could better fill knows nothing about racing.

Anyone who makes statements like that knows nothing about how to have a proper discussion.

My position is that for Nico to be THE man, he needs to stop letting Hamilton walk all over him into turn one at every chance. Ever since that Belgium incident (which I don't think he was to blame for, and I don't care who says otherwise), he hasn't been the same, and who can blame him. The huge army of Hamilton fanboys, and british media bias, certainly did a number on him. Not to mention the Monaco incident. It caused him to lose his edge, or that cheekiness that he needs, in order to be world champion. He really needs to stop being so polite on track.

 

[Tim.E]

Seems most of the people here are favouring Nico which I don't mind. Tbh, yes I am one of Hamilton's fans, though Nico shouldn't be stated as the real #2 Driver. Imo both driving skills are equal, it's just that bit of aggressiveness on the track which Lewis has and Nico doesn't that causes him to end up in P2 that often. Last year he had the edge over Hamilton for most of the season though as many people blamed him for Spa last year, I did to tbh, it seems like he adjusted his driving style to what everyone thought. If he focuses more on his strong points and isn't busy with what the media/ Lewis fanboys think, I think the championship next year will be tighter than ever before if Seb knows to put his Ferrari between the two more often.

This must've been the nicest thing I ever said about Nico

 

[Jake Fangio]

Nico looks a broken man at the moment, and next year will be a big test for him.He need's to go away in the off season and spend time with his family and relax.
Lewis is probably the more instinctive driver,and Nico the more clinical. If he can except that Lewis is more of a natural driver, he may relax and drive that much better. Nico can beat Lewis,but he may need to get him frustrated to do it.

 

[John Addison]

I have always been a fan of Nico. I have always disliked Hamilton but I appreciate his passion to win. I always felt if Nico could just get a good car he would get that championship. Well he got a good car....and for a few season now the best car on the grid. But he has allowed Lewis to push him around on track and mentally as well.
After the incident at Spa I think Nico got a realization that Lewis is the main man and he is 2nd. And he just cant seem to take the fight to Lewis. But it is in his head....not in his driving or in the car. His Dad would have put Lewis thru a wall if he pulled half the **** he's pulled with Nico. But Nico is not his Dad. I had hoped for more out of him.

 

[Kakusso]

Nico is like Button, Brilliant but missing that champion extra talent. The same goes for Mark Webber.
And if in the team the other driver has that extra, they just cannot reach to their level. It is not hard work, it is just pure talent maybe it is also associated with the personality. Schumacher, Senna, Lewis all make extremely audacious moves when overtaking. (we should not forget Vettel as he showed in Canada).
Button could only be a world champion because he had a Barrichelo as team mate who also didn't have that extra talent.
It is really the extra talent or some sort of gift that makes champions special and legends. Schumacher is the greatest example of that.

A study needs to be done about that extra, but the personality is a big factor.

When you put two drivers with that special talent in the same team, that is the recipe for disaster as it happened with Senna and Prost in McLaren, and to some degree between Lewis and Alonso.

 

[kona076]

I think Nico has lost the last two years for two reasons. First he's been beaten psychologically. Nico reminds me of myself. Sometimes my own competitiveness can cause me to stumble if I don't achieve perfection. Nico is a perfectionist. Possibly even obsessive compulsive. He seems socially awkward too during interviews and on the podium with his almost artificial displays of excitement. He's there to race and nothing more and I respect that - I really do. But I think Hamilton's popularity and his confidence are two things that intimidate Nico and Nico, whether he's willing to admit it or not, hasn't figured out how to overcome that. Last year his frustrations got the best of him on the track and he made some uncharacteristic and overly-aggressive moves on Hamilton (like Spa or Monaco) which hurt his image with fans and definitely heard it from those of Hamilton's. I think that took a toll.

Nico's fast. I actually believe he's faster than Hamilton. He's shown many times in quali he's just as quick as Hamilton in the Merc if not faster, but he's not figured out how to translate that quickness into a win on race day consistently. In my opinion, the second reason he's not beaten Hamilton is because he's not aggressive enough and willing to take risks. Kind of like how Hamilton edged Nico off the track at turn 1 in Austin. Nobody's talking about that (except maybe Nico) because everyone knows this is a race for the championship. Now Nico's probably thinking twice about how he might have approached that race, and possibly the season differently in hindsight. I think he's done a lot of that this season with all the post-race interviews admitting Hamilton was just better than him on the track.

I think Nico sorely lacks perspective and the ability to see why he keeps getting bested by Hamilton. And until he can find that perspective I don't see anything changing for the German, which is a shame really. He's really got the kind of focus and intelligence that surpasses many of his peers but he's really got to dial in that instinctive side and put everything else in his head to the side - just like the guy on the other side of the garage has learned to.

 

[Birddogg66]

I think Vettel comes back next season and is able to give more of a challenge beating out Nico for one of the top 2 spots

 

[Chris]

Nico's fast. I actually believe he's faster than Hamilton. He's shown many times in quali he's just as quick as Hamilton in the Merc if not faster

Personally I don't buy that.
Hamilton had an off-year last year in qualifying and Nico rightly capitalised on it to out qualify him over the course of the season, however this year Hamilton has been much more comfortable in the car (especially with the brakes), and as a result has completely destroyed Rosberg (in terms of out qualifying him, and out racing him), and sometimes beating him by a whopping half a second.

 

[Andy 'Mars Bar' Graham]

I think Vettel comes back next season and is able to give more of a challenge beating out Nico for one of the top 2 spots

Well Vettel is ahead in the world championship at the moment

I feel for Nico. He is a good driver. I just think that the opportunity has gone for him now. Next year, Ferrari will be challenging Mercedes more often. Haas joining the sport is perfect for them. Having two teams using the same wind tunnel and gaining results is better than one. Unless Nico can, during the off season, completely refocus and recaptures the form that put him in the championship position back in 2014, he won't win a championship. He also needs to stop being drawn into these mind games. It's affecting him and its stopping him from challenging Hamilton

 

[John Addison]

Interesting quote from Nico during a U.S. GP post race interview.......

“I was just p****d off. At myself, at Lewis, at the whole situation. Everything!” he wrote. “I’m not talking about losing the World Championship, because Lewis deserved that this year. But Lewis didn’t win the race in Austin. I lost it.

“If you can explain a mistake, there is no problem. But at the moment it feels as though there is something invisible stopping me from succeeding. An enemy that is so hard to combat. Some call it fate, others bad luck.”

 

[Tim.E]

It's his own fault, I mean there was no pressure as Lewis was around 3/4 seconds behind him. He made the mistake all on his own!

 

[Ryan Soucy]

I remember Steve Matchett or some other pundit was relating a story from Jo Ramirez's book. Berger was demoralized in '90 by Senna, so in the offseason he worked harder than he'd ever worked before and was devoted to putting a fight to Senna. Race 1: Berger got out-Q'd by Senna by 2.3 secs! Berger knew his place after that. No doubt Nico is better than Berger, but was Nico supposed to make that leap last offseason or this upcoming offseason? Can he do it? Or will Hamilton just rise to the challenge? I feel he will. I get the sense Hamilton doesn't care so much about Q anymore since he feels he can out-race Nico once the lights go out. It makes for some interesting races and is tolerable compared to the early 00s when Schumie and Rubens were manufacturing results.

 

[Cristian Haba]

It makes for some interesting races and is tolerable compared to the early 00s when Schumie and Rubens were manufacturing results.

Not Applicable imo.

Nico is not racing with confidence and his efforts this season, from the little I've seen, seem to be too calculated. On the fly Hamilton is ahead purely on confidence, athletes that lose that are not the same. He needs the right people around him to build him up and then it will be up to him and his own two hands, next season is make or break that is for sure even more so because Vettel and co. will be up there with them.

That's just my two cents, but F1 is slowly bleeding for me but that's another story, the new rules cant come soon enough.

 

[ears]

I voted no - I don't think he's a nearly man. For me a nearly man would be someone who would have won was it not for bad luck. Rosberg has not lost a championship due to bad luck. He came close to winning it last year due to his team mate's bad luck.

But if 'being in the best car but not winning the championship because there was someone with the same car who was faster' defines a nearly man then why aren't we asking this about Massa, Berger, Barrichello, Patrese, Verstappen (J), Coulthard, Herbert, Webber et al?

 

[jimortality]

I'm a big Lewis Hamilton fan so I'm biased but I Always thought the team favoured Rosberg. Rosberg is not as good as Lewis simple.

 

[James Cook]

I voted no - I don't think he's a nearly man. For me a nearly man would be someone who would have won was it not for bad luck. Rosberg has not lost a championship due to bad luck. He came close to winning it last year due to his team mate's bad luck.

This is exactly my feeling too. There's no doubt Rosberg is a very good driver but he's not a great. I think he lacks a bit of mental fortitude at times and can make a few too many little errors when it matters. A 'nearly man' suggests repeated misfortune but in Rosberg's case he's just not quite strong enough to be championship material. Put Vettel alongside him in that fantastic Mercedes - maybe even a couple of other drivers such as Bottas - and the outcome would be the same (second place).

 

[paracletus]

It's funny how this time last year everyone was singing rosberg's praises because he was leading the championship by some margin - and now this year he's apparently nothing but a bum in a big seat.
Many are underestimating rosberg; he's had a poor season -- all drivers have them.
Last year vettel's name was mud, now he's the suddenly the best driver in the world after finding some form this year.
Next year will be interesting. The Ferrari engine is almost as powerful as the mercedes now (about 15bhp down, that's all).

 

[Glaurung]

Rosberg is just one of the many, not too bad and too good.
IMO current F1 pilot roster is quite mediocre, it lacks the "giants", I mean pilots like Senna, Piquet, Prost, Mansell, Schumacher.
I know, that F1 was another sport, but even current pilots like Alonso just don't stand besides them, IMHO.

 

[Michael Watts]

Nico has had a few opportunities and squandered it. We all are familiar with sim racing. We all know that guy that can blaze the track and be seemingly untouchable in lap times, but he's mistake prone in the race. Nico's record speaks for itself. Until he improves his consistency in the race, he only has himself to blame for his status behind Hamilton.
IMO I think it comes down to personality. Hamilton just wants it more, and Nico believes he just Deserves the Championship since he is fastest and drives the best car.

 

[ears]

It's funny how this time last year everyone was singing rosberg's praises because he was leading the championship by some margin - and now this year he's apparently nothing but a bum in a big seat.
Many are underestimating rosberg; he's had a poor season -- all drivers have them.
Last year vettel's name was mud, now he's the suddenly the best driver in the world after finding some form this year.
Next year will be interesting. The Ferrari engine is almost as powerful as the mercedes now (about 15bhp down, that's all).

I think this time last year (perhaps a little earlier) there was a general acknowledgement that Nico was leading the championship due to a run of bad luck and reliability for Hamilton. Hungary has been pivotal the last 2 years - last year Hamilton starts from the back, Nico on pole. Hamilton finishes the race ahead of Nico. This year, Hamilton starts from the front but makes lots of errors. Nico doesn't capitalise.

For me it's about desire and determination. This is a world Nico was born into. It's a world that Hamilton has had to fight and scrape to get into.

I think next year, when the competition are closer, Nico won't really figure. Like Massa, he's at his best when he's out front in clear air with nothing but lap times to concern himself with. When there's fighting for places, tactical nous and clever car placement required, he hasn't done so well.

Lewis is in the box seat. The approach next year has to be build a bit lead over Rosberg early on, and if the competition close in, expect team orders from mid-season. Mercedes will back the poven winner.