Just after Nico Rosberg won in Japan, Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone made one of his trademark flippant remarks. A Rosberg title win, Ecclestone said, wouldn’t generate the sort of buzz, the partying, promoting Lewis Hamilton would.
Reams of newsprint and megabytes of web space were spent discussing whether Rosberg would be a deserving champion. The German was considered too bland, too privileged. Even beating Michael Schumacher three seasons in-a-row was not enough for critics to take him seriously.
So when Rosberg shadowed his teammate, finishing second in the last four races to take the title, the talk was predictably about how reliability issues had cost Hamilton. But to dismiss Rosberg’s feat is to diminish the incredible work he put into winning.
Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok, an analyst with Channel 4 in the UK, travelled to all the 21 races and shared some insights into Rosberg’s behind-the-scenes work.
Chandhok’s first reaction
Terming his first reaction to the news of Rosberg’s retirement as disbelief, Chandhok said, “I can’t remember any champion doing this and he has quit on his own terms and deserves a lot of respect.”
“Nico had the season of his life. Yes, Lewis was faster but it is a huge disservice to Nico when people say he is not a deserving champion.
“Once he won the first four races, there was immense pressure and to carry that baggage through the season was impressive.”
Hamilton, arguably the fastest driver on the grid, did have more pole positions and wins than anybody but the Briton also fluffed quite a few starts this year, which in the end proved costly and Chandhok shared some first-hand knowledge about it.
“I was in pre-season testing in Barcelona and Nico did a lot of practice starts there and Hamilton lost out on the start five times this year. Also Nico had been karting between races to keep himself fit and sharp. These are marginal gains that he had to make to become champion.”
Weight of expectations
Chandhok also added that the weight of expectations on Rosberg after Suzuka was particularly heavy as the title destiny was in his hands. “I was speaking to [Mercedes team director] Paddy Lowe, before the start of the race on the grid and he was saying the pressure on Nico was immense as he had everything to lose,” Chandhok said, recalling the tense mood in the camp at the final race.
The German shrugged off Ecclestone’s remarks with a singular focus. With one announcement, he then did what the F1 supremo didn’t think he could: draw the world’s attention, as it began to realise what it would miss.
Come March 2017, F1 will find itself poorer, deprived of its reigning champion’s grace and style.
