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Did Hamilton Do Anything Wrong At Abu Dhabi?

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I know this is probably a little late to start this discussion, but I would like to know what everyone thinks about Hamilton's actions at Abu Dhabi.

In my opinion, he didn't do too much wrong - the team had won the title, and he was just trying to put himself in the best position to take his title. Of course, it probably wasn't in the teams best interests and was possibly against the spirit of the sport, as it could have cost them a 1-2 and he was trying to detriment Rosberg's race, but I dont think anyone will disagree that having the top 4 follow each other across the line made for an exciting finish to the season. Even though Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates, I dont think F1 is really a team sport when it comes down to the driver's championship, and all I saw at Abu Dhabi was Hamilton driving intelligently and using his abilities and resources to try and give himself the best chance of winning the championship - surely this is what any sportsperson is trying to do.

What do you think? I am interested to hear everyone's point of view.

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He was just trying to get the championship and some did worse than that Senna (1990) Schumacher (1994/1997) I am not that shock. And it made my heart pound at maximum pace I didn't feel that before.

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I think that Lewis just said to himself (if the car was more reliable) then, I wouldn't be in this position! I am going to do whatever I need to do to win the Championship and to hell with the team orders as it was their (incompetence, bumbling, bad decisions, etc) that put me in this position in the first place... just my take on it.

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I know this is probably a little late to start this discussion, but I would like to know what everyone thinks about Hamilton's actions at Abu Dhabi.

In my opinion, he didn't do too much wrong - the team had won the title, and he was just trying to put himself in the best position to take his title. Of course, it probably wasn't in the teams best interests and was possibly against the spirit of the sport, as it could have cost them a 1-2 and he was trying to detriment Rosberg's race, but I dont think anyone will disagree that having the top 4 follow each other across the line made for an exciting finish to the season. Even though Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates, I dont think F1 is really a team sport when it comes down to the driver's championship, and all I saw at Abu Dhabi was Hamilton driving intelligently and using his abilities and resources to try and give himself the best chance of winning the championship - surely this is what any sportsperson is trying to do.

What do you think? I am interested to hear everyone's point of view.

I don't think he did anything wrong in terms of the F1 rules. What he did appear to do was have an issue with team orders. 

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What Hamilton did wrong is not obeying orders from his team. Someday, somewhere not obeying team orders might haunt him down. What also shouldn't happened is team interfering in this race. Team said before the race that they will let them race and whatever happens happens. But they did so Hamilton should react. I respect both decisions, of course either team and Hamilton wanted better for team and Hamilton but atleast it made last 10 laps of the season as tense as it can get. 

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It seems Toto Wolff has seen sense and decided to agree with what most fans knew anyway and that the Team Orders were the wrong call !!!

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-mercedes-made-wrong-call-with-abu-dhabi-gp-team-orders-858018/

I agree the team had no right to interfere as they had nothing to loose. The outcome was always Merc has already won the WCC and either one of their drivers was guaranteed to be WDC at the end of the race.
merc were short sited and decided that the team getting the 1-2 was more important that the outcome of the WDC. Merc had nothing to loose by stepping back and letting both Nico and Lewis race how they had to to get the result they needed to attain their respective goals (within the rules). 

what Merc did by giving the instructions they did was draw a line and tried to influence they outcome of the WDC for the sake of a 1-2 which was wrong as the WCC was wrapped up races ago. if Merc needed a 1-2 to win the WCC then fair enough the team come above the driver/s but in this case the result would not affect the WCC standings so Merc should not of interfeared !!! 

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Joff81 said:
It seems Toto Wolff has seen sense and decided to agree with what most fans knew anyway and that the Team Orders were the wrong call !!!

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-mercedes-made-wrong-call-with-abu-dhabi-gp-team-orders-858018/

I agree the team had no right to interfere as they had nothing to loose. The outcome was always Merc has already won the WCC and either one of their drivers was guaranteed to be WDC at the end of the race.
merc were short sited and decided that the team getting the 1-2 was more important that the outcome of the WDC. Merc had nothing to loose by stepping back and letting both Nico and Lewis race how they had to to get the result they needed to attain their respective goals (within the rules). 

what Merc did by giving the instructions they did was draw a line and tried to influence they outcome of the WDC for the sake of a 1-2 which was wrong as the WCC was wrapped up races ago. if Merc needed a 1-2 to win the WCC then fair enough the team come above the driver/s but in this case the result would not affect the WCC standings so Merc should not of interfeared !!! 

I think the only thing that interest Mercedes is the WCC

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Icemanrk said:
Joff81 said:
It seems Toto Wolff has seen sense and decided to agree with what most fans knew anyway and that the Team Orders were the wrong call !!!

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-mercedes-made-wrong-call-with-abu-dhabi-gp-team-orders-858018/

I agree the team had no right to interfere as they had nothing to loose. The outcome was always Merc has already won the WCC and either one of their drivers was guaranteed to be WDC at the end of the race.
merc were short sited and decided that the team getting the 1-2 was more important that the outcome of the WDC. Merc had nothing to loose by stepping back and letting both Nico and Lewis race how they had to to get the result they needed to attain their respective goals (within the rules). 

what Merc did by giving the instructions they did was draw a line and tried to influence they outcome of the WDC for the sake of a 1-2 which was wrong as the WCC was wrapped up races ago. if Merc needed a 1-2 to win the WCC then fair enough the team come above the driver/s but in this case the result would not affect the WCC standings so Merc should not of interfeared !!! 

I think the only thing that interest Mercedes is the WCC
A very German attitude, wouldn't surprise at all. Total concentration on perfection. 

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By giving team orders Mercedes just put themselves in a poor position and made themselves look stupid. If they hadn't it would've been just as thrilling, but there wouldn't be any controversy. They could've just been like, "They can race however they want since a title is on the line and the WCC is secured." Lewis has had bad luck this year, and tried to make his own luck by backing Rosberg. I see nothing wrong at all.

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I wonder what the prize money difference is between a 1-2 finish and with Rosberg finishing the race in a different place.

If there is a prize money per race for teams aside from the WCC prize money, then technically speaking, as Hamilton is paid by Mercedes, Merc has the right to instruct Hamilton to fight for the race result that provides the team with the biggest financial gain.

From the team's perspective, since their two drivers are the only ones still in contention for the 1st and 2nd place on the driver's standings, it technically makes no difference to them and is not a matter of concern in this case.

Just some analysis on technicality here, not that I was in favour of the issued team order, but prize money for the individual races may make their team orders claim a legit one.

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I wonder what the prize money difference is between a 1-2 finish and with Rosberg finishing the race in a different place.

If there is a prize money per race for teams aside from the WCC prize money, then technically speaking, as Hamilton is paid by Mercedes, Merc has the right to instruct Hamilton to fight for the race result that provides the team with the biggest financial gain.

From the team's perspective, since their two drivers are the only ones still in contention for the 1st and 2nd place on the driver's standings, it technically makes no difference to them and is not a matter of concern in this case.

Just some analysis on technicality here, not that I was in favour of the issued team order, but prize money for the individual races may make their team orders claim a legit one.


My understanding is that the prize money is just on WCC - that's why Manor and Sauber had to fight so hard for a single point. So, I dont really see why Mercedes decided to get involved in the championship, they should have let them race for their title. I felt that Hamilton's driving was totally legitimate, and he just did what was best for his championship, and as we say, it didn't really detriment the team, as the WCC was decided.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the team thought a controversial end to the season might ruin team moral over the winter, and this could mean that the team aren't quite working at 100% over the winter and then this could be very key, as the other teams are expected to catch up drastically this winter, so it could affect their 2017 season. This is probably reading too far into it, but it is the only reason I can think of why Mercedes decided to get involved.

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pijin said:
By giving team orders Mercedes just put themselves in a poor position and made themselves look stupid. If they hadn't it would've been just as thrilling, but there wouldn't be any controversy. They could've just been like, "They can race however they want since a title is on the line and the WCC is secured." Lewis has had bad luck this year, and tried to make his own luck by backing Rosberg. I see nothing wrong at all.

Personally, I think the best driving was from Rosberg - Hamilton was taking a massive risk backing up Rosberg, if Rosberg collided with Hamilton, the chances are they would both retire and he would be world champion, however Rosberg handled the pressure perfectly, didn't crash and didn't make a mistake, even though he had better luck, he proved at Abu Dhabi that he was good enough to be world champion. Also, I am very glad that Hamilton did this, as it showed that even though the odds were stacked against him, he still had the motivation to do all he could to win the title. Personally, I believe they are both very good drivers - Hamilton a little better on pure pace, so I think 2-1 titles in Hamilton's favour is fair. I must admit, I would have liked to see if Rosberg became a better driver once he could relax (having won the world championship), and it would be great to have seen him race in 2017, but unfortunately we will not see him race Hamilton again.

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I had heard about him trying to set pace so that those behind Rosberg would catch up with him. I re-watched the race and didn't see anything amiss with his actions at Abu Dhabi. I would think that if he slowed down to affect such a feat that Rosberg would have overtaken him for sure! LOL!

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@FOneFanatic - sorry, I may have not written the title clearly - I know exactly what Hamilton did - he was slowing up (he slowed down in sectors 2 and 3, but used all his engine power to keep ahead of Rosberg in the DRS zone). My question was just whether or not you agree whether this was wrong, did you think it was unsporting or just a him trying his best to win? Sorry if i didnt explain it clearly.

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I know this is probably a little late to start this discussion, but I would like to know what everyone thinks about Hamilton's actions at Abu Dhabi.

In my opinion, he didn't do too much wrong - the team had won the title, and he was just trying to put himself in the best position to take his title. Of course, it probably wasn't in the teams best interests and was possibly against the spirit of the sport, as it could have cost them a 1-2 and he was trying to detriment Rosberg's race, but I dont think anyone will disagree that having the top 4 follow each other across the line made for an exciting finish to the season. Even though Hamilton and Rosberg were teammates, I dont think F1 is really a team sport when it comes down to the driver's championship, and all I saw at Abu Dhabi was Hamilton driving intelligently and using his abilities and resources to try and give himself the best chance of winning the championship - surely this is what any sportsperson is trying to do.

What do you think? I am interested to hear everyone's point of view.

... it  was his own chance to win the championship..... but if i were Rosberg i would let Vettel pass emediately.. so Vettel could attact Hamilton... lol..

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@FOneFanatic - sorry, I may have not written the title clearly - I know exactly what Hamilton did - he was slowing up (he slowed down in sectors 2 and 3, but used all his engine power to keep ahead of Rosberg in the DRS zone). My question was just whether or not you agree whether this was wrong, did you think it was unsporting or just a him trying his best to win? Sorry if i didnt explain it clearly.

Well, it's a bit subjective whether or not he did something wrong or not.  IMO, he didn't do anything wrong that resulted in a change of expected race outcome on his or Rosberg's behalf.

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Allthough they are on the same team, they are both contractors with only one goal; winning the Championship. What Hamilton did seemed unsporting but to me it was just a tactical move. The same like defending your position instead he tried to let Vettel and Verstappen catch Rosberg. Both of them were willing to fight for the podium and fourth place in the Championship. So to me, Hamilton did what every other driver would have done in this situation. He did nothing wrong, he even over-camouflaged his actions just to prevent discussions like this. 

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@1512marcel - I agree, I do not see why doing your best to win should be classed as unsporting. I just wanted to ask everyone for their opinion, as I wanted to know why some felt it was unsporting.

In my opinion, all drivers are entitled to drive at their own pace, and it is down to the other drivers to try and keep up and overtake. He didn't force rosberg off, he didn't drive aggressively, to me he didn't do anything wrong.



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@1512marcel - I agree, I do not see why doing your best to win should be classed as unsporting. I just wanted to ask everyone for their opinion, as I wanted to know why some felt it was unsporting.

In my opinion, all drivers are entitled to drive at their own pace, and it is down to the other drivers to try and keep up and overtake. He didn't force rosberg off, he didn't drive aggressively, to me he didn't do anything wrong.



Yeah anything is good to win a championship

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I wonder what the prize money difference is between a 1-2 finish and with Rosberg finishing the race in a different place.

If there is a prize money per race for teams aside from the WCC prize money, then technically speaking, as Hamilton is paid by Mercedes, Merc has the right to instruct Hamilton to fight for the race result that provides the team with the biggest financial gain.

From the team's perspective, since their two drivers are the only ones still in contention for the 1st and 2nd place on the driver's standings, it technically makes no difference to them and is not a matter of concern in this case.

Just some analysis on technicality here, not that I was in favour of the issued team order, but prize money for the individual races may make their team orders claim a legit one.


My understanding is that the prize money is just on WCC - that's why Manor and Sauber had to fight so hard for a single point. So, I dont really see why Mercedes decided to get involved in the championship, they should have let them race for their title. I felt that Hamilton's driving was totally legitimate, and he just did what was best for his championship, and as we say, it didn't really detriment the team, as the WCC was decided.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the team thought a controversial end to the season might ruin team moral over the winter, and this could mean that the team aren't quite working at 100% over the winter and then this could be very key, as the other teams are expected to catch up drastically this winter, so it could affect their 2017 season. This is probably reading too far into it, but it is the only reason I can think of why Mercedes decided to get involved.

I think the merc drivers get a bonus on there salary every time the win 

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Nope, he's been on the back foot all season thanks to reliability issues so I can hardly blame him for his tactics. As for Mercedes, they already had the WCC in the bag so they should have just kept their noses out of it.

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No.                                                                                                                    

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patronas said:
I wonder what the prize money difference is between a 1-2 finish and with Rosberg finishing the race in a different place.

If there is a prize money per race for teams aside from the WCC prize money, then technically speaking, as Hamilton is paid by Mercedes, Merc has the right to instruct Hamilton to fight for the race result that provides the team with the biggest financial gain.

From the team's perspective, since their two drivers are the only ones still in contention for the 1st and 2nd place on the driver's standings, it technically makes no difference to them and is not a matter of concern in this case.

Just some analysis on technicality here, not that I was in favour of the issued team order, but prize money for the individual races may make their team orders claim a legit one.


My understanding is that the prize money is just on WCC - that's why Manor and Sauber had to fight so hard for a single point. So, I dont really see why Mercedes decided to get involved in the championship, they should have let them race for their title. I felt that Hamilton's driving was totally legitimate, and he just did what was best for his championship, and as we say, it didn't really detriment the team, as the WCC was decided.

The only thing I can think of is that maybe the team thought a controversial end to the season might ruin team moral over the winter, and this could mean that the team aren't quite working at 100% over the winter and then this could be very key, as the other teams are expected to catch up drastically this winter, so it could affect their 2017 season. This is probably reading too far into it, but it is the only reason I can think of why Mercedes decided to get involved.

I think the merc drivers get a bonus on there salary every time the win
I think @jasonyctam was talking about the constructors prize money, not the drivers money. However, that is interesting - I never realised the Mercedes drivers were on a bonus structure - I knew Red Bull did it, but it is quite interesting to hear that Mercedes do too.

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